Monday, November 1, 2010

Newsletter 11/1/10


Hello Friends!

© 2010 Randal J. Watkins - Donna Resting
by the James River at Historic Jamestown, Virginia
My sweet husband, Randal, had a birthday on October 23 and generally he likes being home, but this year I must've mentioned something that peaked his interest since he chose to do an overnight getaway in Williamsburg to see Historic Jamestowne.

Neither of us had ever been and I was excited to add it to my list of 60 new adventures for this year of my 60th birthday.

 We'd heard great comments about it, so we booked an overnight hotel. We're not big history buffs, but this was very interesting, especially since the archaeologist was present at the digs to explain things to us. It's quite amazing at what can be told by brushing away so many layers of dirt. View photo album and my written historical account of Historic Jamestowne.

We love overnight stays since we both work at home. Since we save the rent fee for our corporate office, we get to spend those savings on some fun things, like frequent getaways. Obviously the convenience of working at home (and the delights of getting to enjoy our wildlife habitat all day long) goes a long way, but it does take away the total feeling of being "at home." So these getaways soothe my soul and spirit and they give us both a time to be away from the influence of work.

The second day there we enjoyed a visit to Westover Plantation on the James River, which doesn't offer tours of the home. Since we were only interested in walking the grounds and gardens of a plantation, this was the perfect choice of the many plantation estates along Virginia's Route 5. I'll have those photos on the blog in the near future.  

Back here at our habitat we call Bluebird Cove, I wasn't too surprised on a nice October day when I saw a fluffy little American Goldfinch on our deck rail, fresh from the nest, looking around and then tucking his head under his wing as if to say, "I don't want to face this big wide world yet." View photos of this wee little one.

Goldfinches nest late in the summer since they wait for the thistle plants to produce the "down" they use for their nests. They also use that time for the males to turn into brilliant yellow gentlemen from which the females choose a mate with bright colors being a factor.

I've been working on setting up a front porch buffet for our birds with the cold weather coming in.  I use an outdoor table covered with a plastic tablecloth and then place a variety of dishes on it with different seeds and a birdbath nearby (I swap it out for a heated one when it gets really cold).  It's inches away from the dining room window, so I move my "office" to that table and enjoy the show.  It keeps me from grumbling about the cold since I don't like winter at all.

Have you given any thought to helping the birds out in your backyard?  They don't need much.  Clean water and a clean feeder with food.  BUT!  If you have a roaming cat or neighbors who allow their cats to roam, please don't feed the birds since the numbers that are killed by cats is astounding.  A full cat still kills for play.  Learn more at this educational website for Winter Bird Feeding -- what a fun family project.

Love and Hugs,
Donna


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The photo(s) and article are copyrighted. You may use either of them if you include the following credit and active link back to this website: © 2010 Donna L. Watkins - This article was reprinted with permission from TheNatureInUs.com. The link to use is: www.TheNatureInUs.com.

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