Lining my Nest!

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I should have been more aware of Marla’s toes when I stopped to chat with her this morning. I knew the temperature was 26F when I left the house, yet I stood there talking as if it were a warm summer’s day. My sneakers have fabric uppers with mesh for air circulation, so when my feet started feeling the cold, I looked at hers. She was wearing sandals with blue socks. I’ll bet her toes matched that color! She didn’t argue when I said we’d better get going our separate ways.

I didn’t really suffer until I got down in the valley where the breeze was frigid. John would have been proud of my pace as I let my right ear take the brunt of the breeze on the way to the creek and the left on the way back. There was no dawdling today. A food service truck was parked in its usual place near the creek. On warm days we hear the refrigerator motor run. I wondered if they had a heater in the trailer to keep the food from freezing solid. When I was at the creek, John was probably driving through Pennsylvania on his way to pick up David in NY.

Right now a future guest is saying to herself, “There is no way I’m going to get dragooned into walking with Anne on a cold day, even if I have to feign death to get out of it.’

Not to worry, Karen. Any and all excuses are accepted. I checked the thermometer when I got home, and it had gone down to 23F. Note to self: wear your winter coat tomorrow if it’s close to zero. Son John $ phoned to suggest I let water drip from the faucets tonight so that the pipes don’t freeze.

I lined my nest when I sat down to read email. That area was cold, being on the north side of the house adjacent to sliding glass doors. First I braved the deck to fill the bird feeder, which they have showed appreciation for ever since. A light bulb idea popped in my head – put the cushion for the deck chair in front of the glass to keep that frigid air from attacking my toes. It was thick, colorful, and low enough so that I could see the happy birds helping themselves. It worked well! The photo shows a winter throw thrown on the chair, and that was soon over my knees.

121516 My nest on a cold day.JPG

For birders, a list of feathered friends flocking to the feeder: cardinal, blue jay, titmouse, chickadee, junco, dove, Carolina wren, song sparrow, goldfinch, house finch, Downy woodpecker, and nuthatch.

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

29 thoughts on “Lining my Nest!”

  1. I keep 4 bird feeders and a heated bird bath (along with the pond) going all winter. I have such a following! We picked up 200 lbs. of sunflower seeds which I’m hoping get me throughMarch. They do appreciate it along with the squirrels. The chipmunks are hibernating now but I’m sure the raccoons clean up underneath once in a while.

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    1. There must be some kind of title for someone like you who is a true friend of the little creatures. I simply can’t imagine 200 pounds of sunflower seeds. We have an inexpensive mixture that seems to appeal to lots of birds. The titmouse and chickadee pull out the sunflower seeds, scattering smaller seeds on the deck. Juncos, song sparrows, and doves vacuum under the feeder. So far I’ve caught the squirrel only once. He runs to the edge of the deck unless I step out, and then he scurries down and runs to the evergreen tree. We both get our exercise.

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      1. The title is idiot. I used to buy 500 pounds at a time during a fall sale and store it in the garage. Now I found a place that has a very good price all year long. It’s about a half hour drive so I pick up several bags at a time. I didn’t have luck with the mixes. Too much went uneaten. The only thing is that periodically I have tons of seed hulls to clean up. I used to have a wild turkey who regularly came and cleaned up the hulls too but she hasn’t been around the last couple of years.

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  3. Over here, it’s been -8 to -20% C. (-4 F%). I won’t go out at all with that temperature. I have a rebounder upstairs I bounce around on when it gets like this. That’s Canada for you. 🙂

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      1. Very true. When it gets too cold up here, men who work outdoors just stay home. Everything stops. I don’t handle the cold very well myself. When we lived up north, it would get to -40% sometimes. We are SUPER glad when spring comes! 🙂

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  4. Lotta birds, so cool!
    BTW, temperature… what feels cold and what doesn’t… is SO relative! I’d trade places with you now! Right now (at almost 4 p.m. here in Montreal it’s -14 deg. Celsius, which, translated to Fahrenheit, is 6.8 degrees. Above. 😉 The trick is to dress for it: lots of layers, and leaving as little exposed skin as possible. Hats, mittens, boots: mandatory! (Not gloves, btw, because with gloves each finger doesn’t get the benefit of warm temp of neighbouring fingers, as they would in a mitten. Lesson over! 🙂

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    1. I doubt we’d ever challenge Montreal with low temps. I found a new way to keep my hands warm. I have mittens, but they are not very warm. I’ve been just pulling my hands in my sleeves, which John and I call “turtling”. Today I pulled the hole in after me! As I pulled my hands into the sweatshirt, I caught the cuffs and held them closed inside the sleeve. Toasty warm all the way!

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    1. I grew up in the South, Arlene, and I felt I had a deprived childhood — deprived of snow. Several blizzards in NY almost cured me. I do love snow, though. We don’t get much here in North Carolina. When we do get snow, it often melts within one day. That’s enough for most folks.

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    2. Most of the states at the bottom of our country get very little snow. Tennessee, where I grew up, is considered the Mid-south as opposed to the deep South. Every year or so we got a few inches of snow. I remember sitting in school, looking out the window, and willing snow to fall so that we could go home early. It rarely happened.

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    1. There is nothing like a warm drink when the temperature is low! I went out walking this morning with the thermometer insisting it was 18F. My winter coat was almost too warm, but the sweatshirt/windbreaker combo might not have cut it. If you could vote on the weather, would you choose for it to be unseasonably warm or too cold a week before Christmas?

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  8. Winter has struck Missouri…light snow falls from the sky and the temp is 14 on its way to nearly zero (this far south…) it rained first, so we have some ice. Bless your heart for continuing your walk in the cold. Wyoming did me in for winter.

    I did feed the birds extra this morning so they would have plenty of fuel to burn while staying warm tonight. I don’t know all their names yet, but I do know the red-headed woodpecker and the host of cardinals and some smallish grey and black birds.

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    1. We had some warm days. In fact, we could have eaten breakfast on the porch this morning! It was 66 degrees, and my cutoff point for eating outside is 65. I said as much, and John replied, “You could sit out there, but the wind would blow your food right out of your mouth.”

      We’re getting rain and colder weather now. Hope things warm up for you.

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  9. How did I miss this post ? We are cold here but not as much as you all. I find it difficult to walk outside if there is a cold wind blowing. I am thinking of the people who are on their way out of Syria in freezing temperatures with no warmth, this Christmas season.
    Susie

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    1. You didn’t miss this post by much! We seem to talk about the weather a lot without doing anything about it. At least you have spared thought for those who are suffering with cold in situations they can’t control.

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    1. What a good idea to put out a suet feeder! Maybe I’ll see something like that at the store tomorrow. This Santa doesn’t have much time left to shop. I will tell everyone that you have sent greetings from MD. In return, we hope you and your wife have a marvelous Christmas and wonderful New Year.

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