Birds and animal print

This morning I woke up to find our bird feeders empty and snow covered. Here is the large "party" feeder.

I put on my son's boots and went outside in my jammies (with a coat and mittens, of course!) to fill them up.

My daughter commented that I must really love the birds to go out in the snow so early to feed them. I do. I've always loved watching them, but with all the cover from the woods in the back, I never got to really see any except the cardinals and blue jays, which stand out in their bright reds and blues. All the others I called "lbb"s -- little brown birds.

So I put up a feeder. Now we have five, including one for suet and one for peanuts for the squirrels and blue jays, to keep them away from the other feeders. I put safflower seed in the party feeder to keep the squirrels away from that as well. I got a bird book to identify all the new visitors, and was amazed to discover all the variety. We're entertained by chickadees, juncos, titmice, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, house finches, and sparrows. I've seen a hairy woodpecker (like a downy on steroids) and a beautiful, majestic hawk. In the summer we saw goldfinches and hummingbirds.

Ready for a neighborhood bird party!

I've noticed the little chipmunk, who practically lived here the past few weeks, is gone. He would eat and eat and stuff his little cheeks and then lay down under the little roof overhang to hold his spot while resting up for more. He must be snuggled away somewhere for the winter by now, fat and happy.

 Back inside, I made a big breakfast to celebrate our youngest coming home last night from college for the holidays. He says the scrambled eggs at school aren't real. I believe him.

I wore essie's devil's advocate on my nails and a Target animal print cardy.

Speaking of animal print, here are the shoes I wore to my husband's office Christmas party on Friday night.

 A woman at the party told me they were hot. Ha. Usually the only time I think of "hot" connected with myself anymore is when "hot" goes with "flashes." But I was still flattered.

Today is the third Sunday in Advent. We light the pink candle of "Joy."