Birdfeeding

[ysabetwordsmith]

Today is sunny and warm. It's 71°F outside.

I fed the birds. I've seen a small flock of sparrows and a starling. I heard the titmouse when I went outside but didn't see it.

I put out water for the birds. The honeybees have rediscovered the tall birdbath. :D

Lots of crocuses are blooming, including the first white one, which is larger than the snow crocuses.

My order has arrived from One Green World.

EDIT 3/11/25 -- We started putting together the new RYOBI Speed Bench Mobile Workstation. It is a right proper pain in the ass. >_< The part bags and assembly steps don't match. The instructions are unclear. The parts don't all fit together easily.

I've seen several house finches and a pair of cardinals.

EDIT 3/11/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

I've seen a mourning dove, and the titmouse shrieked at me from the forest garden when I went outside, fluttering around and trying to drive me away from the food source. I am approximately 2000 times his size and he so doesn't care. LOL

One of the honeybees drowned in the tall birdbath. Well, there goes $20 to the ants. :( So I had to go find a rock to put in the middle in case they need to climb out. What I really need to do is make a proper bee watering dish, and then teach them to use that instead of A) things that might kill them or B) my plants that I want to water without a territorial argument.

EDIT 3/11/25 -- We finished assembling the workbench. \o/ Some of the leftover cardboard is suitable for use as seed-starting pots. We filled the whole garden cart with the rest of it. I love that cart. I also love the utility knife -- its blade has 2 extension lengths and locks into place very conveniently. I happened to be wearing actual work pants, and it is super useful to have lots of pockets and D-rings to hang tools from. :D

The temperature was up to 77°F last I checked. So wrong for March.

EDIT 3/11/25 -- I saw a fox squirrel at the hopper feeder.


.

Comments

[jake67jake]

We are supposed to hit 80* today! CRAZY. And the birds have emptied the feeders again (I suspect the squirrels helped -- even with the squirrel cap on the pole).

I loved your post of the 23 alternates to Amazon. I'm going to send it to my co-worker and I think we are going to steer away from Amazon at the store -- our small contribution to the protest (almost all of us are non-Republicans, in our VERY red county and state!).

Have a good day!

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>We are supposed to hit 80* today! CRAZY. <<

O_O I'll have to keep an eye on the temperature here.

>>And the birds have emptied the feeders again (I suspect the squirrels helped -- even with the squirrel cap on the pole). <<

Yeah, mine are pigging out too. Also the red-winged blackbirds have arrived about 2 months early -- for the second year in a row -- so there is no food for them and most of their perches haven't grown in. They are clinging to a few bedraggled cattails and road signs going, "But where is all the food?" It's not out yet because you're early, dumbass.

>>I loved your post of the 23 alternates to Amazon. I'm going to send it to my co-worker and I think we are going to steer away from Amazon at the store -- our small contribution to the protest (almost all of us are non-Republicans, in our VERY red county and state!).<<

*activist fistbump*

[moonhare]

I own a lot of Ryobi tools, and I love the idea of a portable work bench, with a cart even; it’s too bad this one was a bear to assemble.

A church across from our library put two, 8’ folding tables out to the curb. These were a not-so-handsome yet functional addition to my garden shed work area. They aren’t ‘portable’ but give me sturdy, raised surfaces for working upon.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I own a lot of Ryobi tools, and I love the idea of a portable work bench, with a cart even; <<

This one has a top a little bigger than a school desk, with a variety of helpful measuring guides. One end has a Link dock and it comes with a divided dish for holding parts. There's room to dock one more item. I was going to look for a hook, but I forgot while I was in the store. There are holes for more Link rails to be added if you wish.

The frame has a handle on one end, wheels and a foot on the other end. When you fold the table into its low position, the top of the table becomes the back of a dolly so you can haul things around. The actual garden cart was a separate item we found at Costco.

>> it’s too bad this one was a bear to assemble. <<

Yeah, even with two of us it was a real pain in the ass. At that, we had to leave out a piece. The instructions said the spacers would have to be placed "with some force." The amount of required displacement was equivalent to a whole spacer.

The design concept is great, but the assembly process design was poorly executed.

>> A church across from our library put two, 8’ folding tables out to the curb. <<

O.O SCORE! \o/

>> These were a not-so-handsome yet functional addition to my garden shed work area. They aren’t ‘portable’ but give me sturdy, raised surfaces for working upon.<<

That is awesome.

If you want them portable, you might look for socket wheels that are meant to slide over the legs of chairs or tables. You can also find sockets for ordinary casters or wheels for the shaft to slide into.

I'm wanting a potting bench. The commercial ones I've seen are mostly too small, too flimsy, and too expensive. The best ones are woodwork that is outside our experience and likely to stay that way. But then I spotted the ones made from concrete blocks and boards. Okay, that I could do. So I'm mulling over what elements I would like. The main problem is that the place I'd like to put it is severely unlevel, which means figuring out a way to flatten that.

Re: Thoughts

[moonhare]

>> The actual garden cart was a separate item we found at Costco.<<

I should have worded that better- dolly was what I meant. I have an old dolly here but the tires are shot and I don’t wish to replace them right now.

I have a small desk and an old bureau (sans drawers) in the garden for placing things on while working.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

I wouldn't be averse to using indoor furniture outdoors. I have a couple of chairs actually, one seatless and one with a plywood seat, for holding pots. But it's usually not sturdy and can be hard to weatherize. If I spot something useful that'll fit in our vehicle, I'm likely to grab it. We like to hit the townwide rummage sales around here, so all things are possible.