Monday, January 22, 2007

Just This and That

There's not much new around my neck of the woods. I just finished my stretch of nights over the weekend, and as usual, I'm limp. I know there are lots of people that work nights with no problem but I'm thinking that I'm just too old for this. It didn't wipe me out so badly in my younger days. (I'll be getting my AARP card in the mail this year!)
Anyhoo...

I found some open water on the lake at a local county park and thought I'd see what I could see. Mallards, mallards and more mallards. These four had just hopped out of the water and were preening on the ice. Brrrr.

Couldn't help taking a duck butt shot. They always make me laugh.

Here's one of the MANY squirrels that make my back yard home. He was really giving me a scolding. I like how they tuck their front paws into their tummy fur when it's really cold outside.

Here's a little splash of color taken a few weeks ago before the snow. You can see the damage the squirrels did to the bottom of this feeder. I repair it periodically though because it's a favorite feeder of my bird friends.
Posted by Picasa

14 comments:

Mary said...

Awww, Lynne. Working nights is hard on young, too! Don't call yourself too old. Your photos are so good and I envy the feeder with the woody on it. And I love ducks butts, too!

Rest up! Tomorrow is TV night...

Anonymous said...

Lynne - my friend started working nights again and he says it's kicking his butt this time around and it didn't used to. Of course they have him working 14-16 hour days with no breaks and I think that's it more than the nights. Are you able to switch to days?
Great duck butt - I love it when they pose like that for us!
Love your bird friends, and even your squirrel!

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Mary-
I feel ANCIENT when I'm done with my stretch! Working nigts does strange things to my body clock. Little woodies are sweet. They're pairing up and chasing around the yard, getting ready for spring I suppose.

Pam-
I'd love to switch to days. I went back to work in health care 4 years ago after staying home with the kids for 10 years. It takes quite a while to work up the seniority to get day hours. I'm not sure why I find duck butts so funny either!

Susan Gets Native said...

AARP Card!!?? WTF?

(Sorry...that took me by surprise)

Why do we all love bird butts? Is it a condition?

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

YES AARP!!! I understand they mail it out automatically when you turn (cough-cough) the big five-oh.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, working for a living is the pits, but I haven't figured out an alternative yet. Nice pix nonetheless.

Anonymous said...

My daughter does shift work as a nurse and I hate to see her so tired. 12 hour shifts are long, and switching between days and evenings is very hard on the body. There is no equivalent to the AARP in Canada. We have to go another decade before we get perks. I was watching a large group of mallards yesterday in a shrinking spot of open water. It is cold!

Jayne said...

Lynne, I used to work nights for years, but like you, now I can't imagine surviving it as I am such a creature in need of night sleep. Funny funny duck butt!

Anonymous said...

I don't know how you do it - I don't think I could stay awake all night. Loved the pictures. Don't tell anybody, but I like squirrels. I've got red and gray ones here and I just feed them too.

Unknown said...

I admire your ability to work nights . . . if my schedule doesn't stay somewhat the same, I'm not a nice person anymore. You are awesome!

Naughty squirrel! My children are trained that when they see a squirrel, they run up to it yelling and growling. I've even got the neighbor boy trained that way.

I figure the least I can do is make sure the squirrels get some exercise because its not keeping them away from the feeders! Sigh.

(Word verification word: grijp)

Is that like griping about being jipped?

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Pablo-
When you figure out the alternative to working, let us all know!

Ruth-
Shiftwork stinks but it's unavoidable in health care. It's funny to watch the ducks hop up onto the ice.

Jayne-
Day sleep just isn't the same quality as night sleep is it?

LauraO-
I secretly enjoy watching squirrels too. I feed them in ground feeders trying to keep them from wrecking my hanging bird feeders. We have only red squirrels up at Hasty Brook. I love those cheeky little guys!

Liza Lee-
I don't mind the squirrels unless they destroy my feeders. It's pretty fun watching them try to figure thier way around a baffle! I'll bet it's fun watching your kids roar after them!!

LauraHinNJ said...

I'm late to the party as usual, but wonder why the ducks choose to sit on the ice?

Doesn't Buddy sleep with his little feet tucked under? Love when they do that.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

LauraH-
Yeah, Buddy does sleep like that sometimes. It is cute. He's such a chubber, sometimes we can't even see his feet when he's relaxed!

LostRoses said...

Lynne, the duck butts never fail to amuse! And the squirel-ravaged feeder? That's a familiar site. I'd keep it as long as possible too when it's a favorite of the birds. I had a similar one with that wire mesh, the birds preferred it over any of the others!