Tag Archives: Red and Mrs.

Look for Joy

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Red sightings do give me joy. Always.

For Lent this year I am doing Pray40, which is on the Hallow app. On Sundays, Father Mike Schmitz gives a Bible reading and homily. Yesterday, the theme was “Looking for Joy.” Father Mike mentioned the following quote:

“Suspicion often creates what it suspects.” C.S. Lewis from the “Screwtape Letters.”

My major takeaway was that if we often find what we’re looking for. If we’re looking to be disappointed, most likely we will be. Distrust can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. I realized that life truly is what we make of it. It’s was a reminder that our attitudes can be our destiny. If we look for joy, we can find it.

I’m sharing some bits of joy I had this week, birdwatching at home:

The joyful couple together at the Bird Buddy AI feeder.

I watched as Red fed Mrs. and then gave her a turn at the feeder, but I wasn’t fast enough with the camera to capture it. It was heartwarming though!

Quail Egg Update:

I’ve only peeked a couple times on our quail nest. Last week I said we had four eggs. We’re now up to a dozen! I wrote about our quail nest HERE.

Where do you look for joy?

My brain is mush!

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I did it! I got our taxes ready for the CPA. I realized because of my foot surgery late January, I was behind my usual timeframe. I also had a hard time focusing. But powering through Friday, Saturday and Sunday — I did it! But now my brain feels like a bowl of mush.

Consequently, there will few words on this post. I’ll rely instead on photos of mostly Red and one of Mrs.

I like the photo above because of the flower. It looks like Red is wearing a fancy head ornament. I’ve had a few close encounters with Red. I call out to him and he doesn’t flit away like normal. I’ve been a few feet away from him as he waits for me to fill the bird feeder.

Red with a House Sparrow.

Red waiting for his turn in the feeder.

Mrs. on the fence.

More Red photos. He hung out last evening right outside the casita.

My goal for 2026 is to be better organized with the taxes. It’s something I could do monthly, to keep track of my husband’s business and rental home expenses, rather than power through 12 months the following year! But I’m already starting out behind the curve, two and half months behind.

Do you have a strategy for preparing taxes that works for you?

If so, please share and give me some tips!

Birds and More Birds

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I was excited to see these “exotic” birds. The color was so beautiful. I called my husband in to look at them. He told me they were pigeons. Oh well. It’s my first pigeon in my backyard.

Off he goes. I didn’t see them again.

Isn’t the color striking?

I spotted a sparrow enjoying the bird bath.

Then he was joined by friends.

The water was flying. Now they must feel nice and clean.

A mourning dove waited for the waves to chill before taking a turn at the bird bath.

A quail walks by the other side of the bird bath. He was not interested in it.

It looks like Mrs. is having a conversation with her reflection in the camera.

Red keeps an eye out for any intruder at the Bird Buddy feeder.

I’m excited for my daughter to arrive soon! She should be here by 10 a.m. today. We’re going to the farmer’s market in Carefree and cooking dinner together. It will be a short visit because she’s flying this morning then driving our second car back to the Bay Area. She’s gone two years carless and has decided to join the world of driving again.

We recommended she buy our car rather than a used car from a stranger. Our car is in excellent shape and has low mileage. She did ask us for the CARFAX history! There are winter storm warnings through the mountain passes for her to get home. I’m worried about that, but she said she’d stay extra days in So Cal if the storm is still a factor.

What are your plans for the weekend? Can you believe we’re almost through the month of February?

More Red and Mrs. on a Sports Day

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I was engrossed Sunday as I wrote this watching Scottie Scheffler in the Waste Management Golf Tournament, which was played in our new hometown. We did make the mistake of driving near the tournament to go to out with neighbors. It’s a zoo and too much traffic! Remind me next year to stay home.

It doesn’t look like Scottie, the number one player in the world, is going to win this year. His first tournament win was several years ago here. But he came from at least seven behind to almost win. If he had more than one more hole to play, I think he could do it!

Scottie Scheffler earned his first PGA Tour victory at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open on February 13, 2022. He defeated Patrick Cantlay in a sudden-death playoff on the third extra hole at TPC Scottsdale. 

He had several crazy shots including chipping in from a bunker and putting one in from off the green 72 yards away! I grew up playing golf, but ever since my ACL surgery and two surgeries this year, it’s been spotty for me playing. I was five years old in my first tournament where we ended up tied and it went into sudden death. I ended up in second place and that trophy I had stared at for a month didn’t go home with me! But mom and dad bought me a chocolate bar and I survived.

As I waited for my Seahawks with QB Sam Darnold to play in an hour, I snapped a few photos of my favorite duo: Red and Mrs.

They did a lot of posing for me. Red in the Bird Buddy and Mrs. on the cactus statue.

Did you watch the golf tournament of Super Bowl? Who were you rooting for?

Giving the boot

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Red and Mrs. are back to a normal routine in our backyard. Maybe this spring we’ll have some baby Reds?

Yesterday was a Red Letter Day — plus I got the photo above of Red! I went to my post op appointment with my favorite surgeon. My surgery on my foot was a little over two weeks ago. The dressing and sutures were removed. Yay! I finally get a look at my “elective foot” as Tippy Gnu from Chasing Unicorns called it. (That’s in reference to the procedure first denied by our insurance company. They said it wasn’t medically necessary.) Like I wrote before, what is necessary about walking and wearing shoes?

My foot is black, blue and swollen. The bright news? I wore flip flops out of the doctor’s office instead of the infamous boot.

Here’s the boot from last June, post ankle surgery.

The infamous boot where it sits today until next time.

I would love to toss the boot into the trash. But my surgeon said I may need to have a follow up surgery in the distant future if I have pain. I’ve placed the boot in my closet up on a shelf where Olive the cat would sit and watch birds.

I’m excited to get out of the house and I’m meeting my lunch bunch at Kiki Rae’s. It’s a cute restaurant in Cave Creek with Pacific Northwest specialities like clam chowder, fish and chips and steamers. They even serve Seattle Dogs which are hot dogs with cream cheese and caramelized onions. As a native of the PNW, it’s a treat to have a restaurant serving my favorite foods from childhood and college.

My lunch bunch are two friends from my previous life in Palm Springs, pre kids. They were graphic designers I worked with in my PR Days. When I moved to Arizona a friend told me to look them up — they moved here 10 years before me. We’re all within a few miles of each other and meet up for lunch several times a year.

Here’s to giving the boot to the boot, regular visits by Red and feeling better!

What are some of your favorite foods from your childhood?

Do you have traditional or specific foods that are unique to your area?

Red Returns

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Finally Red was hanging out long enough for me to get some photos of him. While I’m healing and recovering from surgery, Red was the sight I needed to make my day!

More photos of Red:

We put together the shepherd’s hook to hang the new Bird Buddy feeder. But it wasn’t working right. There was something definitely wrong.

Mrs. waiting for her turn in the new Bird Buddy.

I don’t know why the shepherd’s hook placed the feeder mere inches from the ground. It was low enough for a squirrel to jump on the roof. I was afraid he was going to get stuck inside with the camera. He’s definitely not very bright. All he needed to do was turn around and jump into the tray of seeds.

I hung the feeder on this massage tool which securely hooked around a branch of the tree. But before I could hang the feeder, Mrs. hopped on it to try it out. It worked out well to have the feeder there, but we may want to use the massage tool to get the knots out of our backs!

Voilà! I looked at the instructions for the shepherd’s hook and realized my helpful husband installed the hardware that attaches to the fence upside down.

Mrs. finally got her turn in the Bird Buddy. This movie was taken when the bird feeder was low to the ground.

I didn’t like this placement of the camera because the sun causes too much glare.

Do you have a favorite Red photo?

Do you think there’s any upside to letting my husband know he messed up on the shepherd’s hook? Or do I let him notice on his own that it’s in a new position?

January Reading plus Red

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I charged up my Bird Buddy AI feeder this past weekend. It hasn’t been outside since last Spring. It doesn’t survive the desert heat of summer, so I retired it for awhile.Then I started taking my own photos of birds and forgot about it. I hadn’t seen Red since our Christmas vacation, so I thought maybe he’d like the feeder, where I used to see Red and Mrs. all the time. So, the first day I put Bird Buddy outside, look who showed up?

I’m late posting the January reading list from my Daughter-In-Law’s AP English class. I got sidetracked earlier in January. After Christmas vacation, my husband and I both got sick. I was in bed for more than a week. Then I had other business to deal with that was a nightmare. Better late than never. Plus the reading can be done anytime. It’s fun to see what we’ve read and find new things to read.

Each month goes back in time periods. The syllabus started with today’s literature. In January, we’re reading 1865 to 1905.

Here’s the syllabus for January:

FYI, my surgery Monday went well. Tuesday I was up and walking wearing my boot. I even went outside for a short neighborhood walk with hubby.

Here’s a photo I took of Red since his first appearance at the Bird Buddy. It’s a little blurry because he wouldn’t sit still for me and he was clear across the yard. My photos of Mrs. weren’t worth sharing. She’s a flighty little thing.

What have you read on January’s Reading List?

Is there anything on the list you’ve wanted to read but never have?