Feeding the Birds

There are many trees at Thistle Manor.  One of my favorite trees is the dogwood.  Beautiful in the spring with its white or pink blossoms, brilliant red leaves in the fall and berries for the birds in the winter.
The Japanese Maples are another favorite.  The beautifully shaped leaves and coloring.

I have a mixed bag of feelings about the black walnut.  There is nothing like walnut stain for baskets and linens.  The downside to black walnuts--very messy.  It is also very difficult for other varieties to survive under a walnut tree.

The trees provide a landing place for the birds.  The squirrels jump from branch to branch.
Miss Callie Mae loves to hear the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.

There are bird houses.

And empty bird feeders.

One year AppleJack and I decided we would feed the birds.  It began with a 10 pound bag of bird feed which was consumed overnight.

I had always heard a bird eats it weight each day--but WOW those guys had an appetite bigger than mine.  We kicked it up a notch and bought a 25 pound of bird feed.  Same story.  While sitting at the kitchen table, we learned it was not the birds who were enjoying being fed but the squirrels!  They were having a  P A R T Y!  Those clever squirrels had invited their families, extended families, friends, acquaintances, strangers they had met in the grocery store and anyone else left in the squirrel world to Thistle Manor for lunch.  AppleJack and I decided we could not afford to feed the squirrels birds.