This house is for the birds

When spring cleaning my smokehouse earlier this year, there were a few things I wasn't sure what to do with, so I hung them on the side of the shed. One of the items was a birdhouse, and within a few hours, it was being investigated top to bottom by interested wrens.

The next day, we noticed the wrens attempting to move in, but it seemed that every stick they brought was too big for the hole. In trying to get through, they would drop the stick, and then fly down to the ground to pick it back up. Since I'm the one that hung the birdhouse so close to the porch I felt a little guilty, because the cats soon caught on and sat waiting under the birdhouse.

I thought a little human intervention was called for, so I stuck a small amount of grass clippings into the bottom dwelling, followed by a layer of fur donated by my German Shepherd after a good grooming.

It apparently suited the wrens perfectly. They moved right in and are now tirelessly bringing food to I-don't-know-how-many youngsters in there. The little ones grow louder every day, so it will soon be time to lock the cats in the house. I don't want any mishaps during their first flying lesson.

Next year I plan to move the box to a safer location, but it's been fun watching this family grow.

Readers help writers get back on track

I enjoy the solitary life of a writer, but it is still wonderful to hear from readers. In fact, nothing can make my day like the wonderful comment I received this morning from Marie in Charlottesville, Va.

In part, she said: "Just finished reading your book, "Shades of Gray" and I cannot begin to tell you how much I loved, loved, loved it. As a Virginian myself, I have always enjoyed reading really good books about the Civil War; in fact, "Gone With the Wind" is my all time favorite book. I put "Shades of Gray" high up on the my personal favorites list."

Just wanted to thank Marie for taking the time to write. It's been a rather slow month for writing (productively anyway), and little notes like this help me get back on track.

I hope you don't mind that I shared it. It surely made my day!

A taste of life in the country

We have certainly been lucky in the northeast to have had one of the coolest July's I can remember. Usually the heat and humidity settle down on us the end of June and hot, sticky nights are the norm.

This July, most days have been in the comfortable high 70s to low 80s, with some nights down into the 50s! Perfect weather as far as I'm concerned!

I'm including in this post a shot of the raspberries I've been snacking on. This is a picture from earlier in the month, before the red ones were ripe (which I like better). I've got to get out and pick a bucketful one of these days so my dad can make a pie.

I should have taken a photo of the lone blueberry I was able to eat before the groundhog or rabbits finished off the bush. I had a nice crop until they helped themselves. That's life in the country, I guess!