Happy New Year!

As I type, there is a symphony of birds out in the courtyard between the house and the guest cottage. So many birds... mostly sparrows, but with some cardinals and blue birds also in the mix. My husband has been filling up the bird feeder every day and the birds must have told their feathered friends about the free food because there seems to be more and more birds each morning.

The crows are also still here, picking at the tiny native pecans that have fallen from our trees in the side yard. We also have pecan trees in the backyard which yield the larger pecans that I gather up, shell, and use in recipes. But those native pecans... much too small to be bothered shelling, and the nuts are hard to remove. Not hard for the crows, because they hit those shells against the road and then use their beaks to dig out the nut-meat. Being beak-less, I prefer to just leave those small pecans to the crows.

We're starting off the new year with rain... and colder temperatures than normal. I'm waiting for those warmer days, like we had before Christmas. I don't like bundling up every time I have to go outside, and I surely don't like taking my car out in the pouring rain and then having to wash it down when I get home. So many dirt roads around... and the mud.... gets me crazy to drive a dirty car. (City Girl is still alive and thriving within me.)

Christmas un-decorating is nearly done. We'll take down the big tree this weekend, and my husband and handyman M will drag it out into the pasture and add it to our brush pile that's filled with other trees from past Christmases. Those brush piles have become safe havens for birds, squirrels, mice, rabbits... and the hawks hover over them looking for easy prey. Not every little corner of this country bubble is as safe as one would think.

I'm slowly getting back to my books.... and if I can stay away from my Pinterest Page for a good long while, I'll get some serious reading done. My pile of books-to-be-read has grown since before Christmas, and my husband bought me more books for Christmas, which I've been tending to as I have the time. December is always the busiest month, and it's usually also the month with so many extra books to read.

Another year.... 2015... so hard to believe those numbers. The years are just flying by, whether we pay attention or not. Better to always pay attention, so you don't miss anything.