Me Day Saturday ~ January 23, 2016

 It's been one of those much welcome days when I get to enjoy doing whatever it is I want to do. A cozy fire, a warm mug of tea, browsing through my photographs, a delicious bowl of hot soup and enjoying the birds at my feeders.... All these things bring a quiet peace to my soul, and some days I really need that!

Have you noticed that the days are getting longer? 

I took this picture last night just after 5:30. It's the view I see from my kitchen window of the western horizon. I love when we've turned the corner to having more daylight in our days! By this time of the year, I need every bit of something to look forward to as I anticipate the arrival of Spring. It's the first of many indications we don't have far to go, even if our winter hasn't been that bad so far!

And at the time of that picture, directly behind the house, the moon was also rising. A bright, clear, beautiful moon. I never tire of taking pictures of the moon. Being a bit further removed from town and all of it's store lights gives us some wonderful views of the night sky, especially as darkness falls. 

Lately, the evenings seem as though a great big nightlight is on because of the glow of the moon on the snow!

I imagine the deer are moving about quite a bit more because of that fact, though I haven't seen too many in our yard lately. 

The Finches have been out in large groups today. I just love seeing them fill in all the openings of my sunflower seed feeder as they've done here! 

Much to my surprise, I was able to snap the next picture at just the right moment when this pair of finches were sharing a seed with one another while the male was in mid-air!

While I'm an amateur photographer at best, I still enjoy those times when everything falls into place perfectly to give me one of those priceless pictures that you couldn't do again no matter how hard you tried! 

The Cardinals were out and feisty today. Many of the males were vying for time at the feeders, not willing to share with other males. I always like when they feed in the snow for how beautiful their red feathers look against the white backdrop. 

Wishing you a delightful evening, and a weekend of quiet moments with happy times, my friends!

~ ♥ ~

A Family Of Finches

Since I have such a fondness for birds, winter sure can be long and lonely without the sound of their sweet songs and chirps drifting in through my open windows. This past year, I found a solution to that problem by purchasing a few Society Finches, which are very enjoyable birds to have! We started with two females, one of which is a Spice Finch, and two males. They paired off fairly quickly, and one raised a brood that added two more males to the mix. (See my post http://simplymekimberlymarie.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-animal-children.html ) The males have such a beautiful song, and sing quite regularly from morning light until dusk. They're such dainty but delightful little music boxes, and I've really been enjoying them immensely!

Along the back from left to right we have one of the children, Chickadee, his mom, Bella, and dad, Buck, is peeking into the picture. Perched on the bin is Gingersnap, and below her the other bird with dark brown is Francesco. Near the lower right corner, and looking away is the other little fella, Shaggy. He and his mom, Bella, are our only crested ones. When very young, Shaggy was the least shy, and actually perched on my daughter's hand many times to be pet and fed. He's since become a bit more wary, but is still the least skittish of them all. Each one of the birds has their own unique personality, and purchasing them has been one thing I've yet to regret!