Put a Bird on It

Here are some new Holiday gifts tags I made this week. You can see them for sale in the shop here:http://www.etsy.com/listing/84641120/red-and-green-bird-gift-tags

...and this is the rough timeline of events that has lead me to always have birds and bugs on my mind.

Our house was in dire need of landscaping, and I pretty much had a blank canvas to work with....just as soon as I removed the 4"-6" of river rock the previous owner put under the grass in the ENTIRE yard. But talking about those rocks justs raises my blood pressure. Back to more beautiful things.....FLOWERS! So I was getting ready to plant lots of pretty stuff.....

And I wanted to plant things that attracted butterflies and honeybees.



One day I came across a book by a man named Doug Tallamy called, Bringing Nature Home. It changed my life, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about Mother Earth and how you can "help sustain wildlife with native plants."

After reading his book, I realized that I didn't need to provide a sanctuary for only butterflies and honeybees, but ALL bugs (even hairy spiders).

If you can provide food and shelter for all the little bugs, then they provide a food source for animals like birds. Birds love bugs, especially juicy ones who just ate a giant plant.





And so birds eat the bugs, and then some larger animal eats the bird, and something larger eats that animal....and you know the deal. There are two types of food chains, and plants are the foundation for both of them.

Soooooo........

But what ELSE do they need?

That's RIGHT! Pollination! And who pollinates plants? Right again! Birds and bugs! So if there were no bugs, there would be no birds....and that means there is no pollination. And if there is no pollination, that means you don't get fruits and vegetables. I bet you are starting to care about that hairy spider now.

They are small and sometimes pesky, but they sure do a lot for us. Without bugs, we would have a huge gap in our food chains.

This is why I have spent a lot of time researching what plants and flowers to put in our yard. It is important that you plant NATIVE species, because that is what the bugs like to eat, and what will do the most good. If you were the bug, it would be like planting creamy mac 'n' cheese and not burnt beets. You can find out what plants are native to your area here. You don't even have to make big changes, or rip out your exisiting gardens. Just implement a few plants here and there.

I have added 2 bird feeders to the backyard. The birds love them, and the squirrels love them....and the dogs like to stalk out the squirrels, so its pleasing for everyone. I am also taking a class this January on how to be a beekeeper and have an apiary because I would like to help out all those poor honeybees that are disappearing.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how I have become the kind of person who makes my fiance capture the spider and put it outside...not step on it. And this is why I spend $30 a month on bird seed, and why I gather walnuts and acorns on my walks with Barney to bring home to the squirrels. This is why I don't use any pesticides in my gardens, and why I throw out rotting fruit for the ants to devour.

.....and this is why I want to put a bird on everything.

Put a Bird on it! 

I'm a juicing machine

I randomly caught a great documentary on Netflix a couple months ago, called:

It was about a man who wanted to become more healthy and loose weight. His solution was juicing. I didn't want to go to the extreme that he did, but I thought it would be a great way to get more fruits and vegetables (vitamins and nutrients). So the next day I jumped in my car and rushed out to buy a juicer!

The first store I went to had some bad news.

So I tried another.

This is getting ridiculous.

I  gave up and went home to sit and pout and dream about juicing.

Later on I found out that right around the time I randomly watched this documentary, Dr. Oz did a segment and promoted juicing.

Ugh. No wonder. Dr. Oz I love you, but your timing is impeccable. Everyone in the nation was rushing out to get a juicer.

I ended up ordering one on line through a store, saying they would ship it directly to my house. The wait time was a little disappointing, though.

(Lucky for me, it showed up closer to the 2 weeks).

I immediately ran out to the store to buy 5 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables, and set up the juicer

This is what it looks like:

I popped in some carrots and apples and made my first glass of juice!!

And it was disgusting.

No, I'm kidding!! It was AMAZING!

Behold! The Juice!



It has been one week since I got my juicer, and I love it. It really doesn't take too much time, but the extra effort to cut up some produce is well worth it. Ever had fresh peach juice? Oh man,  you are missing out. The pulp that is discarded makes an excellent additive to the compost bin out back, so I am healing myself and the Earth!

Here are a few of  my favorite recipes so far. If you have a favorite you would like to share, I would love to hear about it!