is your mother home?

It was a beautiful, sunny morning so Ruby and I spent a full hour outside on the back deck!  I was breaking up ice (to make room for the 20+ cm of snow that's expected over the next couple days) and Ruby was happily following me around..... and contently amusing herself.  A whole hour went by and when I asked if she wanted to go in she still said "no".

At one point I noticed a car park beside the house.   Two very pleasant looking gentlemen with binoculars got out, smiling at me.  As they approached, walking up onto the curb and into the knee-deep snow of my yard, they seemed a little puzzled.  As did I.  

"Um.... is your mother home" he kindly asked.  Well, you can imagine my amusement at this point... and I happily said, "I am the mother".  It was so funny.  They were looking for another house... just down the road.  Apparently a yellow-breasted chat has been spotted in the area and these guys wanted to catch a glimpse.  What a gorgeous day for bird-watching.  I checked online and these birds aren't supposed to be here in the winter..... so to spot one would be somewhat of a special occasion.  I went down the street a while later and they hadn't seen him yet.  I really hope they do.

Ryan and I used to do a lot of bird watching.  Well, not bird-watching per se... more like bird-loving.  We had a plethora of birds to love at our house in Sackville.  That's one of the things I miss the most about that place... about that time in our lives.  Nowadays, I find it difficult to keep the bird feeders full and when I do, I get annoyed because it's mostly pigeons and squirrels that gobble it all up in one day!  I'de like to live in the country again someday.  But for now, I'll stick to the city life.  I'm still young after all, as the birdwatchers reminded me.  Thanks for that!  You made my day!  

I couldn't find a picture to go along with this post, so instead here's a short video of Ruby's after supper antics.

She had much fun playing in my hat.