Saturday, January 2, 2010

Our Winter Feathered Friends

While hummingbirds are definitely my favorite bird followed closely by orioles, I also enjoy the birds of winter. I make my own suet and have several feeders with different kinds of seed as well. With the outside temperature just a few degrees above zero, the activity at the feeders has certainly picked up. Some of these guys are almost as colorful as the summertime birds-the bright red of the cardinals and the stunning blue of the jays. We also have several different kinds of woodpeckers, and each species is a colorful delight. The cats' window seat allows them a good view of all the activity at the feeders; they chirp and chatter at the birds while the birds are oblivious to the cats. We call it kitty tv.

Just got the word today that I will be at Silver Dollar City in Branson for the entire fall craft festival that runs September 11 through October 30. We really like it there. The staff is extremely helpful and visitors to the park seem to be truly interested in the work of the artisans. It also gives us the opportunity to get better acquainted with other Best of Missouri Hands artists. It does make life a little difficult for Terrie, though, because the place we stay doesn't have the best internet access and she's taking on-line classes working toward her BA. Luckily there's a nice little bar close by with wifi. Apparently she can tune out the bar noise when doing her class work because her GPA is 4.0.

I need to get serious about making art for our March run to Texas. We were accepted into the Artscape Show at the Dallas Arboretum March 20-21. All work in this show has to be nature related. My functional copper art should fit right in.

Hummingbird fact for today: A hummingbird's iridescent colors are artifacts of the moment, changing with the relative positions of feather, viewer, and light source. This is especially true of the highly specialized metallic colors.

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