After last weeks fumbling attempt to present some statistics on Top Comment diarists (corrected now), I'm running for a safer topic this week. On Sunday I read ackermanniac's hilarious diary, I have chickens, I have eggs and it stirred up stories of my love of feathered friends. [If you didn't catch the diary yesterday, give yourself a treat and go read it when you have a moment]
A good many of you know that we have had one snowstorm after another here in Denver and I has been six weeks since the ground has been bare. Soon after that first snowstorm and getting Mr. Cronsense home from the hospital, I started setting up feeding stations and putting out grit as well to help the birds digest their food. I googled and my wheels started spinning. I headed for the kitchen to make some of my own suet cakes and trying to figure out clever ways to present them to my fine feathered friends. Outside my office window is a small tree that is the main feeding area, growing from one feeding spot to twelve as of today. No waiting, step right up and dig in those little beaks.
The other day during a warm spell while the sun was shinning on that side of the house, I took my ladder and pruners out to reshape the tree. It had been about three years since I had worked on this tree, a Canada Red Cherry, so I had my work cut out for me as they grow like a weed.
When I went to the bird feed store, Wild Birds Unlimited, I spied a lovely metal sculpture of a tree that was a multi-station bird feeder. Lovely, but very, very pricey. So armed with that picture in my head, I started shaping my tree with the birds in mind. Up and down the six-foot ladder, looking from all angles, into the house to check the view from my window, I scrambled while my feathered friends waited impatiently for me to finish my task. When I had the branches all nicely trimmed I started hanging, tying and attaching my collection of home-made feeding stations. I retreated into the house and sat at my desk to watch the action. They all made a bee-line for the first station that was a suet cake. Of course the squabbling ensued as I watched from inside my window, perplexed since there was plenty of food for all.
The main feeding station is on a webbed platform I made out of branches and raffia in a four-branched crotch. I built it after a bad rain and wind storm blew a robin's nest out of the tree with two newly hatched babies. I felt bad about that so I made the dished platform hoping I would get new inhabitants some day. Nobody ever took up the offer, so this winter I started laying a suet cake in it's plastic pan in this indentation.
Through the very frigid days we have had here, each morning I would take out a room-temperature suet cake to swap out with the frozen one. During the below zero days I did this a couple of times a day while also scratching at the cake to make it easier for the birds to feed.
A friend sent us a box of HoneyBell Tangelos for a gift and I have been making juice and scooping out the halves to use a little suet/seed bowls. The bright orange (natch;-) halves are hanging gaily from the branches. Other balls of suet cakes are tied to branches. Several times a day the birds come swarming in and are all over the tree, hopping from one feeding site to the next making sure that they aren't missing out on anything better. I googled recipes and make different mixtures and watch closely to see what they like best. Each day I notice the male finches' plumage taking on a little more color and it is easy to tell the newcomers from my regulars because of that. As the days grow longer, soon it will be time to set out little pockets of nesting material.
A simple way to pass the time in this especially cold winter, bringing my little flock of birds through a hard season so that they can sing to me this spring. Now I have a tree full of fat, happy birds.
On with the show.......
My Selections:
Diary: Deathtrap
By: teacherken
KOTCrum prophicies a what this summer might look like.
teacherken reflects on the name of the street and how it twines in our consciousness these days.
Rydra Wrong recounts a chilling story of Bush's behavior that was told with 'affection' in 2000.
kovie weighs in with well-thought out reasoning. Excellent!
Diary: 58% want this Presidency to be over
By: theyrereal
KOTCrum has another excellent summary of effective neo-con techniques.
TexDem clarifies an important point worth remembering.
Eyeball Kid has an interesting take on the situation.
lawyerDan's passionate plea deserves a second chance!
Diary: SwiftBoating James Webb
By: DWG
highfive's interesting reaction to the concept of Swiftboating.
john07801 hits them back with a punch of snark.
blue armadillo is priceless and so is ImpeachKingBushII's follow up.
jmonch brings a comment over from the 'other side' that is a howler.
Diary: DC Protest - MASSIVE Photo Diary
By: DeM In VA
carneasadaburrito puts together links to ALL the protest march diaries in this comment.
leevank on a memorable sign!
high unitas has a great line.
Hotspur18 on a powerful piece of street theater and what it represented.
Diary: A Roadmap to Ending the War from Daniel Ellsberg
By: OrangeClouds115
Eddie C cites a long and twisting (twisted) trail that illustrates what you get when you don't hold the government accountable. This cycle needs to be broken for all time! His followup comment is outstanding, too.
zashvil on cycles and why vital oversight works.
The Maven lives up to the handle.
philinmaine on an important difference between then and now and why it is up to us.
Diary: NBC news and the enemy within
By: Many Dogs Barking
bink smacks this point clear out of the park!
GlobalWarmingWest on a chance to keep Corporate Media honest.
mystic looks at both sides.
Diary: Sunday Yak About Iraq
By: Jeff Huber
litagatormom has a good analogy.
paige and Jeff Huber exchange points. Pagie's last line in the third comment nails it.
mgoltsman and Jeff Huber discuss brass tacks.
Diary: White House Press Co(rp) finally asks about the slur
By: JNEREBEL
Agathena has a biting piece of dark humor.
R2 busts Tony Snow in yet another lie!
Front Page: Show Me Some Good News
By: Darksyde
JTML on the return of the 'Body Count' and how it is being spun.
ebohlman on complexities making strange bedfellows.
entlord1 on one key difference between Vietnam and Iraq that bears repeating.
ArgusRun insightful commentary on modern vs. ancient warfare.
Cowalker on what happens when you are 'misled' too many times.
SteinL on an apparent immense clusterf***.
~~~~~~~~~
From Chumley
From egarratt, in the thread "Fleischer will Sink Libby...and Cheney?"
From nhcollegedem
Devilstower's comment in his front page diary about the politics of Mac Users, "Conservatives are so PC" was priceless.
From Elise
clonecone has the goods on Hillary's running mate.
nhcollegedem talks about personal sacrifice, protesting, and making ourselves heard.
Jay Elias has wise words about infighting.
danthrax nails my number one pet peeve argument against a candidate. >
From blueyedace2
I thought this comment and captainlasers response were pretty good... All they could muster for their counter protest was around forty people?
From Carnacki
From the nitpicker's blog, dan mcenrpe on Rush Limbaugh Republicans.
Wasn't quite sure why Carnacki sent this in until I read the hilarious thread.
Tonight's Top Mojo is brought to you by BeninSC Thank You Ben!
Top Mojo - excluding search-identifiable tip jars, first diary comments and C&J comments:
1 And even if we --- RenaRF - 94
2 thank you. --- Ca 48 Steve Young - 94
3 Time for an impeachment? --- ChuckInReno - 68
4 i truly believe there is a hunger --- memofromturner - 55
5 Instead we have "Show me the money!" CLINTON --- xrepub - 46
6 I was seriously so mad I could spit. --- RenaRF - 46
7 anything about electability --- danthrax - 44
8 that does not move to stop the dying --- teacherken - 43
9 50.7% is a mandate --- Trix - 43
10 Well, to be fair, --- I - 43
11 Whenever somebody brings up the religion angle, --- Tracker - 41
12 Yes, why find out the hard way --- theyrereal - 41
13 Great diary --- zenbowl - 41
14 This takes balls --- The Termite - 41
15 Thanks --- gregflynn - 41
16 The ULTIMATE IRONY may be that the REPUBS --- xrepub - 38
17 Webb gets it --- frostyinPA - 38
18 Urban legend? --- RichM - 38
19 I will pray for you all --- real world chick - 37
20 Oh god, it's Monday? What happened to Sunday? --- histopresto - 37
21 Daniel Ellsberg is no hero --- Eddie C - 37
22 asdf --- bonddad - 37
23 boo --- bsmcneil - 36
24 I don't simply want him gone. --- slackjawedlackey - 36
25 What a steaming pile of shit --- Mia Dolan - 36
26 How about before the TERRORIST ATTACK --- taraka das - 36
27 I am going to fill in the blanks... --- angrybird - 34
28 Indeed, it was not your jokes. --- Mehitabel9 - 34
29 I think this is why he didn't run --- ActivistGuy - 34
30 It's just so obvious --- RenaRF - 33
Top Mojo - everything included:
1 Tips/Flames? --- Dood Abides - 261
2 You are welcome - Here's my tip jar! --- Dem In VA - 221
3 Tip for that 58% mandate --- theyrereal - 215
4 Tip Jar --- gregflynn - 204
5 my posting is like Carroll's writing his column --- teacherken - 162
6 Tip jar (n/t) --- leevank - 162
7 Something a little different today... --- The Termite - 146
8 ...... --- kestrel9000 - 112
9 And even if we --- RenaRF - 94
10 thank you. --- Ca 48 Steve Young - 94
11 ok, so you know what our job is now :) --- OrangeClouds115 - 88
12 Tip jar --- AAbshier - 73
13 So, what do you think? --- kid oakland - 70
14 Repeating Right Wing smears is a big one n/t --- PatsBard - 70
15 Time for an impeachment? --- ChuckInReno - 68
16 i truly believe there is a hunger --- memofromturner - 55
17 Wow - I'm exhausted!... --- va dare - 54
18 Also --- BooMan23 - 54
19 Tips for a return of TU status would be great! --- celticshel - 54
20 On the war protest --- Big Tent Democrat - 53
21 Tip Jar. --- Hesiod - 52
22 Good diary --- NearlyNormal - 51
23 well... --- Turkana - 50
24 Flack jar n/t --- A Mad Mad World - 48
25 Not a Snark, mostly --- princess of puters - 47
26 Tip for Senator Webb --- DWG - 47
27 Instead we have "Show me the money!" CLINTON --- xrepub - 46
28 I was seriously so mad I could spit. --- RenaRF - 46
29 anything about electability --- danthrax - 44
30 50.7% is a mandate --- Trix - 43
Be sure to send YOUR top comment selections to:
topcomments (AT) gmail (DOT) com by no later than 9:30PM EST.
Please be sure to include your screen name so we can give you full credit for your nomination.