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I have to dance around the house every time this song comes on Pandora.

Fun

In case you need a good laugh...

88,000 and counting

With consistently high rankings for dependability, I'm proud to own a Toyota.  But after signing over our firstborn for the cost of windshield wipers, transmission fluid, filter, alternator & new tires, this zippy car better last me at least another 88,000 miles.  Next up: taking her to a body shop to review the paint chips on the hood that are slowing show signs of light rust.  Yikes.

(A very dirty shot of the girl before our epic honeymoon bike trip.  And I'm talking about the car, not myself.  I was still clean in this picture.  Amazingly.)

*Disclaimer: She is nine years old.  I should cut her a bit of slack.  With only a catalytic converter replacement prior to this makeover, she's doing pretty damn well.  Knock on wood

Circle of life

It never occurred to me a plethora of bird feeders would attract predators.  (Sometimes I'm in denial about the circle of life)  Minutes after submitting my posting below, I looked out the window to see a pigeon-sized bird eating something on a branch & acting quite differently than the pigeons that usually invade our trees.  With the binoculars & zoom lens, we realized a hawk had most likely turned one of our regular small bird visitors into an early dinner.  The occasional tiny feather dropping from the tree was another pretty good clue it was a bird meal & not a rodent meal.  (I'm really hoping it wasn't our resident Black-Capped Chickadee)  Looking through our bird book, we narrowed it down to Cooper's Hawk or Sharp-Skinned Hawk:

In a previous life...

I think I might have been an Ornithologist.  I have a deep-rooted love of birds.  Don't ask - I have no idea.  Then again, I have a deep-rooted love of all animals.  If you don't believe me, ask my parents about their unspoken distress when I told them I wanted to go into law school.  For animal rights.  (Don't worry, Mom & Dad, it was a phase)

With our new camera - the Olympus E-PL5 (a Christmas treat to ourselves, mostly keeping in mind our upcoming Ireland trip) - I've been having a lot of fun capturing activity at our multiple bird feeders (I did spring for a zoom lens when it was on sale).

A well-used & much appreciated Christmas gift from the in-laws (if you look closely, you'll notice the springs which pull the well-placed metal leaves over the openings to prevent heavier critters, such as squirrels, from scaring away the birds & eating all the food):

Our My friend, the squirrel (whom drives the dogs nuts):

Our resident Black Capped Chickadee - a very bold, opinionated, loud-mouthed little thing.  It's always yelling at me when I'm filling the feeders & doesn't mind eating while I'm standing three feet away.

Don't mind the blur on the right side of the picture - that may or may not be a reflection of my pink & red pajama pants on the window while I took the picture.