Don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no baby birds!

Last spring, we had so many birds nesting on our porch, especially in the hanging fern.  I overwintered the fern in the house and then put it outside in a flower bed and there it sat all of March, April and part of May.  I was trying to deter Mama Bird from building a nest because I can't water the fern properly while they're in there and the fern suffers so I waited until the middle of May to plant that fern in the ground (because she had grown huge and was pot-bound) and get yet another hanging fern for the porch.  Not two weeks later, there was a nest in there with five tiny eggs!  So much for thinking their babymaking time was over.  What do I know??

The eggs hatched and I was so excited to have five tiny little robins!!!  I even took their picture and posted it on Facebook.  Cute little things.  I gently misted the fern and let them have their space.

Five days later, I came home to find my fern on the porch with a busted pot and the nest and the babies were gone.  I was heartbroken.  I like to think their Mama moved them after that rainy weekend we had but I'm pretty sure a predator got them.  Jumped in the pot, knocked it down and took the babies and the nest.  I was sick for days over it.  :(

I sat Fern Two out back where Fern One is planted.  I'm trying to save her with lots of water and shade.  She is looking fairly peaked. 

Fern Three joined our porch last week and sure enough, two days later, there was a nest in there.  Hardheaded little mama!

Not wanting to go through this again but wanting very much for this very determined mama robin to have her babies, I came up with what I hope will work.

I hung Fern Three on the patio and I created a decoy for the mama bird.  I had some artificial flowers I was saving to put on my Grandma's grave but I took them, tore them apart and arranged them in a hanging basket lined with a coco shell.  I placed the nest inside and hung it up.

Here's the nest nestled inside.

I think Grandma would be pleased.  :)  Stay tuned...

Oliver Farm Oil

A few weeks ago, Larry and I were watching the local news and they did a story about a Wilcox County couple who make oils on their farm, sunflower, peanut, pumpkin and pecan.  We wanted to try some!  I was going to order some from their website but when we visited our favorite little farmer's market last week, we discovered that they carried it!  We bought a bottle of the sunflower oil and I've been using it in my cooking and it's the best oil I've ever tried!  It's delicious and leaves your food full of flavor and the best part is it's unrefined and cold-pressed, which means the seeds are pressed with granite millstones or stainless steel presses to keep it cool to retain its flavor, nutritional content and fragrance.  They got it going on!  It's fabulous.

I used some this morning in our chocolate chip pancakes.  Yum yum!!!  I can't wait to try some of their gluten-free pecan flour!

Y'all get you some!  And if you're local, you can pick some up at the farmer's market at the corner of Smithfield Church and Houston Lake Road in Warner Robins.  We love that little stand!  We even took Stephanie there when she visited us last October.  They always have the freshest produce and the most delicious jams and preserves.  The orange soda is pretty sweet, too!

This little light of mine...

This vintage Westwood Industries floor lamp now lives with us!  We saw it online in a picture for an estate sale that had been going on since Thursday so while I washed the breakfast dishes this morning, Larry went over there to see if it was still there.  No way would it still be there, cool as it was and since Thursday, too??  But it was!  And half off!  We unplugged that Target lamp we had in the corner and plugged this one right on in!  Target lamp is now for sale if anybody wants it or it's going in our fall yard sale.  Out with the old new, in with the new old.  :)

We cleaned it up tonight with some Bar Keeper's Friend and steel wool and made that brass shine!

Here's a before and after.  It was pretty tarnished.

 

I think the shade is just gorgeous!  In my investigating the lamp and its history, I found out the shade is made from capiz shell, very similar to oyster shell.  Very pretty and luminous and perfect for a lamp!
 

Larry also picked up this cobalt blue swirl Indiana Glass vase for me, too!