Tweet, Tweet!

No, I'm not talking about the 140 character or less posting, or update on Twitter.  I'm talking about the sounds of the birds that are twitter-patted and excited about the warm weather, building their nests, and mating.  As I was cleaning out a patch of garden yesterday, the sounds of the birds struck me, and made me smile even more.  To me, the sounds of birds herald spring, and this spring has come earlier than usual, with record 80+ degree weather here in the Boston area in March! March is the time of year I start to watch for my favorite bird, the Eastern Blue Bird. 

If you want to do something nice for the birds, and encourage them to come to your yard, why not put out some nesting material for them and help them along.  Nesting material can be as simple as grasses or material cleaned out of the flower beds, thread, string, dryer lint, bits of yarn, etc.   http://alacartegreen.blogspot.com/2010/04/for-birds.html

For the Birds

Do you ever sit and listen to the birds?  Or watch them flit to and fro?  I always think of the movie Bambi at this time of year, because in the movie, they say that the birds are "twitter-patted".  Little did Disney know that the word "Twitter" would one day have a whole new meaning!   I love the word twitter-patted because to me it means that spring is finally here; the birds zoom about, sing their lovely twittery songs as they try to attract a mate, and busy themselves making their nests.  If you watch closely enough, you will see them collecting nesting materials, grasses, leaves, twigs, and may be lucky enough to see the nest being built.

If you'd like to help the birds with their spring rituals and provide some nesting materials, you can use a mesh-type bag like an mesh onion bag or mesh bag from around a turkey.  You can stuff it with extra thread clippings from a sewing project, scraps of material, yarn,  dryer lint, hair from a hairbrush, used dental floss, etc.  Mount the bag on a tree or fencepost, and watch the birds use the recycled "bag-o-nesting" materials.  Your feathered friends will appreciate it, grace your yard with their presence and songs, and help to keep the insect population in your yard down naturally without chemicals.     

Green Gardening

Ahhh spring, and gardening...I love to spend time in my gardens, both my flower gardens and vegetable garden.  I get such pleasure from looking at the flowers, and later on, eating the fresh, organically grown veggies.  But as any gardener will tell you, weeds also come with the territory.  I spend a lot of time weeding instead of pouring toxic chemicals on my lawn and flower beds.  One of my favorite tools is my weeder, and that's just how I get the dandelions :)  One at a time, a few a day, green babysteps!  Try it!!  Weeding can actually be therapeutic if you think of it that way instead of drudgery...it's a time to reflect and listen to the birds, and the wind, and savor being outside in nature :)   http://www.amazon.com/Ames-True-Temper-Weeder-1983800/dp/B00004S1ZK/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=garden&qid=1272338528&sr=1-15

Happy 40th Earth Day!

What will you do to celebrate Earth Day?  You could take a walk in a park to enjoy the green-ness around you, sit still, watch and listen to the birds, do a craft of recycled materials, pledge to use only green cleaning products, choose an Earth-friendly product next time you shop, recycle everything you can, catch your rainwater and use for your garden, compost, turn off all unused gadgets, turn off the lights, switch to CFL bulbs (and recycle them properly when done), change to LED lights, the list goes on!  Whatever you choose to do will be one small green babystep in the right direction, and if we all make those babysteps it will add up big for ourselves and planet.  Enjoy the day!