Bird parts and Rachel Ray, I ain't. (and a bit of bragging)

Word of the Day:

moiety \MOY-uh-tee\, noun:

1. One of two equal parts; a half.
2. An indefinite part; a small portion or share.
3. One of two basic tribal subdivisions.

Most of my bird pics today were less than stellar, so here are some bird parts for your perusal:

For once, a male cardinal doesn't have his crest up. Ever watched a bird take the hull off a seed? It's a marvel of beak cracking and tongue maneuvering.

Downy BUTT!!!

Oh, dear...another house finch with conjunctivitis. In the past few months, all the finches I have seen with this disease have been females. Poor little guy. I hope he has the energy to get some immunity. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don't.

The only part of a mockingbird that is dainty is its foot.

I have been pretty sure that I was addicted to blogging for quite a while, but today solidified it. I was taking pictures of the food I was cooking.
Isabelle has been asking for a certain Hamburger Helper, and I gave in and bought some. I don't get it very often, since it is packed with enough sodium to salt half a beef, but every once in a while, it's nice to make something that's fast and easy.
Vegetarian warning: (Rachel and Pam)
Photo of beef cooking...just scroll down to the picture after this one:

Yummmmm...ground beef browning....

The meal of champions!

A favorite in our house is my baked pears. It is not anything fancy, but it gets the girls to eat fruit. I use sliced pears from a can, (packed in juice, NOT syrup...we really don't need any more sugar in our lives), butter and cinnamon and sugar. I cover it and nuke it for 2 1/2 minutes on high. It's gooooood.



Yet another reason Boomer is a dog worth adopting. Look at this.
"I wub you, Nelwee."
If you look closely, you can see snow melting on his face (he had just come in from a potty break).
Brag Alert!
My car has been parked for more than a week, because the heat went out and the weather lately is not safe to go out in without heat.
The car has also had problems with overheating and the climate controls on the dashboard. I realized that every time the car overheated, I was putting in water, but not anti-freeze. So I went out tonight with a flashlight and added anti-freeze and water. I turned the car on and fiddled with the controls and VIOLA (Geoff hates it when I say it that way).
Heat. And not just sort of warm heat. HOT HEAT.
I love it when I do something smart.
I went into the house (after a quick celebratory spin around the neighborhood) and told Geoff, expecting his praise and everlasting devotion. But I didn't get that. Turns out that he is so used to me being able to fix things and be generally handy about things, it was no surprise to him.
I just love that man.