Of owls, crows, moms, sons, and mothers-in-law

I am very excited to share that a little gray Eastern Screech Owl has succeed in evicting the squirrels from "his" house and has moved in him(her)self. Hooray! I"m having so much fun watching it through my binoculars as it peers out its front door. It's only been there for four days, but I hope it's already hung up pictures, placed all the furniture to it's liking and feels at home.


My yard has also recently become home to a "murder" of crows. Smart birds, those crows. I often put out raw peanuts for the squirrels, and the crows have now taken to following the squirrels as they bury the peanuts. The crows then dig up the peanuts and rebury them where they want them. All done, of course, very caw-tiously.


I'm also following the habits of a small (for now) family of bunny rabbits. I saw Mom, Peter and Flopsy out hopping around yesterday afternoon. (No wonder the owl has moved into the neighborhood!)


March was spent with family. I visited Bob's mom and sister in Tampa for a week in early March. Both are in great shape and happy with their day-to-day lives. They love visiting flea markets and walking on the beach. I also spent a week in Pensacola with my mom and Brenda. Cindy joined me there for Mom's birthday and we had a absolutely wonderful time with several of Mom's friends at Bonefish Grill for a birthday dinner.

My one and only usually terrific son came for a quick visit with his girlfriend last weekend. What wonderful people they both are! They ran a half-marathon through the tornado debris in downtown Atlanta. I love, love, love having him sleeping under my roof. I don't think that feeling will ever go away.

Spring is in full bloom in northern Georgia. Here is a picture of the Weeping Cherry tree just off my back deck. All of us who have lived through the drought of the past year are thrilled that it has been raining the past few days.

The white dogwoods in the front yeard are in full bloom; the later blooming pink dogwoods are just starting to flower.

Beautiful!

I end with a special prayer for Betsy and her loving husband Kevin. He is in ICU after a horrific bicycle/car accident. I say a prayer for him and all his care-givers many times a day!