Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas to All...


On Monday, our local grocery store posted a sign outside inviting customers to help themselves to the remaining wreaths, tree boughs and pine cones that had not been sold. I took two wreaths, two bundles of boughs and one large pine cone and placed them out on the deck. The boughs were placed between the branches of the bare lilac tree and the wreaths hung on the wooden privacy screen.

Anvil Cloud published a post yesterday about peanut butter and birds (you really must see it) so I cut up some apple slices, covered them with peanut butter and seeds and stuck them with wooden skewers into the spruce, pine and cedar branches. The protective cover of the boughs and the temptation of peanut butter lured the shyest of my bird visitors to pose on the branches. I enjoyed a wonderful show outside my back door.

"Buttons"

When I turned my back, the little red squirrel ( Cheryl D has named the squirrel for me...Red Buttons, Buttons for short!) made off with the apple slices and hoarded them in his little home in the neighbour's yard.

It is the time of gift giving, of feasting and celebration. There are no more grateful recipients than these birds (and squirrels) who are living outdoors in very severe conditions.


How many are your works, O LORD!
In wisdom you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24

This Psalm is a song of creation, sometimes called Adam's song, a song sung outside the closed gates of the Garden of Eden from which he had been expelled. Jesus Christ came to remove the curse of sin and as we celebrate His coming we can rejoice in the salvation provided for mankind and the world.

Merry Christmas to family, friends, bloggers and all others who stop by here this day.

17 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:50 am GMT-5

    Aw, they're just too cute!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous8:19 am GMT-5

    That is so cool. Peanut Butter on apples, that is a must try trick. I made a visit to AnvilCloud's blog and everybody you must have a look. I'm so jealous!!

    Your little red squirrel certainly has made him/herself comfortable in your backyard. You are treating him well.
    I'm honoured that I get to name him
    THIEF comes to mind first.
    I have thought of RED BUTTONS (cause he is a cute as a button and red), FLICKER (cause I'm sure his tail flicks as he savors that peanut butter),
    RASCAL (cause he keeps helping himself to the birdfeeders) and SWEATPEA (cause he really is cute)

    But I think we should call him Red Buttons (Buttons for short). Now do I get visiting rights? lol


    MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ruth--What a GREAT idea--Christmas really can be for the birds, too.
    Actually, I love peanut butter on apples, also.

    ReplyDelete
  4. LOL at your squirrel Ruth!
    A very Merry Christmas to you and yours as well. :c)

    ReplyDelete
  5. And Merry Christmas to you Ruth. These pictures turned out great ... all framed like that, they looked like cards.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Merry Christmas Ruth!
    We have a lilac bush directly outside our kitchen window that holds our suet baskets and some feeders that we string with cranberries and poke halved tangerines & apple wedges into. Just like at your house - the squirrels get there before the birds do :-)
    I love all your photos of Dakota - he is gorgeous!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. LOL! Max makes that same "Who me?" look everytime he gets into trouble. Merry Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  8. And a wonderful Merry Christmas to you Ruth!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Gorgeous shots as always.The greenery makes for a perfect back-drop.Blessings at Christmas and throughout the New Year is my prayer for you.
    Blessings,Ruth

    ReplyDelete
  10. Merry Christmas, Ruth! Enjoy a glorious holiday!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ruth, a blessed and joyous Christmas to you and your family. Isn't it beautiful to see how God takes care of His critters in such harsh conditions? That is a great reminder of all that He does for us.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Merry Christmas, Ruth!! And the blessings of this season to you and yours...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fantastic photos. Merry Christmas Ruth

    ReplyDelete
  14. Those are nice Christmas presents for your birds and wildlife Ruth. Belated Merry Christmas to you.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ruth,

    This is a wonderful post. I loved what you did with the wreaths and boughs. The birds love shelter and food and you did a great job of capturing both the chickadees and the squirrels.

    I'm glad you had a wonderful Christmas. I'm way behind visiting but enjoyed catching up with you.

    Blessings,
    Mary

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for the ink to anvil-I'm going to give the whole peanut butter thing a try this weekend-hopefully I can resist eating the peanut butter before the birds get it.-I love peanut butter!

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.