MINING THE MIND

          The mind is just a bundle of thoughts. You are the owner of your thoughts.

   Mind versus the brain. Is there a difference? Or are they the same thing? What column would you put the following: under mind or brain?

      Walking, desire, need, eating, pointing, thirst, pain, loneliness, love, lifting, fear, joy, fight, flight.

The brain controls all movement of the body. It controls all the organs and muscles etc. The mind on the other hand has a mind of its own! 

Have a great day!

The City Cottager

 Friday, February 7,2025

Thought/quote for the day:

"As the Whole Person approach describes, it's important to remind yourself that you are in control. Nobody else will best tell you what thoughts you should or should not be thinking, so it is up to me to put in the work!"

A quote I also added to the book I am writing: Why am I who I am?

The City Cottager!

 Once again I am back! As I don't have any followers I have time to get my act together!!!

Time just slips away. I love to write but I just don't have my thoughts together to be consistent on my blog. I am not one to give up easily so I will try again, and again if necessary. The good news is my new computer does a spell check on my blog!! I guess the old one was just too old, This may be just the trick to get me going again! 

Here is a collage of my "little friends". Lucy is a Labradoodle she belongs to a dear friend of mine. Viva is my little girl and Perky is my feathered friend. I will be writing about them in future posts.

Be back soon I hope!

The day Mother Nature stopped by!

 It was a quiet Saturday morning in June of 2023. Viva and I had come in from the backyard and were getting ready for our morning walk. It was 8:30, the sun was out and there was no wind. As we were ready to go out the front door there was a loud, very loud CRASH out back. I went out the back door to see if I could tell where the noise came from. I could not believe my eyes as the picture shows a larg limb dropped from the tree and landed on my simple shed...CRASH!

My spirit was as crushed as my poor shed! Never having experienced this type of situation I called my insurance company. The agent was wonderful! I felt bad that I was feeling so sad at really a minor incident. So many difficult disasters around the world and I am feeling sad about my little problem. The agent shared she understood and I needed to be ok with my feelings as this was/is my personal "crash"!

It has been just about a year since this very large limb fell. I have removed all the broken pieces and have begun to move my exsisting plants around . 

To the left is a picture of my shady yard before the tree decided to give me more sun light! 

the shed is in the background. 

Below is the same view but looking like a hurricane passed through! The orginal 8x8 shed weather the fall and I have sinced made it usable. I had all the tree canopy cut off as it was difficult to tell how far the disease had spead.

I just love this tree and instructed the men to leave what you see in the picture, it contnues to give praise!

That Saturday morning I was overwhelmed. How was I ever going to find the energy to put the yard back together! No shade! The hot summer sun full blast on my yard and house!

I don't know how I do it, but I am doing it! I have rearange the stone 

walls and paths, dug up my existing sun plants, divided and replanted

them in new gardens. I am excited about the new adventure and am

making the tree the focal point of my back yard once again!

Below a more recent picture of the journey.

 Well as "they" say this is my story and that is that!

I still haven't found spell check and need to learn how to arrange my photos better. I am not a pro just someone out there sharing about simple living. No politics. No AI, obvious!

Keep it simple and keep looking up to the stars!

the City Cottager

I'm Back!

 Well here I am again! I'm like the elf on the self, you never know when I will show up again!

Oh my. To quote Katheren H. ( I think); life,life,life! Life feels good right now, of course a sip of wine which I have given up for three years doesn't hurt! As I go forward with my "woordiness" let me be clear that my heart is still a problem. Enough said on that. 

My neighborhood is host to a wonderful small elementary school. On March 2,2024 they held a 5K fun run. Now the last 5K I did was in 1996 and I don't think I had a heart problem but Sat. I said "self go for it". I can't say for sure but I think my time of 55min. was as good as any in the past. 

It was a fun time and I got to speak with a lot of wonderful, young people! I think I have forgotten all the energy children possess. Back in the day I was an elementary teacher and later a principal so I am surprised at how surprised I was at all the energy they showed. Just goes to show age does slow us down not only physically but mentally.  

I feel the world is a bit of a mess right now. My little "bubble" is peaceful and very simple. Everything outside my "bubble" seems to be going so very fast and with little purpose. The electronic world is taking over and soon we will not be able to know the truth about anything! The other element that is fast taking over is pharmaceuticals. The TV is full of advertisements about the medication that will sovle all our health problems. Life,life,life!

I am not sure what I want to share on my blog. I have many ideas in my head. Many thoughts about nature, chronic illness, heart failure, aphasia and my dog Viva!

Since January 2020 I have spent much time dealing with my heart issue. Doctors, proceedures and hospital visits. Now it is time to move on and live. But I don't want to forget about the journey of these last three years as it has shaped my views about life and how it is lived. I am also one of the very many elderly people who live on Soc.Sec. I was not bright enough, lucky enough or what ever enough to have money in the stock market! That too shapes my views on life and my journey. 

So I need to find spell check! When I do I will write again. I am going to try and discipline myself to write at least once a week! I hope someone will stumble upon my blog and find a good feeling and maybe some insight to life.....until the next time look up to the stars!

The City Cottager

Viva after the hunt!

 This is Viva. She was adopted 6 years ago after Tivo Le died from cancer. She looks like a Jack Russel terrier but I think she is more Rat Terrier. Jack Russel sounds better than Rat Terrier but the truth is she is too large to be a Jack. She was 8 weeks old when I rescued her from the local SPCA. Who ever had her, had her tail cropped. I would never do that to an animal but it is cute to see her wage the 4" tail and it is a good handle when she is doing something that she shouldn't be doing! She loves to sleep under the covers and cuddle! I love that. She also loves to hunt for moles, voles and cicada nymphs. She is allowed the freedom to dig almost any where she wants to with the exception of a very small garden I have. For the most part she respects the rules; she is a very good girl!

I am having a bit of trouble getting into writing my blog. I thought sharing a picture of Viva would be a good way to get started but something is missing in me. I will give it time and see if I can write again. In the meantime one foot in front of the other.  

 Hello from the City Cottager! Things have changed since I have been away! I hope I can figure out what is what on the blog. Here goes!

I have just turned 72 year' old. I feel very fortunate to have not only lived for 72 years but have had a wonderful life. Nothing fancy, just plain living day to day, enjoying the moments and the people that came my way. Now at 72 ,I find that I have heart failure. Hmmm. I guess my heart has been failing for a few years but my body let me know about it last Dec. That would be December 15, 2020. It is now 7 months later, Aug. 18,2021. I have lived through a variety of life experiences, some fun, some hard, some that make me laugh now and some that scare me; did I really do that? Life. What makes up life?

I am back on my blog because I have the need to quietly share my thoughts. Once you speak words they are lost in another's feelings. Using the written word gives others the chance to "hear" think and hopefully reflect on what I am actually sharing.

So I have begun! Over the next few days I will begin to share about my new life's journey; how it came to be and where I am now. 

Till then keep on turning the page.

The City Cottager starts Pot It Up 1-2-3!

The City Cottager At Market!

Oh where, oh where has the City Cottager been? I have been to the market to sell plants and things!

To the market? Yes to the market; the Raleigh flea market!

Life as we all know has many twists and turns on the road we travel. The last 7 plus years I have been working at a local garden center but that chapter in my life has ended. I love working with plants and people and have all this crazy plant information in my head so I started a very small plant business called Pot It Up 1-2-3! My first season started on April 1, 2017, yes April fools day! I love a good joke!

 I am a bit rusty with my writing but I hope now that I have dusted off my blog I will share more about life at the City Cottage and how it has changed. I have also learned how to use my Chrome book to download pictures!!! I bet it was always there, right under my finger tips and I just didn't see it. That is the way with me, stumbling around until I unearth something worthwhile.

So the journey continues!

Spring

Spring is here! Along with the spring rain. I have just finished writing/compiling a short pamphlet about native plants to attract birds and butterflies. It was a challenge to get it into booklet form but it was accomplished! I will take it to the printers this week! It will be my first written work published! I hope to continue with the pamphlet form to increase my knowledge and ability to share that knowledge in written form.
The wonderful journey continues! I hope to begin writing on my blog once again. See you soon?

Taking a winter rest!

As I sit at my desk counting and naming the birds that are coming to my feeder I am thinking I am going to take a rest from writing, not that anyone will notice! I may look to another form of writing or just move forward to another adventure. Not sure. If my computer would be easier to use with this blog I probably would not take a 'rest'. But it is very difficult to load a picture and these days my chromebook doesn't always want to start up. It is just very frustrating. I do love to write, I just need to find my form. As my dear father would say, "We'll see".

Tomato dreams!

Tomatoes! Oh I can not wait to see them grow once again in my yard! I just finished the last that I had put up from last summer! I had made them into sauce and froze them. They helped to add a very special flavor to the homemade soups I have been making to get me through the long cold winter days.

The tomatoes shown here are heirlooms of different varieties. I intend to be very simple with my tomatoes this summer. I want to focus on healthy, productive plants. I am researching what variety is best suited for my backyard climate. Once I decide on the varieties I will plant them in very large containers in full sun! I have some wonderful organic compost ready to fill these pots!

Oh how I yearn for spring. I miss the heat of the sun on my old bones and the exercise that digging in the soil gives me.
The journey continues!

Rooster Rescue

This is Fancy Pants. A Silver Laced Polish Hen.....oops I mean rooster! He was supposed to be a hen but turned out to be a rooster. We have had a love hate relationship since he started to declare himself a 'him'.
I have five hens living in a good size coop and 'play pen' but Fancy Pants had more needs than they could fulfill especially Evelyn who lost back fathers from his 'saddleing' her. Last June, 2014, he was kicked out of the hen house. Enough was enough. He not only was wearing out the girls he was attacking me! It is not good to bite the hand that feeds you! It is now January 2015 and Fancy Pants is doing just fine. I made him a 'man cave' that I put him into each night so he will be safe from night predators. As to the day time predators he seems to be big enough and tough enough that he is not bothered.
He goes to roost on the top of the girls playpen each night. It is about 6 feet high. Each night I go out to close up the girls in the coop and reach up and grab 'him' and take him to his 'man cave'. Tonight it was misty and cold. We had freezing rain the night before and today did not get above 32 degrees. There was street work being done in front of the house behind me. Perhaps all of this contributed to his stance on the 'playpen'. He was about a foot or so in from the edge so I was not able to just reach up and get him He was also standing looking a bit alert even though it was dark and usually he would be sleeping. I though, oh my I will need to get the ladder to reach him but then an idea popped into my head- try the 2x2 to push him to the edge of the pen so I could grab him. Well! Did I strike gold! He hopped onto the 2x2 and allowed me to bring it down with him on it where I could hold him and bring him to his 'man cave'! Rooster rescue done successfully!
Good night to all and to all a good night!

Northern Flicker visit

The Northern Flicker is a year round resident in North Carolina. It is a brown and white woodpecker with a red spot on the back of its neck, the nape. It has a very bold black mark above a speckled breast and the male has a black 'mustache'.

It has been a few years since I have seen them visit my yard. Yesterday as I was about to let my dog out into the backyard I saw two Northern Flickers ground feeding! Nice surprise! Tivo had to wait until they finished looking for food before I let her out. The Northern Flicker is the only woodpecker to habitually eat from the ground preferring ants and grubs and such. I watched as these two welcome visitors found and ate what appeared to be grubs from my yard. I wondered why I don't see them more often in my yard as they are here year round but it may be that in the winter I get the northern migrants. Regardless of where they come from and how long they stay they are a welcome sight!

Bird Feeders Continued

 I like to reuse anything that I can. I am not a big fan of oranges but at this time of year the Clementine orange is popular and I do enjoy them. They are small, easy to peal and sweet. The oranges are sold in a mesh bag. I knew the squirrels would have a blast chewing it apart but I thought I would give it a go as I had a suet cake but no suet cage. I was surprised that this bag hung out there for the birds for a few weeks. Then, yes the squirrel had a desire for suet cake! Yes he ate through the mesh in no time and had his cake too! The orange mesh was all that was left! I will not suggest this mesh as a possible suet cake holder.

The weather remains cold so I purchased more suet for the birds and was going to buy a cage to hold it but remembered I had some left over hardware wire in the shed. Once again I set out to reuse and make my own suet cage. This time I believe I have success!
It only took me a few minutes to cut the wire and fix the suet inside.

I hung the suet up next to the other bird feeder and was excited to see a Gold Finch in his winter colors come to visit! In fact I do believe a male and female Gold finch were the first visitors!

 

 

Bird Feeders

My Mother use to say if you are hungry enough you will eat it! The same goes for the birds; if they are hungry enough they will not only eat it, but eat from it! There are all types of bird feeders on the market and it is big business! They can cost from as little as $6 (pictured above) to $150 and up! The birds don't care what the feeder looks like. If your goal is to keep the squirrels out, well good luck with that! The money you spend on a fancy bird feeder could cover the additional seed you would buy to feed the birds and squirrels. Feeding both birds and squirrels will add a new dimension of enjoyment as the antics of the ingenious, flexible squirrel are fun to watch! I watched in amazement as a squirrel climbed the pole you see in the picture. The next day a different squirrel, perhaps a little chunkier than the one the day before, tried to climb the pole but after a foot up slipped back down the pole. He tried one more time then settled into eating what was on the ground. Very funny to watch. I guess the moral to that story is keep feeding them and they will get too fat to bother your feeders!

There are 7 types of feeders basically. They are as follows: globe, haven, hopper, platform, suet basket, tubes and window feeders. The most popular and most expensive is the 'haven' feeder. I would guess it gets its name from the idea that it is a safe place for small birds to eat as it keeps large birds of prey out with the metal cage. It also keeps the squirrels out of the food. It is a tube feeder with a metal cage around it. The cage limits the size of bird that can feed. In my area, Raleigh, NC, I would suggest black-oil sunflower seed and a quality mixed seed that would attract Nuthatch, Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Finches and Sparrows.

The 'hopper' and 'platform' feeders will attract the widest variety of birds. The feeder in the picture is not a 'hopper' as the feed drops continuously as it is eaten but it attracts a large variety of birds also. I have seen all the small birds use it along with Cardinals and a Red-bellied Woodpecker. In either the 'platform' or 'hopper' feeder black-oil sunflower and a good quality seed mix are good choices. The 'platform' would also handle some fruit for the fruit lovers of the air!

If anything is know about backyard birds it is that the American Gold Finch loves thistle! The thistle sock is best suited for these brightly colored birds but there are thistle tubes also. Go with your own preference.

I will leave the remaining feeders for the next post. I hope I have given you enough food for thought to hold you over to the next writing! I promise it will come soon!

The Birds are Back!

I have had the opportunity to see a lot of bird activity since I last wrote. I don't know where they go or why they go, probably because they can, but they are here now! This is who I have seen these last 2 weeks.

* Sharp-shinned Hawk, sitting on the fence, 7 A.M.
* Dark-eyed Junco, feeding on the ground around feeder, about 12 to 15 birds, 9:30 A.M.
* Purple Finch, at feeder, 10 A.M.
* Also all the regulars mentioned earlier

Bird Journaling

Oh where are the birds? I have food out. There is a source of water. Where are the birds? Is that something you find yourself saying; 'where are the birds?' I do. And that is one of the many reasons I journal about 'my' birds. If I don't take the time to write about their visits to the yard I forget how often they do come and the variety of species I have seen in my very own backyard! So I confess I am a bird watcher. I am also a keeper of a bird journal. I am not as faithful to my journal entries as I would like to be, but I do keep a journal that helps me keep up with the birds that visit my yard. I find that when I am too busy to journal, I am too busy to stop and look for the birds! I do not want to be too busy to stop and watch for the birds; they are nature. We are nature. Together we with the birds, the trees, the wind, the rain, the bugs, the everything put together are nature; we are the world around us.
Bird journals should not be confused with the scientific notes called 'field notes'. Bird journals are personal and should, in fact need to have the personal insights of the person jotting down what is seen. One would of course want to know what the date of the entry is including the year. Sometimes I forget to put the year and then when I go back to read over some of the entries I get a bit confused as to what year I am reading about! The time of day and the weather conditions are also important. Where you are is important. Is it your backyard? a park? a city street? Then of course what are the birds doing? Eating? Flying? Floating on the water? Fighting? Birds are very territorial.
Identify the bird! The most difficult task! What bird is it that you are watching? Some birds are easy to identify such as the red Cardinal or the yellow Gold Finch. Some are a bit more tricky such as the Sparrows! There are so many different species under the title Sparrow I am still trying to figure out these little guys and gals; who is who?
If you decide to journal do it your way. Don't worry about spelling or grammar. Draw a picture of the bird if it helps you. I often like to use pencil for my entries. Some people like a special pen. I like to write at the kitchen table in the morning with my cup of coffee. That is one of the best times to see the birds in action; the morning. Sometimes I am very reflective other times I simple jot down who came to visit. The gift of taking time to journal is the gift of sight and sound. When you take time to write about what you see and hear it actually causes you to truly 'see' and 'hear'. The journal will help you to become more observant. You will become more aware of the world around you. You will begin to understand the relationship of cause and effect more deeply. I would hope you would become more aware that we are the world around us. The 'we' meaning nature and all her beauties and us. And we are the most responsible for nature as we are at the top of the food chain; we have the ability to plan and think for the future and to change if we need to. We are a part of the world around us and this world does not belong to us.

Quiet!

It has been very quiet out back! No bird activity at the feeders and only a few sparrows spotted at the back of the yard. I am wondering why it is so quiet. The weather has been good; mild and no rain. The day I had all the activity at the feeder we had a good rain late morning. I am wondering if the weather is the connection to the quiet or did they eat all the "good stuff" from the feeders and have gone to another somewhere? Or perhaps they are coming later in the morning after I have left for work? I will just keep watching and buy some better bird seed!

Look! Over there!

Look! Over there! What? I don't see anything! If you are going to do any kind of bird watching you need a good pair of binoculars. Even if you are watching the birds at your feeder from your window a good pair of binoculars will help you to identify one feather friend from the other. It is great fun to get to know who is coming for dinner! You may even spot a rare bird!

You don't have to break the bank to get a good pair of binoculars for bird watching. However you should spend enough to get glass lenses that are slightly coated. You can tell if they are coated by holding the binoculars under fluorescent light. The lens should look purple or amber. If it looks clear or white it is not coated properly.
The power of the binoculars is written somewhere on the pair and is expressed with a number in front of an X. The number tells how many times the object will be magnified; example 7X means the object will be 7 times bigger in your field of vision. Usually 7x or 8x is enough for backyard birding.
The number after the x represents how much light is let in the binoculars. The more light, the larger the number, the better you will be able to see the image under low light conditions. The average is 30 or 35. The other number, usually below the x, represents the field of view for the image you are looking at or for! The larger the number, the larger the field of view which permits easier and quicker spotting. This number can be shown as degrees or width in feet when something is 1,000 yards away. Small numbers represent a narrower field for viewing which eliminates extraneous details but makes it more difficult for focusing. The novice would benefit from a wider field of vision.
Two other considerations when buying a pair of binoculars: weight and eyepiece comfort. Large binoculars can be heavy and cause you to shake after a few minutes which will leave you looking for the bird that got away! There are also eye piece options such as soft rubber around the lens. Whatever pair you choose be sure to test them at the store for a good, comfortable fit as a good pair will last a very long time and will bring you many wonderful birding outing even in your own backyard!

Backyard birding

Today I begin writing about birding in the backyard. As I begin this journey I keep in mind what I recently read about blogging: it is not about opinion but it is about viewing the world in a certain way and sharing that view with others. My view often centers around what is happening in my very own backyard. I am very fortunate to have a good size yard with a very large, old Oak tree which is inviting to the birds and a great source of shade for me in the summer!

Today I saw the following birds visit my simple plastic bird feeder:

 - a pair of Blue birds! The first sighting in my yard this season!

 - a pair of Brown-headed Nuthatch

 - several Tufted Titmouse

 - one female Red-bellied Woodpecker

 - several Carolina  Chickadees

 - a variety of Sparrows

 

I am preparing several workshops to be given at the garden center where I work. I will be using my blog to help me get my ideas together and share my thoughts with anyone who happens to pass by this way! May it be helpful to you and me!

 

As always the journey continues!