Beautiful Bird Nests Made From Gourds

In last year's August 18 post, "The Yadkin Yard is a Good Garden Yard - Part 2", we showed how well the gourds (among other plants) were growing all over the place.

So now after storing them during the winter, Farmer Lynn has made birdhouses out of a lot of them.

He sands the gourds smooth by hand with a medium sandpaper. Then he cuts a hole in them to scrape the seeds out and to  have a door for the future tenets. Then he hangs the gourds up and spray paints them with an outdoor clear paint.

They're just the coolest things!  The birds are really enjoying them.

Downstairs Cat is, of course, fascinated with this whole bird nest / bird activity process! From nest building by Farmer Lynn, and nest building by birds just outside his door and window. Spring brought new wonder to this curious little fellow...

Another of these is over in eastern NC at my daughter's (blogger TallGirl) house now -- I'll be going there soon and will check on any occupants!

Farmer Lynn hung up several of the bird houses around the north and east sides of the house.  They look nice and blend in with the natural area there. They get lots of welcome visitors. But the one that got the
the most interest was a bird so inspired by the gourd house design, it didn't wait for completion before it chose its gourd. A cracked gourd on the table Farmer Lynn was doing his gourd thing on. A wren built a nest and three baby birds was hatched, fed, raised, and flew from that gourd and it stayed on the table (much to the delight and interest of Downstairs Cat, whose window onto the baby birds is on the upper left of this picture!) Farmer Lynn didn't want to tear up the nest or move it when he spotted it, so he  "worked around" it until the family was out...

Pets and Vets and Animal Orgs

This post is about Nimbus, the 15-year-old kitty cat, about his vet, the Animal Ark in Elkin NC, and about the Yadkin County Humane Society and Yadkin County Animal Shelter.

We had to say farewell to Nimbus.  His arthritis had gotten too bad and then he developed a thyroid tumor and his heart began to give out.  He was still a very sweet loving kitty, but this was all too much and it was finally very clearly  t-i-m-e.  He was no longer responding at all to the vet's medicines.  If you live in or near Yadkin County, know that the Animal Ark in Elkin is the place to go for your house and farm animals.  They are just wonderful there.  They let me stay with Nimbus and kiss on him until his heart stopped beating.  He was a great, great companion kitty and is and will be missed terribly.  The other cat in our house, the feral cat Shadow, can't figure out how to act without Nimbus around to interact with.  She's trying hard to let herself get close to us in response to his absence.  This could be a turning point for her.  You can see her trying hard not to be so afraid, on the other hand it's part of her, being feral.  I've had her for almost ten years now, in the house but definitely still feral. That part will be interesting as it develops (or doesn't develop).

Nimbus Alyosius

The Animal Ark staff 

and two of their other patients. 

We are currently fostering Farmer Lynn's older son's almost-8-months-old kitten, Prince. Five is enough total mammals around here for me!  So although we'll probably end up with an additional cat (or dog), I always do, I'm not ready yet.

The local humane society is having a Pet Memorial Balloon Release on June 9.  I think that would help me to do that.  It would also sneak me in sideways at meeting the area animal folks. 



In addition, the Shelter is having an event at the end of this month -- 

  Whiskers & Wine 2013 is a Summer Social Event to raise money for the Yadkin County Animal Shelter in Yadkin County, North Carolina. This event will be held on Friday, August 30, 2013 from 6:00p to 10:30p at THE STUDIO located at the beautiful Hanover Park Vineyard in Yadkinville, NC. Make plans now to attend this spectacular event. Come and enjoy great food, great wine, live music, dancing, fabulous silent auction items and door prizes. For more information, please contact Alice Singh at 336.406.0965. Tickets will be limited, so please call for your tickets now.

Animal organizations, especially the rescue orgs, are near and dear to my heart.  My daughter works for the Humane Society of Eastern Carolina, a wonderful no-kill shelter.  I have not yet "gotten into" the orgs here in Yadkin County (other than to follow them on Facebook!), but here is some information on them.  Both the Humane Society and the Shelter have adoptable animals and hard workers.  I'm sure they would all love donations, volunteers, fostering and adopting folks.  

Yadkin County Humane Society,
Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yadkin-County-Humane-Society 
Adopt-a-Pet at http://www.adoptapet.com/adoption_rescue/72112.html 

Yadkin County is rural – rabies is more prevalent, and fewer companion animals are vaccinated and altered than in more urban areas. In order to combat these problems, we work diligently to see that low-cost spay/neuter and rabies clinics are available, and our members provide foster care to animals that would otherwise be euthanized until they can be adopted into loving, responsible homes. YCHS is a volunteer organization. We do not have a shelter or office space. All animals available for adoption are in foster homes with our members. Since we do not have staff or a building, our administrative costs are very low. This means more of the funds raised and donated go to the care of the animals. Hundreds of dogs and cats are rescued and adopted through Yadkin County Humane Society each year. Adoptable animals may stay in foster care with us weeks, months, even years before they find their forever home. With your help, through adopting, fostering, and donations, more animals can be saved.

Their phone# is (336) 463-4990.

Yadkin County has Animal Shelter & Control Services as part of its county government. Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yadkin-County-Animal-Shelter
Petfinder at http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NC451.html

The Animal Control Section is responsible for enforcing State Laws and County ordinances pertaining to animals. The primary goals of the Animal Control Program are to:- Enforce animal control laws- Provide informational services to the public concerning animal control- Prevent the spread of Rabies

Animal Control is located at 1149 Landfill Rd in Yadkinville and their phone# is (336) 677-2500. The Animal Shelter has pets ready for adoption. The shelter is located at 1027 Speaks Street, in Yadkinville, NC, and is open to the public Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 am to 4 pm, Tuesday and Thursday from 12 noon to 5 pm as well as Saturday from 10 am to 12 noon. Their phone#s are (336) 677-2500 and (336) 849-7788.

Archetypes

One of the blogs that I follow is Thistlewood Farms. KariAnne took the quiz at ArchetypeMe.com and said she learned a lot about herself.  I've taken personality quizes over the years, most notably the Myers-Briggs one. I took it twice and was an ISFJ both times, Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging, which I agreed with after reading all about it.  That ones helps you to see that there are lots of different types of people, different from you, that see the world differently and interact with it differently, and that does not make them wrong or dumb or idiots, haha, just different from you and your approach to things.  If that sentence sounds odd to you, take that test online and you'll understand better.  

Anyway, back to KariAnne.  She's offering a sweepstakes entry for taking the Archetype quiz, which I did, telling the results on her blog, which I did, and blog about it, which is what this is!  I'm happy to do that because I did truly enjoy the Archetype quiz, like the results (haha, that's always important, huh?), and because I really like her blog, thistlewoodfarms.com, and respect her ideas.  I have learned a lot about doing things I like to do from reading her blog.  The Archetype quiz is very short, doesn't take any time at all, and is interesting.  So if you want an entry in her sweepstakes, go to her blog and read more about it. 

On the Archetype quiz site, they define Archetype as "a pattern of behavior. It explains who you are and how you engage with the world around you."  Their results say that I am 37% Caregiver, 23% Intellectual, 20% Spiritual, and the remaining 20% is comprised of seven other archetypes that I haven't looked into yet but plan to.  Here's my quiz result ---

There is a whole huge further dimension to Archetype, of course.  They'll get you a website and fill it with things that people with your "types" would like.  Also you can move things there that interest you.  This part is optional, something that you choose or not.  So far I chose that, but we'll see says skeptical me.  Have no idea why I'm skeptical because the rest of the site so far is very on-target.  Still, we'll see, haha.  

I do think it's important to realize that others do not learn things in the same manner as you/I do, do not approach problems the same way, do not care about the same things, care about completely different things!  What a boring world it would be if we were all the same.  Thanks KariAnne at Thistlewood Farms for this reminder.

•