Busy Day!

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and life has gotten back to normal, this has been a week of catching up and running errands. Today has been a busy day doing laundry and cleaning house, two things I got behind on after the holiday weekend because I was just worn out and honestly didn't feel like dealing with it. But I got busy first thing this morning and by lunch time got a lot done. It was nice to be able to sit down and not feel guilty!
The weather has definitely gotten cooler here. Monday it rained all day and was chilly, Tuesday it was overcast, misty, breezy and chilly. We've been so spoiled with the warm, sunny days and mild morning temperatures, but it sure is a shock when you wake up and it's in the 20's! Today has been a nice day though. In the low 60's and the sun is out. No complaints for such a pretty December day.
I got my bird feeders up last week and the birds have finally started coming to them. I've seen some Black-capped Chickadees and several Tufted Titmice, and it's funny to watch them taking turns grabbing what they can and then flying off.

So far, the squirrels haven't found them, but if I don't get the squirrel guards up they'll empty the feeders in no time. Last spring I had a raccoon that would actually pull the bird feeder out of the tree and in the morning I would find it halfway across the yard, emptied. I haven't seen any raccoons in a while, so maybe they've moved on!
When we rented this house last March, one of the things I loved was the woods behind the house. Most of the trees I recognized, but there was one I didn't. A couple weeks ago my husband and I noticed some squirrels in the top of the tree eating something and as we started looking closer at the tree, it had acorns in it, but didn't have the typical, lobed oak leaves I was used to seeing. So I took a small branch inside with me and got on the internet. It only took a few minutes, but I found it and my 'mystery' tree is a Southern Live Oak, very common in this part of the South and the acorns much loved by our resident squirrels!

I like to know all the trees around me, so I don't mind doing a bit of sleuthing to identify them and see if they were used for medicinal purposes in any way, or maybe they were used in other ways. I do have one Eastern Redbud tree just over the fence in the back yard and I'm really looking forward to seeing it bloom in the spring. The blossoms are a beautiful pinkish-red, some are even lavender in color, and come out on the bark first, followed by heart-shaped leaves. This tree was a favorite of Thomas Jefferson, who had many planted at his home and Native Americans ate the Redbud blossoms both raw and boiled, and ate roasted seeds. I do know one thing, if I had my own yard, there would be quite a few of these trees planted because they're so gorgeous!

Eastern Redbud Tree

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Well, that's about all I have for now. The dryer just went off so I need to go fold some clothes and get started on some bread. 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and thanks for stopping by!


This post is part of the "On My Mind" feature at Down To Earth.