Author Archives: lindalouslife

This is for the birds

It has been a busy spring! We’ve seen more nesting birds than we usually do. One of the things I love about The Cabin is that we have bluebirds here. Bluebirds like open spaces, and this is the first home we’ve had with enough space to attract them. We’ve got several bluebird houses and a pair selected a different house to nest in. We got to listen to the babies when they hatched and see mom and dad flying in and out as they cared for them. We even got a few glimpses at the babies before they flew away.

Peeking at the world.

I’ve always liked wrens; their little flipped up tails give them a sassy vibe, and I’m all about sassy. This year, wrens have built a nest in the rafters of our carport. While we haven’t located the nest, the top of a nearby fence post has become a favorite place for mom and dad to perch. I’m thoroughly enjoying the impromptu serenades throughout the day.

Watching the world go by.
Singing.

Some birds of unknown species build a nest on one of our downspouts every year. Kenn says they’re barn swallows, but I disagree. Barn swallows don’t build typical nests and this nest is nothing if not typical. Whatever type they are, I’m not sure if they’ve ever successfully raised babies. It’s quite possible that they have; they location of the nest makes it difficult to see so we don’t see the parents flying in and out like we might if it were in a different location.

We’ve also seen brown thrashers hanging around the shrubs near the deck so I suspect there is another nest we haven’t seen. I’m going to be replacing most of our birdhouses over the next few months with varieties that are a little easier to clean out. Hopefully, we be able to see even more families next year!

Several years ago, Kenn surprised me with the gift of having the yard at our previous house certified as a wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation. He had to jump through several hoops including providing a diagram of our yard including the plants, food, and water sources available for wildlife. I proudly displayed the certification sign in our yard. All of this years bird watching reminded me that I need to get our current yard certified. After all, we have four acres of land, with somewhere between two to three of those acres being wooded. So, I went online and found out that the process has gotten a lot easier; I just answered a few questions, paid my fee, and boom! Done. Now, I just have to wait for my new sign to come in.

Are you a bird watcher?

Pavlov’s cats

Most of us are familiar with Pavlov’s dogs. In short, Ivan Pavlov, who was studying digestive processes, would ring a bell and present dogs with food. He soon realized that the dogs would begin salivating when the bell rang, even if no food was present. This is what became known as classical conditioning and helped develop the school of behavioral psychology.

A few months ago, I realized I have accidentally trained our cats similarly, even though no food is involved. We have two Ring devices: our front doorbell, and motion-activated floodlight which covers our carport and back steps. I have the Ring app on my phone and have different alert tones assigned to each device so I’ll know which one I need to check when a notification sounds. The cats have learned that when the tone for the carport sounds, it is frequently followed by someone coming to the front door. It’s funny to watch them. When the carport alert sounds, they either run for the door and look out the windows in the sidelight to see who’s coming or just sit up and look at the front door. Actually, I’m pretty impressed that they put all of this together on their own.

On another note, I found myself in need of Mark Petruska’s (as yet non-existent) cat scratcher business this weekend. As the owners of multiple cats, we have a variety of cat scratchers and cat trees scattered around the house. When the scratchers wear out, we generally buy a new one. At one point, we bought sisal with plans to just repair the scratcher. Well, I have no idea where the sisal went, and we never did repair that scratching post. When I was vacuuming last week, I found a mystery substance on the floor. I soon determined that the cats had scratched through the rope on the scratching post and were now in the process of destroying the cardboard tube that functions as the base of the scratcher. I assembled the replacement cat tree over the weekend, a process which required a lot of feline “assistance.”

The shredded scratching post.
Bear had to get in the cubby as soon as I finished it.
Roxie had to try out the new scratching posts while I was still working on them.
More progress on the cat tree, and I exchanged Bear for Roxie.
All finished. Bear and Roxie were exhausted from all that work.

I hereby pinky swear that next time, I will repair the scratching post, not replace the whole cat tree/scratcher.

What behaviors have your pets learned without training?

Happy Star Wars Day!

I wear this shirt once a year and post it on social media for the sole purpose of getting my adult sons to roll their eyes. This year, I’m sharing it with y’all, too. (Lucky you!🤣)

Even our church got into things this year. (Big shout out to the lady wearing the bedazzled R2-D2 shirt.)

May the 4th be with you!

Linda Lou’s Library: Lindsay Buroker

Urban fantasy is one of my favorite genres and Lindsay Buroker has quickly become one of my favorite urban fantasy authors. One of the things I most enjoy about Lindsay’s books are that her heroines are not the typical urban fantasy heroines. (Her stories also have enough romantic elements to please my romantic heart.)

The series that introduced me to Lindsay is Death Before Dragons. At first glance, Val Thorvald, the heroine of the series, appears to be very much the typical UF heroine. Why? Well, Val is tall, blonde, wears a lot of leather, and is good with both guns and bladed weapons. How is she not the standard heroine? Val is sixty years old. Admittedly, she’s half-elven so she looks thirty, but still. She’s also divorced and a reluctant absentee mom. (Val is an assassin for the government; when magical bad guys hurt people, Val is in charge of making sure they never do so again. She stays away from her daughter to protect her from possible fallout from her job.) The hero of the series is Lord Zavryd’nokquetal, a dragon. (Dragons can take human form.) Dragons are powerful and arrogant and Lord Zavryd has both traits in spades. When Val and Lord Zavryd are forced to work together, the process is anything but smooth. Oh, I almost forgot – Val also has a magical tiger.

Image from Amazon.com

There are nine books in the Death Before Dragons series:

  • Sinister Magic
  • Battle Bond
  • Tangled Truths
  • Elven Doom
  • False Security
  • Storm Forged
  • Secrets of the Sword I
  • Secrets of the Sword II
  • Secrets of the Sword III

While Val and Zav’s story wraps up with the of the Death Before Dragons series, the storyline continues in the Legacy of Magic series. While Val and Zav make occasional appearances, Matti Puletasi step into the role of heroine. Of all of the heroines in the three interconnected series that make up this storyline, Matti is my favorite. Matti is short, curvy, rides a motorcycle, and refurbishes homes for a living. She’s also half-dwarven and carries a magical dwarven war hammer. The role of hero is taken over by Sarrlevi, an egotistical elven assassin. (As a big fan of Zevran Arainai, the elven assassin in the Dragon Age Origins video game, I support this choice of hero. In fact, in my head, Sarrlevi looks a lot like Zevran.)

Zevran Arainai, Dragon Age Origins

The series starts with Matti being framed for murder and Sarrlevi being the only person seemingly interested in helping her. As the series moves on, our intrepid hero and heroine move from one crisis to another – many of which revolve around Matti’s dwarven mother; the mother Matti long thought dead.

Image from Amazon.com

There are eight books in the Legacy of Magic series:

  • Hammered
  • Betrayed
  • Trolled
  • Tested
  • Wrenched
  • Fused
  • Wanted
  • Cursed

After the events of the Legacy of Magic series, the storyline concludes in the Tracking Trouble series. Heroine Arwen Forester is a socially awkward introvert; she’s also an archer, tracker, and forager. Much to Arwen’s dismay, she is also half dark elf, and is always in danger of being found and captured by her mother’s people. Arwen puts her skills to the test to track, rescue, and befriend the hero, genetically engineered half-dragon super soldier, Azerdash Starblade. (With a name like that, he has to be the hero.)

Image from Amazon.com

There are five books in the Tracking Trouble series:

  • Marked by Magic
  • Bound by Blood
  • Driven by Destiny
  • Pursued by Peril
  • Tested by Temptation

If you enjoy urban fantasy, I highly recommend these books. There’s a lot of action and so many wonderful secondary characters. I enjoy the fact that the characters introduced in earlier books continue to make appearances throughout the series.

Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think? If you like urban fantasy, who is your favorite author?

Friday Funnies

Why?

I recently discovered that I have worn through the sole on my right bedroom slipper. I have no idea how or why. I’ve even checked my other shoes and none of them show the same wear pattern. I’m not a morning person, so I’m pretty sure I’m not pirouetting  my way through the house in the mornings. Or am I?🤔🩰