My Amaryllis are Blooming!

Lately I've had little time to garden. Fortunately amaryllis need little care. I trim the spent blooms and water when I get around to it. They are the perfect Spring Blooming Perennial Flower.

Placement of Bluebird Boxes

When it comes to houses, “one size fits all” doesn’t work any
better for birds than it does for people. When you look through books and catalogs you will see that there are birdhouses of all shapes and sizes. Some have perches and some without. They can
be made from wood, recycled paper and plastic containers, gourds, pottery, metal, and even concrete.

There are more than two dozen North American birds that routinely nest in bird houses. The type of birdhouse and the location will determine what type of bird, if any, will make use of your birdhouse.

The Eastern Bluebird is my favorite bird. They place their nest in a birdhouse or an abandoned woodpecker hole anywhere from 3 to 20 feet off the ground. They compete with house sparrows and starlings for the best nesting sites. Placing the birdhouse on a fence post or tree stump between 4 and 5 feet high will discourage the house sparrows and make it easier for you to
monitor. A smaller hole, an inch and a half in diameter will discourage the starlings. Discourage the nest raiders by using a metal pole or mounting a predator guard.

A well placed bluebird box will attract a mated pair. It may take a year or two but once they
settle in they will be back year after year.

Welcome Sign and Bluebirds

Spring is right around the corner (here in South Carolina it has already arrived.) And right on the heels of the warmer weather are the birds. If you left your Birdhouses out all winter you need to make sure they are ready for occupancy. Some birds will take an old nest and reinforce it, but like people, most birds don’t want to move into a mess. When I look for a new home, it doesn’t have to be new but it better be clean.

I cleaned out my Bluebird Boxes last fall, but I’m keeping a close eye on them. The sparrows are back in town and they’ll move in in a heartbeat. Until the Bluebirds arrive I’ll be evicting the squatters.

I refuse to rent my houses out to Sparrows.

The Bluebirds will be arriving in a couple of weeks. Once they do I’ll be flipping the Vacancy
sign over.

They are awesome tenants. (Now if I could get them to pay the rent…)

South Carolina Shorebirds

The South Carolina shores are home to a wide variety of birds. The sea gulls follow the shrimp boats as they troll the waters, and can be seen along the shores searching for crustaceans washed up with the tide. While the sea gulls are a common site along the shore they are not considered shorebirds.

Shorebirds are waders. Most have small bodies with long, thin legs for wading. They inhabit the coastal waters, wetlands, interior grasslands and the arctic tundra.

Shorebirds belong to the avian order Charadriiformes. Within the order there are numerous families and species.

Most have small bodies with long, thin legs for wading. They have three unwebbed toes that point forward with a hind toe that is reduced or absent.

They inhabit the coastal waters, wetlands, interior grasslands and the arctic tundra.

The coast of South Carolina is 187 miles in length but when you add the islands, bays, and estuaries, the total shoreline measures over 3,000 miles. It is home for many beautiful and fascinating birds.

Shorebirds begin nesting in early April. Endangered birds such as the American oystercatcher and the least tern build their nests on beachfronts, in mounds of shells, or in the marsh, well above the high-tide line.

Most shorebirds are migratory birds. They will travel thousands of miles between their nesting grounds and their wintering grounds. The shores of South Carolina are a frequent rest stop for migrating shorebirds.

The number of shorebirds has declined over the years. Loss of suitable nesting habitat appears to be the leading cause. There is also an increase in the number of egg stealing predators. If disturbed by humans, a shorebird will abandon its nest.

Learn How to Say No

Who needs sleep? Well, I do and that's part of the problem. If I didn't need to sleep I could write hundreds of articles, volunteer at the library, bake cookies for my Bible study group, plan lessons that rock, call parents every time their child sneezes, (that's code for acting up in class)
maintain a clean house, and still have time to relax with a good book. But I need to sleep. I like to be busy but when busy crosses over to crazy I lose control, and quality and productivity suffers.

I love to write. It started out as a dare but soon evolved into a passion. I would gladly sit and write all day. I even considered giving up my career andfollowing my bliss. It was temping but
it would take years to get my online writing to the point where it could replace my paycheck. I had to find a way to do both. The key was to learn how to set priorities and learn how to say no.

Finding a balance between one’s passions and one’s responsibilities is not easy. Setting priorities is the first step, learning how to say no is the second. Children usually learn to say no by the age two. "NO!" is the hallmark of the terrible twos.

The transition from "no" to agreeable children and then people pleasing adults is encouraged, even lauded. We learn to say yes or at the very least soften the no with excuses and explanations. Even with legitimate excuses we are often fraught with guilt.

Is saying no a selfish act?

Sometimes, but there comes a time when saying no is the right thing to do. I will always be an agreeable adult. There will be times when I want to say no but will end up saying yes. That's not going to change. When a new teacher comes to me for help with their grade book or wants help
building an interactive lesson, I'm not going to say no. It's a part of my job and sharing my expertise is important.

Again, it’s a matter of setting priorities. The dust bunnies under the bed will grow into tigers before I get around to vacuuming, and I no longer attend three writinggroups a month. Reading four books a week is a thing of the past. I’ll read one and listen to another while cleaning or cooking.

Do you say yes when you want to say no, grumble at the lack of time to do what you really want to do? Give it some thought. Saying no is not that hard. It just takes practice.

How to Write a Book Review

A Book Review is not a retelling or synopsis of the story. The author has already told the story. He does not want or need a reviewer to do it again. The book review should include what type of book it is, a brief description of the story, its purpose, and an analysis. It is a reaction paper. What was the author's goal and how well did he succeed?

When I sit down to Write a Book Review, there are several questions I keep in mind. I rarely answer all of them in a single book review, but they give me a framework to build upon.

What type of book it is? Mystery? Suspense? Si-fi?

Who was the main character?

What was the story about?

Were the characters believable? Did they have depth or were they one dimensional?

Did you like the book? Did it fulfill your expectations?

Would you recommend the book?

Who would you not recommend the book to?

While you need to tell the readers what the book was about, a book review does not retell the story. Nothing is more frustrating than to read a review that gives away the ending.

Stick to genres that you normally read. If you normally read romance or suspense and look at fantasy with suspicion, don't pick up a fantasy book to review. It’s not fair to the author or the readers of fantasy fiction.

Evaluate the book, not the author. If you are reviewing the latest book released by your favorite author and the book is not up to par with past books, be honest. You're not doing the author any favors by gushing over a mediocre book. When led to believe the book is phenomenal and it’s not, the disappointment is keen. Some readers will hesitate before picking up another book written by that author.

When I started writing online, I stopped writing reviews for the local paper. Today I post my reviews on one of my blogs, RedGage or build a lens about the book on Squidoo.. I only have so much time to read. Instead of reading a book an editor told me to read, I can read what I want. As a consequence, most of my book reviews are positive. If the book doesn't catch my interest in the first chapter, I quit reading it. I can't write a review on a book I haven't read.

The Color Green

The vegetation that covers much of our planet is green due to chlorophyll. The chlorophyll in the plants traps the sunlight and retaining the red and blue wavelengths while reflecting the green.

Green is a symbol of spring and the renewal of life. After a long, cold winter the gardens and the landscape comes to life in every hue of green imaginable. If we recycle and care about the nature around us, we're living green.

It is also a soothing color. Hospital rooms are often painted green for its calming effect on patients and their anxious visitors.

In the Middle Ages, brides often wore green on their wedding day as a symbol of fertility.

Green is a cool, refreshing color.

Emeralds are one of the most prized of the precious gemstones.

But there is another side of green.

There is the green-eyed monster named envy. It can rear its ugly head and wreak havoc in the blink of an eye.

And then there is money, the ever popular greenbacks. Nothing will bring the green-eyed monster to the surface faster than that.