That Darn Bird, Episode Three

It's still attacking the car mirrors. And not just cars that are here all the time, but even the mirrors of visitors' cars which are parked in the street. Catch up on episodes one and two, if you like. The Handy Husband had the bright idea of using a pair of old socks to protect the mirrors.



He took the socks off in the morning and carried them inside. When he got back to the car, guess what! The bird was there, pecking away. But the socks were over-stretched and couldn't be used again. He and Frank have been using towels, but that looks so trashy.

Frank took the towels off in preparation to wash his car. The bird, who had been stealthily laying in wait, seized his moment. When Frank turned back around with the bucket, the bird was already there.

So for this week's creative project, I made mirror cozies out of an old pillowcase. At least they are color-coordinated now.


According to what I've found on the net,

A behavior pattern often mentioned in the literature is the brown towhee's so-called "shadow-boxing," a fighting response aroused when its reflection in a shiny surface suggests the presence of another towhee in its territory. D. P. Dickey (1916) first described this action for senicula as follows: "Perching on the sill, the bird would eye his reflection, and then set systematically to work to kill the supposed rival, with all the ire and intolerance of a rutting moose." (Quote from Birdzilla.com, California Towhee Bent Life History)

Exactly.
.

TCP.4

Last week the kids made birthday cards -- for MEEEEE!



So I took the cards and made a birthday banner. But I'm not done with it yet, so no picture.

TCP.3

Flowers in a vase.

There's a slight snag in my TCP, in that I'm no longer in Miss L's classroom! She donated her share of my time to the second grade (one of their teachers is out for the rest of the year due to a serious medical problem). But thanks to the timing of recess, I can come back for 20 minutes and catch the end of the art project.

After 45 minutes, Meltdown Man had only drawn 2 stems (no flowers) and a microscopic vase. He was asked to draw a bigger vase and one more stem. He crossed out the stems he had drawn, and drew another vase on the side of the paper. Um, not following directions? Needless to say, he didn't finish the project.

In other news, today is my birthday! I gifted myself some art supplies from Michael's, so I hope to have some new projects to show you in the future!

TCP.2

My Tuesday Creativity Project says, Welcome to Onesie World!

Miss L's class decorated onesies for Mrs. G's new baby girl.



Here's mine.


These are the cutest things!

My Tuesday Creativity Project

When Bossy's L.A. Council told our stories, part of mine was that I hadn't done anything creative in a long time, and I missed that. I have to footnote that -- blogging is creative, isn't it??!!!??? But I do miss creating things with eyes and hands, rather than brain and words, so I decided to do something about that.

I usually don't have lunch duty on Tuesdays and Fridays, so those are automatically my favorite days of the work week. But why do I enjoy Tuesdays more? Because Miss L's class does art when I get there at 9:00 on Tuesday mornings! And I always wish I was doing their projects right alongside them.

So to jumpstart my creativity, I am going to replicate their first grade projects, and post them the following Tuesday. If they don't have art, or it's not something I can do at home, I vow to do something else.

This was last week's project, a doodle! Mine looks like sausage links, but it was fun.


I was so jazzed, I even cleaned up one of my creative spaces at home. I used to scrapbook on this pretty little desk. Then I got a big printer, and stuck it on top of the desk and never used it again. And things got piled on it and next to it. Now, I've uncovered the desk and I hope to finish the 2002 scrapbook you see lying there. (That's the last year before the digital camera took over.)



Ernest asked me, What are you doing?

Cleaning.

????

I guess I don't seriously clean too often.