Day 625 Feathered Friends

 Ok, so I'll never be a National Geographic photographer, but if you use your imagination you'll see the beautiful woodpecker right inside the bird feeder. I love my wild birds, watch them come and go enjoying all the treats I provide. Birds have ravenous appetites so keeping them fed is quite a task. I'm not always great at identifying different species but can spot a red headed woodpecker with ease. I have bird books galore but have never become a skilled birder and doubt I ever will. What I am becoming more skilled at is that darn Mahjong game, learning it ever so slowly! Donna and Carol came over to play for the first time without skilled instructors overseeing our gameplay. We did pretty well, other than me forgetting a few basic rules here and there, but it all started to jive and we had fun. I can see why the game has been so popular for hundreds of years and we all agreed our husbands would love it, if they ever decide to learn. The hardest part of anything is simply putting the time in, exercise, learning new skills and unfortunately, yard work and housework come to mind. I envy a neatly manicured yard although, not sure there's enough hours in the day/week or year for me to make that happen at home. Each year I go as far as to purchase a few annuals to provide instant bloom and beauty, seems to be the best I can do. I'm not sure this year will be any different, my time always seems to be better spent elsewhere, like feeding and watching birds, learning new games or spending the day doing just about anything else. My wild birds visit each and every day but unlike my chickens, I simply feed them with no other clean up. If I live to be an old lady I believe I'll be all set with my old lady hobbies. I'll be playing Mahjong, sitting by a window watching my feathered friends visit me maybe I'll start drinking tea out of delicate tea cups to pull the image all together. One thing for sure, I better enjoy my bikini wearing days before I get too old, whatever age that is. Old age seems to get pushed back with every year we age,  remaining at least forty years away no matter how old we are. I guess that means I'll be old when I'm 100, seems about right. Imagine how good I'll be at Mahjong then and how many birds I will have cared for throughout my life!?