A Feast For Feathered Friends

It’s been a feeding frenzy this past week at our backyard feeders. Perhaps our feathered friends know something the rest of us don’t. I suspect they must be fuelling up for another wallop of snow and frigid temperatures that is inevitably on its way.

Last year our family assisted our avian crew in its fattening up efforts by dishing up a hearty helping of good old-fashioned home cooking. Our bird treats were a huge hit with the backyard birdies and were gobbled up in record time.

With my “Hand Made Christmas” goals in mind, I decided to enlist the services of two very eager little ones to help cross some items off my list. Nature lovers in my life will once again receive a package of homemade treats for their backyard friends. The recipe is extremely simple, but I will warn you that things got incredibly messy! I must be a sucker for punishment (: Chi-Chi and Muffy call it “bird seed play dough” and had loads of fun making cakes and cookies for the birdies. This year I added a little decorative twist by adorning some of the patties with dried seedpods from my flower garden. I picked up some red tulle at the local fabric store to make some festive pouches for the treats. Left over onion or orange bags would also do the trick.

With the final countdown to Christmas well underway, the excitement around our house is certainly building. I’m trying to involve Chi-Chi and Muffy in the preparations as much as possible. This feels like no small feat as I’m currently battling some back troubles that are definitely slowing me down. Our “holiday activities” sometimes feel like make-work projects for one sore and tired Mama! Despite my grumblings, I feel very strongly that Chi-Chi and Muffy need to fulfill their holiday “responsibilities”. My hope is that by hand-making gifts for their loved ones, they will appreciate the giving aspect of the season instead of completely obsessing over Santa’s upcoming visit. This might sound like a tall order for my little two and three year olds, but I do believe we are making progress around here! I guess my pain and MAJOR clean up efforts will be worth it in the end!

My only concern at this point is whether there will be anything left for the birds once Mr. Squirrel has finished his turn at the buffet. Based on my past dealings with this critter, I'm not holding my breath!