Outdoor Furniture, Patio Furniture and more!

Are you feeling a little overwhelmed with Earth Day? Perhaps you feel pressured to fly up to Northern Canada to personally save a baby Polar Bear today… or completely renovate your roof to be one of those green-roofs you saw in photos from Europe.

Believe it or not, you don’t have to wrestle down global warming with your bare hands to celebrate Earth Day. Relax.  Today should be fun! Here are 10 ways you can celebrate Earth Day today without making over your whole life.

Use a Reusable Bag, or Reuse a Plastic Bag:  Heading to the store?  Even if you’re just picking up a quart of milk or even going clothes shopping, using a reusable tote bag really cuts down on the waste you’re producing today.  Don’t have a reusable tote yet? Don’t be afraid to grab a plastic bag you got with another purchase earlier this week.  Then, at least, you’re getting more than one use out of it! And, if all else fails, really consider whether you NEED a bag or not.  Have you ever noticed that if you just get one small item, they always give you a full bag?  If you can simply carry the item in your hand, or even stick it in your purse, just say “no” to another plastic bag!

Have a Picnic: Your Earth Day picnic can be as expansive or as simple as you want.  If you have an outdoor grill, picnic table, or outdoor dining set… have at it!  Invite friends over, cook outside, skip the paper plates in favor of reusable ones, and celebrate how great it is to be outdoors.  If you haven’t created an outdoor room, don’t be afraid to spread a blanket out on the grass, cook your food indoors, and just enjoy it outside.  Working all day? Do what I’m doing: make your lunch (in my case, that’s heating up a can of soup and grabbing a yogurt) and take it outside to eat!  No matter how you do it, just enjoy one of your meals outside today.

Plant Flowers: Not everyone has the time and space for a full garden.  Heck, some people just don’t like it!  But, try it out, just for today.  You can get already blooming flowers that just need to be put in the dirt.  Or, you can go get a pack of seeds and spread them.  No yard? Try putting them in a planter or even just cutting the top off an old plastic soda bottle, filling it with dirt, and putting the seeds in there!  Today’s the perfect day to get your hands a little dirty and plant something that will grow.

Get Out Your Patio Furniture: If you haven’t done it yet, today’s a great day to get all of your patio furniture out of storage.  Remove those outdoor furniture covers, dust off the outdoor furniture cushions, and get your porch swings, porch chairs, and garden benches back to their favorite spots.  This will not only get you working outside today, it will open up opportunities to enjoy the outdoors for the rest of the summer.

Fill a Birdfeeder: Help out a fellow creature today by filling a birdfeeder.  Hanging a birdhouse or birdfeeder will help the birds get ready for the summer and give them plenty of nutritious food.  You’ll feel good helping out your local wildlife, and will probably learn something too.  Make sure you can see your birdhouse or birdfeeder from a window or a favorite piece of outdoor furniture.  You’ll be amazed how many kinds of birds and birdcalls you learn just by casually observing them.  And, remember, the first step to saving our earth is learning about it!

Go to a Farmer’s Market: Ditch your usual go-to super market today, and hit up the farmer’s market.  Buying fresh and locally grown fruits and vegetables is good for your health, good for your local economy, and good for the earth as it reduces the amount of fossil fuels used to transport food over long distances.  You’d be surprised how much of your usual foods you can pick up at a farmer’s market, and usually for not any more money that you’d pay normally.  It’s an extra stop, but it’s a stop that makes a big difference!

Go For a Walk: Adopt a lower impact form of entertainment this afternoon.  That’s right, turn off your television, turn off your computer (After you finish reading this blog post, of course! … or not, you can click out and shut off your computer now if you want.) , even leave your cell phone at home (can you do it?) and go for a walk.  And, don’t bring that ipod either!  Listen to the birds and the wind in the trees.  Focus on the smell of the air and the colors of spring.  You’ll be glad you did.

Use Water Bottles and Travel Mugs: Still reading? Okay, good.  But, seriously.  Go for a walk and have a picnic after you’re done reading this post! Don’t you dare grab a one-time-use bottle of water to take on your walk, in fact… don’t do it all day! If you stop for coffee on your way to that farmer’s market, bring a travel mug with you.  You won’t believe how many plastic bottles and paper coffee cups people throw out every single day.  Changing to a reusable water bottle or travel mug will reduce your impact a ton.

Hang Clothes Out to Dry: Did you know that people cooked, cleaned dishes, and washed laundry before modern appliances? It’s true!  There were no clothes dryers on the frontier.  Reduce your use of electricity by doing things in a more “old fashioned” way.  Hanging your clothes out to dry instead of throwing them in the dryer will reduce fading, make them smell fresher than any dryer sheet, and uses absolutely no electricity whatsoever! Run a line in your backyard, or even just pull your clothes rack out on your back porch.  If it’s sunny, it won’t take very much longer than a dryer anyway.

Make Earth Day Resolutions: Doing things like using water bottles and travel mugs, going outside instead of watching TV, hanging your clothes out to dry, going to farmer’s markets, and using reusable bags are all great things to do today.  But, imagine if you adopted some of these practices into your everyday life?  You don’t have to revolutionize your daily routines overnight, but just make one or two commitments for the rest of the year.  Will you change all your light bulbs to the Compact Fluorescents? Will you always remember to keep a travel mug in your car? (FYI: If you’re driving through a Starbucks and hand them a dirty mug, they’ll gladly rinse it out for you before filling it backup), how about opting to hang-dry your clothes all summer?  Little changes can make a big difference!

Happy Earth Day!

Hazel.

Tags: bird house, birdfeeder, earth day, garden benches, outdoor dining set, Outdoor Furniture, Outdoor Furniture Covers, outdoor furniture cushions, outdoor grill, patio chairs, patio furniture, picnic table, planter, porch swings

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: there are very few things that are more rewarding – or more amusing – than feeding wild birds.  It’s particularly fun for me, because, as a writer, I sit at my computer all day long, so I can enjoy the show as I work.  My birdfeeders are out on my patio; and, as far as I’m concerned, they’re as essential as my picnic table, patio umbrella, garden benches, porch swing, Adirondack chairs, and all of my other outdoor furniture.

On the table next to me, I also have bird books and binoculars, in case I glimpse a bird I’ve never seen before, or have seen only once or twice in my life.  That happens a lot when you have a birdfeeder.  Word gets around, I’m telling you – you can hear the birds tweeting each other – and they literally flock to your backyard.  As it turns out, sometimes, those rarely seen birds are rarely seen only because they haven’t had the proper enticement to show themselves.  Without it, even the most common birds can go undetected for great lengths of time.

In my case, finches are good examples of this.  I know there are tons of them around, but I hadn’t seen one in years.  Rather, I had only been seeing purple finches.  Now, I’m not complaining, because I love purple finches; but, for some reason, I hadn’t seen a goldfinch practically since I was a kid.  Well, because I offer a variety of food in my birdfeeders, and because there were purple finches out there eating it, and because I figured that if a purple one would eat it, so would a gold one, I started to think that maybe there actually was a shortage of goldfinches in my area. 

Then, one day, I read that nyjer seed is the favorite food of finches.  So I tried it, and sure enough, later that week, suddenly, there was a goldfinch at my feeder.  Well, that was awhile ago, and, now that I see dozens of them at a time, I can say with certainty that there’s no dearth of goldfinches around here.

This is just one of the many rewards of feeding wild birds.  If you want to experience all of the other delights that come with it, start by going to CedarStore.com and choosing from our selection of hopper, platform, hanging, tube, and post-mounted birdfeeders.  To further ensure that the birds will hang around, select one of our durable birdhouses as well. 

Oh, yeah, and, while you’re there, don’t forget to get a birdbath, too.  After all, no one likes a dirty birdie.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: birdfeeder, birdfeeders, birdhouse, birdhouses

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, feeding the birds can be a real hoot!  It’s also humane and charitable, and it shows that you’re a real swell egg.  On top of everything, however, it’s a commitment.  Once you start, it’s important to stick with it, as your birdfeeder should be a reliable and steady source of food for the birds. 

Of course, birds can survive in the wild on their own, and have been doing so for millions of years.  Even so, there are times when they really need our help, not only in the winter, when things are frozen over, but in the summer as well, particularly during periods of drought.  So, if you start feeding them, then suddenly withdraw your largesse, you’re going to cause a real flap and ruffle some feathers!  

Although each species has its own food preferences, finches, sparrows, downy woodpeckers, tufted titmice, slate-colored juncos, black-capped chickadees, and cardinals, thrive mostly on seeds during the winter, when fruit, insects, and many other natural food sources are scarce.  Even in the warmer months, when other food is available, they, along with many of their fair-weather friends, will be regular visitors at your birdfeeders. 

It’s best to have multiple feeding stations offering different foods.  Sunflower seeds are by far the favorite among the largest assortment of birds; but always use black oil sunflower seeds, which, besides being easier for smaller birds to crack open, have a high fat and oil content that gives them the energy that they need to survive under inclement conditions.  To set the widest variety of birds a-twitter, you should also provide hulled peanuts, thistle seeds, suet mixed with seeds or fruit, peanut butter, and white millet seed. 

It also helps to use many styles of birdfeeders, such as hopper, platform, tube, and fly-through designs.  You can find all of these birdfeeders, as well as an assortment of birdhouses, at CedarStore.com.  Best of all, some of them ship in as few as two business days, so, before you know it, you’ll be all set up and enjoying hilarious daily performances of those rollicksome, frolicsome birds, as you relax on your porch swing, glider, rocking chair, or hammock.   

Oh, yeah – don’t worry if you see only one or two birds the first day you put up your feeders, because the birds will immediately begin tweeting each other, and the word will spread quickly.  You know, I just realized that it kinda makes sense that the newest, fastest way of relaying information uses bird references.  Apparently, they’re the original masters at mass communications; that’s why, when asked how they came upon a bit of insider information, people often say, “a little bird told me.” 

So, rest assured, in no time at all, the entire bird community will be flocking to your backyard diner.  In fact, it will soon become the trendiest place in town, where every-birdie who’s any-birdie will want to be seen!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: bird feeder, bird feeders, birdfeeder, birdfeeders

It’s spring!  It’s spring! The bird is on the wing!

My word!  Absurd! The wing is on the bird!

I can’t take credit – or blame – for that one.  It’s just something that I heard a long time ago that has a habit of coming back to mind every once in awhile.  Like in the springtime – go figure.  But I think about birds every day, as I am not only an avid bird-watcher, but a bird feeder as well.  Or, I should say that I feed birds – my birdfeeders are out on my patio, along with my patio chairs, picnic table, porch glider, and some other outdoor furniture.

If you’re not a feeder of birds, I highly recommend it!  It is absolutely one of the most rewarding things you can do, for yourself and the birds.  I’m telling you, those little “tweethearts” (okay, I will take responsibility for that one, for better or worse) are a never-ending source of amusement. Even now, I’m watching the hilarious antics of a couple of mourning doves.  They come here every day, and, without fail, as soon as they land, the bigger one puffs himself up (it HAS to be the male!), throws out his chest, squares his shoulders (if, indeed, birds have shoulders), until he actually looks like Foghorn Leghorn, and starts chasing the smaller one around, mercilessly and relentlessly.

The thing that makes it so funny is that they run around on foot for long periods of time instead of flying.  I figure she’s saving her strength, because he follows her everywhere, so it doesn’t do her any good to fly away.  At times, he even appears to be trying to prevent her from eating, but eventually they calm down (after he tires himself out) and then they spend quite awhile out there eating.  I guess it’s just a dove thing. 

The great thing is that every bird has its own brand of comedy.  I oughta know.  As a writer, I sit here at my computer all day, in front of a picture window that looks out on the wooded hills, and sometimes I just suddenly realize that I’m sitting here with a huge grin on my face.  Of course, in many cases, it’s because I’ve just written something that’s side-splittingly funny, but a lot of the time, it’s because the birds are so comical.  And I never know, from day to day, what kind of bird will come a-swoopin’ to visit my feeders. 

Indeed, feeding the birds is the surest way to spot species that you’ve never seen in person (or bird-son, I guess).  To get started in “birding,” just visit CedarStore.com, choose from the great selection of hopper, platform, hanging, tube, and post-mounted birdfeeders, and soon you’ll be watching Rufous-Sided Towhees, Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers, Brown-Headed Cowbirds, Phoebes, Flycatchers, and Finches (and so many more birds) larking about in your own backyard.

Uh, oh.  My cuckoo clock just reminded me that I’m going to be late in getting this blog posted.  Now, that’s one bird that’s NOT funny!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: bird feeder, bird feeders, birdfeeder, birdfeeders