Garage Nesting Doves, An Albino Squirrel and So Many Spring Goodies

Welcome to the 688th Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy New Week! I hope your week is off to a great start! I just returned from visiting family in Ohio. It was a wonderful visit, so wish we didn’t live so far away from each other.

While I was there, we had some return visitors. Every year, a pair of Mourning Doves return to nest on the top shelf of a storage shelf in the garage. This is their 3rd year returning to this spot. My son tries to discourage them by keeping the garage door closed as much as possible, but the minute the door gets left up for a few minutes, they start building their nest. They are fast! We couldn’t say “no” to these faces, so nesting is underway! I think they love nesting here since it’s out of the rain and those occasional late-season snowstorms. You can see Mom on the nest and Dad sitting nearby in the photo below.

Mourning Doves Nesting on Shelf in Garage

 

We got in one really long walk/hike during the 10 days I was visiting. We walked almost 5 miles and I swear over half of it was uphill. lol We were walking to a nearby restaurant (Flyboys) that’s just a couple of miles away and the route we always take that’s away from busy roads and through some beautiful neighborhoods, takes us up hill after hill after hill. I always joke with my son that the restaurant must be on the top of a blooming mountain! I love the walk, but oh. my. gosh–the hills! We walked right by this home I’ve shared in the past that has a gazillion daffodils in bloom this time of year. This photo is from a previous year–the daffodils were not quite this far along last week, but I bet this week they will be spectacular!

Daffodils, Naturalized

 

After ordering and picking up our food at Flyboys, we carried it to a nearby park where my son and grandsons played with a small drone my oldest grandson recently got for his birthday. While eating in the park, we spied this guy running around the park–an albino squirrel. Do you see him in the tree below?

Albino Squirrel in Park

 

My son said he is a frequent visitor to this particular park. I’m guessing he has a nest nearby. He had a nut in his mouth when I took the photo below with my ancient cell phone. I purchased a new cell phone a few weeks back–the Samsung S22 Ultra. From what I’ve read/seen online, I think it will do a much better job at taking distance photos than my ancient Note 8 does. The phone arrived while I was in Ohio so I haven’t had a chance to change over to it, but I’ll be doing that in the next day or two. Anyone have that phone and if so, are you happy with it?

White Squirrel

 

On the way home, I stopped by a Cracker Barrel to stretch my legs and to check out their latest wares. I always love seeing what they have in stock and often find some great gifts for my grandsons or treasures for future table settings. They carry my favorite Woodwick candles so I briefly checked those out.

Woodwick Candles on Sale

 

I resisted buying any on this trip but I wouldn’t mind trying this trilogy blend of Melon Blossom, Coastal Sunset, and Palo Santo.

Woodwick Candle, Melon Blossom, Coastal Sunset, Palo Santo

 

Loved the daisy shutter sign! By the way, Cracker Barrel has an online store where you can purchase many of the items I saw while in their restaurant. So if something catches your eye, just do a search for their online shop.

Daisy Shutter Welcome Signs

 

Lemons are big this year, I keep coming across them everywhere! Love that!

 

If you know someone who loves horses or horseback riding, they had some really cute horse-related goodies and a lot of it was on sale.

 

The other thing that was on sale was all their rooster/chicken-related items.

 

So many cute things!

 

They even had rain boots with a chicken design. If I had chickens, I would have to get these to wear while collecting eggs. Ha!

 

Probably my favorite area was the section displaying all these great nautical pieces. I love the silly pelicans! They even had a lighthouse floor lamp–that’s it there on the left. That would be so cute in a beach house!

 

How about a Pelican lamp for your beach house? How adorable is that! They always have items in Cracker Barrel that I never see anyplace else. I don’t know who does the buying for them, but I love the unique pieces they always find.

 

I was super tempted by this tumbler. I don’t even own a boat, much less a yacht, but this totally cracked me up! I love the colors of it, too. Very beachy!

Yacht Tumbler, Bankruptcy Starter Kit

 

I did buy this tumbler. I couldn’t resist the wildflowers and dandelions dancing all around the bottom, and I especially loved the sentiment: “Some see a weed, others see a wish.” I’ll leave you today with that beautiful thought. I hope your week is filled with wishes and not a single weed!

Dandelion Tumbler

 

Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters linked for this week’s Met Monday!

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Metamorphosis Monday

Metamorphosis Monday is a party that’s all about Before and Afters. Please link up your Before and After projects like DIY projects, room makeovers, craft projects even recipes. Any Before and After is great! Please do not link up Table Settings, save those for our Tablescape Thursday party on Thursday.

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NOTE: Please do not link up more than 3 posts from your blog. In order to link up, you’ll need to include a link in your post back to the party so visitors to your blog can find the other party participants. Thanks!

 

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Comments

  1. Thank you for hosting this wonderful Met Monday! I include a backlink for everything I share, but I usually link the specific Met Monday post. Would you rather I link just to your home page? Thanks! Love the dove photo!

    • Rani, thank you for linking back and for asking about that. If you can, it would be great to link back to the Met Monday post, that way when someone visits your blog, if they wish to see the other participants’ posts, they’ll be able to find them more easily than if it just takes them to BNOTP.

  2. Fun sights!
    I’ve had the Samsung S21 Ultra since last August and love it. I bought mine at Best Buy and the tech guy there transferred all my data & settings within an hr. It was refreshing that it didn’t take an entire morning or afternoon. Photo capabilities are great, but I admit I still haven’t learned all the bells & whistles!

    • That is great to hear! Awesome that Best Buy does that! I normally buy my phone in person at my local Verizon store and they do all the transferring for me, but the local store is going through some kind of transition and they are in a temporary building, so they aren’t doing that right now. Also, the phone was sold out, even online, so I had to order it and wait 4 weeks. I think I’m going to visit another Verizon location and see if they’ll do the switch over for me. I don’t think it’s that hard and I know Verizon has an online app that will transfer everything iver, but I just don’t want to goof it up and lose all the photos I have saved on my phone…even though I also have them on my home computer. I’m really looking forward to trying out the new camera!

  3. franki Parde says

    We are “Cracker Barrel” fans from the get-go!! Order food, hubs waits, I’m off & running!! A treasure cove of ideas & everyone helpful & smiling. Pretty good “on the road again” food, too!! franki

    • Franki, they were so nice when I was checking out with my tumbler. I got called “Honey” twice while checking out and “sweetheart” when I went through a McDonald’s Drive-Thru. I love the south! ♥

  4. Hi – I sent you a message to your admin email. If you have a minute can you check it out? Thanks in advance.

  5. We have lots of squirrels visiting our backyard every single day, but I’ve never seen a white one! I didn’t even know they existed. So very pretty! Lots goodies at Cracker Barrel, I wish I had one close to me.
    Thanks for the party, Susan!

    • I didn’t know they existed until I saw one crossing the road that is just a few feet away from the entrance to my subdivision. That was a few years back. Last night, I was reading a bit about them online, and apparently, true Albino squirrels have red eyes and are pretty rare. It’s supposed to be more common to see what’s called a “White Morph.” The way you can supposedly tell the difference is the White Morph Squirrel has black eyes. Looking at my photos, I think the one we saw has red eyes, so I guess he is a true albino squirrel. Next time we visit that park, I’ll have to watch for him and try to see his eyes. I think they look red in my photos.

  6. We love Cracker Barrel!!! Their fried chicken are the best!! And of course, I always have to shop!

    • They are so smart to have that little shop right up front. I wish all restaurants did that! lol It would give patrons something to do while they wait to be seated, especially in restaurants that sometimes have long waits. I guess a lot of restaurants hope the patrons will head to the bar.

  7. Oh, the daffodils are amazing. And how cute are the doves…plus you get to hear them “coo coo” – such a cozy sound!

  8. Oh the doves are darling! How does your son handle them being in the garage – does he have to keep the door or a window open? Birds can be kind of messy ….

    But those daffodils!! I LOVE that yard! Thanks for sharing all the fun and shopping, and thanks for hosting the party too. Happy April!

    • Fortunately, they work from home a lot so they are able to keep the door up a lot. I suggested they open the window behind the doves so they may try that this year.
      I know, my son was worried about them doing the unspeakable on his car every day. lol But they haven’t done it in past years, they are polite birds. 🙂

  9. Awww, love the mourning dove, looking so sweet sitting there by the nest. I wouldn’t have the heart to disturb her either. Love the albino squirrel. My son has the S21 Ultra and he loves it! He went with it because of the battery life. I just have the regular S21 and I love the pictures mine takes. I love looking through the Cracker Barrel gift shop, they always have the most unique and unusual stuff! Glad you were able to enjoy time with family Susan! Hugs, Brenda

  10. I had forgotten what great gifts and treasures Cracker Barrel has! I have to go to the local one and check it out! Thanks Susan!

  11. I am linked to your home page. You are on my party page.

    • Hi Kristie, Unfortunately, InLinkz, the party linking system, can’t detect a link to this week’s party if the link is somewhere else on your blog and not in the post your are linking up to the party. It needs to be in the post you’re linking up for it to be detected. Also, it’s unlikely your readers will find the party today, tomorrow, or the next day if the link back to the party is on another page/place on your blog. By putting the link in your post, your readers will be able to find the other Met Monday participants if they wish to see additional Before/After posts. If everyone includes a link in the post they are linking up, it should bring each participant new readers to their blog.

  12. Cyndi Raines says

    Thankful you are home safe and sound with no road /tire/ truck issues this time. Glad you had a nice family time. I sent you an email a few days ago, maybe it’s in your spam? I am having lunch at Cracker Barrel tomorrow with a friend and yes, it’s hard to get out of the store without buying something! My daffodils are up about 3″ and we had a crazy rainy / snow flurries off and on type day, toay, ugggh! So ready for temps above 50!

    • I just checked and I don’t see it in the spam folder…not sure why it didn’t come through. Cyndi, did you send it to [email protected] or [email protected]?
      I had someone else say they emailed me at the admin email and it never came through.
      Oh, you can check out all the spring goodies while you’re there!

      • Cyndi Raines says

        Sent it to the gmail account and just sent a recap of the original message in hopes that you get it. Yes, I did see all the goodies and no, I didn’t make it out without buying the darling glass side table featuring the lighthouse, sailboat and seagull, lol. Was just too cute to pass up! It is going next to my swing on the front porch. So when I can’t go to the beach with our local lighthouse, I will enjoy my table which showcases one.

  13. Susan,
    I love shopping at Cracker Barrel!!!
    Thanks again for hosting this lovely party every week! I know how much time goes into doing so and I want you to know that it is greatly appreciated!! Stay safe, healthy and happy!!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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