Thursday, March 22, 2012

A Different TUSAL Schedule

I know that most people run their TUSAL [Ort Jar] from Jan. 1 - Dec. 31 of any given calendar year.  But, being me, I must do things a bit differently.  Since I save my ORTs to put out as soft nesting materials for the backyard birds I feed year long, it makes more sense to save ORTs from Spring to Spring.  So, today I made a little ceremony of emptying my ORT jar into a shallow planter dish that I left on my patio table for the birds to access ... a short prayer asking St. Francis of Assisi to bless their nests and keep them and their broods safe from the neighborhood cats and hawks and other predators, and the semi-annual sanitizing of the bird feeder and a refilling it with regular songbird seed mixture generously laced with extra sunflower seeds completed the ritual.  Not a bad way to start the day, at all, at all!  So here are a few shots:  the first of the ORT jar filled to brimming with the thread ends from all my projects since last Spring and the second of those same thread ends filling a shallow planter.  I hope the birds find all the colors as attractive as I did and make good use of them.  I find I really enjoy the birdsong each morning and I hope to attract many more birds to my feeder this year by adding a bird bath and perhaps a hummingbird feeder to my patio.  I also want to buy a few more large containers and plant vegetables this year using the old Square Foot gardening method.  I wonder, does anyone else remember that PBS TV series?

4 comments:

Rachel S-H said...

What a lovely and special ceremony! I hope the birds find the orts and use them to make a soft and safe home.

Vickie said...

That's great Riona. :)

CalamityJr said...

That's a lovely spring tradition. Blessings to you as well as your feathered friends.

Daffycat said...

Out ogling ORTs and yours are wonderful! I love how you share yours with our feathered friends!