Good Morning

When I rolled out of bed at 7am the sun was shining! That was a good sign for me to do something - anything except sit in a chair and read. Well, I looked out the window and saw a woodpecker variety that I haven't seen before. It was pecking at the ground! Of course I had to take my pictures through the double winter-weary dirty panes but I did get a couple of views, just before the mail delivery person drove by and the pecker flew away.

Northern Flicker

At one time this bird was called the yellow-shafted flicker to distinguish it from its western relative, the red-shafted flicker, but both are now considered the same species. The flicker is a large bird, 12 to 14 inches long, that flashes yellow under the wings and tail in flight. It displays a black patch across the top of its spotted breast and a red crescent on its nape. The male has a black moustache. Flickers are often seen on the ground feeding on insects. The call is a loud “wick, wick, wick” and sometimes a squeaky “flick-a, flick-a.”

And... the next thing I did was bake a cake. This was an experiment and had a satisfactory ending. I took a white cake mix, used whole eggs instead of just the whites, added one cup of water and 1/4 cup of canola oil and THEN mixed in a package(dry) of strawberry Jello! Of course we have already tasted it. The icing wasn't really necessary, but I had already prepared it.  YUM! It was very light and tender and very tasty! Saved a piece for the trash collector and one for my brother.

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