Theeeeey're baaaaaaack!!!!

I had to post again. While I was setting up to glaze a window... lo and behold, what to mine eyes do appear!!! but GOLDFINCHES! They are EARLY! They generally don't arrive until November. Thanksgiving-ish. I haven't seen them in quite some time. Now, there is one recognizable male which leads me to believe they may just be permanent residents. It's not like I have them tagged or anything, but I can tell by a distinct black cap on one brightly colored yellow male. It was so sweet. The male waited patiently on our rod iron table while the female ate seeds. He sat there while she ate for a good 5 minutes or so. She then fluttered to the clothesline & waited a moment for him to eat, but she was less patient and left. He very quickly stopped eating and followed her, not letting her out of his site.

I haven't managed to take down my upside-down goldfinch feeders since spring. Mainly because I kept seeing the little things lingering about. In fact, they made appearances every now and then, even in July. In the past they seemed to all disappear in the spring. I have read while many migrate north for the summer we have some permanent residents in these parts. In fact, I distinctly remember this black-capped male as one of the very few lingering around each afternoon late into summer.

However, I haven't seen them in a while and today they made a reappearance. I had to call my husband at work to tell him.

Below is the female goldfinch eating at the feeder. The upside-down goldfinch feeders filled with niger/thistle seed really are the best way to attract them and keep other birds and SQUIRRELS out. Available at many home improvement type stores and very inexpensive. Except the seed is more than your typical seed but I generally only buy one or 2 small bags per season which run around $8 to 12

Isn't she sweet. As I was trying to take these shots from my bathroom window...a hummingbird flew to the feeder so I quick got a picture of her too, posted below. She's hard to see, but she's sitting down getting a drink to the right of the feeder. It's located next to my mandevilla which has really taken off in the past few weeks.

Allow Me to Introduce Myself......

I'm Melissa....I live in a small house in Austin, Texas. I can't fit all my shoes or clothes in my closet or my dishes in my cabinets, yet I still love our little abode. Well, ok....in all honesty it may be more accurate to say I put up with it because we love our neighborhood. However, there are truly many reasons to feel good about living in a smaller home! (of course, I have to convince myself all the time). For one, our utilities are cheaper. When we painted our house, it only took about 5 gallons of paint. I can clean it all in about an hour or two (depending on just how dirty it is & how thoroughly I clean it, of course). It has forced me to rethink "STUFF" and how much of it I am willing to put up with. I am forced to really think when I'm shopping...do I have a place for this? This saves an amazing amount of money also. Plus, it has a very intimate cozy feel to it which I have determined, through our experience living here, people must like....because they all tend to want to congregate at our place, even so everyone we know has a much larger place. Have I convinced you to downsize yet?

I'm not very good at describimt myself and my life in a nutshell, so I think I'll just unfold slowly as this goes along, assuming I stick with it, because I rarely stick with anything. For now, what finally inspired me to come up with this name and theme is something predominant in my life. I live in an 800 sq ft "bungalow" or "cottage" in Austin, TX with my husband - sans kids. I've been a proponent of small house living since we moved in here 4 years ago, (out of necessity, I must admit).  The concept has really caught on since then. We moved in mainly for the neighborhood, the house might have been bulldozer material to most people. Around here it is quite common to purchase the house for the lot, bulldoze the house and build a McMansion. Not us. We couldn't afford that, for one. Our realtor joked, we basically bought the lot, and they threw in the house for free! It was a great deal, but slightly stretched our budget at that time. The house was in overall good condition except for the kitchen, which needed major work. Structurally the rest was very sound, it just had a big case of the "uglies". It still does. The outside is likely the ugliest house in the neighborhood - definitely the ugliest on our street. But we are working on it.

What floors me, of our families and friends, everyone seems to want to always come to OUR house! I am not complaining however, because this I take as the greatest complement. I like to believe there must be something warm & inviting about our little abode (and/or us?) What's crazier, we seem to always have tons of company and the place is only about 1/2 finished being renovated. We don't even have any living room furniture at the moment and have tools/supplies all over the place.

My theme is not going to be so much about living in a small house....because there are all sorts of blogs about that.....but more about living fully in spite of living in a small home....maybe try to show you can live well regardless of where you live? I love cooking, gardening, crafts, sewing etc. and I'll share our renovating projects as we go. I like to think we LIVE LARGE in our tiny house....I strive to "do it all" in defiance. My family & friends teasingly call me Martha.....and I admit I'm a Martha Stewart junkie. While everyone else loves to hate her, I totally admire her intelligence, practicality (and impracticality), style and her HOUSES. I EVEN STRIVE to be more like her!! (not the mean bitchy part). I'm a really long way off from being anything like her, but I keep trying. I totally buy into her concept of "Living". Martha is very misunderstood. The concept is not really about perfection, it's about doing all those little extra things - like keeping your drawers nicely folded and smelling like lavender. It's about NOT sacrificing form for function with the items you use daily. It's about taking time to hang your linens out on the line! or dining outside with the good dishes and real glasses and silverware! or even adorning your table with some flowers you grew yourself! It's about taking a few extra minutes to send a real card on real paper, and not just sending a pre-bought card, or worse, just sending an email! Lastly, it's not about the price of the wine, it's about serving it in real wine glasses and enjoying it with friends. It's about living well. And, proving that it can be done on any budget.