Woodpeckers in the Glade

When George and I first bought our wooden house in Fairfield Glade on the Cumberland Plateau near Crossville, TN---we had no idea that there were HUGE woodpeckers in the Glade. We bought our home in 2002 and didn't move here full time for a year. BUT--we'd come on weekends to check out and enjoy our new retirement home.


One weekend, we noticed some small HOLES in our wooden house. UH OH---woodpeckers have been pecking on our house. Yipes!!!! What to do?????? We talked to some local folks only to find out that the woodpeckers seem to know when people are not home and they love to peck on houses up here!!!!


Then, we went online looking for things to scare them away. And we came up with all kinds of options which we immediately put into action:
1. Wind chimes (some big ones)---and we still have 6 sets of wind chimes all around the house since I love wind chimes!
2. Little mirrors nailed on the house beside the areas where the woodpeckers were pecking (mirrors scare them away since they think they are seeing another woodpecker)
3. We strung a big clothesline between trees in the area where the woodpeckers were pecking. On the clothesline, we hung lots of aluminum pie plates --which blew in the breeze. (Imagine what the neighbors thought about us as their new neighbors... ha ha)
4. A fake woodpecker hooked onto the house (which was there when we bought the house--and obviously didn't work by itself; By the way, the people we bought the house from didn't warn us about woodpeckers!!! Guess they didn't want to scare us off! ha)


Other yards had big fake owls or fake hawks hanging around--but we didn't have to get them. George repaired and painted the holes in our house---and we would pray that while we were gone during the week, we wouldn't come back to more holes... Guess what???? Our scare tactics worked!!! We have never (knock on wood) had anymore trouble with woodpeckers pecking on our home.


We do however see other wooden homes with either holes in the wood, or lots of 'scary' things around to scare them off. We only had to leave the pie plates and mirrors up for a few weeks--and now, we only have the wind chimes. I had always thought that woodpeckers were only looking for insects. But--I read that they love to peck their way into homes for a nice roosting place in the winter...


Now to the funny part of this story which luckily did have a happy ending: One time, soon after we bought our home, when we were getting ready to leave and before we had solved the woodpecker problem, we began backing out of the yard. I saw my first Pileated Woodpecker. Can you imagine what I said to George when I saw that monster?????? (It was probably x-rated! ha)... I looked at that bird and told George that if that bird pecks on our home that next week, we'd not have a home left. Talk about being scared!!!!!! You can also just imagine the look on my face when seeing my first Pileated Woodpecker... I'll never forget seeing that big big bird...


SO---after I started watching for and learning about birds this past Summer, I found out that there were not only Pileated Woodpeckers in the Glade---but there were several more woodpeckers. Since, at that time, I didn't know one woodpecker from the next, I had to start studying and learning!!! WOW--what beautiful birds. So far --I have seen and have pictures of FIVE different woodpeckers up here. The Tennessee Bird Book only lists six woodpeckers in TN--so the only one I haven't seen yet is the Hairy Woodpecker. Pictured above is our Pileated Woodpecker. Below are the others.



I love this picture (above) of a silhouette of our Pileated Woodpecker.



This beauty above is in the woodpecker family and is a Northern Flicker. I have not seen any since late Summer. We did have quite a few of them in the Summer/Fall. They generally do not come to the feeders--but feed on insects.



I love the picture above of the Northern Flicker --as he stands up and looks straight at me. Cute, huh???



I love this woodpecker pictured above. It is a Red-headed Woodpecker--and I luckily got his picture on our birdbath. I haven't seen him since --so I'm looking forward to seeing more Red-headed woodpeckers in the spring.



Above is Pete, our resident Red-bellied Woodpecker. Pete has a 'friend' Petunia--who also visits our feeders!!! These two prefer the sunflower and safflower seed to the suet feeder.



After I finally bought Suet and a suet feeder, we now have Downy's visiting us. Maybe we'll get a Hairy this spring!!!!!

'Taint Funny

As you can see from the title of my blogsite (Joyful Reflections), I usually try to keep my blogs JOYFUL Yesterday, a post that I read really upset me.. NOW--before I write anymore, let me say that I'm not unhappy at all with the person who wrote the post. She did not mean to hurt anyone's feelings at all. It was just meant in jest. In fact, it was WHERE she got the picture above that upset me.


Like many other people, I have struggled with my weight ALL of my life, especially after I had my first child (1963). Unless one has been in my shoes, he or she truly does not understand those of us who have weight problems. Skinny people (or even people who have never been very large) just think that all we 'fatties' need to do is to just push back from the table.


WELL-- I'm here to tell the world that exploiting fat people (or really skinny people, or anyone who has a big bump on their nose, or ANYONE who just for whatever reason looks different) is just not right... The picture above was in a 'health retreat center' where people go to get healthier. It was there to encourage fat people to obviously get skinny. WELL--all of the health professionals in the world will tell you that exploiting a fat person does not give them incentive to lose weight. It just pushes them farther and farther down into a deep hole. Shame on that retreat center for posting that picture --in order to make others laugh.


There was a time when I sang a solo in a recital. My mother was present for that event. After the recital, she (bless her soul) came up to me and the first words out of her mouth were: "You look very large on that stage." Talk about breaking my spirit.... She didn't say a word about how I sang. It was all about how I LOOKED. My mother thought that by shaming me, I'd lose some weight. Things like this just work in reverse. My self-esteem just kept falling!


I have allowed my weight to control me most of my adult life (instead of me controlling it). I have lost and gained more weight through the years than one can imagine. Well--my life changed dramatically a few years ago when George came into my life. This wonderful man loves me for ME---whether I'm heavy or not. ALL of a sudden, he gave me a real reason to WANT to get and stay healthy. For you see, an overweight (or do I dare use the word, obese) person can't lose or won't lose until he or she cares enough about him or herself to make that lifestyle change. Nobody can do it for them and especially, nobody can shame a person into losing weight.


Several things have happened to me over the past seven years:
1. I'm HAPPY---and I'm HAPPY with me even though I will always be a BIG gal.
2. I have made a lifestyle change --and have added exercise and healthy eating to my life.
3. I know now for the first time that I'm an OKAY person, a child of God, and that I'm okay in God's eyes being just who I am.
4. AND---I now have much more confidence in myself and more self-esteem. All of those people who have laughed at me or made fun of me through the years can just go and "fly a kite"!!!! (I could use another term here. ha ha) They are not going to put me down any longer!!! Praise God!


I would love to talk to that Health Retreat Center about that photo... We ALL cannot look alike. There are big people and small people ---and when, as a country, are we going to realize that It's OKAY to be different, one from another??? I truly have had a good life and I wouldn't change much of anything in it--all through the years. What I would hope to change is the exploitation of those who are, for whatever reason, DIFFERENT. Enough of my sermon for today!!!!! Thanks for listening... I'll get back to the JOYFUL stuff tomorrow!!!!