Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Homemade Bird Feed

I took a recipe from Birdchick, a very groovy gal in Minnesota and modified it for UK purposes (made it metric) and concocted my own sort-of-suet-balls.

1 jar of cheap (cheep - snort!) peanut butter 450g - I used crunchy this time
1 block of lard 500g
melted these two ingredients in my big soup pot

Then added
cornmeal - 500 g
porridge oats - "some" approximately 300 g
flour - 300 g

You can also add in some berries or meal worms, whole peanuts, seeds whatever strikes your fancy.

Stir it all together. It smells like you're making peanut butter cookies and the temptation to taste a bit is fierce. I resisted, thinking of my cholesterol levels. Lard won't help the situation.

I spooned it into some plastic containers that were waiting for recycling and popped them in the fridge to re-solidify. I also took a great ladle full out to the bird feeder. An hour later, the chaffinches were giving it the first few pecks.

I've made this specifically for the woodpeckers in the neighbourhood. I'm going to press some of this crumbly stuff onto the trees. The blocks of this stuff will go in the suet cage.

I bought the ingredients for much less than it costs me to buy suet cakes. If the birds like it. I'll do it more often.

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I'm fishing for some sympathy here. I have big feet. I always have had them. I knew early on that I could never be Cinderella. That glass slipper wasn't ever going to fit on my foot even if I tried cutting off a toe or two. My feet are US size 10, UK size 8 and European size 42. Big fellas. You'd think I'd be taller than I am with feet of this size.

When I was a barefoot child, I was famous for stubbing my toes. I think I have always had a bit of trouble navigating them or judging the distance I need to have in front of me to prevent the stubbing of toes. I thought I had grown out of that stage and finally developed a bit of grace. Nope. Not me.

This evening, I had to dash out to return some DVDs to Blockbuster. I stepped out of my slippers and was going to pop my feet into my work shoes when I stubbed my toes. Specifically the fourth toe on my left foot - the toe that is right next to my deformed middle toe. Broken in the basket room of the municipal swimming pool in the summer of 1980. The colours that my foot turned when I broke my toe back then were spectacular! Yellow and green right up to my ankle! I had to wear sandals all summer so that there was room for the gauze and tape dressing.

Well, tonight, it smarted when I smashed my toes into a pile of skirting boards that the joiner (carpenter) is going to start putting in our new rooms tomorrow! I said a few ouch ouch ouch ouches, hopped around a bit on the good foot, put my shoes on and got into the car.

I didn't really notice the toes again until I got home. When I took my feet out of my shoes at the back door, I couldn't fail to notice that all the toes of my left foot were covered in blood! I had actually split a toe open. Crikey! My toe had been bleeding for the best part of an hour inside my shoe and covered all the other piggies in an impressive amount of blood.

Because The Man of the Place has the camera this week, you are spared a photo of the gore!

13 comments:

Xtreme English said...

oh, ouch! you were the champion toe-stubber, although katie ran a close second. I never understood why this happens, since in other ways, your movements are graceful. i have a friend with this problem, too. she's always whacking her toe against something and causing serious damage.
soaking your poor toe (foot) in epsom salts might help now.

Anonymous said...

Poor baby! I recommend that the only time that you take your shoes off is after you climb onto your bed! Even change your shoes there! I hope you keep up on your tetnus shots!

Jay said...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOUCH! That is soooo painful. I would have cussed a blue streak myself. LOL

Peggy said...

Mom - Thanks for saying that I have grace in other areas. I had a hot bath and soaked everything. It is okay this morning but bruised.

Patsy - I won't wear shoes on my new oak floors. I am caught up on my shots. Thanks.

Jay - I would have cussed if I knew any good swear words. ;-)

Anonymous said...

I won't say anything about the birdfeed, as this is just not something I know anything about.
Ouch! Toes can soooo hurt! Poor Peggy!
I have bad new for you. As you grow older your feet grow larger. I used to wear a French 39 and now I wear a size 41, only 40 when I'm lucky. And I 've seen this mentioned quite a lot on elder blogs.
Hope I am not making you feel even worse ;)

Anonymous said...

Ouch! Poor baby...I hope it heals quickly.

btw, Patsy is my mom and, unlike me, keeps her shoes on at all times! (yeah, she's a sick monkey)

Peggy said...

Claude - Thanks for telling me that. I'm sure that it won't happen to me. I refuse to let my feet get any bigger!

Susan - Its a wonder you are as sane as you are with Patsy as your mother. ;-)

Sally - I was going from slippers to shoes when I stubbed the toe. I am rarely barefoot these days and hardly ever barefoot in the winter.

J-Funk said...

Yuck! Thats too bad!

You have Blockbuster in Scotland? That place is everywhere.

Joy Des Jardins said...

Ouch, ouch, ouch....I can feel the pain from here. I used to go barefoot all the time, and I've had my share of whacking my toes on tables and things. I don't know if it's just growing older, but I wear slippers a lot now...especially in winter. They've saved me from stubbing my toes several times.

Xtreme English said...

well, now that claude has let that particular cat out of the bag (things your mother never tells you unless somebody else brings it up first), there's nowt you can do to prevent your shoe size from growing as you get older...unless you want to lose a whole buncha pounds. it's the weight over time that does it. spreads 'em right out, and they don't shrink back.

Kell said...

Poor You! My toes are curling under now. I'm sure it's some pretty colors by now. Well, hopefully a little pretty after all that.

I love the bird feed. It made my mouth water with all that peanut butter

Tink said...

I used to work in a shoe store. Believe it or not girl, size 10 is pretty common. It was number 3 on our list of most popular sizes. :)

Peggy said...

Tink - If that's a common size why don't they EVER have anything pretty in that size? All the cha cha shoes seem to be size five. When you get up to 10, there is nothing left but Hush Puppy loafers.