This has been a really tough year. I feel like the Al Capp character who went around with a dark cloud over his head all the time.
I learned this week that one of my nieces has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
I know that medical research has made stunning inroads on breast cancer in my lifetime. I know there are a number of amazing new treatments available to my niece, and that she will get the very best care. I know that she has the love and support of her family, and of friends. I know she is a strong woman, and that she will make it through this. But I’m still scared for her.

There are times when you have to plan ahead to use leftovers. Dear Husband is not a huge fan of ham. We do one a couple of times a year, and he suffers in silence. Wednesday, when my niece and her boys were coming to dinner, I thought I would do a ham, so that DH didn’t have so many left overs to deal with.
Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, green salad and brownies. Something for everyone.
I planned two meals for the left overs.

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This afternoon about an hour before the sun went down, I partially filled the bird feeder. I had forgotten to do it this morning when we returned from exercise. I knew that if I filled the feeder I would get to watch the cardinals.
For most of December we had four pairs of cardinals. I was fretting about the low number, but I knew that there were a lot of feeders throughout the neighborhood to the west of us, so I thought that the cardinals were just spread out a bit thin.
I was pleased to be able to count seven male cardinals this evening. It was interesting to see the pecking order going on. For the most part the cardinals will play nicely with other birds but insist on a pecking order within their own group.
As the light faded I could see the male cardinals flitting back and forth from their perches in the shrubs, but it was a lot more difficult to pick out the female cardinals, with their protective coloration. They blended right into the shrubbery, as they are meant to.
I don’t know if the cardinal count will climb at all, but I plan to continue putting out a mix that will draw them.