ANSWER: Various sources suggest that the birds are taking apart your screen and using the screen material to build their nests. To deter them from returning, you can hang Mylar balloons near the windows, pinwheels or scarecrows. Some have suggested making a bird silhouette and applying that to the window. Those are usually used to prevent birds from flying into windows, but if the bird shape is larger than the finch, it may scare them away. Maybe a cat silhouette? Another idea is to leave different lengths of yarn in a suet feeder somewhere else in your yard. Maybe if the birds find the nest-building material they need elsewhere, they won’t return to your screens.
DEAR SUN SPOTS: Hope you or readers could help me find the 2015 Boston Year Book. Can’t find it in any stores. I even checked the Auburn Mall’s bookstore. They said they don’t carry it. Maybe you have an address I could send away for it. Thanks you. — Debra S. in Livermore.
ANSWER: Could you provide more information? Who publishes this yearbook?
DEAR SUN SPOTS: Where would we be without you? You are such a good source of information; the first thing I read in the newspaper. Another question for you today. Are any tour companies or senior trips going to N.H. during the fall? Thank you for your help. — No Name, No Town via online submission form.
ANSWER: Sun Spots checked a local charter bus company and did not see a N.H. bus trip listed. Are you looking to go somewhere special in N.H. or just the state in general? Perhaps a local group has chartered a N.H. bus trip that is open to the public and will write in to let us know.
DEAR SUN SPOTS: The West Paris Firemen’s Auxiliary is asking for donations of items for a yard sale / bake sale to be held Saturday, Sept. 5, at Trap Corner. Donations will be accepted through Saturday, Aug. 29. If you need your donation picked up, call 207-674-5890. Otherwise, donated items can be dropped off at 19 Park St., West Paris. No clothes, please. We are also looking for new members. We meet the third Wednesday of each month at 10 a.m. at the town office. For more information, please call 207-595-4171. Thank you.
DEAR SUN SPOTS: Something wonderful happened to me last Thursday that I had only read about, but never experienced. I met some longtime friends for lunch at Applebee’s, and we had a terrific time recalling the time that we had worked together at Fairview School. I did not notice the people around us, as we were having such a great time. When the waiter brought our checks, he told me that my meal had already been paid for by a woman and her baby sitting in another booth. It seems that I had been her fourth grade teacher. She had already left, so I have no idea who it might be.
Whoever the person was, I want her to know how happy she made me. It meant a lot to know that after all these years she still remembered me. She made my day! I just wish she had stayed, so I could have talked with her. She has to be a very special person, and I thank her so much. — G. Ryder, Danville.
Use the QR code to go to Sun Spots online for additional information and links. This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com, tweeted @SJ_SunSpots or posted on the Sun Spots facebook page at facebook.com/SunJournalSunSpots. This column can also be read online at sunjournal.com/sunspots. We’ve joined Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/sj_sunspots.
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