Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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Busy day at the bath

I was doing dishes and noticed a flash of dark grey wing in a shrub beside the deck. I immediately felt alarm. The wing color looked like a junco, and those are only around here in the winter. Surely they were not already descending on my summer! I stopped doing dishes and watched intently.

Turns out this is what I saw:

Visit from a catbird

Visit from a catbird

I saw catbirds when Katie and I were camping a few weeks ago. I know they are also in our yard, but they stay out by the road in the jungle of grapevine covered bushes. I’ve only seen them, even there, a couple of times in the twenty plus years we’ve lived here. I was surprised to see two catbirds in the honeysuckle bush, chasing each other around. And I was stunned to see one hop up on the birdbath.

Turns out there was more fun coming.

A nice cool bath is just the thing!

A nice cool bath is just the thing!

She (I’m deciding it’s a she) jumped in the bird bath and began to enjoy herself. But then she had an unwanted visitor.

Stay away!  This is MY bath!

Stay away! This is MY bath!

Then her mate showed up to guard her while she continued to bath.

I'll keep watch for you.

I’ll keep watch for you.

She enjoyed her bath for a long time.

Shake it mama bird!

Shake it mama bird!

But once the mate flew back into the shrub she got even more visitors!

Look!  She's hogging the bath!

Look! She’s hogging the bath!

Eventually it was all just too much for her.

That's it!  There's no privacy here!

That’s it! There’s no privacy here!

And the visitors were left on their own.

Was it something we said?

Was it something we said?

Always an adventure. And to think if I was working I’d have missed it all.

Internet photo of Junco.  Not here yet.  Thank goodness.

Internet photo of Junco. Not here yet. Thank goodness.


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There’s a Christmas card on our bird feeders

I have often thought, as I watch the birds visit our feeders, that it looks like a familiar Christmas card. You know the one…where a different kind of colorful bird peeks out from behind all the letters in “Happy Holidays!’ on the front? Just a few minutes ago I was reminded of that card again and went to get the camera, moving slowly, carefully, quietly.

If I had gotten the shot this is what you would have seen:

A huge bright red male cardinal lording over the flat feeder, the feeder I had just moments ago filled with black oiler seed. A female, or perhaps a juvenile cardinal, a chickadee, a house finch and a titmouse were all sitting on the feeder with him, some grabbing a seed and flying up to a branch to eat before coming back for more. He didn’t move from his spot. A juvenile oriole and another female cardinal sat on the top of Katie’s kennel a few feet away waiting their turn. A small black and white woodpecker slips in, grabs a seed and departs. The bright orange male oriole swoops down from the trees to the oriole feeder. There is no grape jelly left. He hops to the top of the pole and stares into the window, voicing his displeasure with a quick burst of machine gun chirps. The male cardinal, impatient with all the activity on his feeder systematically chases all the smaller birds away. Most go to sit in a line on Katie’s pen. Waiting. When he’s done gorging himself and flies off the activity on the flat feeder picks up again. Bright yellow goldfinches have stuck to the thistle feeder throughout all the antics. They are pigs. And a female hummingbird zig zags nervously around her own private feeder.

Can you imagine all of that? I hope so because I didn’t have a chance to get the shot.

As soon as I moved to the kitchen and picked up the camera, turning slowly back around to head to the living room Katie woke from her spot in the dining room, raced to my reading chair next to the window, leaped up and commenced to barking. Because if mama is grabbing the camera and heading toward the windows there must be something out there!

So you’ll have to be satisfied with a picture of the princess instead. After all, she says, nothing else is as beautiful.

Yes I know I'm beautiful.

Who;s the prettiest one of all?

Sigh.


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Suburban wildlife – or- not so wordless Wednesday

It’s beginning to amaze me the beautiful things that are in my yard during any given day. And to think all this has been going on here at home for years while I’ve been off at work.

Katie likes to bark a warning to us humans sitting on the sofa. By the time we get up and look outside she has managed to chase whatever it was away. But just in the last two days I’ve noticed, on my own with no help from her, plenty of goings on in the yard.

Of course we have the Orioles visiting daily. Sometimes hourly. Do you think this one is a juvenile or just a wet female?

Looking for "more grape jelly lady!!"

Looking for “more grape jelly lady!!”

It’s a good thing Katie didn’t see this little guy at the birdbath right outside her favorite window.

"Hey!  Anybody in there?!"

“Hey! Anybody in there?!”

Do you think the butterfly on the house realizes there are two garter snakes curled up sleepily below?

Look out below!

Look out below!

And just now, in the back yard we had a visitor. Katie didn’t see this either.

Looking for rabbits in all the right places.

Looking for rabbits in all the right places.

Good thing she didn’t. All heck would have broken out.

What's that smell over there?

What’s that smell over there?

So much going on in my own yard that I don’t have time for cooking and cleaning and such. Must keep vigilent, as a sheltie, who will remain nameless, seems to be napping on the job.

STILL no grape jelly lady!

STILL no grape jelly lady!


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Yard treasures

Mr. Oriole comes for grape jelly.

Mr. Oriole comes for grape jelly.


One of the joys of being retired is time spent in my own back yard. There’s time to sit on the deck out back, watch the clouds scoot by, the light change on the birch trees, the birds coming in shifts to feed, even the grass growing. What a treat.

Ripening black raspberries.

Ripening black raspberries.


I remember the days when, while backing out of the driveway on my way to work, I noticed the early morning sun on the front of the house and felt a pang that another beautiful day at home was going to slide by without me. Now I have to keep reminding myself that I get to stay and enjoy the peace.
Gift from blue jay.

Gift from blue jay.

I constantly catch myself feeling sad that a day is ending, a weekend finished, a week gone by. It’s as if my body is automatically gearing up to go back to work after a vacation, sad that it’s ending. And then I remember that it’s not.

Roses bloom.

Roses bloom.

So if you see me smiling quietly to myself you’ll know I’m just mentally pinching myself.

And enjoying the treasures in my own yard.

Mrs. Oriole visits for a snack.

Mrs. Oriole visits for a snack.


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Five photos, five days #3

This is part of Carol’s challenge, Five photos, five days, complete with a story; truth or fiction, or maybe some poetry.  And you’re supposed to nominate someone each day to join in the fun.

 

Mom's new babies!

Mom’s new babies!

At Kensington (the park, not the palace) it’s all about babies this time of year.  Today mama swan’s eggs began to hatch.  There was a huge crowd of paparazzi, cameras clicking as each egg hatched.  Mama swan ignored them all and paid exquisite attention to her new little ones, shielding them from the cameras with her wings.

It’s a special time and we’re lucky to be witness to it.

Today I’d like to challenge Karma of Karma’s When I Feel Like It, because I know she has a new camera lens and is just itching to get out and use it!

Mama up close

Mama up close before the little ones arrived.


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Five photos, five days #2

Everywhere there are signs that say “Don’t feed the cranes.”

Mid-morning snack

Mid-morning snack

But cranes can’t read and apparently neither can humans.

A few weeks ago as husband and I walked around the lake at one of my favorite parks we saw many people standing still, hands upright while chickadees flitted.  And we were accosted a few times by chickadees expecting something special.

Imported Photos 00592

We didn’t have anything to give them, and think it’s wrong anyway.  But I have to admit it was fun to watch.  This little guy will remember forever the day he had the crane eating out of his hand.

Imported Photos 00755

This is part of the five photos, five days challenge that Carol put me up to.  Now I have to think about who to nominate to carry on the challenge.  Today I nominate the Cowspot Dogs, because they are living in a new place and have lots of places to show us.  Here are the rules, loosely speaking:  Post a photo (as you can see I’m having a hard time sticking to one photo.) and a story, fiction or non, or maybe even a poem, one a day for five days and each day nominate someone to play along.

Imported Photos 00564_edited-1

 


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Katie pronounces it officially summer.

Katie here.  Guess what, guess what, guess what?

At my park last night.

At my park last night.

It finally got warm!  And our grass is green!  And sometimes I get to sit in my kennel and watch the birds and bark at anyone on my street!  It’s amazing.  This weekend my mama even said she might put up the tent!  That means it’s summer, right?

Well, maybe not quite summer cause she never did put the tent up and we had to sleep inside the boring old house.  She said she was too tired.  I swear, that mama is always too tired to do fun stuff.

Well, I take it back, she did come home Sunday evening from somewhere all dressed up and she rushed out of her good clothes and put on her park clothes and we got to go to my park just as the sun was going down!

She said we had to get my dandelion photo, whatever that is.  And something about the park people mowing the grass if we didn’t hurry up.  So we rushed over there so fast she forgot my treats…and she marched me out to the middle of the field and guess what?  Apparently dandelions close up when the sun goes down!  Who knew?  So she found a little patch of them in the last bit of sun and said that would have to do for this year.

Boooorrrring

Boooorrrring

I found the whole thing terribly boring.  But then she and I walked all the way around the park and it was just wonderful.  Don’t you think the sun makes my coat look good?  I hear I’m going to the groomer Friday.  Maybe if you all tell her how beautiful I already look she won’t make me go.  It’s worth a shot, right?  I’d give you her private cell number to call her, but she won’t tell me what it is.

Golden sun on my golden coat.

Golden sun on my golden coat.

So anyway.  We also got to do weeding this weekend.  I’m not sure what that is either, but it seems to mean I get to lie out in the soft grass while my mama digs around in the dirt and gets all smelly.  She is definitely not a princess.  Sometimes I wonder why I hang out with her at all.

Then tonight after supper she and dad went back outside to weed some more.  I loved it because I got to sit in the grass again and watch my road.  I kept them safe from two marauding joggers and a couple of trucks.  Good thing I’m around.

But when the sun started going down mama said that was enough and now she and I are hanging out on the deck!f  The sky is getting all apricot, and there’s a big pink puffy cloud to the south.  AND…best of all mama saw the green herons come back for the summer!  All three of them flew over and made a big production of landing in our trees.  Boy they are noisy!  She seemed awfully glad to see them though.

AND we just saw a humming bird!  Mama put the feeder up yesterday cause she figured they’d be around by now and sure enough, just a few minutes ago a little hummer flew around our heads and went to the feeder!  He seems more skittish then he was when he left last fall, but he’ll get used to me.  I never bark at hummingbirds.  They are so cool and they make my mama happy.

So anyway, I almost forgot…mama says that by Friday it’s supposed to be hot here!  And if there aren’t any storms for sure we’re going to go camping in the back yard!  I almost can’t remember what that means, but I’m sure when I help her put up the tent I’ll be all excited again.

This was me last year!

This was me last year!

So all of that means it’s summer.  Right?  I think it is.  Princess Katie proclaims that summer has arrived.  I don’t care about stupid calendars and official dates.  I can’t count anyway.

Everybody enjoy this beautiful weather!  I hope no one has storms and you all get to go out for walks with your peoples or your dogs or (I suppose) even your cats.

Now I need a nap.  This weeding thing gets a girl exhausted.

See you soon in my tent!

Come camping with me!

Come camping with me!


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Lonely chickens

We’ve been taking care of our neighbors’ chickens for the past couple of weeks.  Well.  I have only been up there a couple of times; husband has head egg collection duty.

Busy chickens

Busy chickens

But I went up last weekend and as I approached their space they commenced to clucking and racing around, coming up to whatever side of the pen I was on.   I think they miss their people.  Husband says no – they’re just excited to get fed.

Whatcha doing out there?

Whatcha doing out there?

Which could also be true.

But I prefer to think they enjoyed my company while I was there.  I talked to them and took their pictures.  I thought they were quite beautiful.

So are their eggs.

Yum

Yum