Tag Archives: yard
Wordless Wednesday
Thank you
You are all so nice to be worried and I appreciate all the helpful suggestions about my lost pictures. I should have been more clear in telling you I do have all the pictures on the old laptop backed up on an external drive. I just never deleted the files on the laptop. I have a hard time deleting anything.
This is the way my birdfeeder looks when I’m shooting through the window, there are often reflections that bisect the feeder, but this was my first sighting of what I thought was a juvenile rose-breasted grosbeak. They love safflower seeds. Notice there are none on the feeder.
I also have most of the pictures over here on the new laptop too. So really, there was no reason not to delete a boatload of stuff off the old laptop to make room for the few pictures I wanted to find.
So I did.
I put some safflower seed out. And I waited. The cardinal was very pleased, it’s one of his favorites too.
I found most of what I remembered and downloaded those to the old laptop, then looked at them over there and emailed myself a few of them which I then downloaded to my new laptop.
I waited while other birds showed up looking for lunch.
Seems convaluted but it sort of worked. The hardest part was trying to find the photos I remembered from a couple weeks ago looking at little thumbnail images. But I got most of it.
I think.
Lots of other birds showed up.
I wonder why I have such a hard items deleting stuff when I know it’s being stored somewhere else and it’s just taking up valuable space.
And when I’m taking new pictures and sorting through them the image has to be really really bad for me to delete it. And if it’s family or Katie, well, even really really bad images get to stay.
Finally! See him down on the baffle, right at the level of the deck railing in this shot. See the beginning of the rose patch on his breast? He’s not at all sure about all the bird activity up above. In fact that might be another grosbeak landing!
Why is that?
I think one of the reasons I love taking pictures is that it preserves that moment in time, a moment that is already gone by the time the shutter shuts. And each moment seems so precious that even if the image is bad it’s still some sort of preservation.
Finally they both showed up. (This is the other one, and possibly an adult femail.)
I don’t think most people feel this way and I wonder where it comes from.
Anyway, today’s images are brought to you from deep in the memory card and a couple weeks ago when I had a juvinile rose brested grossbeak at the feeder. Maybe I had two, there’s one image with one on each end of the feeder.
They were adorable to watch.
They were only here for two days and I’m glad I got to watch them and capture their cuteness before they went on their way. I hope they come back next spring!
Immature male cardinal? Or just an older molting guy?
Smiles guaranteed
We planted a little ‘wild flower’ garden this spring, and it’s in full bloom now. Lots of pretty blossoms, mostly annuals, reaching for the sky.
Our little bit of wildflowers.
This week three sunflowers began to bloom.
Promises of sun arriving soon.
Today one of them opened.
You are my sunshine…
I smile everytime I walk past this patch of flowers, but now with the sunflower I positively grin.
The details are amazing.
Hope you are smiling too!
Pink is pretty too.
Random thoughts from the yard
Covid has made me random in many ways. Random meals put together from whatever is here rather then running to the store to pick up a missing item. Random camping trips to get away while remaining isolated. Random walks through the yard instead of parks to avoid running into other people.
The sugar water is getting a little low, lady!
That’s not all bad, you understand. Some things we’ve learned to do during this strange time would benefit us to continue once the world returns to normal. If that ever happens.
Things like eating at home together instead of catching a meal on the fly. Doing with what’s in the pantry and not wasting gas and engery rushing to the store every day. Talking to neighbors on walks through the neighborhood instead of waving at them from your car as you drive somewhere else.
Three stages of bloom.
Recognizing your home is not such a bad place to be, even while yearning for exploration and adventure.
I was weeding when I noticed a large monarch butterfly hovering around a hydranga tree filled with beautiful white blossoms. Such a pretty image I went inside and got the camera.
Pink zinnia impersonating purple coneflowers.
Of course he (or she) wasn’t anywhere to be found when I got back outside. But lots of other things were.
The images in this post were from that brief weeding interlude. I should be content in my yard, it’s a pretty amazing place.
In the wild part of the yard.
But the road has always, and continues to, call me.
I have a friend in the UP (Upper Peninsulia of Michigan for those of you not from around here) who has a group of women friends that gathers regulary to camp, along the shores of Lake Superior or the banks of a river. They kayak and sit around the fire and talk and I wish I could be there too.
Centering.
I think I need to put together a group like that down here in lower Michigan. A few other women who like to camp and would like to camp together somewhere once in awhile.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my camping solitude too, and Katie and I love to spend that time together. But sometimes it would be nice to have a group of people who would like to explore together.
The light bounces.
So who’s in? Could we manage to socially distance while camping? Dogs or no dogs, tents or RVs, who’d like to go…and where?
Pink and green coexisting.
The possibilities are endless.
New possibilities.
Things that make me smile from my living room window.
After my three day adventure in Michigan’s thumb I settled back at home, grateful for a more comfortable bed, my husband and my Katie-girl.
I forgive you, mama, for leaving me behind. But I expect a double reward for posing for you now.
Still, it’s hard for me to take pictures for three days and then just put the camera away. Especially when there’s so much going on in my own backyard.
Two turkey mamas bring the youngsters in for breakfast.
Do you want to see? Well settle in, because this might get a little long. But I guarantee you’ll be smiling just like me.
One of our resident deer watch the turkey breakfast, considering whether or not to crash the party.
The weather was changing and the birds seemed to realize it. They were in a frenzy at the feeders.
A juvenile blackbird holds his own even when the big birds show up.
Lots of comings and goings and squawking and jostling for position.
The youngster stood up to all the birds, even the bully grackle.
And then it started to rain, the first rain we’ve had in many weeks.
We got a steady, all day, summer rain. It was marvelous.
But rain didn’t keep my birds from coming in.
Resting between courses.
I especially enjoyed watching this young oriole.
Do you have any good food for me, lady?
I think she may have a cognitive problem. She spends lots of time at the hummingbird feeder.
This is my private buffet.
She works very hard at trying to get to the sugar water.
Maybe there’s something under here?
But eventually she’ll move over to the oriole feeder. If she thinks I’m laughing at her she gets a little bent out of shape.
Look lady, I was just exploring my options.
Meanwhile, the juvinille red winged blackbird watches everything from his elevated perch.
I don’t know why they are all excited about some damp oranges.
We still have one adult male oriole stopping by. When he’s eating the youngsters aren’t so welcome at the feeder.
I brought you into this world and I can take you out!
They try to quietly swoop in for a bite, but he’s not having it.
Maybe I can grab a bite on the go.
He never stays long though, so if they are patient they can get back to enjoying lunch.
Wait, what’s that over there?
Keeping watch.
The chickadee stays out of the orioles way by feeding at the finch feeder. I hardly ever see any goldfinches these days, but the chickadee eats plenty.
It’s much more peaceful over here. Nom, nom, nom.
And little Miss Confused checks out the hummingbird feeder again.
Look lady, there’s sugar water in here and I’m going to get it. Now leave me alone!
The other young orioles are fine with that, leaves more oranges for them.
Personally, I think she’s crazy. But I guess every family has one.
So now you know why I’m smiling on a dim, rainy summer day. Oh yea, there’s this too.
We call him the flying squirrel because he leaps great distances to get to lunch.
I hope you’re smiling by now. You should write a post about what makes you smile and link it to Trent’s weekly smile post. He’ll recap next Monday and share it with lots of other smiling people!
Thanks Trent! You make us all smile too!
I’d smile more if all these youngsters would leave my lunch alone!
Change Is Hard 