Atticus Finch….

One of my all time favorite movies and books is “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I fell deeply in love with Gregory Peck  when I first watched this movie with my Pop.  I was still a young girl and I know what touched me most was his quiet strength and the love he had for his children. I was thrilled and scared all at once during the scene when Scout and Jem are attacked on their way home from the school play. As I grew up, I began to understand all the other important issues the book touched upon. I just loved it more.

I am also a lover of birds and have enjoyed living out in the country at my Mom’s and observing all the baby birds. They are so demanding when it’s feeding time.

Their big maws open wide enough to split, pushing and positioning themselves to get a piece of the goodies. This is a family of baby mockingbirds in a nest the parents built in a pulled down tree in the lot next to Mom’s property. Even all the way over on our back porch, you could hear them when mom or dad flew in with dinner. It was amazing to watch them grow. One day I was in a total panic when I spotted one of the little guys in our backyard. He seemed way too small to be out exploring. I put on a pair of gloves (like they didn’t smell like humans, right?), picked the little guy up and returned him to the nest.  You can’t imagine how horrified I was when later in the afternoon I saw  him right back in the yard. I named this little guy Atticus…for obvious reasons. 

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He hopped around the yard, copying the weird little dance his parents did…spreading their wings in little jerking movements and hopping along. One of his favorite spots was the flower bed.

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He was such a funny little guy to watch, but I worried about him all the time. The neighbors have cats. Not a good mix…baby birds and cats.  Soon after these pictures were taken, I didn’t  see Atticus or his wild and crazy brother, Sam (named after a nephew who was also wild and crazy), anymore. There are several new mockingbirds around the yard this year and I’m choosing to believe two of them are Atticus and Sam….

Textures….

Textures so enrich our lives…..through sight and touch. It’s hard to catch textures in photographs sometimes. Here are a few of my favorite attempts.

Swirls and whirls on a frosty morning in Flagstaff..

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Fuzzy, hairy and fluffy…

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Velvet…

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Some of these you’ll have to click on and zoom in on the picture. I’ve not quite got the hang of getting a photo I’ve altered to stay altered once I move it to the photo album….You know what I’ll have to do….Tracy!!!!!

I had a little nut tree….

I had a little nut tree, nothing would it bear,

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But a silver nutmeg and a golden pear.

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The king of Spain’s daughter came to visit me
And all was because of my little nut tree.

Greg came home for lunch today and after having a lovely Chicken Enchilada Soup (I got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman blog - absolutely delicious!!) as he was leaving, I told him I had gotten some pears for him. And of course, my Mom pops up and says I didn't buy the pears for him....imagine that. She says I bought them to take pictures of...can you believe it???

Heathcliff and Gertrude….

A few years ago, I went to stay with my very dear friend, Mary, and her family in Camas, Washington. Mary was facing follow up surgery after a complication and I wanted to be near her. Everything was a success and we had a very enjoyable visit.  Mary, her husband, Doug and I all went on a day trip to the Oregon coast. In all the years of traveling with my father during the military, we had never lived in the Pacific Northwest. Such a powerful place….so many beautiful sights to see. It was a misty, rainy day which suited me just fine. The beach was primeval looking and calming and made me feel small.

The sea gulls were all around an area where some other visitors were feeding them heaven knows what….all kinds of cholesterol and transfatty something or others, I’m sure.

But there were these two sea gulls off by themselves just looking out to sea. It made me think of the old Red Skelton routine about Heathcliff and Gertrude. So that’s what I named them….

Life isn’t always pretty….

We have a roadrunner that has been pretty much raised in our yard. He's really quite the character and most of the time he's enjoyable to watch. Today, however, I saw him take a dead sparrow out of the bird bath and head for the hills. I don't believe he killed the bird, but I can't really say. He usually will slow down when I talk to him, but not this time....zoom....he was out the gate with his "snack". I snuck around the front to see if I could get a picture of him and got lucky. The light wasn't the best and when I tried to move around to the other side, he said enough's enough and picked up his dinner and headed off. The pictures are a bit graphic, but it is life....if he doesn't eat, he dies. So even though I value the beauty in my garden more, I have to acknowledge the reality sometimes too.

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Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home…

While out harvesting some okra this afternoon, I noticed this pretty little ladybug. She was very kind and waited for me to dash to the house and get my camera. She also tolerated being nudged in one direction or another so I could get a better shot. In the second picture, if you look closely at the reflection on her side, you can see me taking her picture. Too crazy!!! I didn’t realize that they were so shiny??? What a sweet little bug and since she eats the bad bugs in my garden, she’s always welcome….

 

 

That Tracy….she’s a jewel….

I love all the things that Tracy does with her blog and she shows me how to do things all the time. This is just one more example of her awesome teaching skills. I have always loved how she put pictures on her blog in certain ways. This is one of them. Tracy, you’re a jewel: a precious gem; treasured; esteemed; sometimes multifaceted…that’s Tracy alright…

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Blue and Yellow.....

There are so many beautiful colors in a garden. Even the varying shades of green are gorgeous. But two of my favorite colors in a garden are blue and yellow. One is so cool and calming...the other so bright and beckoning. Both put a smile on my face and warmth in my heart.

I can't help but think of my Grandma Kearfott whenever I see a flower. She and my grandpa would have such awesome gardens each year. One of my favorite memories of childhood is sitting in the swing that hung from this huge old oak tree..the sun is going down and we can see the whole yard layed out before us. The lightening bugs are starting to come out and grandma and I are sitting there, swinging and snapping green beans...life just doesn't get any better than that.

Walk about the yard....

I love this time of year..I can plant things and most of the time they grow. Not always. I seem to be challenged by pansies. Not quite sure why, but they are difficult for me to grow. I love how the stocks smell...so sweet. The hummer was enjoying the blossom on the aloe vera today. I wasn't able to get a picture. But I could just take pictures of flowers all day long...if the family would let me.

Friendships, flowers and fallin' apart birdhouses....

My Mom was a military wife who made many friends along the way. She cherished her friendships and valued her friends. Years ago, one of her close friends lost her battle with cancer and left a hole in my Mom's heart. As is often the case, there were so many beautiful flowers at the funeral and her friend's husband sent a plant home with Mom. Mom may nurture friendships, but she's not as good with flowers and plants. Thankfully this was a pothos and could hold it's own. Because the plant was never watered, dusted or referred to without also speaking of her friend....this plant was important to my Mom. It became a matter of pride at how long she had had the plant and that it still lived although her friend no longer did. Arizona water is not the best and after time began to take it's toll on the wooden birdhouse planter the plant was in. Mom would occasionally mention how "she" needed to repot the plant...then a couple more years would go by. Recently, she saw a flower pot she just knew was what she wanted to repot her plant in and so this journey began.

With Mom watching on, I trimmed the plant back to put starts in water to root. Every day or so I would hear, "Are there any roots yet?" ...."Is there water on the cuttings?"....."Are there any roots yet?" Now remember this is the same Mom who recently sent a gopher to his reward with a broom.....but somehow taking care of the mundane tasks of rooting this plant were beyond her capabilities. This morning while she was gone to dialysis, I decided today was the day to repot Mom's plant. I gathered everything I would need and worked at our picnic table in the backyard. It was a glorious morning and as I completed this simple task for my Mom, I talked to her friend and told her what a wonderful friend she had been to my Mom. The job is done and I know my Mom will be thankful when she gets home.

I couldn't help but think when I looked at that sad, broken down, fallin' apart little birdhouse planter how, although weathered and worn, it had housed my Mom's memories for years. It was just a vessel and it's time was done, but the love and memories it held would live on....I hope when my time comes and God gives me a new vessel, He talks to me and tells me what a good friend I was.

Happy surprise!!!

Oh, what a happy surprise. I didn't notice that there is a bee in the middle of the flower until I clicked on it to see if you guys could enlarge it to see it better. There he is with his butt sticking out...maybe the other bee wasn't sick, just drunk on nectar and waiting for a taxi to fly him back to the hive....

Growing things....

We tried a summer garden and didn't do very well. We were late getting started. The only thing still producing from that garden is the okra. It has quite a pretty flower. It reminds me of a hollyhock. We've started our fall garden and have radishes and leaf lettuce popping up already. We also planted spinach, carrots and green onions. We're hoping this short heat wave we're having won't be too hard on the little seedlings. It really is amazing that you can put that little, tiny seed in the dirt provide water and sunshine and viola!!! little green things start sprouting. It's a wonderful thing.

Nicole and I think the bee must have not been very healthy....he never flew away and he didn't seem to mind getting his picture taken. Supposedly, Albert Einstein stated that if the world was to lose it's honey bees, it would end within four years....sad.

Nicole's on the mend....

Back from the doctor's office and it's sad to say, but we're happy all she has is strep throat. What has the world come to when that's the lesser of all the evils?? But her fever is being well controlled with Motrin and lots of fluids, her throat is still sore, but she's getting better. So thankful it wasn't something more. She is a trooper and handles things pretty well. I guess she better learn a little empathy because she wants to go into the medical field. But she's "needing" a back rub and since she may be taking care of me in my "old age", I better get hoppin'....

One of my favorites...Matt Nathanson "All We Are"

The gopher wars....

Okay, anyone who has ever lived in Arizona understands the fight with gophers...at least out here in the country. This evening Mom yelled at me to "run quick something was after Millie" (our little dog). Well I know you ALL know I don't "run quick" anywhere anymore, but I gave it my best effort. And there it was...a pretty good sized gopher doing it's best to get up on the porch and Millie was holding it at bay. That instinctive urge to protect her loving family, I'm sure. Well I was the first one out the door and the closest thing to grab was a broom. Not my weapon of choice, but the only one handy. I'm yelling at Millie to get away and pushing the gopher back into the yard with the broom, the gopher is charging at the broom and Millie ain't having any of that nonsense. I'm yelling (yes, yelling would be a good description of what I was doing) at Nicole to get Millie in the house and get me the...this is where you more genteel, animal-right activists may want to stop reading....pellet gun. She grabs Millie, gets her back inside, puts her down to get the gun, and out the door Millie charges again!! Mom has made it out the door by now and thinks "it just isn't natural for that gopher to be biting that broom like that." Oh, the power of understatement. I'm still "sweeping" the gopher back out into the yard and Nicole gets Millie back in the house and hands me the gun....it won't shoot. She's pumped it up, pumped in the pellet, and supposedly taken the safety off...still won't shoot. I, not wanting to use the gun as a club, drop it, grab the broom and Mom goes for a bucket to throw over the gopher. We get that done and I'm checking out the gun to see if I can figure out why it's not working and Mom says to just let it wait til Greg gets home....ummm Mom, it's a gopher. It can dig. So brave thing that I am, I hand Mom the broom and get ready to take aim after she knocks the bucket off of the varmit...still won't shoot. I'm thinking "ah sh..." and what does my 77 year old mother do??? She beats the gopher to death with the broom and walks up on the porch telling me "Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do".

I thought about attaching a picture of the gopher, now deceased, but decided I would bring down the wrath of some animal protection group. And Mom declined both photo and interview...so I guess this is all you get. What a lovely way to end the day out here on the front lines of The Gopher Wars....



Quote from "O Brother, Where Art Thou" Ulysses Everett McGill: No thank you, Delmar. One third of a gopher would only arouse my appetite without bedding it down.

The times they are a chang'n...

I have been so very bad about spending time with my blog lately, but I've been inspired by my lovely cousin, Tracy. She's been updating and revising her blog and I knew it was time. So I've been doing some changing myself...to the blog anyway. We'll just call it a little rejuvenation, a little facelift, a little pick-me-up. It was fun and challenging and I probably could have done some things better, but I'm happy with where it is now. I'm going to try and be more attentive. The weather is turning gorgeous and my spirits are lifting in direct proportion to the thermometer dropping. So don't give up on me yet.

Sad, sad, sad....

Sad little blog...nobody loves you. You're being terribly ignored....most of all by me.

Wonderful, wonderful Wednesday....

Today was awesome!!! The weather promises beautiful things to come. I love this time of the year here in Arizona when the weather starts to change. It's as close as we get to autumn...the temperature begins to drop below triple digits and life is good. It just lifts my spirits. The mornings are perfect to sit out and watch the hummers and work my crossword puzzle. Just gotta love it!!! I hope everyone is enjoying life right now as much as I am....

A movie, lunch and anniversaries....

Just had a wonderful time with my son, David. We went to the movies and had lunch. We saw Julie & Julia....it was good but not one I'll buy. It was interesting to see her committment to the blog. Obviously, I'm not that committed. I noticed that I've been very bad about writing on here. It's not that ideas aren't going through my head, it's just none of them seem to be sticking. I would like to spend more time contemplating things...but some days the world just gets in the way.

Tomorrow is my 16th wedding anniversary and we're planning on going out for dinner. I'm ravenous for a good steak. I can still remember eight years ago waking up to see the horrible news reports about the Twin Towers. We already had reservations for dinner that night too and went out, but it was really eerie...the streets were almost empty and so was the restaurant...lots of places were closed. I hope this country never has to see a day like that again....

Here he is...little Justin Donald...