right now. I’m very frustrated with a certain whatever named Blogger. I started trying to catch up with all my buddies this evening and part way through the process, the big “B” decided I shouldn’t be allowed to post comments anymore. Big ol’ Error 400 or something such. So please forgive me for not commenting, but I have been able to at least see and read all your posts. So I am caught up and will be working forward from here.
On first spotting this shy creature in the woods around Strawberry, I wasn’t sure what I had found.
She was doing her best to fade into the background and I’m sure wishing I would just go away.
She made a break heading for cover (and the back porch). She’s quick, but I got a shot of her zipping through the pine needles.
After a lot of hard work and doggie treats, we were able to domesticate the wild beast.
She did seem to have previous training…possibly in a lion training act.
She eventually got tired of all the attention and….
tried to lick the camera. :)
I’m back from Strawberry and will spend time in the morning catching up with all of you. I’ve missed you terribly!!
Do you think she’s having a conversation with the fly? I didn’t even see the fly until I put the photos on the computer. Actually there are two flies in this picture…well and maybe a little bird poo. Sorry.
Don’t you just love their little, itty, bitty feet?
Hope you’re all having a great weekend. I’m sure I am up in the cool country. Didn’t even take my laptop with me this trip. But I did take my camera!
The grass was getting kinda high and hubby came home from work to mow it. I had already made two trips out trying to get just the right picture. Third time was a charm…but now I’m all itchy. But on a positive note…I was able to lay down AND get up three times. Yippee! That’s progress and I’ll take all I can get.
My blogging buddy Lizzie at Bellingham Daily Photo posted a wonderful picture of grass and I told her I was going to give it a shot too. Now our grass is bermuda and only gets about six or seven inches tall. But I was game to try.
Click on Lizzie’s link above and you’ll see some really nice grass.
I am not doing very well at this blogging thing right now. Sorry, about that. Between mom and myself, we have had lots of appointments this last couple of weeks.
But while working at my desk this morning, I did spot these two little lovelies perched to protect their territory…the feeder.
One was keeping watch in one direction while the other kept an eye out in the other.
Now I think they’re just talking strategy. I do find it funny that they never chase other hummers away from the flowers in the yard…just the feeders. Maybe we should ponder on that awhile.
I’m not nearly as blessed with wildlife as my brother, Glen, but I do have fun with the birds and critters that live in my yard.
I noticed a bird sitting right at the edge of our driveway. This is our driveway….
If you were to draw a line from the top fence post to the left and stop at a little brown dot at the edge of the driveway, you would find this….
Do you see her there? She’s right above the two green weeds. She has been there for several days and quietly moves away when we drive by and goes right back to this….
She is a killdeer and is so fascinating to watch. I couldn’t get a closer shot of her in the driveway because as soon as I got to within about 100 feet of her, she moved away from the nest. Here is some information about killdeers….
“The nest itself is merely a shallow depression or bowl in the ground, fringed by some stones and blades of grass. The precious nest is well camouflaged, as the spots of the eggs disguise them as stones, and the simple structure of the nest resembles its surroundings.Like many other waders, Killdeer hatchlings are precocial birds and are able to see and forage soon after hatching.”
“Their name comes from their frequently heard call. These birds will frequently use a distraction display ("broken-wing act") to distract predators from their nests. This involves the bird walking away from its nesting area holding its wing in a position that simulates an injury and then flapping around on the ground emitting a distress call. The predators then think they have easy prey and are attracted to this seemingly injured bird and away from the nest. If the parent sees that a potential predator is not following them, they will move closer and get louder until they get the attention of the predator. This is repeated until the predator is far from the nest, and the killdeer suddenly "heals" and flies away.” Wikipedia
And here she is doing just that very thing….
It took her over five minutes to go back to the nest even after I had moved back up to the house. I don’t want to disturb her anymore, but I'm hoping I get some shots of the babies. I have seen them around the yard before. They run along following her like little fluff balls.
I love to hear their call in the late evening.
My oldest brother, Glen, lives in Tucson and has been featured on my blog as a guest photographer. In one of the shots from that post, there is a bobcat up in a tree in his backyard. It is one of a pair of kittens that were taking a stroll with their mother that day. That was back in May of 2010 and this year things have gotten even more interesting.
This is the mother of……
these two little cuties. Can you imagine! They live in a den under his garden shed. These two are quite a bit younger than the ones he saw before. Some people have all the luck!!
He’s trying to not be too invasive about his picture taking so that the momma doesn’t move them somewhere else. I’m looking forward to several more pictures in the future. I’ll be sure and share them with you.
what has been going on with me. I can’t seem to find my muse or my energy. But as my brother (whom I listen to in most all things) has taken it upon himself to chide me into “fishing or cutting bait” because he has become bored with the same posting for almost two weeks….ouch….did I say “two weeks”? That’s bad isn’t it?
This evening was really very lovely and as close to cool as we’ll see in a long time. So I took my camera outside to play with my tripod and some light and night shots.
This is a fiber optic, solar powered flower. It was a gift from my brother, Richard, and sister-in-law, Lisa. It’s lovely in the garden at night.
I decided I wanted to play with long exposures and movement….
Guess what? I had fun. I enjoyed myself. I moved outside of my head and quit thinking so much. I think I’ll try doing that again tomorrow. :)
Thank you, Richard, for poking me when I needed it.
Kathy!!! Yes, indeed it was “Riders of the Purple Sage” by Zane Grey. You all make this so much fun and I’m already looking forward to the next one.
As Diane said, this bush is known by several different names. I have heard them called Texas Rangers, Chihuahuan Sage, Green Cloud, Silverleaf, and Convent just to name a few. It is not truly a sage as it belongs to the figwort family and not the salvia family. (Don’t I sound smart! Thank God for Wikipedia) I have always known the plant by the name Texas Sage and as it’s purple….well you get it.
Thank you all for playing!
of Guess That Novel!! Yes, I have been missing getting out and doing this one. I’ll try to contain myself to one every couple of weeks or so. Mainly because I’m still not as mobile as I would like to be.
I’m torn about how to describe this one, because I don’t want to make it too easy or too obscure…but devious little me is leaning toward obscure.
So, you may cry foul at the end, but in the meantime we’ll have fun. :)
It might help you to know what this lovely bush is called…..
This book is a classic within a specific genre. Good Luck!
This is a photo taken on a trip with my BFF, Annie. We both enjoy quiet walks through old cemeteries trying to connect with times gone by.
As this is Memorial Day weekend and we all should be remembering our loved ones who have gone before and those we may not have known, but who have served to give us freedom, I thought this was an appropriate photo to reflect on.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with fun, but also with memories of those who have gone before us laying the stones on the path we will one day walk.
Did you think I was going to talk about American Idol? :)
Nicole chose “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.
I loved all your comments, but one in particular got me to thinking. Lizzi at Bellingham Daily Photo mentioned about some recent controversy with Huck Finn. I’m terribly ill informed sometimes and had to go and look up what she was talking about. The controversy is about the use of the “N'” word. Now I don’t like or approve of the “N” word, but understand its use in certain works of literature that were written during certain times.
This statement was written by (I believe) Robert O’Meally in the Endnotes of the copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn that Nicole has.
“Because of the casual use of this racial epithet throughout the novel, many readers have been put off by The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Many have even believed the book should be banned, despite the fact – some would say because of the fact – that “n*****s” is used by the novels favorite characters, including Jim, often with affection. The challenge for today’s reader is to confront the word in all its violence and contradictions, and to consider its meaning for various audiences – for nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first-century readers; for blacks, whites and those of other races; for children and adults. Readers also should consider the fact that much of the novel is satirical – intended to spoof and upend the prevailing values, racial and otherwise, of the characters and communities it describes.”
(The asterisks are mine)
Nicole’s copy is the original. I do not want to offend anyone in anyway and probably should stay away from such topics, but what kind of a mom would I be then?
I personally find several words that I find in today’s literature repulsive and offensive. I don’t like to be filling my tank at the gas station and have to listen to someone’s music that uses not only the “F” word, but also the “N” word. I’m embarrassed and ashamed by the use of either word. But I believe in our freedom of speech rights. I don’t believe it would be right to ban or edit Mark Twain’s book. Reading it is a choice and one that everyone should have the right to make or not make.
Okay, let me step down off of my soap box and continue spreading flowers and sunshine. That is what I do, isn’t it? :)
This is Nicole’s summer reading (recommended) for her AP Literature class her Junior year. Except with my old brain cells, I mistakenly got “Great Expectations” instead of “The Great Gatsby”. I’ll have to exchange that one. Then she has another list to choose two books from that she’ll need to do book reports on.
Can you guess which one she picked to start with?
PS: I had an absolutely wonderful evening with two close friends. We went out for an early celebration of my birthday. Bookstores, Mexican food and coffee smoothies!!! It just couldn’t get any better. Thank you Annie and Alice…what wonderful friends you are.
I have been battling some personal demons the last few days. Times like these are hard, but when I finally climb up out of the abyss, the world looks brighter.
Glad to know that at the end of the journey there are flowers and friends.
Last night Greg and I went to our grandson’s last Little League game of the season. It was a lovely night – sweater weather even.
Sadly, Joseph’s team didn’t win, but they played some very good baseball. Final score 6-5.
He’s a winner in our book no matter what the score was. Don’t you just love that smile????
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about walking. Maybe the fact that I’m not able to do much of that now has prompted the thought. I’m wondering how much difference you see in the phrases “walking through” this world or “walking in” this world. I feel there is indeed a big difference in the two and when I’m able to be up and about again I want to go “walking in” this world.
Thinking about all of this brought to mind a picture I took during a trip with Tracy and Kathy to the Desert Botanical Gardens last year. I didn’t post the pictures of this statue because I wasn’t as pleased with them as I would have liked. They don’t really do the statue justice. Sadly, I didn’t write down or photograph the name or information about the statue either, but I’m hoping my blogging buddy, Sharon, will be able to help me out here.
She is “walking in” this world….being a part of it and it a part of her.
From what I remember, she is a depiction of a Native American Spirit. I know I can go online and find out what I need to know, but isn’t it more fun to wait to see what Sharon will remember?
seven if by sea????
I know I’m playing fast and loose with the quote, but couldn’t help myself. It’s the first thing that popped into my head. All three of my cacti were in bloom this morning.
And then when I singled out these blooms….
What light through yonder blossom breaks….
I hope you’re all having a great weekend so far and that you find time to get out and be inspired by nature.
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Set thick with lily and red rose,
Where I would wander if I might
From dewy dawn to dewy night.
And have one with me wandering.”
William Morris
I know a website with some woes
Set thick with pix and witty prose,
Where I would publish if I might
From early morn to late at night,
If they could just keep it working.
Nancy Veich – Poetess Most Awfulest
:)
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