Saturday morning. Sunny. Cold, but not as cold as yesterday. We’ve had four sunny days in a row and I’m not taking that for granted. It’s lovely out there.
We had a busy day yesterday, both of us off running our respective errands. But the larder is now full, every box has been checked, and we can now relax for the weekend. Though Don, swearing yesterday that he just wanted to stay home all day today, has suddenly made an appointment to get his hair cut and has all sorts of ideas in his head about what he wants to do – what we should do. He wakes up quite early and has been up since 5 am. I got up around 6:45 and, not being a morning person, am still waking up. I don’t think we’re going to be on the same page today!
Yesterday I heard a mourning dove for the first time in several months. The mourning doves around here take off for part of the winter. I was so happy to hear that beautiful sound. We saw a cardinal (they’re around all winter) and we saw two bluebirds. I know bluebirds are seen in the Northeast, but I never see them here during the spring and summer. In fact, I’ve only seen them once before and it was during the winter a few years back. I think it was in February or March. I love bluebirds, so I was grateful for an unimpeded view of them yesterday. I hope they hang around again today.
I heard a little birdsong this morning. Is it a sign of an early spring?
Other than that, still reading, cleaning, laughing and, this morning, talking with my husband about how much we love Paris.
Happy Saturday.
I so love your little blue parakeet lamp. We had a blue parakeet many moons ago. When she died, the kids were little and so sad. We had a funeral and buried her in a decorative tin along with a family photo, under a peach tree. Boy, that was probably around fifty years ago!
Hope you have a lovely weekend.
That lamp seems to be a favorite a lot of readers, Shanna.
If you are missing Paris, I highly recommend listening to Stéphane Grappelli & Django Reinhardt of the Quintette du Hot Club de France – quintessentially the sound of Paris in the ’30’s and ’40’s.
We have listened to that recording. And we have additional vinyl of both Grappelli and Reinhardt. Love that sound.
A contemporary group, Avalon Jazz Band, is reminiscent of them, with a fantastic vocalist. Very french sounding and based in Brooklyn.
I’ll have to check them out, Anne. Thank you!
I snickered at Don’s change of plans, and his morning exuberance. Jim, too, gets up earlier than I, and has plenty of time to wake up. So, by the time I get up, he’s fully awake, and full of plans, news, and questions. Me? I just want to feed the cat, enjoy a cup of jo, and check the suet feeders for any visiting woodpeckers. It makes for an interesting morning exchange, or lack of exchange. But, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
We heard birdsong this last week, too. We couldn’t identify the source, but I am so curious. Bluebirds don’t sing, do they? Anyway…it was lovely. We were also witnesses to nature’s not so pleasant side. A Cooper’s hawk devoured a meal right outside our window. Judging by the color of the feathers, I fear it was a morning dove. Sigh.
Whatever you do today…I hope you enjoy it! ;)
I don’t know if bluebirds sing, though I imagine they do.
Oh, that’s an awful thing to see. I shooed a hawk away the other day. Don said they need to eat too, but I responded with, “Not on MY property!”
Well…it was kind of late to do any shooing….he was mostly finished. I know that that happens in the wild…I just didn’t expect my backyard to be the wild. It was just a little too real for me. ;)
Yes, it would be way too real for me, as well.
I’m officially losing it. Today I looked up at two china birds perched on a branch in my
atrium and said “Claudia’s lovely birds just chirped good morning”. Neither responded….. but
somehow seemed pleased.
Now I’m nostalgically remembering a period where I was obsessed with Grappelli thus searching through record stores ( sadly, now replaced by totally uninteresting establishments).
Thank you for sharing.
I’m sure they were happy to hear the news, R.
Oh, how I miss record stores. I miss spending a couple of hours there, happily searching for records. Thank goodness there are still bookstores. I would be so happy to see new vinyl take off enough that record stores would have to spring up here and there.
We were bird watching while we ate breakfast this morning. Mockingbirds, blue jays, and robins. I love seeing cardinals! Hope you have a great Saturday!
You, too, Mandy! I love seeing birds. It feels like spring isn’t that far off.
I’ve always wondered about pretty little bluebirds – – they’re mentioned in songs; I’ve seen so many photographs and illustrations of them; also, little figurines of them. Of course, being in SoCalif, I’ve never seen one. Maybe I’m not looking for birds hard enough or staying still long enough, but all I’ve seen lately around here, and sparingly, are our own brand of doves. Perhaps the presence of the cats in the yard is a deterrent although it never much was in the past. When I regularly fed the birds, we did have the favorite jay who’d show up every year; unfortunately, I guess he’s now given up on me. My husband swears he saw a hawk yesterday but this is the same guy (love him) who saw a turkey vulture once and thought it was an eagle.
A lot of people think turkey vultures are hawks when they see them way up in the sky. But they have a different wing span and a different way of gliding. Thanks, Vicki.
Around this time of year, these guys (vultures) sit … up close & personal … in leafless and/or dead trees (big branches; really old trees) on the three acres of property up above us at the rear of our lot; if you use binocs, you can basically look ’em in the eye; they’re VERY large birds. They could easily pick up a feral kitten, a rabbit, etc. I also think they’re fairly ugly. On cold mornings here (never THAT cold!), they’ll sit in those branches and fluff out/fan out their wings to catch sun, apparently to warm up (which gives them the appearance of being MORE huge than they already are). It’s a bit creepy and I’m somewhat wary of them if I go outside; they don’t seem to be intimidated by a human. It’s weird to open the blinds and see 6 or 8 of them up there in the trees. I think they’re the very birds who, when some kind of wildlife up on those acres has died, will circle the dead/kill in the air above it, as if to mark or claim it. I see that more often than I like, and always wonder what happened. There are remnants of an ancient feral cat colony but we also have raccoons and possums. Of course rats, field mice; and gophers and moles; other birds I suppose might be attractive to these larger ones. I know it’s a food chain, as you (Don) mentioned, but it can be harsh as you know.
Just wanted to say your photo of the parakeet lamp (I didn’t realize or have forgotten it’s a lamp) is nice; is it a ceramic from 40s, 1950s? Do you know? The birds take on a sweet pose; they’re just dear; love the colors. You’ve got the eye for finding these special pieces!
Turkey vultures feed on dead animals. They don’t kill them. That’s why you’ll see them in groups sometimes, because they’ve seen/smelled a dead animal.
I have never seen a bluebird and oh, I’d love to! Someone in the neighborhood saw a robin the other day — wish it was me, but hey, it’s still February so I suppose we can’t all be first! It’s lovely here — supposedly up to 50, though when I went out a bit ago I think that may be optimistic. But the sun is shining and I have no complaints!
Enjoy your laid back weekend. I’m finally on the mend and consequently my weekend is more like a weekday in terms of catching up to all the work around the house and errands that need to be done. And it feels good.
I’m happy to hear you’re finally feeling better, Jeanie. When you’ve been sick, finally getting to the point where you can run errands and run the vacuum is heaven.
Good afternoon Claudia! It’s cold but sunny here in CO as well. We are watching our doves bathing in the heated bird bath. Oh to have cardinals! Glad you have a great day for reading.
Question: Do you have a favorite vegan cookbook?
I don’t, offhand. I haven’t investigated them lately, but there are new ones being written all the time, Verna.
I love to hear the birds singing and chirping. I can watch all the birds for hours on end. We have seen the female Cardinal sitting in our bush in the back yard a few times lately. The other day we finally saw the male Cardinal. I am still waiting to see the first Robin. Enjoy your bird watching.
Marilyn
We saw a male cardinal yesterday, Marilyn. I remarked to Don that those darned males always have the most vivid color! Thank you.
We also share our mornings with birds. We have three kookaburras that visit daily, two king parrots (male and female) and numerous rainbow lorikeets. In early summer before the rain we were also getting sulfur crested cockatoos, on one occasion we had 14 on the deck arguing with each other. We had to shoo them away as they became bored and started chewing up the deck rails and furniture. Our living room looks out on to our deck. We spend hours with our morning coffee watching the birds antics.
Oh, how lovely, and very exotic compared to our birds! That’s wonderful, Miche.