birds — Page 27

Day Fifty-Two

May 4, 2020 at 9:38 am by Claudia

Today’s flowers from Don, presented to me as he came in the door from his morning walk. He is the sweetest man in the world. (Of course, I’m biased.)

A few weeks back, Don mentioned that he was concerned about a pair of Canada Geese he’d seen down by the river on his morning walk. After several days of seeing them together, suddenly there was only one. I thought that since the goose was in the same general area, he may have been guarding his mate while she was sitting on a nest. Today he, saw this:

Five little babies, protected by Mama and Papa. Isn’t this adorable? So now we know. He was protecting the nest. That should bring a smile to your face this morning.

We worked outside yesterday – a lot – Don was out there even longer than I was. We were pretty tired and achy at the end of the day, so today is a day of rest. The temperature hit 80 degrees yesterday and it was beautiful out there. Of course, 80 is too hot for this time of year and today’s temperature will only reach 60 degrees. But it’s sunny! And gorgeous. And the porch is coming together, though I have to buy more potting soil and a couple more plants. I’ll probably do that tomorrow. I’m going to wait to plant seeds until next week. Usually, around here, we can sow them the first week of May, but it’s been so cold, I’m holding off.

Don’s been clearing a part of the property that we’ve sort of ignored over the years. He likes a project and it gives him something to do. I must say, he’s doing a good job of cleaning it up. More and more tiny leaves are appearing on the trees, more and more green surrounds us.

Very grateful for green things and buds and pretty potted flowers always, but especially at this time of year. We’re still watching Cheers every night. Situation comedy doesn’t get much better than that show and we’re really enjoying it. Last night, as we started a new episode, we realized it was the one Don was in. It’s called The Last Angry Mailman – a name I’m well familiar with as it appears on residual checks – and Don has a scene with Cliff Clavin, played by John Ratzenberger, and his mother, played by the fabulous Frances Sternhagen. I’d seen it long ago, but it was fun watching it with Don. You know I saw Don on several series, Hill Street Blues, LA Law, Cheers and more, before I met him. I specifically remember him on LA Law because he had a recurring role as an attorney and one of the most memorable episodes was one he did with the late, great Ralph Bellamy. I remember watching it. Who knew I’d end up married to the guy many years later?

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Day Forty-Four

April 26, 2020 at 9:44 am by Claudia

My husband just came back from his morning walk and presented me with this:

That’s a nice way to start a cold and rainy day!

Yesterday, on the other hand, was simply beautiful. It was sunny and warm and we worked outside for a quite a while; Don mowing the front lawn, me cleaning the porch and filling my planters with pansies. There’s still a lot of work to be done on the porch, but doing even the little I did yesterday was so good for my soul. I actually felt the warmth of the sun on my face. Heaven.

All four of these planters have been filled with big, fat pansies, as well as the window box planter that I lives on the porch railing. The hanging plants have been put in place. I started to sweep sections of the porch and I hauled all of my pots out of the shed. And – finally – the snow shovels were retired until next winter. We sat on the Funky Patio and watched Mr. and Mrs. Nuthatch fly in and out of the bush. I can’t tell whether they have babies yet or if they’re still in planning mode. Periodically one would fly into the opening of the branch. One of them kept pecking at another section of the branch. Were they getting food for babies? Were they adding to the nest materials? We don’t know. I couldn’t hear any tiny chirps when I got close. But mostly, we tried to stay away and watch from a distance. They fly right by our heads, so they don’t seem to be shy or disturbed by our presence.

Don named them Ozzie and Harriet.

We haven’t seen Henry yet this year and like every year at this time, I worry that he might have passed away. We’ve seen the groundhog that lives next door, but not Henry. Hopefully, this will be temporary and I’ll see him sunning himself on the ramp to the shed. We’ve been calling to him, telling him we miss him.

We had some excitement the other day. I heard a loud sound and voices shouting and I went out on the porch to see what was happening. A large rental truck had somehow crashed and flipped on its side just down the road from us. When I reached the end of our driveway, I saw several people removing cargo from the truck. It didn’t seem as if anyone was hurt and about 8 rescue vehicles arrived shortly after that. The ambulance and fire rescue trucks were the first to leave, and not with sirens wailing, so nobody was hurt. My neighbors all made an appearance on their driveways. After a long winter coupled with social distancing, I got to see everyone, however briefly. There were vehicles out there well into the evening as they had to get the truck onto a trailer and that was a big job.

Today, we’re inside because of the rain. I just may start the Hardy Boys puzzle. I was going to wait for my other puzzles to arrive, but one of them won’t be shipped for another week and the one that has been shipped won’t be here until Thursday. I don’t think I can wait that long.

By the way, to clarify – I didn’t have a full-out panic attack the other day. I felt heightened anxiety, something I’ve begun to experience for the first time in my life this past year. My mom went through a period of having panic attacks. This thing I’m coping with on occasion is unsettling and uncomfortable and I don’t like it, but it’s not nearly what my mom went through. I suppose anxiety and panic attacks take differing forms and everyone’s experience varies.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Day Sixteen

March 29, 2020 at 9:42 am by Claudia

A rainy weekend. But when I look at the lawn, thank goodness it’s raining! We need it. Thankfully, it didn’t start raining until the afternoon yesterday and I was able to get outside for a bit. I took my pruning shears with me and headed for the forsythia which grows in the woods beyond the shed. Technically, it’s not on our property, it’s on our neighbor’s. But they don’t mind. On the way back, I noticed a bloom on a clump of periwinkle – it grows in our woods.

Oh, what a welcome sight!

On my way back to the house, I noticed some tiny birds flying in and out of the bush that is part of the big garden bed. I noticed them the day before, as well. But this time, I stopped and watched them. A bit of back story: last fall, after a big storm with very heavy winds, I noticed that a portion of a limb from the maple tree had landed inside the bush. Right in the middle. I tried to free it several times, but it was too heavy and I was afraid I would seriously damage the bush.

See? When I decided to leave it there, I did so knowing that once the blush had leafed out, the limb would be masked.

As I stood there, quietly watching the two birds who kept flying in and out of the bush, it dawned on me that one of them was disappearing into the interior of the limb. I could hear a tapping sound, not unlike you hear from a woodpecker far off in the distance. One would fly in and tap repeatedly, while the other bird kept watch. Then the bird would fly out, the other would go in, and on and on. Each time a bird departed the hole, he would drop wood shavings that were in his beak.

They are making a nest.

I ran in to tell Don. We both started watching them. We were completely entranced. We had to do a little work outside – just about ten minutes worth – and they warily watched us, stopping all nest making until we went back in the house. But we kept on watching them from the window. I did some research; they’re nuthatches.

It’s the perfect place for a nest. Big birds can’t get inside. They will be safe. And as the bush leafs out, they will be hidden from view. Isn’t it amazing? I wanted that limb removed from the bush, couldn’t get it out, and now it’s the future home of these birds.

I told Don that I felt ‘alive’ for the first time in a long time. Don’t take me literally. I have a full life, even in the winter. But walking into the woods, cutting flowers, discovering tiny blooms, and watching these birds? This is the first time that I felt that quickening, that heightened awareness that I get when spring arrives and I can be outside tending to my gardens and watching my birds and groundhogs and deer and bunny rabbits.

This morning I awoke to lots of bird song. Lonesome Dove has been cooing. I can’t do any work in the garden yet, but I know it’s coming. During this surreal time, I can’t tell you how much that means to me.

We FaceTimed with my sister and Little Z yesterday. Then we FaceTimed with Rick and Doug. Much, much needed. It was a good day.

It’s pouring out now as I wind up this post. I just finished reading Derek Jarman’s Garden, which I loved. Another gardening book next? I think so. It will be the small and lovely book We Made a Garden by Margery Fisk. I bought it last year and it has been sitting on my TBR pile. Time to dig in.

Happy Sunday.

Lambs Like to Party

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