birds — Page 54

Birdies and Flowers

August 1, 2014 at 7:08 am by Claudia

Thanks for your kind words yesterday. I ended up being rather busy all day, which certainly helped. When I wasn’t busy, I did a lot of reading, which was just what I needed.

On the birdbath:

little finch on birdbath

Bird on the fence:

house finch on fence2

(Picture taken from inside the kitchen using my old camera’s zoom lens.)

My white David Phlox has reseeded in the main garden. Some of it is purple and some of it is….

pink phlox

Pink! I love it when that happens.

mass of rudbeckia

Masses of rudbeckia.

The big garden bed is at its peak…August always brings the winding down of the garden.

I can’t go there yet. Not ready.

Have a Happy Friday.

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Life at the Cottage: Birds, Bees, Critters & Flowers

July 24, 2014 at 8:06 am by Claudia

The neighborhood pool was open for business yesterday. It was so dang hot and humid! I managed to catch this particular fellow in the midst of a refreshing dip.

wednesday neighborhood pool 2

wednesday neighborhood pool 5

He was in and out of the water several times. I was a wee bit envious.

rudbeckia

The rudbeckia have opened.

liatris2

The liatris are filling out. I love these flowers which are tall and spiky and exotic looking.

liatris

Amazing.

I’ll try to get some shots of the garden in the next few days – we’re approaching that time when the tall David’s Phlox will be in bloom, along with all the coneflowers and the rudbeckia. It looks awfully pretty. It’s what I call the July Peak.

I just caught a glimpse of one of our bunnies through the den window. I wonder if it’s one of this summer’s babies? The other day I saw our groundhog chomping on some grass. Groundhogs are shy, timid, gentle creatures, and vegetarians to boot. They run and hide under the shed when they’re scared, which is quite often!

Oh, and I saw a hummingbird yesterday! I walked out onto the porch and there, staring at me, was a hummingbird who was hovering over the coneflowers. Turns out the coneflowers weren’t what she was looking for, but she hovered and darted and looked absolutely beautiful.

Did I have my camera? No.

dramatic coneflower

This might be one of my favorite photos ever. I was using the macro setting, trying to capture that tiny little bee who is on the edge of the cone. I love the highlights and shadows and the texture of the cone.

Sometimes you get lucky.

Happy Thursday.

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French Toast, Birds & A Little Movie

July 12, 2014 at 9:18 am by Claudia

My husband has put in a request for French Toast this morning.

Since he cooks dinner every night, I suppose I should honor his request.

I make really good French Toast. Also, scrambled eggs like you wouldn’t believe – incredibly fluffy. And really tasty baked goods.

I say all this only because there is so much I can’t do in the kitchen. I like baking because it’s precise. Don is more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants cook, which makes for some imaginative and tasty dinners. My brother used to cook that way, too, and I stand in awe of that talent.

Meanwhile, at the birdbath:

little red bird1a

little red bird on birdbath

I just happened to be coming out the kitchen door, camera in hand, when this house finch decided to take a little sip of the water.

I shot a quick, and I mean quick, little video this morning. The traffic on this road can get noisy, so I ran out in my pajamas in the early morning hours. It’s basically just a quick visit to the front of the house: porch, big garden bed, hostas, etc. If you blink, you’ll miss it. I’ll try to do a couple of others – maybe a walk through our woods, and also the garden beds at the side of the house. I definitely need to work on my walking and filming skills. Talk about jerky! Yikes.

Try not to get too excited.

a walk in the garden from Claudia Hill on Vimeo.

Happy Saturday.

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Birdies and Flowers

Life at the Cottage: Birds, Bees, Critters & Flowers

French Toast, Birds & A Little Movie

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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