birds — Page 55

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:

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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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The Funky Patio in Spring – A Tour

June 4, 2014 at 9:01 am by Claudia

A few years back, Don decided we should do something with what was the parking area. Well, it still is the parking area, but Don thought transforming a small section of it might be fun and it would give us another seating area. Off we went to Lowe’s where we bought some pavers, then on to a local nursery, where we bought some whiskey barrels. And thus, the Funky Patio was born.

Don has good ideas.

The pavers are a little uneven. I constantly have to weed whack so the patio isn’t taken over by dandelions and grass. But it’s worth it.

funky-patio

We used to pull the car right up to the house. Now, there’s a lovely outdoor patio between the house and the car. Much better. As always here at Mockingbird Hill Cottage, this was done for very little money; just the cost of the pavers and the whiskey barrels. We already had the chairs, the bench and the birdbath.

The chairs are one of my favorite things around here. We bought them from a local antique dealer, gosh, probably about 7 years ago. They are so comfortable! They even rock a bit. We used to have them up in the back forty, but eventually we moved them down to the patio. (I’d love to have two adirondack chairs up in the back forty. Someday.)

The birdbath has been around for quite a while, but when Hurricane Irene sent a huge limb from our Sugar Maple crashing to the ground, the top of the birdbath was broken in two. Those pieces are now in the big garden bed, functioning as garden decor. (Ironically, last year another huge limb from that tree fell – this time right on the big garden bed – and one of those pieces broke in two – again.)

I realized that I couldn’t go without a birdbath. I love watching the birds frolic as they take a dip too much! I managed to find a birdbath where the pieces were sold separately and now the birdbath is once again intact.

robin-in-birdbath

I mean, really, would you want to miss out on this?

I didn’t think so.

funky-patio-galvanized-tub

I replant this galvanized tub every year. This year it has a mixture of sweet potato vine, gomphrena and strawflower. I may stick something else in there. It needs some height – something taller.

funky-patio-geranium

The whiskey barrels are planted with geraniums. The barrels need more plants, but that will have to wait.

funky-patio-lantana

I’ve had this red piece for several years. I really wasn’t using it, so I punched some drainage holes in the bottom and now I’m using it as a planter. That’s lantana, a favorite of mine. Very Southern California, at least, to me. I used to see it everywhere in San Diego.

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More sweet potato vine, this time in a pot my mother gave me. She found it at a local art fair.

It’s a lot sunnier on the patio this year. Losing the latest limb from the Sugar Maple has had an impact on the garden and the patio. I’ll be watching everything closely this summer to see what plants are affected by the change in light. I miss that limb so much. It gave us some lovely shade as it gracefully arched over the big garden bed. The tree looks strange without it.

Ah, well.

Happy Wednesday.

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Hiking & Birdwatching

May 13, 2014 at 8:32 am by Claudia

We live in a beautiful area of the country. As I look out my front window, I can see the mountains known as the Shawangunk Ridge. They extend from Northern New Jersey to the Catskill Mountains and are a continuation of the Appalachian Mountains. The locals call the mountains ‘The Gunks.’ The Gunks are stunningly beautiful, with layers of bedrock and spectacular vegetation. They are protected by several preserves, one of which is the Mohonk Preserve. We got wind of a special offer for a month-long free pass to the Mohonk Preserve, which has beautiful hiking trails, so we snapped up some passes over the weekend. Yesterday, we took our first hike.

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The area we hiked in is popular with rock climbers, so we stopped and watched them as they did their thing. Me? No. Afraid of heights.

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Trees seemingly growing out of the bedrock. Do you see the rock climber?

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Here you see Don starting his own arduous ascent.

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Oh wait. I lie.

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The view from high above the Hudson Valley.

It was absolutely gorgeous. We’re going back as soon as we can.

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In the early evening yesterday, Scout let me know she needed to go out, so I headed toward the kitchen door. Hold on. Not so fast! There was a pair of mourning doves on the birdbath. I didn’t want Scout to disturb them so I held her off. The doves stayed on the edge of the birdbath for at least thirty minutes. They were just hanging out, I guess.

I love mourning doves. I love their haunting calls. They are gentle, sweet birds.

These photos were taken from inside the kitchen. I was entranced. The one on the right spent a great deal of the time preening. The one on the left occasionally hopped down to the bench and then back up to the birdbath.

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A catbird joined them. They weren’t fazed by him.

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Then a robin stopped by. The other dove is on the bench.

And yes, there was a bunny just to the left of this photo.

I’m telling you, it’s a Disney world around here.

Eventually, the doves flew upward from the birdbath, landing in the catalpa tree. There they stayed for several minutes until they took off and soared into the trees at the edge of our property.

And Scout, tired of all the waiting, was finally let outside.

Having you been watching 24? Oh my goodness, we are so happy it’s back! I love that series. And in another installment of Claudia’s Former Students Who Are Doing Incredibly Well Out In Los Angeles, my former student, Kim Raver, is back as Audrey, Jack’s former love interest and daughter of the President of the United States. Kim has had a great career; she was in Third Watch, along with another former student, Anthony Ruivivar, as well as Grey’s Anatomy and a host of other series. She’s beautiful, not to mention very talented, and the camera loves her. She’s also a lovely person. She and her fellow classmates were part of a group we took to the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, where they performed two plays by playwright Craig Lucas, a BU alum. It was an incredible experience and lots of fun, to boot.

Kim can cry on screen like nobody’s business. I’m in awe of her crying skills, and believe me, it isn’t at all easy to conjure up tears again and again while the director does several takes. It’s a gift.

That’s all for now.

Happy Tuesday.

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French Toast, Birds & A Little Movie

The Funky Patio in Spring – A Tour

Hiking & Birdwatching

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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