mourning doves

Big thunderstorm last night! Loud cracks of thunder, torrential rain, lightning. We were watching Amelie at the time – a movie that we both knew of and, for some reason, had never seen. By the way, we loved it. It has the same magical quality that The Shape of Water has. I find I’m very taken by that kind of movie; the movie equivalent of magical realism in novels.

I’m still not feeling well but I’m hanging in there. My head feels like it’s stuffed with cotton and I get very sleepy. After Don dropped me back home yesterday, I sat down in my chair and the next thing I knew, it was 30 minutes later. I went out like a light.

Hello, little stone dove.

I had been meaning to tell you this, but I kept forgetting. My worries about the demise of Lonesome Dove and/or the pair of doves on the property were unfounded. It took a while, but I started to see them in June. I was so thankful and relieved! They mean the world to me, these sweet birds, and I consider them part of our extended family. I’m very grateful they are still with us. I’m sorry it took me so long to let you know.

In fact, lonesome dove hung out on the birdbath for quite a while yesterday, effectively stopping us from going outside to sit on the porch. She/he looked so peaceful that I didn’t want to disturb her. (Don is used to this.)

There’s my beauty. Photo taken from inside the living room.

I need to weed but it’s too humid and I don’t feel up to it, so I’ll just have to let it go for a few more days.

It’s quite beautiful out there today.

Happy Thursday.

Early in the evening yesterday, Don was making dinner and I was sitting in the den. I can see the edge of the birdbath from my chair and I noticed two doves sitting on the edge.

They were grooming each other. This went on for quite a while, each dove taking a turn. Very affectionate. Very sweet. I called out to Don and he walked over to the door to watch them from the kitchen.

Eventually, they moved apart.

And started to head toward the opposite end of the birdbath. This is the pair that I’ve seen around here for several years.

One jumped down to the ground. The other followed.

I mentioned to Don that they were resting on the parking area and I moved back into the den and stopped taking pictures.

A few minutes went by.

Then I heard, “Honey, I think they just mated.”

Apparently, Don walked back to the window to watch them and saw the male get on top of the female.

I missed it.

No photos, but then again, that’s rather a private thing, don’t you think?

We googled the whole mating thing and, sure enough, that’s what they do. He gets on top of her, she moves her tail and they mate. Now that I look at the photo above, it looks like she was in position, waiting for her guy.

By the time I reached the door, it was over. They stayed together on the ground and then walked toward the shed, eating along the way. Eventually, they flew up into the catalpa tree.

Wow.

Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it,
Let’s do it, let’s fall in love. – Cole Porter

The coneflowers are opening. My favorite cottage garden flower.

And check out these beauties! The coneflower and the day lilies are in The Far Side garden bed.

We’ve moved into normalcy again. It only takes a few days to get through the re-entry process. But I’m still not sleeping enough and I’m pretty exhausted. I was having this trouble before Don came home, but adjusting to sleeping together again is not helping things.

My kingdom for some sleep!

It’s a lovely day today. Yesterday was too hot, but today is shaping up to be a perfect summer day.

Happy Wednesday.

Movies and Doves

Mating Season

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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