A surprise this morning:
And there are two more buds ready to open. These roses bloom early in the spring and then, when you think they’re done for the season, more leaves emerge. Then flowers. Such a nice later-in-the-summer surprise.
Yesterday morning, we were sitting on the porch having coffee and I heard this amazing bird call. I looked across the road. Since I had brought my big girl camera with me, I quickly got up and took several pictures. He was way up in a tree and the gray skies made a dark background, but here he is:
A pileated woodpecker. I’ve seen them around here before. They are large birds. And noisy! See the two little birds to his left?
Now, a cropped, zoomed-in version:
And one more:
Pretty good for a dark and gloomy morning!
Edited to add: No, the leaves haven’t all dropped off the tree. It’s a dead tree.
Let’s see…I mowed a bit yesterday morning. Not too much, just the corral and the grass surrounding it. Ran errands. Cleaned. Read.
It’s been cooler; still humid, but much more bearable when it isn’t in the nineties. It’s cool this morning and gray and darkish again. We were just out on the porch and I remarked to Don that if we didn’t know what time it was, we would think it was early evening! I’m starting to feel the beginnings of the seasonal change. I cling on to summer as long as I can because I know that after fall comes winter. But this has been such a tough summer weather-wise, that a part of me will welcome the cooler temperatures.
My second Snow White egg cup arrived in the mail yesterday from Australia. She’s safely ensconced in the cubby cabinet. I’ll take a picture of both of them later today.
From my chair on the front porch, one perspective:
And another perspective:
I love playing with the focal point of a photo and depth of field. And I really love my new camera.
Thanks, by the way, for all your great supportive comments about the cubby cabinet. It was a chunk of money that I hadn’t expected to be spending, but, in the end, it was very clear to me that I had to get it. I will never see something like it again. It’s truly one-of-a-kind. I haven’t regretted the choice to buy it for one second. I pass it several times a day and I smile each and every time I see it. You guys are the best!
Happy Tuesday.
That is one large woodpecker! We have small ones here, which I don’t see too much.
Love those flower perspectives! You both always amaze me with your photos!
Hope you both have a relaxing day!
Thank you, Debbie. You, too!
What a gorgeous rose and photo!
Thank you, Cara!
we have pileated woodpeckers here, too (along with a couple others) and i love to see them with their bright red heads and striking profiles! your photos show more detail than i can usually see (they don’t stay long at the feeder) so thanks for sharing more wonderful photos!
i know you need sunshine (and hope you get it soon), but i have to say i love, love that dark gray sky!
and i think it’s great that, among other things, you and don share an interest in and obvious skills with photography. a husband-and-wife photo exhibit would be a very cool thing!
happy tuesday.
kathy in iowa
Aw, thanks for your kind words, Kathy!
A good bird-sighting can always lift one’s spirits.
Absolutely!
I love “surprise” flowers! My one rose, the Audrey Hepburn rose, is flowering again. I think it will be the last pass of the year. It’s been typical summer weather…foggy and cool in the morning and sunny and warm in the afternoon. I had an especially active brown towhee in the garden yesterday evening, flitting all over the place. At first I even thought it was injured but it did finally fly away. Whew…
I’m glad it wasn’t injured, Wendy!
The first and only time I’ve seen a pileated woodpecker was the first winter we lived in Texas, a thousand years ago. They’re magnificent!
They truly are!
I was really noticing that in the cool photo of the woodpecker in the tree, how the tree has no leaves…so, definitely a sign of the change from summer to fall now?
No, that’s a dead tree.
Ah; I see. I’ve got a few around like that myself; drought here is a killer in SoCalif. Poor trees and we need them so much; they give us oxygen!
I know. At least they provide a home for animals and birds!
Although it’s currently 89 degrees here and headed up to 101 degrees, I can feel something, too. Perhaps it’s in the slant of the light in mornings or evenings.
Definitely the change in light, Linda.
I have seen a Pileated in our neighborhood only one time. They are magnificent!! And a leafless tree already?? sigh.
We had over 6 inches of rain last night. Just about 24 miles away in Madison they had over 10. A couple of lives lost as people tried to drive through flooded streets. Our Costco is flooded as are many businesses and other stores on the west side. Many roads still closed. What a mess. The only “good thing” out of it is that our windows are all open today and the AC is off, so the storm must have finally pushed the humidity out of here. Oh, and we don’t have to water today.
Hope you both have a lovely Tuesday!
No, it’s a dead tree. I should have mentioned that!
6 inches is a lot of rain at once! Goodness, I’m so sorry. I know the instinct is to try to drive though flooded streets but it can turn deadly.
I have a pair of the red headed woodpeckers outside my living room.
The rose is beautiful & a nice surprise.
The cubby cabinet is perfect just as you found it & really shows off the egg cups.
The Fall is on it’s way.
Enjoy your day,
Monica
How nice to have a pair of them, Monica!
That’s a fantastic pic of the pileated woodpecker. I’ve never seen one in person yet. Since we are on the far north side of town, we only got 5.5 inches of rain here…but that was enough to create a lake in the backyard. It is receding, so that is good. We were very lucky compared to the communities to the west of Madison…and the west side. They got hammered as Chris said.
Hope you enjoy your day! No watering for us…guess we better be careful what we wish for…eh? ;)
Exactly what I said when we started getting endless rain. Careful what you wish for!
Glad you’re okay.
Hi Claudia, I noticed that chair with the red patterned fabric, is that a Milo Baughman chair?
What chair, Cassie? There isn’t a picture of a chair in this post (except for the little blue wooden chair.)
OK – I can’t stand it anymore! What is that image above your signature? I can’t figure it out . . .also – did you try your new cupboard upside down? *just wondering . . .
I just enjoy your blog so much! I also love that you named your oven – my kind of person:)
Thanks for sharing your home with us.
Karen
It’s the party hat that is on the Lamb with a Party Hat that is my blog logo. (see header of blog.)
My new cupboard is most likely upside down from it’s original use. There’s no way I could hang something this heavy on a wall, nor do I have the wall space. I like it this way!
Your new cubby cabinet looks terrific “occupied.” I was afraid it might have needed painting inside – that the egg cups wouldn’t show up terribly well against the dark wood. But they look great as is! Good thing too. Can you imagine the nightmare of prepping and painting that thing. Yikes. I think you dodged a bullet there, my friend. I wouldn’t have minded doing the exterior, if needed, but the interior would have been QUITE a challenge. Whew! Very overcast and gray here – rain at intervals – and still humid too. Temps are low 70s which makes the humidity kinda weird. It usually has to be much warmer for us to be humid too. So the lower temps do help a bit. Enjoy the rest of your day! Peace.
#Peace
#ProtectMueller
No, I can’t imagine doing all of that painting. Especially since I haven’t even painted the fourth wall of my kitchen yet!
Same here with humidity. It’s a strange mix – low temps and humidity!
OH each photo is more beautiful than the last! you have really got the skill.
and I’ve heard that the king of woodpeckers loves dead wood! so it’s good that the little tree could still be there. maybe he’ll even make a home in it? I don’t know all that much about them.
but they are wonderful. the peckers. not the trees. but the trees too. it’s all good! xoxo
It is indeed all good, Tammy!
I’m going to look up that big boy and see if I can hear a recording of his call. Wonderful shot with your new camera. Like you, I’m sorta ready to say “goodbye” to summer IF we can have a nice long warm fall, minus the humidity. I have some furniture I want to paint and would prefer to do it outside before the cold sets in. Can’t miss that the days are getting shorter so just have to buck up and remember all the things I love about fall.
I know. I’m not ready, but I am ready for cooler temperatures!
You captured that Woodpecker superbly. We had a Woodpecker a year ago for a few days. He was on the nut tree in the back yard. We have never seen him again.
Marilyn
I hope you get to see another one soon, Marilyn!
I just wanted to say how much I like your photographs of both your outdoors and the inside of your cottage.
The cabinet for your egg cups is very special and I too would of snapped it up before someone else did! It is the perfect place to display your egg cups.
I can see a slight cooling off here in Calif. , it has been blazing hot for weeks. But it is not uncommon to have hot days in Sept. and even Oct. I’m not ready for summer to end.
I hope it cools off a bit. We heard from my friend who was visiting San Diego that it was 95 there and very humid. It never used to be that way when I lived there! California definitely needs some relief, Linda!
I love your big girl camera! Thanks for the lovely photos. I think the cubby could not have been sold to anyone else. I also love that it’s purpose is now fulfilled upside down. 😄 That’s what makes our homes unique and totally us.
By the way, just saw the news and this is turning into a very good day!
You’re not kidding! I’m glued to the news right now! Thank you, Deb!
Love the photos and what a good camera that even when cropped in close the photo is so good!! I hope you had a good day. Mine was busy and I’m just catching up on blogs before dinner.
I did have a good day! Thanks, Linda.
I love seeing Woodpeckers although I usually hear them more I see them!…He is a gorgeous guy….Great porch photo…both ways….I love your new camera too Claudia!
He is stunning, isn’t he?
I’m very much enjoying the new cameras you and Don have. Makes my remember my days in junior high (a loooooong time ago) when I got to take a photography class and made good use of the Yashika D camera given to my by my aunt and uncle. We got to develop and print out own film. One of my dear friends became a professional photographer thanks to that class specializing in shots of pregnant moms. The Yashika has gone the way of lost things but it was such a great passport into the world. It changed my vision. Your two perspective photos are a great example of how our focus changes our experience.
to nora mills …
“your two perspective photos are a great example of how our focus changes our experience” is a great reminder to me about the importance of my focus in life and my attitude (some things need to sharpen and some things need to change … ahem). well said and thank you!
kathy in iowa
Photography has taught me a great deal over the years.
You are both blessed to have good health and to be able to buy so many beautiful things while both of you being unemployed at this time
Well, Don has only been unemployed for one month, Linda, after being employed for over a year and a half. And he was earning good money on Broadway. Most of what we buy is very inexpensive. And used. We are very, very good at finding a deal.
That’s an amazing shot of a beautiful bird! I can’t believe you could capture that from so far away! The only woodpeckers I’ve seen around here are quite small, with one red circle on top of their heads—different kind from yours, I guess. Birds are such amazing beings. Love them.
The color of your rose is so pretty. What a nice surprise.
We have the smaller ones, too, but every couple of years or so I see one of these guys. I love them.