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Bunnies and Birds

April 23, 2017 at 9:41 am by Claudia

I’m shooting directly into the morning sun – last minute photo. It was so gray and rainy yesterday, not at all conducive to photography. I finished my book, started another, did some laundry, started another bunny egg cozy.

Talked to Don.

Anyway, it occurs to me that my latest creations/purchases have all been bunny-themed – the drawers with their bunny knobs, the spun cotton pair of bunnies, and Barnaby.

Even my sister’s Easter card:

Perfect. I saw at least two bunnies this morning: one was leaping around at the back of the house and the other was near my car, nibbling on the grass. No more Henry sightings, at least as of this morning.

Cleaning is on the docket for today and some work outside. It’s finally sunny again! What a difference a sunny day can make.

I took this with my long range lens yesterday. I’ve seen this bird (actually, a pair of them) only fleetingly and could never get a photo until now. I’ve cropped it so you can see the identifying marks. Does anyone know what kind of bird this is? The feathers on the back are such a beautiful, rich brown. I looked through my bird book and thought it might be a thrush, but I’m not at all sure of that.

I’ll keep looking but if anyone can identify it, I’d be most appreciative!

I have to get going as I’m headed into Manhattan tomorrow. There’s been so much rain that the grass is growing by leaps and bounds. Whether I’ll tackle some of it today remains in question. If not, I’ll take a stab at it on Tuesday when I return home.

Happy Birthday to William Shakespeare (and to my friend Joe!)

Happy Sunday.

Someone is Back

April 22, 2017 at 10:04 am by Claudia

I was chatting with Don yesterday morning andI mentioned that I hadn’t seen any sign of a groundhog this year. Had Henry passed on? He’s been around so long that could well have been the case. Later in the day, after running errands, I happened to look out the window to see a groundhog in the corral, eating grass.

I ran for the camera and stayed inside to take some photos. Groundhogs are notoriously shy and any hint of movement will send them back to their lair. As it was, I could swear he was looking right at me.

Yes, the shed needs painting and you know what? I don’t care! It is what it is. Weathered and worn.

Back to Henry. Or is it Henry II? Seems a bit smaller than Henry, but I can’t swear to that.

I can’t tell you how happy this made me! I immediately texted a photo to Don, who, about a half hour later, called me back. He was relieved, as well.

This might be my favorite photo. I’ve never seen him do that before.

Yay! Welcome back after your winter of hibernation! There’s lots of grass to dine upon. Have at it! (Just stay out of my garden, please.)

It’s been raining off and on for a few days now. It rained all night last night. We are waterlogged here. Will the sun make an appearance? Fingers crossed.

I’m just about finished with my book, but I had to break away to write this post. I haven’t been reading as much lately simply because I’m finally able to work outside and that’s my priority. This rain gives me the perfect excuse to indulge in reading and I’m grateful for it.

I snapped up this galvanized tray yesterday at Target. It was in the garden section. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but I like that look – within reason, of course. Too much is too much.

Anyway, here’s what I ended up doing:

I set it on top of the cake plate, which has a much smaller diameter. It provides more room for the succulents. And it contrasts nicely with the white of the table and the cake plate.

One photo was taken yesterday, one today, which accounts for the variations in the light.

I like it.

Two more days until I head into the city for the opening of Anastasia. It’s hard to believe that after all this time, it’s finally opening on Broadway. I sure wish Don could attend with me. It would make all the difference in the world. He, in fact, considered flying in to surprise me, thinking he might be able to wrangle a day off on Tuesday. But, the show is moving on stage on Tuesday and tech rehearsals are starting and he absolutely has to be there. I completely understand.

But, oh how I’d love to have him by side. Sigh.

Happy Saturday and Happy Earth Day.

Working Outside

April 21, 2017 at 10:00 am by Claudia

Soon. They’re getting bigger and plumper.

I ended up hacking away at the brambles yesterday. There is no way I can take them all on, or even 1/16 of them. And, though they’re a pain, when they bloom they’re gorgeous – because they’re actually wild roses. But they have a tenacious quality that requires trimming them before they take over everything.

I started over by the now dead shag hickory where the crabapple I discovered two years ago is about to bloom. Thinking in practical blogger terms, I knew I couldn’t get close to it to take a picture unless I pruned a lot of the brambles. So I did.

Then I moseyed over to the other crabapple that I discovered a couple of days ago and decided to hack through that to clear a path to the tree. There was already the beginning of one, it just needed my pruners, as those pesky branches were trying to reach across the opening and block my access.

Two hours later, I was exhausted and there’s still a pile of cut branches that I need to move.

Another day. As today is rainy, so I have the perfect excuse to ignore them.

I tried to take a picture but it’s hard to see the tree among all the other trees.

It’s clear there was a rock boundary along the area where the path begins. You can’t see it here, but it’s there. So I’m going to try to keep pruning this area so it doesn’t get more out of control than it already is. I remember when we first moved in our neighbor told us that the previous owner tried to keep the brambles under control to no avail.

I hear you, former owner.

I took my second shower of the day after this adventure and treated myself to homemade “cloud biscuits” for dinner.

Any day now, the leaves on the maples will be providing beautiful shade. I can’t wait until there are green canopies everywhere.

Barnaby – side view. Equally adorable.

Several people have suggested making the bunny egg cozies and selling them on Etsy. Here’s why I’m not doing that: first, it’s a pattern that was created by another blogger, which she sells on Ravelry. Though I purchased it, of course, I don’t feel right about selling a creation that I am able to knit only because of her wonderful idea. The scarves that I sold were from a pattern that was all over the internet, sort of in the general domain, with no one credited specifically with the design. So I felt that was okay.

And, the last time I made a slew of scarves to sell on Etsy, I had a holiday deadline and I made so many of them that my right wrist suffered. It’s much better now, but I have to be careful how long I hand quilt or knit or crochet. Too much of any one of them is not good.

So…no selling on Etsy. But thank you for the compliment of wanting one! I really appreciate that.

If you ever get any bounce back emails saying your comment wasn’t accepted (I don’t know if you get them, but I do, both when I leave a comment on another blog or when I receive emails about your comments on this blog) ignore them. The comment always goes through. It has to do with AOL, in my case, not always ‘accepting’ those notifications. I called my host about it yesterday and they said if that happens, they just ping the comment again and it goes through. In fact, in every case where I receive an email saying something wasn’t ‘accepted,’ I get another email at the same time saying it was. I’ve noticed this phenomenon for some time when I leave comments on Blogger blogs. Same thing. It says my comment wasn’t accepted, even though I can see it right there on the blog post!

Hope that made sense.

Happy Friday.

Bunnies and Birds

Someone is Back

Working Outside

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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