Garden Memories

As summer winds down and the cooler weather sets in, I wanted to post some of my warmer weather pics. Come see what my eye spies in the garden.

So how are the post holidays going for ya? me and tuck are still congested from our colds. what is it with colds these days where you don't really get "sick" but have a few symptoms for a day or so, but then you are left with weeks of congestion? today the wind is blowing something fierce so that is causing allergies and headaches. last night i finally watched "Dark Knight". dillon had an improv show, so he and jeff were gone, so i thought that'd be a good time to watch it without interruption. so me and tucker watched it. i thought it was okay, but i'm a chick. i think it was more of a guy movie. plus i didn't really get the ending where he chose to be hunted. guess i missed something..... anyway. i got this birdfeeder for Christmas. it is called a "cardinal feeder", but i've yet to see one cardinal fly in there! (but they do eat what is falling on the ground...) right now we've got yellow finches, house finches, chickadees, wrens, nuthatches, sparrows and the tufted titmouse flying in for snacks. i actually watched a chickadee sit still and hang out by herself in the feeder yesterday morning. chickadees are very active and i have never seen one just "sitting" before. it was cool.

baby robins, snakes (ick), butterflies, swans and more

this guy seems to have moved into an area in my back yard that i refer to has "flower island". and it is more likely a she than a he because we've had snakes in there before and they like to have their babies there. I have to tell you that it is a big deal for me to have taken a picture of a snake and then post it on my blog. even the thought of the photo on my camera card gives me the heebie jeebies. (trust me, i will be erasing it right after this). but i am trying to get past my utter disgust for snakes. this one is harmless; although i will not appreciate tons of baby snakes slithering around while i am trying to water.... blachhhh. my lack of enthusiasm for snakes comes from when i was younger, in 8th grade, and i had a paper route. i would be out very early in the morning delivering papers. it would be so quiet and peaceful out in the country with the birds chirping, cows in the meadow, dogs barking. i'm busy daydreaming and then wham out of nowhere, a snake would slither in front of my bike and scare the crap out of me! it happened on many occasion too.

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we are surrounded by many little lake areas, so last night as we were driving home from the beach, we came across this swan and 3 babies. we fed them the rest of our bread.

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here are the latest pictures of the baby robins. they are getting bigger. whenever i walk under the arbor i can see their heads beeboppin about as i look up. i think they hear me and think that it is their momma come to feed them.

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i noticed this guy while i was just outside watering. he was quite hard to pin down for a photo. the second shot is kind of cool. as i was just taking the shot of him, he flew away and you can see a wisp of him leaving.

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so tonight i have been recruited to man the bird area that i visited yesterday. there were a couple of delayed firework displays for several townships here, so they are having them tonight and tomorrow night. the beach towns set off fireworks from their boardwalks, so after the incident on the 4th, there will be people there to keep an eye out for any idiot who thinks its fun to set off firecrackers next to an endangered bird colony. then next week i will be receiving training to become a "monitor". i will learn all about the birds (who will be there until August) and then i will monitor their activities, take notes, etc. sounds fun to me.

another wren moves in

i'm seriously thinking that i need to start charging some kind of rent around here for all the bird tenants that we've had this year. found this one clearing out this house that i've got secured on my front porched. this is a high traffic area with us and dogs going up and down here, so not sure if she'll actually stay here.

i think this little guy lives under our deck. we spent a long time watching him today from Tucker's window. he is so cute! tomorrow i am going to leave out some carrots, hay and some of lilo's bunny food for him.

this pigeon made a nest on my mother in law's porch. she was having a tough time having enough room for her nest; so when she was off getting more sticks, my husband added a shelf where she was building and viola! when she got back she had a major renovation. from this picture it looks like she has one egg - but when i went back early this week, i see there is indeed two babies!

here is one of my most favorite flowers, a purple Clematis.

this week i have been busy finishing up grungy/steampunk charms that were intended for a swap. but i've gotten so great feedback on them (especially when i've worn them out) that i think i will be listing them on my etsy site and then making different charms for the swap. here are a few of the steampunk charms.

going on etsy

here's a few things i worked on this weekend and will be adding to my etsy shoppe (today or when i get back!) guess i was in a Mona Lisa mood. the darker Mona Lisa has some wonderful crackling in the background that i did by hand (and it measures 8x8). i think the lighter Mona Lisa (w/ buttons for reference) is very "Anahata" (it measures 8x10)- i must be gearing up for her class! how cute it the little sprint time princess birdie sitting on her peat pot nest? i will also be adding some of my handmade bird nests delicately woven with all sorts of fibers and goodies. the base is a secret.........

I'll be at Artnest tomorrow thru the 24th. (i leave at 3am - horrible time huh?)

bathroom door

This is my bathroom door. it was already yellow and had the mirror on it, but it just bored me. need something more! i've been wanting to do something with it for about a year, but just didn't know what. so in between packing yesterday (for Artnest) i would work on it. i was in a closet getting out something when i saw all my old stencils. so i decided to do layers of stencils. first i painted huge dark pink cirlces all over. next i started stenciling. the first stencil was a lacy pattern that i did in white. then i added the green wrought iron/scroll stencil in green, the green fence pattern (bottom only) and finally the birds in black. i'll give it a few coats of poly when i get back to protect it.