Thankful Sunday--July 19, 2015

I am thankful for:

Fresh berries 

Sweet corn on the cob

Grilled squash

Tender green beans

Crisp lettuce

Marinated cucumbers

and especially Tomatoes right off the vine.

In other words, I am thankful for summer harvest time.

A Second Look-Part 2, July 16, 2015

For yesterday's Second Look post, I showed you several pictures of baby wrens. Today I'm going to show you a few more pictures of things that have a bit more color to them. Because despite my focus on the birds, I did see a few other things around the yard besides wrens.

Here are a few more things I saw this week during a Second Look.

Day lily

Young milkweed beetle

Fritillary butterfly

Cone flower. This is a volunteer under the bird feeder. Finches especially like their seeds.

Silver-spotted skipper butterfly. The injured wing didn't seem to be affecting its movement.

Tiger lily. The other morning was the first time I noticed that the tiger lily leaves start out straight before they curl all the way back. These observations always make me wonder. After all the tiger lilies I've seen, why is it I've never noticed this before.  It also makes me happy that there is still so much to see even in the common, everyday things.

Bumblebee

A Second Look--July 15, 2015

Ask me what I did last Sunday. Well, I spent most of the day running back and forth to one of nest boxes watching some house wrens hatch. It was one of the most interesting things I've seen in a while and I'm going to share it with today's Second Look. There are great videos all over YouTube showing this kind of thing, but I did it the old fashioned way. I stood on a chair and peered into the top of the box and then did a point and shoot picture. As you'll see below, sometimes they turned out well and other times they didn't. The camera was very good at focusing on the nest and not as good on focusing on the birds.

During all of my peering, which lasted over several hours/days, the mother was very attentive--usually on a nearby branch giving a loud warning call when I got close to the box. However, when I got about 10 feet away from the box, she would stop. Luckily, she didn't dive bomb me, but I wore a hat anyway. I really don't like it when a bird swoops by my head close enough to give me the wind blown look.

Here's this week's Second Look.

When we last saw the nest, there were five eggs in it.

A few days later when I checked, there were 3 hatchlings one of which had not quite freed itself from its shell. I watched as it wiggled and shook its wing trying to get the shell off. It was quite active. What you are seeing: In the picture above, there are two intact eggs in the lower left part of the nest with one chick draped over them, and two parts of a recently split egg above them that the chick was trying to get out of. There are three chicks in the above picture, but one of them is in the lower part of the nest hiding under a feather.

The next time I looked, half of the recently split egg was missing. The mother usually eats the egg shells both for calcium and for protection. When not in a protected box, the newly hatched shells could fall to the ground and alert predators that there are some tasty baby birds around. What you're seeing: In this picture, it's a little easier to make out the three hatchlings and eggs. Note the half shell at the upper right of the nest.

A little later, the other half of the shell was gone, and things had been neatly rearranged in the nest. The two remaining eggs were off to the side and the chicks were neatly around the edge of the nest. The chicks move around a lot on their own, but this has the look of a mother's work.

This time as I approached the box, the mother flew out. When I looked inside, I saw what she had been doing--feeding. What you're seeing:  At the top of the nest is one of the chicks with a grub in its mouth. (To me, it actually looks like it choked to death). It slowly was able to work this grub into its gut.  Pretty amazing to watch because this grub was almost as big as its head.

The instinct to beg for food seems to be working well in these hatchlings.

The next peer into the box found four hatchlings and no partial shells. Maybe because the mother was a afraid of me, she was cleaning things up quickly.

I checked several more times on Sunday and the last egg had not hatched However, sometime during the night it hatched and I found all five chicks Monday morning. Note that the first two hatched chicks already have more "fur" on their head than the later three. Your job is to see if you can find all five chicks in the picture.  Hint: In the lower part of the nest, one of their heads is covered up by another and you can only see its bottom.

Now after you've gone blind trying to make out the wren pictures, here's one that a little bit easier to see. These are baby bluebirds from another nest. Besides starting out a lot larger than the wrens, they are about a week older. You can see that they are starting to get their pin feathers.

Three Quotes

Out in blog land, some bloggers are taking the three quote challenge where they share three of their favorite quotes. Lois at TheEcoGrandma has shared hers and tagged me to do the same. It's not as easy as it sounds. As we all know if you have access to the internet, you also have access to endless numbers of meaningful, humorous, or helpful quotes.  So picking just three was next to impossible. However I "tried not to sweat the small stuff" and pick three that I have gone back to then and again over the years.

1. Everything you've ever wanted is one step out of your comfort zone. - Anonymous -

I am a cautions person by nature. I like to have things planned and predictable. My sisters say that I like to have control over things and I think they're right. That's how my cautious personality feels the most comfortable. And most of the time, planning is a very good thing. I find I waste fewer things including time and money when I have a plan. However, I think I miss out on somethings when I am always trying to be in control. 

One of the views from our spur of the moment hike.

So while I wouldn't exactly call me spontaneous or a risk taker, I am trying to get out of my comfort zone more often these days. For example, one time while driving the long drive back from my mother's house, I suggested we stop at one of the parks along the way for a hike. Usually the only stops are bathroom stops because we "have" to get back and do our laundry and whatnot to get ready for work the next day. Well, we did stop and had a lovely hike that took us to a great view. And we didn't really use up that much time. Now this is a favorite stop of ours. That was a small step out of my comfort zone, but one that had a big payoff.

When I thought about the quote more, I realized that I have more examples to share where I have stepped out of my comfort zone that have really made a difference for me, but it's time to move onto the next quote. I'll share those another time.

2. Despite the gardener's best intentions, Nature will improvise.  ~Michael P. Garafalo,  gardendigest.com

Anyone who has tried to grow anything can relate to this one.  No matter how hard you try to plan (see quote #1), you have to realize that you can't control everything--especially Mother Nature. It might rain too much or it might rain too little. Storms may blow down branches (or whole trees) or hail may pelt your plants into oblivion. The bugs, birds, deer, rabbits, groundhogs, etc. may eat your whole garden one morning for breakfast. I've had all of these things happen to my gardening attempts--many times. When these things happen if "I didn't laugh, I'd cry."

The rabbits eat more than their fair share of what I don't want them to, but they sure are cute to watch.

So how do I deal with it? Sometimes not very well, at first, but then I remember Nature is a much bigger force than man/woman will ever be able to control and and you'll drive yourself crazy if you think you can. Then I try to shift my attention away from my garden to other parts of nature. How do thunderstorms form? Where are the rabbits' nests? What kind of bug is that? How many eggs did that bird lay? And I find that I get such enjoyment out of learning about those things that I forget about when my gardening doesn't work out the way I wanted. Well, I really don't forget about how all of my hard work was "changed" by Mother Nature, but I do try to "make lemonade out of lemons." That has been the whole purpose of my Second Looks. :)

(By the way, does anyone remember the Chiffon Margarine commercial from the 1970's with the quote, "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!" That is what has been playing in my head since I started writing about the gardening quote.)

3. He who laughs.....lasts. Erma Bombeck

Erma Bombeck had a great sense of humor especially about every day things and she was a great role model for us all. I try to channel my inner Erma and when I'm not in the best of moods, I try to remember that "Laughter is the best medicine" and do something to have a good laugh. It might be watching an old Andy Griffith show or a funny video on YouTube. Or I may just take a trip down memory lane and remember some of the silly things Wally and Theo used to say. Or maybe I'll check an Erma Bombeck book out of the library to read. 

Now for our laugh of the day, take a look at the titles of some of Erma's books.

• Just Wait Until You Have Children of Your Own, Doubleday, 1971. Written with Bil Keane.
• I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression, Doubleday, 1974.
• The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank, McGraw-Hill, 1976.
• If Life is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?, McGraw-Hill, 1978.
• Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession, 1983.
• When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It's Time to Go Home, 1991.
• A Marriage Made in Heaven ... or Too Tired For an Affair, 1993
• All I Know About Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann's Dressing Room, ISBN 0060177888 HarperCollins 1995

Thankful Sunday--July 12, 2015

Our library group lining up for the parade with the stacks of books and signs we carried.

I am thankful for the community I live in.

I live in a small community that was originally a rural farming town. While there are still farms around, it now might be better described as a suburban bedroom community for Washington, D. C. However, it still has its small town feel from years ago. That was evidenced this past weekend by Celebrate Mayfield* Days. This is an annual event that brings the area together for a little old fashioned fun. Friday night was a parade with fireworks afterwards and Saturday had the streets lined with vendors and activities for everyone.

Friday night I marched in the parade with my coworkers representing the Mayfield library. We were joined by 80 other groups from churches, youth organizations, and local businesses. And as always, Santa was the last one in the parade for a little Christmas in July. Whoever didn't happen to be in the parade was set up along the route with their picnic suppers watching. Although it was hotter than I would have liked, I had a lot of fun walking along and hearing the crowd cheer for the library as well as waving to my friends along the route.

Fireworks from Mayfield Days

After the parade Ward joined me at the fair grounds for the fire department chicken dinner which is one of their big fund raisers every year. As we were finishing our dinner, it was getting dark and it was time to find our spot to watch the fireworks. While there were plenty of people around, we had no problem finding a place for our blanket. The fire department put on a good show.  I could get a little mushy here and say that Ward and I felt like we were dating again. He has been working a lot of overtime recently and we haven't had much time to see each other. However, Friday was just about perfect as we snuggled together watching the lights in the sky.    Yes, that was a little too mushy. :)

Saturday had flea markets, a banana split eating contest, and a fun run among many other activities. I think you're getting the idea. I live in a place where simple things are still enjoyed. And for that I am thankful.  

*The name has been changed to be consistent with the Leave It to Beaver aliases.