Watch and See

I find nature entertaining and so......like many others...

I like to "watch and see" .....

This photo, from last summer, I believe is of a baby

Wood Thrush or Brown Thrasher.....but I'm not sure!

My favorite bird is the Carolina Wren.....always present on the

porch or near by with it's cheerful song. I think of them as

polite and friendly little birds.....

but.....

...this one seems to have a vicious little frown .......

and this Finch seems to be giving me the evil eye!

This Carolina Wren is drying in the sun...

after being in the birdbath.....note the water drops on the railing...


and...

..... this squirrel is getting some sun time too!




Our grandsons were the first to see this swarm of bees

in the trunk of an old cedar tree by the drive.....

-click to enlarge-

None of them managed to get stung.....

as far as we know anyway!


This brings me to other visitors.....

I can't help feeling some things in nature are slightly

.....less welcomed than others.

I don't know which makes me cringe more...

this turkey vulture, which we know

only eats dead carcasses.....

or this bat, that tried to

-"move in" -

right above the glider on the front porch!

I know they eat mosquitoes at night... while circling

around the light out back, but

they should sleep in the barn.

Then these skunks.....are giving me concern.....

with their occasional sleepovers under our shed.

So far they seem more afraid us than we of them

...but still...

there's concern!

Groundhogs are different.....they stay mostly near the barn or hillside.

We just get glimpses, as they run from one to the other.

Chipmunks.....you couldn't keep away.....

even if you wanted to...

so might as well give them a snack!

Life is always somewhere to be watched and seen.....

even in the clouds!



See if you can spot a little boy

...with his arms out stretched...

...and his dog running toward him...

That's what I see!!!

Last of the Season

I'm hoping last week's snow,
seen here out my back window, will be the
"last of the season"...

.

because warmer weather will mean a change in our menu!

Our meals the last several days resulted from my making

way too much of a low-fat cheese sauce.

Day one we had the sauce over noodles with peppers and meatballs.

Day two I added chopped spinach to the sauce and again

.

we had it over the noodles, but with chicken and vegetables.

.

I baked biscuits on day three; the spinach sauce was added

to a pot of cooked potatoes and we had that with bacon bits.

Day four.....the potatoes again.....but with fish and vegetables.

On day five I baked cornbread.....

added two cans of celery soup, cooked carrots,

and chopped black olives.....to make potato soup.

Day six it was potato soup again with bacon bits and a little coleslaw.

Even though the soup was good......

when I think potato soup..... I think cold wintry weather.

So...I'm happy to say this potato soup was probably.....

"the last of the season"
.
because.....
.
today
.
"I saw Green "

Note the little green bug too!!

It's a Southern Green Stink Bug
-click to enlarge-

Waiting

Living in the moment, being thankful for my ordinary
everyday happenings is what I try to do. But in February,
with all this sunshine, I’m finding myself waiting.

Waiting for spring, waiting for the Bluebirds to return,
and waiting for our brown field.....

to finally turn green!

Waiting, waiting, waiting.....it's not a good way to spend your time.

Unless of course, you are waiting for the birth of a child,

as I was in the month of February in 1970.

Our youngest son’s birthday is this Friday, February 27 th

Happy Birthday Steve!

Anyway, over the years I have learned to be in the present

and aware of all my moments here and now. At this moment I am

enjoying blogging, mostly because of the new friends I have made

.....in Canada, Colorado, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

It fills my time and keeps me from only......waiting for spring.

My granddaughter Alivia usually comes down on Tuesdays,

so that helps keep my mind off waiting for spring too.

We played scrabble today..... "her way of course"!

and since I still have to cook, I made potato soup and cornbread

for lunch.




Then Alivia and I had fun baking a cake together.....







or I should say Boston Creme Pie!








But anyway.....I'm still waiting on Spring!

Trees I Notice

Over the years, I have discovered interesting trees

on our property. There's many different reasons why they

stand out and cause me to take notice.

Some trees are massive in their size.

Some just say....."Come stand in me!".....




This one seems to touch the sky.......




...while others say..... "Come lay in me!"...





Here...... trees grow with their arms entwined...




others it seems......their mothers they find.




Some trees it seems....... are so unreal...




then there's others...........you don't wish to feel.




Some could substitute for frames....... just fine ...




While others............they get engulfed over time.


~



Then you have..... "the human touch affect".....

...used to welcome you down our drive...
~



~

and the one in the field......

Alivia once thought......alive!

~


~
-click photo to enlarge-

Like Sunshine

This morning started off as a bitterly cold, dreary day,

but gradually brightened with sunshine, as the day progressed.

Sometime after 12:00 noon, my day got even brighter,

when my granddaughter Amanda stopped for a visit.

Amanda is in her second year of college, copy editor of her

college newspaper, and very good at creative writing.

Her creativity started at a young age.

This is the innocent young child.....

that wrote poems making fun of her gramma's cake!

Later in her young life she graduated to pulling

very creative pranks.

Late one night without my knowing it, she stole an

old stone squirrel from my flower garden.

I started receiving ransom notes through the mail,

along with pictures

of the threatened

and tortured squirrel!

Even though knowing,

that I thought it very funny,

she never let on,

so I was convinced it had been done by

my older grandson Dustin.

This went on for about a week and then Amanda slipped up...

she sent a photo with her baby sister at the bat!

Then the squirrel mysteriously reappeared one day-

^

.....covered in band-aids!

Amanda

Before leaving, Amanda mentioned she had finished reading

"Prodigal Summer"- so I gave her my copy

of "The Shack" to take home.

Amanda's visits are like sunshine.

and then.....

It wasn't an hour later and I had another visitor

to brighten my day. My granddaughter Katie came by.

Remember she is our expert confetti maker.

Katie is a sophomore in high school and has a babysitting

job right after school, but today it was canceled, so I benefited.

Katie is a sweet, bubbly, happy, young teenage girl.....

.

.......just don't get in her way when she's mad or driving!

.

Sunday is her birthday!

Katie

Katie is like sunshine to me too!

~

Then-

Later my daughter Annette stopped by

to give me a book, so now I'm reading "Paper Daughter"

by M.Elaine Mar.

Annette is sunshine in my life too!

~