October crows...

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
(Robert Frost, "October", from A Boys Will, 1913)

Last week about 25-30 crows were hanging around. One day I even saw them chasing a red tailed hawk over the grove which was very entertaining.

I have a feeders on the opposite side of the pond as the hardy yellow mums...I sure like the yellow backgrounds on some of the latest bird photos :-) I thought this nuthatch was quite the poser!
We have lost all the leaves on our trees except for some cottonwoods and those darn invasive buckthorns which our entire underbrush is composed of. Oops, after just telling you the cottonwoods still have leaves...I noticed the photo I posted shows bare ones! These are on the NW corner and have taken the brunt of the high winds lately. This photo is another in the "Where's Ruger" series.

Pine Siskins and birthdays...

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time." (Clara Ortega)

Happy Birthday, Steve!
Last week I had large numbers of pine siskins in the garden. They stayed through the cold, rainy weather and with this week's sunshine have moved on. I will miss watching them but not the fact that they emptied the thistle socks almost daily! They preferred the nyger thistle seed and the sunflower hearts and stayed away from the shelled sunflower seeds.
The high was 50 degrees yesterday and look who is still around! I saw three varieties yesterday.

a game....

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things is not quite the same...
Remember that old Sesame Street lyric and figuring out which thing didn't belong? Did you figure out what was different on the chickadee collage?












Yes, Marsha's garden is hosting a "tail-less" chickadee! I don't know where this guy's tail went to or if he was born without one, but I have been noticing this guy for a while now. He seems to be doing alright without a tail except for some occasional balance problems.

Since I can always tell him apart from all the other chickadees, I have given him a name, "Butterball", since he does look like a chubby little ball without his tail :-) Hopefully, I will show more of Butterball in the coming months.

a beautiful day...

Saturday was a beautiful day that reached almost 70 degrees, a welcome respite from our cool, gray and rainy October. While spending the afternoon outside...I noticed the butterflies are still here. I don't ever remember them hanging around this late in the season.
I counted 6 different varieties in the garden yesterday - but figured how many butterfly shots can I keep showing you ;-)
So I'll switch gears and show you that the frogs are still hanging around enjoying October too...

leaves in the garden...

Leaves in the autumn
came tumbling down,
Scarlet and yellow,
russet and brown,
Leaves in the garden
were swept in a heap,
Trees were undressing
ready for sleep.
(author unknown)



After what seems like 2 straight weeks of rain we have had brief moments of sun today and so I took the opportunity to take some shots of my October 19th garden. First thing that caught my eye was that the solar lantern looked awesome reflecting in the pond. The giant cottonwoods in the first photo are raining down leaves on this windy day so there are leaves everywhere!

It amazes me to still see blossoms this late in the season. Usually by the time the tamarac (the yellow evergreen looking tree in the lower right of the first shot) starts to change colors the garden around it is bare. This year it is surrounded by bright pink/purple petunias and the dark red of the autumn joy sedum.




Pardon the mess in this photo but in the six years I have had this garden, I don't think the impatiens have ever survived to see October before so I just had to show you - wet piles of leaves and all!

a guest blogger...

I've relinquished control of my blog today to a guest blogger...

It was a small price to pay for a brief respite from playing Barbie's in the basement...
She found out that getting the right shot takes a lot of concentration...





and found great joy in reviewing all of her shots. I think she has "caught" the photo bug from her aunt Marsh!
I think she did pretty good considering it is raining out and she is "shooting" through window glass covered in raindrops and her breath is fogging up the glass :-)
She even has a poem...

Blogging is nice,
but I gotta run...
I didn't think twice,
because Barbie's are a lot more FUN!

Thank you guest blogger, Alexis.

Sometimes....

Sometimes you feel like a nut...
and sometimes you don't...

Remember that old Almond Joy/Mounds candy bar commercial. For some reason that jingle is in my head today :-)

reflection in yellow....

“A tiny wren was among the Chrysanthemums this morning, noiselessly flitting in and out, like a little shade; evidently in a state of the highest enjoyment. No doubt I and the bird both took our pleasure with them—in different ways!”
(Eleanor Vere Boyle)

I received a division of these yellow mums from my friend, Leone, several years ago and they are the hardiest mums, ever! Nursery specimens are lucky to survive a MN winter but these just keep growing and growing. I love their bright color and the way they lean over and reflect in the pond. The "tiny wrens" have all headed south but a tiny little red breasted nuthatch was happy to help me illustrate the above quote (of course, I cheated by scattering some seed to attract him) :-)
Dr. Ruppel is still giving me a few beautiful blooms.
I wanted to save some sunflower heads for winter feeding and had them drying on the patio table. I guess the birds had other plans and have cleaned them up in 3 days. Though I am not a fan of the house sparrow, this Harris sparrow sure is a beauty!

more butterflies...

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."
(Rabindranath Tagore)

It is hard to believe that it is October 13th and I am still seeing butterflies, especially considering what I posted last October 12th.Since I have taken so many butterfly shots lately, I thought I would try for a different angle and went for the undersides. The victoria blue salvias are still blooming making for a nice colorful shot.

Today, I did some more garden cleanup by cutting down the coneflowers and daisy seedheads. I know the birds love to eat them but I am trying to prevent some self seeding as they are too thick out there. I did toss them in the edges of the grove where they are still accessible to the birds and maybe some will grow there next year. Of course, I didn't get much done as I am too easily distracted by the birds and butterfies. This guy is a pine siskin who I originally identified as a yellow rumped warbler. There are quite a few of them around.

Garden wisdom from Ruger...

1. A garden is a great place for a nap...Ruger likes to hang out while I am working in the garden. He likes to find a "cushy" spot for naps. This photo reminds me of the movie "Bambi", when Bambi spots the little skunk amongst the flowers and names him Flower.

2. If you are hot, find the quickest way to cool off...


3. and always, take time out of your busy days to stop and smell the flowers.

Rest and Relaxation

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward."
(Spanish Proverb)

"The time to relax is when you don't have time for it."
(Sidney J. Harris)





Everybody needs to take some time and just "rest" occasionally even the garden birds. A popular spot to sit a spell and enjoy the view is the weathervane.

A chickadee,
an oriole and goldfinch...
a hummingbird...
and robin...
and even a bluejay. I hope you have some time for rest and relaxation today!

Blue Butterfly Day

But these are flowers that fly and all but sing:
And now from having ridden out desire
They lie closed over in the wind and cling
Where wheels have freshly sliced the April mire.
(Robert Frost, "Blue-Butterfly Day")
Though it is October and not April as the poem suggests...Saturday was a beautiful "blue butterfly day"! Not only was the weather gorgeous (85 degrees) but this iridescent blue/black butterfly visited. I have never seen one like this before...at first I thought it was the same variety that visited earlier in the week but as you can tell from the Oct 2nd post they are definitely different.

After I saw how his color changed in different light I chased him around the garden and captured several different levels of blue. I do not "touch up" any photos other than adding the occasional border so these blues are real!

Cheerful little bird...

When piped a tiny voice heard by,
Gay and polite, a cheerful cry,
Chic-chic-a-dee-dee! saucy note
Out of sound heart and merry throat."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
The chickadee is my very favorite little bird and one was nice enough to cooperate for a photo shoot this week. These little guys are so hard to capture as they don't stand still very long-constantly flitting to the feeder and flying off to eat their seed somewhere else. I love to hear their chick-a-dee-dee call whether at home or away - it always brings a smile to my face. Ralph Waldo is right when he describes them as "gay and polite" - they always wait to the side until the feeder perches are empty before coming in to grab their serving. I have even noticed them waiting at the side of the rock until it is their turn to bathe;-)

Even though this post is dedicated to the chickadee, I have to tell you that I saw my first juncos arrive this week. To me, they are the "sure sign" of autumn arriving just as the first robin is a true sign of spring.

October butterflies...

Pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
(William Wordsworth, 1806)
What a gift it was to see two more of these beautiful butterflies yesterday. At least I think I was seeing two as the photos show one has a tear on his left lower wing next to the "tail" (look closely on the 3rd shot). I should really pay more attention but I don't remember seeing this many butterflies this late in the season before.

The Double Rainbow

Once I saw a rainbow
Over the ocean blue
Encompassed by a shadow
Of every color and hue.

It was a double rainbow
Most beautiful to see
and underneath the rainbow
Were two sails upon the sea.
I think it was God's message
Quite old, and yet still new
It takes both rain and sunshine
To make the lovely view.
As we go along life's highway
A lot of rain must fall.
But we can find the rainbow
When the sun shines over all.

So, if you feel discouraged
And don't know what to do
Just trust for God's own sunshine
To bring a rainbow over you.
(Virginia M. King)

Yesterday's rainbow was over beautiful farm country and not the "ocean blue" but this poem's message remains the same. What a wonderful reminder for J & I (as I awed at how I was able to photograph the end of the rainbow directly over our farmplace) that as we worry about how hard our 2 families have been hit with health issues this past year, the answer is there...Trust God!