a great day...

To love and be loved, is to feel the sun from both sides.
(author unknown)

Look who showed up this weekend...
I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend...I did! Although Jayme and Scott were not able to be with us, there were many phone calls over the weekend and a wonderful loving blog post about me (including a 1983 photo...let's just say that Jeff & I have aged for the better). Nathan started the celebration by bringing me some fantail goldfish to replace the ones that did not survive an unwanted pond visitor last year.
Then I pulled the Mother's Day magic card of having them do whatever I wanted and I chose to go out for stuffed french toast at IHOP and a visit to my favorite speciality nursery. Now my 2 men in a nursery on one of their busiest days of the year....that was LOVE!
For the last two years I have admired this giraffe topiary at the nursery, but at $650 I guess I will just visit him once a year until some else buys him or I win the lottery.
This Mother's Day I am grateful for my two wonderful children, my son-in-law, my husband and my step-mother and we lovingly remember my mother (who I only had in my life for 20 years) and Jeff's mother...we miss them. To love and be loved...a very good thing!

Scenes through the window...

The grass is green.
Flower blossoms I have seen.
The days are warm.
By evening it cools.
It's time to find the garden tools.
(author unkown)
Yesterday morning when I was outside taking photos of the tulips, I decided to put out the grape jelly feeder with a small amount of jelly just to be ready for any orioles that might be arriving in the next week or two. I had big plans to garden yesterday but it turned into a chilly, drizzly day so I spent some time posting on my blog and catching up on a few others. From where I sat with the laptop and the camera the first thing that caught my eye out the window was a warbler couple enjoying a morning bath...
I was busy typing away when a bright spot caught the corner of my eye...I turned and looked and couldn't believe my eyes...it was the first oriole of the year! Now I had only put the jelly out about 10-15 minutes before that and here he was enjoying some already. Was he here before and I just didn't notice him?
So I quickly got out some orange halves and was a little less stingy with the jelly and then made up some sugar water.
By the afternoon I was busy in the house but took time to stop and look for the oriole throughout the day. The second big surprise of the day was next...HUMMINGBIRDS! I don't ever remember seeing them here this early before. There is a male and a female coming to the sugar water. These photos are severely cropped as I was still shooting through the window but I just had to show that they are here.
Remember the tail-less warbler I showed a few days back? Well, now there is a tail-less chickadee.
Some had suggested it is from a run in with a cat or hawk but we have no cats around. I am thinking it might be the resident kestrels or the red-tail hawk I see fly over once a week or so. The kestrels aren't cooperating with any photo shoots so here is a shot from last year.

finally...

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
While I have been looking with envy at spring arriving around the country in other's blogs, I have been looking outside in my own yard and seeing mostly black & brown. (one little 1" grape hyancith didn't count)
But finally the grass is green and ready for it's first mowing, the trees are leafing out and this morning I have my first three tulips blooming! The leaves on the trees are making it harder to spot the wood ducks but I am fortunate to still see them everyday.
The birds are getting a little more used to me being outside all the time and are becoming less afraid...though this flicker was still a little wary of my presence and flew off as soon as he spotted me.
The white crowned sparrows have joined the migration party. The white throats are still here as well as the yellow rump warblers but the yellow warblers have moved on before I managed to capture a photo.
Mother Robin does indeed have "eyes behind her head" oh wait...I guess she just turns her head to look behind...
and all birds enjoy a good scratch once in awhile including this brown thrasher.

a perfect day...

Of all the days that's in the week
I dearly love but one day
And that's the day that comes betwixt
A Saturday and Monday.
(Henry Carey)
Last night's sunset was a beautiful end to a perfect day. It was just a wonderful and relaxing day for both of us...it included a Dairy Queen, seeing these deer right before the sunset and...
going to church, and grilling and eating lunch on the patio. As we sat there we enjoyed watching the many songbirds and listening to the water and Joseph's calls in the grove. We listened as he sounded closer and closer and finally he and the girls came to eat a corn lunch as we sat silently and watched.
Not great shots because from where I was sitting the corn view was obstructed but Joseph has never looked more handsome. I think the red around his face is brighter and his tail is definitely longer.
Hope you had a perfect Sunday as well...

beauty on a rainy day...

A bird in the hand is a certainty, but a bird in the bush may sing.
(Bret Harte)
It was rainy and cold yesterday and I didn't see the little yellow rumped warblers most of the day. Around 6 pm, I looked out and they had found the suet feeder and were feeding. The suet cake was almost gone and I wanted them to stay so I went out and refilled it along with crumbling some up in a dish. I was barely back inside and they were back. The bright colored one below kept chasing off the one shown in the bush...is he an immature male?
I just think they are the cutest little birds and hope they stick around a little longer. This morning I was watching one flit about the garden when I was thinking "this guy's yellow rump really shows up"...suddenly I realized it is because he doesn't have a tail!

the Tennessee Warbler

I was walzing,
with my darling,
to the Tennessee-walz,
when an old friend,
I happen to see.
I introduced him,
to my loved one,
and when they were dancing,
my friend stole my sweetheart from me.
(lyrics to the Tennessee Walz)I really am loving this spring migration! This is another new one in my garden...the Tennessee Warbler. I feel like I know the ending to the walz and they will soon be gone, but I sure hope they stay awhile.

A new bird...

This guy arrived today is and spent hours flying in short little bursts to grab insects mid air and on the ground.
I didn't want to scare him away so stayed back to get the photos, sorry for the poor quality.
I could not even find him in my bird book. Does anyone know the id? Thank you to BirdGirl for telling me he is a male yellow rumped warbler in full breeding plumage. My bird guide does not show the breeding plumage but I found a shot online and yes that is what he is...I am excited to host him.Congratulation to Bernie for being the reader who made the 20,000 hit. It was fun to see who it would be.

A milestone of sorts...

“Life isn't a matter of milestones but of moments”
(Rose F. Kennedy)
I'm approaching a blogging milestone that will probably happen today or tomorrow. If you read this and are the number 20,000 visitor on my hit counter please email me at the address listed in my profile. Of course life isn't a matter of milestones but of all those fun moments and this morning it was watching this little white throated sparrow take a bath.

It is very cold and windy out there and I imagine the water is pretty cold. Brave little bird...he must like his baths brisk & refreshing!

Birthday weekend....

We had a wonderful long weekend up north with Jayme & Scott helping Jayme celebrate her birthday. We left home Friday morning in the rain and Saturday morning we awoke to this snowy sight in Jayme's backyard. Thinking it only hit up north was a mistake as we were told we had even more snow & wind back home on Friday.We pulled the trailer full of some of Jeff's tools and Grandma Mary's piano. Scott called in a couple of strong friends and the four guys flexed quite a bit of muscle getting it in the house. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture but it is a joy for Jeff & I to see Jayme have & play Grandma's beloved piano. On Saturday, we put the tools to use and helped the kids install all the wood trim in their family room.
Of course since I am always looking for birds, I spotted this one all puffed up hunting for food under the tree line. I'm thinking veery but I will have to look in my bird book.
By Sunday, the snow was melting and it was a chilly but beautiful, sunny day, so we went to Jay Cooke state park. After all the snow they had up north this winter we could not believe how high and fast the St. Louis river was. This area of the river is known for all these beautiful layers of 45 degree angle rocks sticking up everywhere and now they are all under water.
The rapids could be heard everywhere in the park and it was a little eerie crossing the suspension bridge with the river roaring underneath us.

Follow this LINK and the photo above is where Jayme & Scott were pictured sitting, and the photo below is the same spot as the last photo in the link. As you can see only one rock is still above water.

The power of the water was so breathtaking that it made me think of one of my favorite verses...
Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea. . .
the LORD on high is mighty.
Psalms 93:4
and he showed us that even in the midst of all this dangerous water, he could make a rainbow.
Happy Birthday Jayme!
We had such a wonderful weekend celebrating with you and we are so proud of the woman you have become.
We Love You,
Mom & Dad

April Showers...

The roofs are shining from the rain,
The sparrows twitter as they fly,
And with a windy April grace
The little clouds go by.

Yet the backyards are bare and brown
With only one unchanging tree--
I could not be so sure of Spring
Save that it sings in me.
(Sare Teasdale)
It is raining today and the forecast for tomorrow is rain & snow again! Can it really be late April? Since it was forecasted to be wet I got the fish back in the pond yesterday. They have been living in the garage since November 14th and today was the first time they have been fed since late October. A six month diet and they look no worse for it!
While photographing the fish I noticed this frog sitting on the edge of a tile I use to hold plants in the pond. The close up makes him look almost prehistoric.
Since it was raining, I went to town to run some errands. I stopped at a local farm supply store to pick up birdseed and you coul hear these little guys all over the store. I pulled out the purse size camera for my bird photo of the day. They are so cute & fluffy!
I have not seen the female cardinal again so I consider myself lucky to have seen her on Tuesday. The few cardinals we have seen have usually been a one day stop for rest, food & water as this male did last July.

Oh for Joy...

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.
(Thich Nhat Hanh)
I'm smiling WIDE tonight! We have lived here for almost 27 years and I have been actively feeding the birds for at least the last 15. This beautiful lady cardinal is a first ever sighting in our backyard. I could hardly believe my eyes! How exciting would it be if a male is around too! I am cautiously optimistic as in those same 27 years we have only spotted a male about 4 times. I am keeping the safflower seeds stocked and crossing my fingers.
The brown thrashers have also arrived.
Have you heard the expression "oh, for joy" before? We had a dear elderly friend, Wupke, who has now passed but whenever we would share good news with her she would exclaim "Oh, for joy!" I thought of her today...JOY, it's a good thing!