Backyard happenings...

The frogs are moving rather slowly these days and this one found warmth in the floating grass island.
There are still a few white throated sparrows around as well as Harris and fox sparrows.
The juncos are active scavenging for fallen garden seeds as well as keeping clean on the rock.

More characters...

The tricks and treating lasted two days at our house...

Tina Fey (aka Sarah Palin) could see Russia from her porch and Fiona the French made were all smiles...and of course Sarah had her "Maverick"...
while Fiona brought Dr. Ben Dover,
and a pair of blue jeans were spotted.
Saturday brought out a Black Widow wannabe and Kelly from Saved by the Bell...
and there's always at least one "hot dog" in the bunch!
We had a fun weekend with family and friends...I'm thankful for my garden of life.

Trick or Treat...

Happy Halloween! It's definitely a trick or treat day for me...first I had the wonderful "treat" of having Heidi, Benjamin & Alexis stop over for treats!

They were one groovy looking bunch...a couple hippies and a little princess. The "trick" here was I used my mini camera and the shots came out with terrible red eye so if their eyes look funny, it is because I tried to fix them without much success. The little princess came in carrying a fake rat (which she calls a mouse) and her mom managed to get her to set it down for one picture telling her princesses don't have a mouse...to which Alexis replied "I'm a princess like Cinderella and in the movie there are lots of mouses". Smart girl!

My other "treat" of the day also came with bad camera "tricking". I was so excited to see these first ever visitors to my garden, I was shooting them through the dirty window and they came out blurred. A "lifer" in the garden, a male and female red crossbill.
I had to look them up in the bird book and according to what I read, they live in conifered forests as the seeds from cones are the only thing they eat. Since I live in the middle of farmland with just a few evergreens, I'd say they were just stopping by for a drink.
So even though my camera was playing "tricks" on me today, I sure was happy with these TREATS!

PS: I'm glad I'm not Benjamin & Alexis's grandma as she is going to be surprised tonight to find several of those "mice" hidden in her house! Benjamin said she's always playing tricks on us so we are getting her back :-)

Gabi & Ruger...

My dogs listen when I talk
They go with me for a walk
When I sleep, they sleep too.
They do everything that I do.
When something really makes me mad,
Gabi hangs her head and looks so sad. .
She cuddles up and licks my hand
And tells me she can understand.
(adapted from My Dog, author unknown)

There is nothing our dog Gabi likes better than riding in our Ranger. If we even walk towards it she jumps in the seat and is ready for a ride.
So for the last two days, while I have been clearing out the gardens, Gabi has been patiently waiting for the short little rides to empty out the box.
Ruger is content to lay in the shade and just be nearby.
But Gabi will stay in the seat and nap in all kinds of uncomfortable looking positions...
occasionally checking to see if I'm loaded yet.
I could almost hear her sigh as she laid back down...
until the next time she checked and laid her tired head on the back of the seat. This look almost made me empty a half a load.
By the time I had a box full, she was comfortably napping...
and the next trip started those weird positions again :-)
So there is the tale of two dogs, one a sensitive soul who likes to be right next to you at all times and the other a little mischievious, very independent wanderer. The two of them are sure fun to have around!
Where's Ruger?

Bargains...

We had a hard frost last night and the remainder of the garden froze out. I'll start the cleanup tomorrow.
Yes, it looks like I'll also be busy planting and not blogging for a few days :-) I can never pass up a good buy and spring bulbs were marked down to 99 cents a package today. I've got them laid out in early, mid & late season blooming times and even counted them - 401 bulbs! Yikes, I hope for a nice couple of days to do my cleanup and planting and in the meantime, I going through last spring's photos to see where I need to add color to my spring gardens.

The Blue Jay...

The Blue Jay is a noisy bird
But a very handsome sight
He wears a sky-blue jacket
Striped and patched with
Grey, black and white.
He's often called a rascal
By all the other birds;
For he likes to tease and scare and chase
And always loves to be heard.
He lives here in the summer time
And in the winter too.
So don't forget to leave a treat,
And he'll be sure to knock,
"Thank You!"
(author unknown)
I love the blue jays and agree they are a handsome sight...
that likes to be HEARD!
These guys love shelled peanuts and I've learned to only give them some when we can enjoy watching them come and get them.
They arrive and carry them away one by one until a cool whip bowl full is gone (about 20 minutes).
After finishing them off they'll come and sit on the branch, waiting to see if I bring out more. This one took the time to fluff up and preen for awhile.

When I downloaded the photos, I noticed this guy looked like he had a stick stuck on his beak...
a shot showing the opposite side of his face shows it is stuck in his nostril...
YIKES!
I sure hope is works itself out soon...I'll have to keep an eye out to see if I spot it again. Another bluejay is looking great at the rock with the red leaves of my new serviceberry tree. I am so excited to add some red foilage to my landscape and the serviceberry tree was a surprise because my serviceberry shrub turns a deep yellow/orange color.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Rainy Day Portraits...

It has been gray and rainy all week and my days to shoot the last of the colors in the gardens are numbered as we are in for hard freeze this weekend. In the backyard, the salvias are still blooming and the tamarac has turned golden and soon will be losing it's needles. Below, the last of the brown-eyed susans...
a lone Dr. Ruppel clematis blossom...
and bunches of blackberry lily seed pods.
This annual was a winner in my eye's, hot-lips salvia. It just bloomed and bloomed all summer and is still going strong. The little sets of lips were always in pairs and the hummingbirds loved them.
The mums are drooping in the rain...
and some gloriosa daisies have mutated (a virus in the ground?).
The new front rose garden exceeded my expectations...
and the roses just keep blooming...
along with the little gem marigolds.
The autumn highlight of the front landscape is the burning bush standard.
It's leaves and berries providing lots of color...
and behind it, one last HF Young clematis blossom.
Another gardening season is almost closed, but I still have tulips to plant and cleanup to be done. Frost is one thing, but I'm hoping snow is still aways off!

The Rockies....

The Rockies are not a type, but an individuality, singularly rich in mountain scenes which stir ones blood and which strengthen and sweeten life. (Enos Mills, Wild Life on the Rockies, 1909)






I bet you thought I was still on vacation! Nope, I had major computer problems that hopefully are now fixed with a new hard drive and a valuable lesson, always "back up" your files and photos. It's always easier said (or thought) than done in my case and while I did lose some data & photos, it could have been much worse. I leave you with the last of the vacation photos, Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park, Colorado. Another destination I will be returning to again some day. The beauty and wildlife were spectactular and since it is the time of year that the elk are down in the meadows and the rut season is going on, we saw a lot of elk, bulls chasing off younger bulls and witnessed and heard, lots of bugling. Fall is a beautiful time of year to visit Colorado.

Updated: I was so frazzled with my computer woes, while copying off photos I realized I forgot to show you Arches National Park. I have added it below in order to keep the Utah Rocks series together.