Perfect Weekend p. 2

When my friend and I get together we always enjoy it like a couple of kids!! We eat and drink too much we stay up late and we always spend time outdoors! 

We had brunch on the screened porch that overlooks the back yard and we watched busy yard birds...

northern cardinal

brown headed nuthatch

Then we strolled around looking at other things in the yard...

A pileated woodpecker is flying back and forth in our field...maybe looking for a suitable nest site or gathering food for hatchlings!!
and one batch of baby cardinals has already hatched and growing!

this green anole was hanging out the potted plants

WE have Grey Tree frogs again this year in our water barrels! The are loud and love to croak day and night!. They have a lemony yellow color inside the back legs...

and they have beautiful eyes too! This frog is not very big... smaller than a golf ball.

  looked freshly hatched 

The dogs were out walking the yard with us after brunch and they settled down and relaxed in the sun shine..and watched us stroll around checking out all the action in the yard!

My friend had to leave about 3 pm so It was another great day of laughs and time spent in our favorite place, out in nature!

The dogs didn't want her to go and neither did I....

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

Lemonaide!

Today is the first day Ive felt good in 10 days...the cold has been keeping me from sleeping well...and with all the other stuff going on, its been wearing me down.  So when life gives you lemons what do you do? Take Pictures!! What else?

and I didnt have the tripod, so this short vid is kinda shakey, but you may get a kick outta it anyways..

The high pitched whistle at the end is the Great Crested , they have that disticnt Police Whistle call....
So these small creatures made my day so much brighter...hope the same happens for you!!

PEACE

Kind Of a Blustery Day ~~~~

...a friend and I were to go birding today in a neighboring county, then on Friday the weather man said Cold and 20 mph winds for Saturday and being old birds sun loving chickadees ourselves we figured sitting on a cold bench trying to scarf down picnic food in the wind and attempting to focus binos on a bird hanging onto a swaying branch is NOT exactly fun---SO we postponed to next weekend...and HOPE for the better clymes then.

...so I went about my day...DANG that weather man  I ought to string him up ....it got cold and windy but not till late in the afternoon...Im pretty sure we would have gotten in a good day before the front hit....anyways I did a little birding around the house before errands.  The Junco's are still hanging around here..

dark-eyed junco

I love the matching pink beak and legs of these guys this is a male..the females are a lighter color not such a dark grey...and waiting his turn at the feeder is the White Throated Sparrow...


white throated sparrow

One of my favorite singers...he has about every shade of brown in his feathers and the yellow lores are a nice complement to his coloration.  They usually scratch around on the ground, but I notice more and more they are taking a turn up on the feeders.  They normally leave us when its time to breed.

The Brown Headed Cowbird is not a well like bird due to the parasitic behavior, but they are pretty birds..

A northern cardinal really stood out amongst the woods....we have had a good bunch of Cardinals..males and females, they do not migrate.

Then had to spend money run errands so on the way back stopped at my local lake there was NOT ONE water bird around...maybe some canada geese way back in the reeds I didnt hike over to the far side...but the water was pretty, with the Cyprus all lined up in the background...

 Goodale State Park

Then the weather changed up-- you can see the ripples in the water and it did get quite unpleasant with that cold wind so I didnt hang around..

I found a few items to add to the Dixxeland Express today....a wrap around screen for the 10x10 canopy, a folding "tailgate party" table, and some solar party lights---one more thing I need now is some "grass Carpet" a 10 x 10 foot piece I am looking for a really cheap one that I can fold up IM getting so excited---i did find a multi colored cheap rug and I'm pondering that one...
ITS almost time for a road trip. I am noticing gas prices are on the rise again.  ;0/

OH and a red shouldered hawk is attempting to build a nest in a tall pine near my yard...IF she continues I hope to be able to record some of her comings n goings...she may be faking it tho so we'll see...last weekend she was sqwaking and making a ruckus and found a good spot in a tree...

PEACE

YIPPIE--a sunny day!

My son and I had a wonderful Christmas together--IT was simple and lovely from my point of view and I think he felt the same he was all smiles!!

Feels like Sunday to me...but of course its Monday and IM OFF..

WOW feels so good to be off for more than a weekend.

I did some yard work early getting ready to "sweep" the front yard that is buried under about 40 ton of fallen leaves...lol SO I got 5 gallons of gas for the mower and guess how much I paid per gallon? $2.98 I filled up my car too...and tomorrow I'll probably take the D-L Express (my van) down and fill her up too!! JIC it shoots back up --ya know how it is...down by the interstate the gas was $3.06 can we say RIP OFF--

So after the yard prep (pickin up the larger sticks, and raking the leaves that had drifted up against the fence) I had to go to Quaker cemetery to take 2 grave photos to complete the 16 I agreed to take.  Somehow I missed 2 of them..DUH--
well I always see other interesting bits of real-life when Im there like this Italian Cypress tree its TALL and arrow straight...

Some of the family plots were decked out for the holiday...

One of the interred received roses for Christmas...sure was pretty garnised with Eastern Red Cedar greenery saturated with beautiful blue cedar berries.

The cemetery has lots of wrought iron, and brickwork too I love this old wall that surrounds some of the older graves..

I like to combine birdwatching with all other activities...its easy to do, not easy to photo the birds you find tho---

I wonder if this northern mockingbird is thinking of eating these fake berries on this fake floral arrangement?  He was guarding a small family plot in the new area...he was not happy with me being around and made a couple of low fly-bys to get me moving!

He looks like part of the arrangement..

HE blends in nicely colorwise don't you think?

after this stop at Quaker I headed out to Lee County to take 3 more photos for another family and stayed the rest of the afternoon, I really liked this tree it was quite lovely as the sun went down...

then I headed home and was greeted by this lovely sight in the darkening sky...

A  sundog

I had a great day....cant wait till tomorrow--but for now I HAVE to get back to eating CHOCOLATE leftovers!!

 

PEACE

Just Stuff--

I caught her!! YEP the female house finch with the eye infection!  I was able to just sneak up on her while she was on the bird feeder-- reached out and grabbed her! SHE was not too happy..but she will be happy in a few more days when HER sight is returned to her!  Look at the poor thing the first day...and then with Only ONE day of treatment--

I was off work today for one reason or another and we spent the entire morning bleach cleaning all our feeders, water stations, and suet holders too...Although I dont think the problem is here...They just appear suddenly like that! The poor Goldfinch was only passing through he was here for One day only wish I had been able to catch him...
Meanwhile Check out this very bug-eyed butterfly who enjoyed some of my potted plants on the deck..

                                                                Palamedes Swallowtail


THE heat is still on...all of us are panting as we go about our Daily Chores in the outdoors....

AND NOW I know what's happening to my Hosta Plants!! THIS freeloader has outstayed his welcome!!

                                                                        CHEWED UP!


AND I have to give a PLUG to SNAPFISH if you enjoy producing your OWN cards and photobooks, (Like I do) try Snapfish! They also make prints and they run some very cool specials too...(like 99 prints for 99c) I ordered these greeting cards made from some of my favorite photos--I always put a cool message inside each card and the back is marked with MY own Logo! The only complaint I have is I wish there was an easier way to order from my saved projects,....you have to order each one separetely...they cost 1.99 each and that includes an envelope..they do combine the order and you pay  only a very small shipping fee---

HEY you cant get a "Designer" card for that price... a good Hallmark Card is $3.50.  Before you order google up a Coupon Code and you can probably find one for a discount or free shipping or something like that...i found one that gave me a $5.95 discount on my order.  Get on their mailing list and they will email you all kinds of special deals...Like now they have buy one 8 x 11 photo book get 2 free!! WHAT a deal eh? Great for scrapers.

Here's my cards..I laid these out on my bed so you can seee how cool vibrant the color is Each one is Perfect!! ....I've used Snapfish before for photobooks, notecards, and greeting cards, and am very pleased with the price and the quality for the buck! These cards are 5 x 7 and printed on nice heavy glossy cardstock--

For the curious these were taken on my travels the past couple of yrs.
left to right

1. The White Foal ( Navajo Lands, AZ)
2. Monument Valley, AZ
3. Lake Powell, AZ
4. Monument Valley, AZ
5. Maroon Bells, CO
6. Betatakin Ruins, Navajo National Monument, AZ
7. Sheep in the Road, AZ
8. Canyonlands NP, Utah
9. Antelope in Utah
10. Mt Sopris, Carbondale, CO
11. the Delicate Arch, Arches NP, Utah
12. A Vintage Shoppe in Basalt, CO

Hope your week has been good THE heat is REALLY on for us this weekend..SO I'll probably be laying low in the AC..AGAIN!

PEACE

Spring Time

WE had rain for dayssss...finally its stopped and its windy but clear! Whew I was getting stir crazy--
One good thing about it is the flowers got a boost!  This wisteria grows wild all over the place its native--it can go crazy and cover acres of trees--it usually finds a tall pine to creep up and then this time of year the long grape like clumps of flowers hang all over the place!  These clumps are anywhere from 6 to 12 inches in length!  Very tropical looking to me-

Another creeping flowering vine that is native and the state flower of SC is the Yellow Jasmine--yes the Jasmine's in bloom~ summer breeze comes to mind~

In the yard one of our favorites is the Bleeding Heart-not native but a perennial that we enjoy year after year...

And the azaleas are blooming spring here wouldn't be the same without these....the Rhododendrons will come next...



The dogwoods are in bloom too....I tried for hours to get a photo of a RED Northern Cardinal sitting on this platform feeder with the dogwood blooms in the background---

                  the bird is always waiting for the squirrel to finish so he can get a turn at the feeder!

Spring is a time for renewal and sprucing up so ---never mind the dust bunnies under the bed I had a pressing job that had to be done....so I replaced
  the Heater Core in my car!  WOW what a PIA that was but by doing it myself I saved $700.00!! IT was not necessarily a hard job just time consuming and required some knowledge of tools-- and some contortion of the upper body-to get to those hard to get to places...down by the pedals--

I had to take the entire dashboard out of the car!! WIRES and screws everywhere--what a crazy place to put a part that could and does fail when a car gets a bit of age on it--mine is a 2001.  I found some good videos on You Tube that helped me figure out what I needed to do to get this part out and replace it--
Since I was in the Upholstery business for many years I kinda knew what to expect...Ive redone many car, boat, and plane seats, and headliners, and even a few carpets and many customized van interiors ....BUT its been almost 11 yrs since I did that kind of work--it was very physically hard due to the "confined space" but once I got it all loose the part was easy to replace--and it cost me only $70!
My bruises and cuts are healed up now..and all is well!!

Had to remove this WHOLE thing-- this is the second piece I removed--it all comes out one layer at a time. The instrument panel, the radio, the heater, the fuse box, the glove box the dashboard cover- I took photos along the way to help me remember where everything went--as well as NOTES and drawings!
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It took me 10 hrs to get it out over 2 days...4 hrs to get it back in and I had 4 screws left over!! (yikes) but I'm sure those are not Necessary--lol
THE hardest part was disconnecting the park brake release cable--omg I need to wash my mouth out with soap..*&^%$#@

 

PEACE