Thursday's Thoughts

Well, okay. There's always a new day, and before getting this one started, I'll offer my thanks to Joe for his forward-looking comment and Cooper for his thoughtful post, both of which worked in concert to talk me down off the idea of fomenting an Earth Day revolution with my Great Big Hoe in hand. Revolution's great, but who can spare the time from the garden?

Oh, and just in case we have nearly played out this dear planet of ours and need to look elsewhere, this article offers some ideas of what we might expect of flora on alien planets!

As the trees begin to flower and leaf out, things are looking great out in the garden. But as I've been reviewing things lately, I noticed that a few little slips of weed seedlings and minor grasses were beginning to appear...and that's the best time to get rid of them.

So, with the full day off before me, I tended to the garden up close and personal-like, taking my little hand rake and loosening up the soil, blending the various layers I added in raising the bed this spring, whilst teasing out the little invaders.

Here's that foxglove plant I mentioned the other day.

The project was a good chance to give each transplant a close study, to remove old foliage and in a few cases, to actually dig up and replant a few who'd been done a dis-service in the haste of last fall's planting.

It was another incredible day, with freshening breezes and temps climbing into the low seventies. Birds sang everywhere and my mind was free to sort through whatever it needs to in the quiet. Today, though, I seemed to have music on my mind, considering the idea of theme songs and I cycled through a few different tunes as I worked. Whenever I'm doing this sort of work, it's always "Wick", the song from Secret Garden that sticks itself in my head.

Those are some of the peonies in this image, those fancy looking red stalks. There are four or five of those and they have all survived the move nicely, if their early growth is an indication.

Because it was such a great day, my sunflower seedlings enjoyed the day outside, getting better accustomed to the conditions they'll be enjoying soon. They seemed to love it. Meanwhile, last night I planted a tray of cleome seeds, and tonight added a tray of morning glories (which I soaked overnight before planting), so the next class of seedlings should be coming along shortly.

This tulip, though sporting chewed leaves, looks like it will be blooming for us by the weekend.

Because it was a pretty warm day, and it was windy and my work was turning over a lot of fresh soil, I was a little concerned about drying. So as I finished each fence section of the garden, I stopped to hand-water of each plant. It took most of the day, but the whole border looked really great by this evening.

I should've used some sunscreen today, though for the kind of work I was doing, it always gives the dirt a little something more to cling to. Plus, I didn't imagine I'd need it, being fairly well-covered up. But just the same, I can feel a little sunburny-ness on my forearms and my face. I'm not a tanner. Usually I burn and fade, instead. I'll try to remember to be more careful. Maybe I need a hat.

As I was watching the bunny sitting in the yard across the way, gazing hungrily at the garden this evening, I was kinda pleased to notice that some of our neighbors slowed down to check out the border as they drove by. It's always nice to be noticed...and since they seem to be seasonal residents, the sudden appearance of a garden where there had been none must have been a little bit of a surprise.

Oh, this is funny. So I knew we had this great bird population, so I've made an effort to establish two new birdbath areas at our place this week...and I've been eager to watch them enjoy the new facilities. So imagine my surprise when the small group of house sparrows who hang out in the bushes came flying down to take dirt baths in the new garden bed around the birdbath.

I got a little film of them, too. Now that whole area is full of little sparrow dents!


I'm happy to say that other birds have been enjoying the birdbath, though, like this cowbird who had a nice pampering visit tonight.

(As you can see, with a little trial and error, I'm finding that the telescope can be a helpful way to watch the birds without scaring them off from their routines.)

Rainy Morning

It's been no secret (though I've tried not to make too much of it here) that our latest move has left me a little dis couraged.

Winter has no doubt played its role to some extent, even though we've not had the extremes of snow and cold and great duration thereof that I see and hear of in others lives. It's the grayness of the days, really. I need some more sunlight!

It's still darned chilly here, but I am finding encouragement in the gardens, what with things beginning to green up and little shoots of new bulbs beginning to spring up here and there. And of course, the new property comes with surprises of it's own, like the cluster of bleeding heart foliage I found near the other day's hyacinth discovery!

It was a rainy morning here, pretty intensely so, so this photo was my only effort at doing much of anything outside. Things dried out a bit for the afternoon, and on the way home, I had a chance to prove my recent theory about the birds who live in the plantings of our local grocery store: they don't seem to care much that I'm photographing them...as opposed to the guys in our yard, who all scatter at the first sound of the camera being turned on (why DO digital cameras have to make noises, eh?).

After searching through my field guide, I've figured out these are house sparrows.

Little Birdies

It occurs to me that I might have my best luck photographing birds in the Harwich Stop N Shop parking lot, where I found these little guys flitting through the bushes on a cold afternoon. I think with all the people coming and going, they might be a little more accustomed to us and not fly off at the first sight of me with a camera.

For some reason, the song "Little Birdy" from A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving plays in my head as I look at this image, and I'm happy to share the ear worm with you all. I found this video clip on YouTube, which has some awful video quality, but does feature a bit of the song.


I do love Snoopy's battle with the lawn chair.

For the Birds

Two bird shots for this last day of January, but not that kind of birdshot. Both are taken through our kitchen window, so I apologize for the clarity. What with the cat trying to crowd me out of the window and chasing the birds off, getting any shots of them at all feels like a triumph!

The first features a little sparrow who came around the back of the house to explore the seed I'd spread for the juncoes over the weekend (now revealed again by melting snows).

It was cold here last night, down in the 20s, but 48 was the high temp yesterday afternoon...and as I write this, we've already gotten up to 34 again. Ah, winter...the furnace kicks on (this year with a sound like a cash register, tho perhaps I'm imagining that bit) and I long for spring.

This morning I spotted this little guy out back. He (or perhaps she, owing to the dull color of its markings)seems to be a Northern Parula warbler. There's the barest hint of yellow on its breast, but I've never seen one close up before.

I was pretty sure I spotted one in our Eastham yard a few years back, but it was a treetop sighting from the ground and I could never get a close look.

I do know I heard some pretty singing out there this morning.

We should take a lesson: just 'cause it's cold doesn't mean we shouldn't sing!

Jailhouse Gardens

The boxwood hedge outside the patio at work is recently home to a family of sparrows!