Hummingbird Rescue

A few weeks ago we were cleaning out and preparing our motor-home to sell. (After ten or so years, we decided camping, even in a luxurious RV, just wasn't for us.) Everyone has been looking forward to having it out of our care, unfortunately however that meant it had be parked out in the driveway right where Tiki Cove was supposed to be.

So one day Mom and Elizabeth were out walking in the garden when they heard two distinct "thuds" coming from the motor-home. They went over and found two hummingbirds lying on the ground beside it. The larger one had been chasing the little one, a tiny hatchling with speckles still on his chest, and they had crashed into the motor-home! The larger one, though stunned, managed to fly into a tree while he recuperated. The little one was too stunned to move. My poor Mom thought he had died. But he was okay. Elizabeth picked up the little guy in her hand and carried him the back deck where she fed him sugar water.

 And we named him Pip. 

See the little dots on his chest? He's just a baby. So cute! 

  Pip seemed in no hurry to leave.

But he eventually flew into a tree and rested a bit before taking off for good. I think I saw him again a few days later.

It's May!

Obviously I did not succeed in my Lenten challenge of blogging for forty+ days, but after a few weeks of respite I'm feeling inspired again.

First of all it's May, one of my favorite months. It's at last warm enough to dance about in sun dresses and leave the windows open all night long. And the gardens look glorious.

I took so many pictures of these purple beauties, trying to get the perfect shot. 

Everyday I step out the door and am greeted by a waft of sweet perfume from the collection of roses. 

With the turning of the calender comes my Mom's birthday, the first of May. We celebrated with a proper Jane Austin tea, complete with cupcakes slathered in a pale pink frosting and a good black tea served in floral teacups. 

The Birthday Girl! (And Daddy.) 

(Who's Un-Birthday we celebrated.)

And last but not least, I'M A COLLEGE STUDENT! 

I'm not going away to school yet, just taking English 1A at the junior college over the summer. I'll probably take several classes at the j.c. over the next year or two, and then it's on to the big leagues! 

Day 14

Can it be that the first rose of the year is already starting to bloom? And the first day of spring still two days away! 

Day 11: Soaking Up Spring

This afternoon the weather was too lovely to stay indoors. So after a walk through the garden, as I was ready to settle down with a quiet book on this peaceful Saturday, I took my novel of choice out with me onto the back deck. I settled down on a comfortable wicker couch and turned page after page, taking in each word, as a relaxed breeze played ethereal music on the wind chimes overhead.

I heard earlier today that it is supposed to grow cold again, before the spring months end, so I'm taking as much opportunity as I can to be outside soaking up all the deliciousness of a warm spring. This evening, after an early dinner, it was still warm enough for me to go outside again! I went straight to my vegetable garden. The raised beds were bare except for a dusting of weeds in one. One raised bed I had already weeded and tended some months before. The other stood sadly neglected. But the time for gardening is again upon us. Then and there I went to the garden shed, selected a few tools (a rake, a pitchfork, some gloves, etc.), and went to work. With the pitchfork I turned over the crusty upper dirt to reveal dark and rich soil underneath. Soon I will need to start buying seeds. I don't want to make the same mistake as last year which was to spontaneously want to start planting in July! This year I will be more careful with my planning. I'm going to devote a whole raised bed to squash. I love growing squash, and it did so poorly last year. I hope this year's crop is better, which means we'll need a good, hot summer. Spring has barely begun and already I'm thinking of summer!

Day 9: A Perfect Place to Sit and Dream

Every day I look out the kitchen window and see the flowering crab apple tree in front of Briar Rose Cottage, growing more beautiful with each sunrise. The little bench encircling the base of the tree brings to mind L.M. Montgomery and all her young heroines, each of whom loved simply beautiful places like this. I can imagine Anne Shirley, or Emily, or Pat of Silverbush sitting under such a tree, with minds wandering into enchanted times and places. "There is such scope for the imagination," as Anne might have said.

Day 6: Glorious Sunlight

Although still adjusting to the time change (we didn't sit down to dinner until after 7:00!), already I am enjoying the longer, beautiful evenings. Even after 5:00 the sun is still high in the sky, lighting up all the young growth in the garden. Long dinners outside on the deck and warm nights can't be far away.

Day 3: Signs of Spring

 

One Little Yellow Flower

It is the Winter Solstice, Christmas is just around the corner, and two weeks ago we had five and a half inches of snow on the ground. The snow stayed for a few days and then the sunshine and mild weather, typical of our Decembers here, returned. I enjoyed the snow, mostly from the warmth and comfort of indoors, but I was very grateful when the freezing temperatures receded. And just a few days ago I rejoiced at seeing the first of our yellow daffodils as a young bud. By this morning it was blooming!

Unfortunately this little guy is rather shy and I had a rather difficult time persuading him to look at the camera.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Farewell October

Trying to get the perfect angle. 

Welcome November and the holiday season!

More October Pictures

I know this is pretty much more of the same, but all the fall colors have intensified in the past three days.

October is so very photogenic. 

October Colors

Yet amongst the changing colors of fall... 

 

 ...there still remain a few remnants of summer.