A True Optimist

Lunch Is On Us

After a long hiatus from feeding the birds in our back yard due to the unwelcome nightly visits and damage done by racoons, I decided to put my feeders back out this winter to give "birding" another try. They were slow to come but come they did, juncos, black capped chickadees, gold finches, common redpolls, sparrows and white breasted nuthatches...but nary a raccoon. So far so good.

We do however, have a pesty little squirrel eating our seed up and wrecking havoc with our feeders. Yesterday, after discovering yet another feeder destroyed, war was declared. That little bugger had to go!

While there are many ways to eliminate squirrels from your property, we opted for the humane way and forked over forty bucks for a "live" trap. We baited it with seed and waited. It wasn't long before we spotted our squirrel scampering into the cage, nabbing some seed and running back out to enjoy his snack before running back in for more. We had just about given up on the trap as garbage when the squirrel's luck ran out...we had him.

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of leaving our captive in the back yard until hubby was ready to take him on a road trip. When we looked out the window a short time later we found a large black cat we'd never seen before crouched about ten feet from the cage. By the time hubby made it to the cage the cat had already made its' move, the cage doors were open and neither the cat or the squirrel was in sight.

We reset the cage but there has been no sign of the squirrel. Perhaps he was so traumatized that he won't be back, but I expect that he was probably an easy meal for the cat...forty bucks for the trap...I guess you could say...lunch was on us!

Poppy Love

This tiny spider certainly has

 "Poppy Love." 

The inside of a poppy flower is 

like another world!

 ...radiant!

...amazing!

...even the unopened flower bud

 is pretty spectacular!

Sundown At The Harbour

Come watch with me the shaft of fire that glows in yonder West: 

the fair, frail palaces, 

The fading Alps and archipelagoes, 

And great cloud-continents of sunset-seas.

~Thomas Bailey Aldrich~ 

Halls Harbour

~famous for the world's highest tides~

Going...

going...

gone!

SUNDAY CITAR

It's been a while since I've participated in "Sunday Citar" hosted by Tabitha at Fresh Mommy Blog. Tabitha has just posted a recipe for a dressed up version of Banana Bread I can't wait to try and has also recently posted some pretty amazing wedding photos in celebration of her and her hubby's seventh anniversary. Boy, weddings have really changed since I was married 34 years ago...you don't see crape paper streamers and trays of egg sandwiches any more. Pop over  to get that Banana Bread recipe, and  read some great Sunday quotes.

"How strange that nature does not knock,

and yet does not intrude."

Emily Dickinson

Some signs of spring...

 pussy willows

 

buds bursting forth

the honey bees are back

...and some idiot feels the need to lay a little rubber!

A WEEK OF FIRST

Last week's Hurricane Earl, our first of the season, did a no show here in the valley, choosing instead to steer off it's expected course and honor the eastern coast with a visit. While they experienced wind damage and power outages, we had merely a windy, wet day no worst than we would normally get this time of year. Hyped up for a real storm and not wanting to be caught with our pants down this time, we were prepared... all the garden and patio furniture was either put away or tied down tight, our meat was relocated to the bottom of the freezer, the flashlights and the cell phone recharged, and lots of water was drawn for drinking, cooking and flushing. When the storm passed us by with nary a bluster and only a flicker of lights, we were left feeling a little bored and let down. While the forecast hurricane brought little excitement to our part of the valley, it did bring cooler fresh air after a week 35 + degree temperatures hot enough to melt the tits off a polar bear.

I had my first deer sighting of the season while returning from my morning walk...there were two (and I almost missed them so there may have been more) that crossed in front of me but I had been looking down and just happened to look up at that instant. I had my earphones in so I didn't hear them, a reminder that being "wired" is not always a good thing. We miss so much of what is going on in the natural world around us. I will be doing more of my walking "unplugged" in the future.

I ate my first "hot" apple of the season, swiped from the neighboring orchard on one of my walks. Gasp! ...I know... I know...I'm on a spiraling descent into the fiery pits of Hell but don't despair for me... as my daughter always says, "That's where all the interesting people are."

Always thinking of my stomach, I enjoyed my first corn boil of the season, late I know, but it was just too hot before now to enjoy it ...and I had my first taste of BORSCHT. I have heard people say how good it is so I decided to use some beets from our garden and give it a try. It didn't disappoint and I will be making it again.

BORSCHT - BEET SOUP

2 c. beets (canned or cooked & peeled)
1/2 c. carrots, peeled & cut
2 c. beef bouillon or broth
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. dill weed

garnish
1 tsp. dill weed
1 tbsp. sour cream per serving (opt.)

I cooked beets from my garden the day before. Wash beets and cook in water until tender, drain and run cold water over them. The skin will easily slip off. Refrigerate until you are ready to make your soup.

Cook carrots in bouillon. Do not drain but allow to cool enough so you can puree the mixture in the blender. Blend in portions...some carrot/bouillon along with some beets, pour into soup pot and repeat until all the carrots and beets have been pureed...If you don't have a blender, mash with a potato masher. Add vinegar and dill weed. The pureed version is very elegant. Reheat soup ladle into bowls and top soup with 1 tablespoon of sour cream. Sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon dill weed. This soup can be served hot or chilled.


Footnote:
Don't try this one on kids unless you are wearing head to toe protection. I offered it as "Christmas Soup" to my daycare kiddies after first setting the scene by singing Jingle Bells with them, but I couldn't pull the wool over their eyes this time. The one little guy I expected not to eat it did while the rest balked. The baby spit out the first spoonful and sent the second one flying hence the warning about full body protection. Lets hope the Tomato Orzo soup planned for tomorrow goes off better than the Borscht.

SILENCE

In order to see birds
it is necessary to become part of the silence.

- Robert Lynd

For more Sunday Citars,
join Tabitha at Fresh Mommy.

A FRESH START TO A NEW WEEK

I woke this morning to a picture perfect day so,
of course my camera
accompanied me on my walk.

ON LIFE

"A little while and I will be gone from among you, whither I cannot tell. From nowhere we came, and into nowhere we go. What is life? It is as a flash of a firefly in the night. It is as the breath of a buffalo in the winter time. It is as the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset." - Crowfoot, chief of the Blackfoot Indians (1890)

For this weeks Sunday Cirar I have chosen a quote that appeared in the obituary of an elderly neighbor who passed away this week. Hugh was a retired school teacher, a poet, a lover of nature and a real "gentleman." He moved away a few years ago, but while he lived here he would always stop to chat with my husband whenever he saw him outside while on his daily walks. He loved to talk about birds and other things of nature that he witnessed on his many walks through the orchards and woods, and they were the subject of most of his wonderful poetry.

We last saw Hugh while shopping last winter when he told us he was diagnosed with lung cancer...although he never smoked in his life.

I loved his choice of a quote because I know it reflected his love of nature and his outlook on life. I chose the above picture because it is the view he would have seen many times over throughout the years on his beloved walks.

Join the fun ...Sunday Citar at Fresh Mommy.

DO YOU BELIEVE?

....enchanted worlds still exist because the child within us never dies. The doorways may be more obscure, but we can still seek them out. There are still noble adventures to undertake. There are still trees that speak and caverns that lead to nether realms. There will always be faeries and elves within nature because they will always be dancing within our hearts. ~Ted Andrews

My daycare"little people" had a lot of fun making "woodland faerie" mask although, as you can see from my pictures, some of them were hesitant to wear their finished creation.

Did you know that Forest Fairies have an important job to do...Forest Fairies heal trees that have been damaged by storms, infestations or harmful insects. They are born with the knowledge of ancient forests.