Birds, Birds, Birds....

They're everywhere.

There are Cowbirds in the paddocks with the animals. I generally don't like Cowbirds much, because they are really hard on Robins. They push the Robin eggs out of the Robin's nests and lay their own eggs and then leave them for the Robins to raise. Mind you, the Robins are really stupid if they don't realize that their eggs are no longer there. Lately though, the paddocks have been full of Cowbirds. The Cowbirds turn over the poop and check underneath for grubs and beetles etc.... it's a smorg of yummies for them. Mmmmm... my favorite poop covered beetles!

Then you have the Robins who fly about the yard and then hop along the ground looking for worms. They find very few around here so they must be doing pretty good with the Pine Beetle since there are so many.

After the Robins there are the Swallows. There are tons of them. We have a nesting pair defending their young from the peak of the shed. I like Swallows except they tend to carry parasites none of which you want in your home. So that's why if I see them making nests around the house I knock the nest down and force them to go elsewhere.... I know, it sounds cruel but there are plenty of spots around our property to make nests without using the house.

After that there are the Humming birds. There are Calliope and the Rubby Throated around this area. They are mad because I keep forgetting to put the Humming Bird feeders out and they want it. They keep coming to my windows and looking in as though to say..... Hurry up..... we want food!

There are all kinds of Warblers and Sparrows out and around that never show their faces. You only know they are around because of the amount of noise they make. I often wake at 4:30 a.m. for a short while and hear the birds singing outside my window. It is lovely to have windows that open in our house again after so many years of having a house where no windows open. This is my first spring in eight long years where I can experience the lovely songs of the birds and the cool drafts of the breeze through my windows.

My deck is beginning to look lovely as the flowers take hold and start to grow. So with birds galore and flowers in abundance how can I not enjoy the spring. The sun is shining and Jiggs needs her walk so I'm off to enjoy a little walk in the spring morning air.

Get out if you can and smell the roses... or whatever flowers happens to grab you.... check out the birds that are soaring around your home.... time is of the essence!

Embrace The Rain

Rain has a twofold importance this weekend. First of all it will cut down on, 1: drinking and driving yahoos, and what I have been saying all along, 2: dry forest and forest fires.

Finally after lunch, yesterday, Teapot was packed so I took him to the boat launch where he launched his canoe in the pouring down rain. Daughter #1 and I watched him paddle away to catch up with his friends who had passed us only moments before. All we could see through the fairly heavy rainfall were bright red and yellow of raincoats and canoes as they paddled their way to insanity through the torrents of grey rain. We watched till they rounded a bend in the river and then we headed to town.

For us at home, the rain meant that we would be having a May long indoors. We watched movies.... all day. Daughter #1 and I went to the movie rental place so that we could while away the hours of wet in comfort. At about 5 p.m. I realized that the critters would need feeding and Jiggs, who by now was starting to act antsy, needed a walk. I grabbed a fleece jacket and took off down through the bush. Quads have beaten the trails to mud and as I was hauled along by a crazy dog I was sure that at some point the hound would pull me off my feet and I would land on my ass in the mud. I was wearing my ever faithful Dawgs which were not providing a whole lot of coverage for my feet and don't have really good grips. I know that was insane... but within moments my jeans were wet a good twelve inches up, my shoes were squeltching and my hair was soaked and dripping into my eyes. My jacket was the best of it all but I knew it couldn't hold out against the rain indefinitely either. So I did what any good Newfy would do. I embraced the rainy wetness and went with it. Half an hour later of being dragged through the mud, I was wet from head to toe and Jiggs was happy to be heading home. Tootsie, who had braved the elements and the grass that was taller than him, also was happy to see home. I opened the door for Tootsie to go in with Daughter #2 and get towelled dry and then Daughter #1 and I went to do the dirty deed of feeding the sheep and alpacas. Jiggs watched from under the deck because I think she hates rain. We fed the animals quickly, though it did take a good half hour, and all the time the rain did not let up. I wouldn't say it was torrential but it was a good steady hard rain.

We were walking back to the house when we remembered that Dreamer (the horse) had not been fed. We would need to drive to the riding arena to do that. So leaving Jiggs cowering under the deck Daughter #1 and I jumped into the truck and headed off to feed and check the equine. It's Daughter #1's horse... I drive... she feeds....!! I sat in the truck in my wetness and watched through steaming windows as Daughter #1 quickly fed and watered her horse and jumped back into the truck. We headed home to a thoroughly wet hound and hot showers,fluffy towels, and dry clothing. The rest of the evening was uneventful but we sure enjoyed our movies.

The rain kept raining and then somewhere around 3 a.m. it turned off to snow. I'm glad to see that the snow has melted now, but it has been a nasty long weekend and quite honestly I'm not sorry.

Every year for the last several, the weather has been absolutely yuck on the May long. It is not a bad thing. We live in a recreational area so the years when we have not had bad weather there have been accidents and that is a sad thing as every time I hear the sirens going out the highway on the May long someone has died. So all the rain is a good thing because it forces people to stay home instead of drinking and driving and doing stupid things while camping. Besides, all that rain means that my forest.... my ever loving forest, will be lush and green for a while yet when the sun finally shows its face again. So a good Newfoundlander like myself has to just embrace the rain and be glad that I am able to dry myself off again after getting thoroughly wet.

Hope you are having a nice accident free and lush May long too.....

It's Raining, It's Pouring

The old man is... no not snoring..... he's going camping down river today..... and it's pouring, and I mean pouring! We got a day earlier in the week when it rained quite heavily... then we had a day of sun, then yesterday I got up and it was raining again. It hasn't stopped. I'm really glad to see the rain. We desperately needed it. But Teapot is heading down the river today with three idiots..... ooops.... I mean peers from work who go fishing each May long weekend. I expect they'll eat yummies (two of the guys have wives that won't let them eat bacon) and there will be a beverage or two (the same two guys have a real love of good Whisky) and they can talk about fishing flies (you know the yellow whiz fly) to their hearts content. One of the guys is a retired fella and probably won't be around too many more years.... not because he's likely to croak but because his daughter who lives in NZ is about to have her first baby..... their first grandchild and if I know his wife (which I do) she'll be living in NZ once the wee baby is born. So I encouraged Teapot to go along with them and the Daughters and I will spend a lovely weekend enjoying the great indoors, while Teapot gets wet in the pouring down rain. But what's a little rain to Teapot eh!?

Meanwhile the trees which had stopped growing their leaves due to lack of moisture, have suddenly become green and lush. I gotta luv that! The grass is growing and "My Deck" is starting to look awesome again. We have been doing a little work in the garden this year in the evenings. We moved my two lilac trees to just out by the deck so that when they grow they will provide the deck with some beauty.... and a little shelter. I have planted almost all of my planters, and bought two new ones to add to it. I have bought a new fireplace since the rusted bottom was about to fall out of the old one. And Sunday, when Teapot returns, we are going to finally put in the steps for our new front veranda. Then once I finish the big j.c. (which is almost finished) and I get some more work done on level 3, then I will finish painting the deck which I had done 3/4 of last year. I will be able to check off one more job from my renovation list.

House renovations are on my mind these days.... we are 6 weeks away from the end of school and we are starting to think about all the things that need to be done on the house renovation that didn't get finished last year. I have tried really hard not to pester Teapot over the year while he was working at school, but once school ends all bets are off... I'm practicing how to pester without being an old bag, being an olde batt is bad enough. There's a lot to be done .... I look forward to making progress.

But first the rain..... and Teapot..... I guess I'm getting dragged into this whether I want to or not. I will take Teapot to the river with the canoe and his gear, and, no doubt, I will get wet.... still I can't complain.... rain is good... oh how green is everything around me. It's a good feeling to see all that green.

Rainy Day

I took a walk in the forest yesterday. It was a rainy day and so there was a lot of mist around and my feet were squeltching when I got home. The rain was fairly heavy... it pretty much poured all day and all night. The Crocuses are done after that amount of rainfall, mostly because it was so heavy. But the the Pussy Paws are doing really well..... best of all though, look what I found.....

Aren't they pretty? Calypso Orchids don't last very long and more often than not they are so short lived that getting an opportunity to view them in their natural place is next to impossible. I've found them before and tried to transplant them but it just never works. They grow where they grow and that's that. But when you find them..... oooh la la!

Enjoy!

Oh My!

Well she has turned 13 now. I'm the parent of two teenagers. Daughter #2 had her bitherday on the weekend. y youngest girl is now a teenager too, and while she has had a teenager attitude for a long time it is still a shock when you think that you are old enough to be a parent of two teenagers.... especially when you want to still be a teenager yourself.

For her birthday celebration, one of her friends came home on the bus on Friday and slept over Friday night. We did nothing but eat the whole weekend. We had barbequed pork chops and baked potatoes and veggies.... (D#2's choice) and then instead of a cake I had bought cream filled eclairs and they were deadly. We also had mini cheese cakes and chips and cheezies. They stayed up till 2 a.m. which was supposed to be in the tent trailer but it was a chilly night and so they ended up in the house. We were all tired Saturday morning because we heard them whispering until so late it felt like we had toothpick in our eyes to see what time it was when they finally settled down. Then Saturday morning we had pancakes and I started cooking because my guild was coming for the day on Saturday.

As expected Saturday turned out to be a busy day as there were thirteen on "My Deck". I had been planting new flowers until about ten p.m. the night before and I still didn't get it all done. So today along with the big j.c. I will have to get the rest of my flowers in the pots before they die. The d-mn cats have been peeing in two of my containers so I had to dump out almost all of the soil and replace it. Arggh ! Anyway, after all was said and done the guild brought food and once again I pigged out. We had a delicious day and a day of pleasure with spinning and weaving and checking out what everyone is doing. But oh we did eat.... lots.

Later after D#2's friend left, along came another friend for b'day party #2. Her second friend stayed up and watched movies all evening and pigged out on ice cream cake and chips and cheezies again. But this time as luck should have it they faded early, and Teapot and I were able to get to sleep earlier in the night. For this party Teapot made Cheese Blintzes for breakfast which I haven't eaten in many years. Then the Daughters (both of them) with D#2' friend, took off for a day of hanging out by the creek behind our land where they went swimming and wading in the spring water. Brrr! There is a great beach where there is a place to picnic and swim. Very nice. They got back at 4:30 and then it was quick showers before we all went to meet up with my parents for, what else?..... more eating! We went to a local restaurant for a meal and then back to the grandparents house for tea and presents. I'll be lucky if I didn't gain weight after a weekend like that. I did get on the scales this morning and no loss but at least I didn't gain.... but then I'll wait till tomorrow before I feel confident that I didn't gain for sure.

So today is Monday and I'm back to a normal schedule. It is overcast and we are all hopeful that there will be a good rainfall. We NEED the rain. DESPERATELY! A week of solid rain would be great about right now. Still there is blue sky around on the horizon and that is not necessarily a good thing as until that blue sky disappears there's a chance we won't get that needed rain today.

So I'm off to weave.... and work on "My Deck" before the plants fade from lack of water and soil.

I wish you all a good day......

Lament For A Forest

I walk each day in my beloved forest which sits on crown land joining ours. There are hectares of land in there where birds frolic, and mice and squirrels gather, where bears rummage, and foxes are furtive, where coyotes howl, and owls peer, but most of all it is a place where things grow. Always, the forest is full of shadows and green moisture, where rot and decay are good things, where moss is thick and spongy and a falling leaf or a buzzing insect is significant. It's a quiet place, a place where all things are gentle. In another life maybe I was a biologist. I love to get on my hands and knees and look under things in the forest. I love to lift a leaf and look at its back side. I like to pull up the moss and see the insects living beneath it. Sometime I will even sit on a stump and take off my shoes and feel the rich loam between my toes. The forest to me is life.
Yesterday, I went for a walk in the evening with Teapot and Jiggs and Tootsie the wonder chicken herder. It was a nice walk and I had remembered to take my camera along for the ride. I have been through there quite a bit in the last few days since Jiggs demands daily (and preferably hourly!!) walks. The forest floor is teaming with Prairie Crocuses right now and I have been meaning for several days to go and take some pictures of them. Last night I finally did that. They are beautiful with their soft coating of down. A little further along the trail there were tiny wee Violets beginning to bloom. I stopped for pictures again. Then I saw some Pussy Paws and took pictures of them too before moving on to a yellow flower that looks like some kind of grass.
It was while I was on my knees looking at the new blooms that I realized there was a problem. I looked all around me and realized the forest wasn't breathing or if it was, it was breathing very shallowly. No luscious foliage, no rich loam, and at a time of the year when everything should be bursting with life, somethings are not growing at all.

All around me had a dry brown look. I looked at Pine tree after Pine tree, at the decimation of all those majestic trees by the Pine Bark Beetle. Sometimes it is easy to look at the chartreuse green of the new leaves and feel that everything is ok. But it is not. Under all the dead leaves of last fall are dead Pine pins and where the sun would normally have a hard time filtering through, are streams of sunlight that are whisking away moisture at an unforeseen rate. It is fast becoming a waste land. soon the soft green light of the forest will become the harsh bright light of a pasture. I will miss the cool darkness and the soft light and quiet of the world beneath the canopy.

along with the obvious signs of forest death come the other more subtle deaths that we do not necessarily think about. For a few year I have been fascinated with the flowers that grow in our forest. The Prairie Crocuses are in their hay day right now. The Violets are coming. June is the time for the Wild Roses and the beautiful Orchids of all kinds that grow so quietly in rich loamy soil. There are flowers that I have not yet even identified... what about them? It is not just the Pine trees in the forest that the Pine Beetle is killing it is the lifeblood of so many species. And it is hard to watch.

In August they will come. The machines and the buzzing the axes and saws. The men with their heavy boots and the machines with their tracks will come and kill my friend the forest. I can do nothing to stop it, and probably I shouldn't try. The devastation of the Pine Beetle must, like a cancer be cut out. It is the only way to salvage anything but how can delicate flower petals survive the onslaught of boots and tracks?

There have been men in the forest. they are tying ribbons to trees and marking them with paint. I have been watching to see what they are doing and where they are marking because as luck should have it the people who are doing the tree cutting are trying their best to salvage what they can. There are areas where spruce live, there are areas where poplar live that will not be forested at all, and while this is a good thing I still wonder if the forest will ever come back. Will I still be able to find the pleasure of a cool morning walk with my dog on the trails. Will the breath of the forest be sucked dry. I take pictures of the things that give me joy, the flowers of the forest floor the trees which have become my friends. And I wonder.....

My Bonny Teapot

As most of you know Frankie is my nickname. (I'm not so free as to give out my real one online). Hubby gave me my nickname back when I first met him 20 years ago. I told him about my back surgery that I had had at the ripe age of 14. I told him all about the traction that I was in for eight weeks on a frame bed that was turned every 6 hours or so. The traction involved four nasty screws that went through the skin of my head and into the bone of my skull from which were rigged several pullies and a set of weights. Through my knees were pins about the size of a pencil and when Hubby saw the pictures of me lying in the hospital bed, which was the metal frame much like an ironing board, he said I looked like Frankenstein..... well from that Frankie stuck and I've been called Frankie so long now that I'm sure I don't know my real name. When Hubby happens to call me by my real name now it seems so odd that I can barely stand it.... yet my Mom and Dad still call me by my given name and I answer without blinking an eye. Some people, when they find out why I am called Frankie, won't call me it any more... but I like the name and I have a good story to tell.

For 20 years though I've wanted to come up with a nickname for Hubby. I think I have finally come up with one.

Hubby is renowned for his tea. He makes the best tea ever. Two years ago Hubby took his class on a class trip. While away, he bought for the daughters and me some very nice gifts, among which is a great teapot. I never knew how poignant that would become.

Last night I woke at 4:34 a.m. to a twitching, heaving, Hubby laying in the bed next to me (get your mind out of the gutter).... I knew right away that he was in the throws of a very bad dream.... so very gently I reached across and woke him with a little shake, then I stroked his back as he came through the fog of dreamland to the reality of our bedroom. When he rolled over to look at me, I asked him what he had been dreaming.

He put his head down on the pillow again and gave a great sigh of relief before saying.....

Hubby: I was fighting the devil to save you.

Me: Oh!? What happened?

Hubby: I told you to get under the blanket in our front yard and then we huddled there while the devil loomed closer and closer..... he was a big black cloud and it got really, really cold. I told you we had to think really good thoughts and the only thing I could think of was to sing......

Me: Well what did we sing?

Hubby: I'm A Little Teapot!

Me: : )

Hubby: The devil started to shrink and then Jiggs and I chased him away......


My hero..... I think I will call him My Bonny Teapot.