More Summertime!

The weather continues to be beautiful....dry, no rain, hot...but beats the heck out of ice and snow. I will want to remember these pictures in the next 6 months or so. Patty very kindly made a birthday lunch for me and Rose and Mary actually got to be there. It was wonderful. I don't like lasagna or pasta but this lasagna is in a class of it's own. It is Patty's mother's recipoes and more of a confection of some sort...delish...and thank you, Patty! After lunch I got a picture of Patty surveying her domain...



The sunshine continued, I got a very strange picture of a backyard cardinal....he looks almost like a plastic cardinal. All of the pictures I am posting today were taken with an iPad - I am not very good at it yet. Not sure an iPad makes an adequate camera.


Another birdy group hanging out



And a very drowsy, somewhat hazy picture of the backyard today. It was 96 today, going to be 98 tomorrow!


Summertime is the best!!

Summer Time!

It's going to be hot here this weekend, just in time for the Indy 500 race where lots of drunk race fans will need medical attention! So very happy not to be there! Meanwhile, Mini is practicing her basking in the sun:
 






















Red Bellied Woodpecker is wondering if he can sneak back up on the feeder and grab that peanut he has his eye/beak on



















The birds are coming in for a fast landing in the backyard!

Downy Woodpecker is happy to have the suet all to himself




























Indigo Bunting and Tufted Titmouse share a feeder. Blue Bunting is, thankfully, in somewhat better focus after many many tries! That really is Bunting's beak - the top part is black and the bottom is a lighter color on both male and females.

And I have been beading! Nothing new, Ndebele weave with an extra bead - in two color schemes of course - green/bronze/copper and silver and rainbowed gray
So - basically - nothing new! But wishing you a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day!

Test

Test post! Trying to learn how to post from the iPad.
Looks like I have figured out how to post and even put up a picture. Finally.
The picture quality was poor to begin with so it is not a good test of a pic! But it is the only one I have been able to get of a new visitor - an Indigo Bunting and it is that bright of a blue!
But it also flies off quickly and is hard to photograph.
I have learned it is also hard to post from an iPad and am thinking it won't happen very often!

Bird Spring!

There is a lot of strange birdy activity going on out there!

Mr and Mrs Red Breasted Grossbeak have stopped by on their way to breeding grounds in Northern IndianaMr Grossbeak was posing for his pictures:
Here is Mrs Grossbeak....very pretty as well, beautiful markings, but quite different from Mr Grossbeak

Downey Woodpecker has decided to abandon the suet he has loved so much and 'Dude, I can see myself in this shiny thing!' Cardinal boy isn't quite sure what to make of this

A Red Winged Blackbird stops by to announce his presence


And Mr and Mrs Cardinal start arguing...perhaps because Mr Cardinal was too close to Mrs Grossbeak? I think there might be baby cardinals sometime soon.

Everyone gets down to the business of emptying my birdfeeder! I have had to fill it every other day, now it looks like I will have to fill it every day. Mr Woodpecker (I've renamed him Narcissis) is still admiring his reflection. These guys need to get jobs!

For the Beady Eyed Bunch

Just a keychain - but kind of pretty I think. Only takes 10 hours to make one of these. Is odd-count peyote stitch.



And a picture from my office window - my eye on a Quiet Backyard in Southern Indiana

Birdy Conflict!

I am amazed at the sudden amount of birdy activity and quite short tempers. Boy Cardinals are zooming back and forth in my Quiet Southern Indiana Backyard, running into each other. The feeder is overwhelmed by all types of birds and I have to refill it every other day. The Red-Winged Blackbirds just batter everyone else off of the feeder when they land. The suet feeder is a big draw with Downy Woodpeckers, Red-Bellied Woodpeckers, and Tufted Titmice (Titmouses?), and others jumping back and forth between the suet and the seed feeder.
A Lady Cardinal is most upset about someone messing up the feeder!

This big fellow has been chasing the litle guys off and gobbling up their seeds! Poor little Chickadees!

Lady Cardinal is obviously getting madder. I am glad I am not a Red-Bellied Woodpecker messing up her seeds.

I believe he has gotten the hint...checking to see if she is on the other side of the feeder!


And stay out!!!

Lotus Pond Dedication

A lot of work has gone on out at the Tibetan Center creating a Lotus Pond. One of the members of the sangha (aka group of buddhists, kind of like a congregation kind of) David and his son have been working on it and stage one is finished and dedicated by the Rinpoche and other monks. Since I have been admiring the work for months and enjoyed the lilly pads and the nice pond to walk around I met Deb and George over there to be a part of it and, of course, to take pictures!









And the path around the pond looks wonderful.  I wonder how they did this?  Can I do this in my back yard?  Is it hard? Of course it is hard - it took a troop of Boy Scouts working on their Eagle Scout to do it. I wonder if they are for rent? I wonder if I could convince them that my litle backyard is really an extension of the Lotus Pond?



This is a picture taken after the monks have made the dedication, David is standing on the bridge he architected (I know that's not a word) and built. The island is to the left.

And a nice stroll past the cabins in a very nice wooded area! There are 4 of them and they are for rent should you ever get the urge for peace and serenity, very nice and kind people, and a beautiful setting....right next to a Lotus Pond in progress!

For Sybil --- On my walk today I saw!

I am now using a new photo editor and apologize for the size of the pictures! At least I think they will be bigger than usual - I think. More new learning! Now I am combining 2 photo editors to get the pictures edited and am seriously thinking about investing the time in learning Photoshop - maybe it will be 'one stop shopping'.

Sybil wrote to say she enjoyed the pictures of the walking path, stables, Clear Creek, etc. So I am posting to show her the 2nd route we often take - it's not as good for pictures, though, as this is all there is! Today we took another route....a bit shorter at about 2 1/2 miles. Across the street and into another neighborhood, a very nice subdivision. about 300 yards into the subdivision there is a path to the Middle school...where we pick up the track around the football field...We are going to sprint up those steps to the right and head over to the back of the subdivision. It looks just a bit like a prison I saw outside of Reno... Nevertheless, up the steps on the other side of the school we sprint!

Across the parking lot to a sidewalk that runs between the golf course and the houses - this is looking back at the middle school/prison after we crossed the parking lot: Golf course... A wonderful place to walk on the edge of the golf course. And a look back at the houses and the way we came. From here we cut over to the subdivision streets and take the sidewalks back to the road that we cross to come back to our little subdivision and home! Sybil - Mini says you can come with us anytime!

And on my walk today I saw....

A beautiful day and nice and cool. Off Mini and I go for a walk down the path behind my house...
House is looking good, white lilac tree to the right of the porch. So far no powdery mildew.


One house down, we take a right, and follow the shortcut to the path and here we are at the start of our walk.


Our usual stroll by the riding stables


A very fine tree house just past the stables, note the porch.


About 1 1/2 miles down to the bridge over Clear Creek, the bridge is a walking bridge that gets lots of use on a day like this.


Looking over the bridge and hoping not to drop my camera in - it is indeed a clear creek


Mini and I inspect the bridge from underneath and then head back home.


On our way back home we admired lots and lots of these! Become one with the dandelion, make it your friend!