Contemplating Woodpeckers

 
"Woody Woodpecker". Size is about 16-19 inches for adults.
     This is a male Pileated woodpecker. He has a red cheek stripe,; the female looks the same but no red cheek stripe.

I love the 'laughing' sound of the Pileated when it's flying through the tree tops. That is how I usually spot them, or of course, by the jack hammer sound when they are drilling for bugs. They fly erratically with a swooping motion, much like "woody woodpecker", the cartoon bird. But recently I was putting a dish in the sink and spotted motion through the window from the corner of my eye. I stopped and stood like a statue using only my eyes to cut left and see a pair of pileated right there on the pink dogwood not 10 feet away, gobbling berries ! As you can see from my photo, they are large heavy birds about crow size and the berries that were left after the song birds gorged were far out on flimsy branches. I cautiously slid back from the window and rushed for my camera. I set it up then slid slowly into view hoping to capture both together, but the female was very skittish and flew, while the male was focused on the prize. That's the one you see here. 

I had seen them in the tree several days prior, but never managed to get the camera in time before they spooked. I would stand still with camera poised for so long that I'd cramp, and had to stop, and of course that's when they would appear again, and I never could get a picture. You really have to have perseverance if you want to get a good picture. I feel lucky to have captured these ! 

We try to leave rotting and dead trees standing as long as they are not in danger of falling where they can hurt anything.They draw in so many birds and actually other creatures that find homes in the rotting wood. All the woodpeckers love these trees and the Pileated will actually make its home in a hollowed out tree top. Owls , squirrels and flying squirrels just to name a few use these trees. There is a whole food chain going on with them. Spring is coming, and the beginning of new life is evident all around me. We try to keep our land as natural as we can without it becoming an eye sore, trying to balance natural and esthetically pleasing areas. We do have beautiful birds, and another blog will showcase another species ! Bring on the birds!

Spring ! exhausting...

   Why does the warming sun and bursting flowers of Spring make us feel the need to make changes in our homes ? Is it just me that starts to see that the walls needs painting...and the porch does too. The deck needs to be power washed... and the house does too. The yard needs raking and replanting and...and...and.
   Spring is exhausting.

 Is it just me ? Have my eyes been shaded by the lack of sun  throughout the winters gloom?
 These windows need washing. The curtains certainly need to be cleaned, or maybe I just need new ones.
   






I guess it is natural
because there are a ton of old branches down on the lawn that Mother nature discarded, and the healthy limbs have begun to sport bright green leaves. On the ground, the winds are trying to blow the crinkly brown ones away so that the new spikes of grass can pop up. The birds are sloughing off those old drab colors and eye-catching 'Crayola' feathers are emerging. The sun has discarded it's cataract and now shines with renewed intensity. All of nature is putting on a show that makes our breathing deeper and our hearts happier.

Weeping cherry

Goldfinch starting new plumage

  Cardinal on weeping cherry

This  Cardinal is in a Red Bud tree. I wonder why this  purple bloom is called a red bud? It sure does make the cardinal look orange.

 All of nature is doing its very best to show off. Easter is close now, and the colors I remember as a child of our painted eggs and our  Easter Sunday  clothes are reflected in what I see around me. Pinks, yellows, purples and pale blues. I remember one Easter my new dress was a robin's egg blue. I had a new white hat (kind of like the shape of a 'pringles' potato chip)… it clamped on the sides of my head. On the top in front were some pink and yellow flowers with  a bright yellow and black bumble bee on one flower. I had a new pocketbook too, but I don't remember it. Probably black patent leather with matching shoes, and I'm sure I had white gloves as well.

I remember waking on Easter Sunday to our painted eggs and chocolates and other surprises in our hats that were turned upside down and filled by 'the bunny'. Then it was off to church and home to a huge Easter dinner. I remember a lot of preparations for that Sunday, which included cleaning and dusting, etc. 

Yes. Now I do remember..Spring is exhausting !

Goodbye Penny

These are my last photos with Penny, our beautiful Australian Shepherd. She was a special girl.

It's almost April. I have been to Myrtle Beach with Bob in February and Florida this past week. I stayed with my cousins in their condo in Gulfport. They have a little dog named Abby, who is 10 years old, the same age as Penny when I had to make the decision to keep her going on needles and  pills and things she hated or let her be free of pain. She hated all the pills to the point of hiding from us. I truly knew she was unhappy, in pain and sick, but she rallied again and again throughout the 2 years she was sick...for me.In the first part of November I said goodbye. I am finally able to write it all down.
 Penny is buried out under the magnolia and peach trees with her dog sister Belle, and our last 6 rescue cats. Each passing of a pet is traumatic for us, but Penny was the hardest for me. Maybe it was because she was our last. Like the last child that leaves home. I hope she's running and jumping with Belle and all my beautiful animals that have enriched my life and left me with an aching heart.
 Goodbye sweet Penny.

Where's Fall?

Penny in leaves.

  These pictures are both of a typical Fall day. Some color in the trees and brown leaves down. But there's a brightness about them ! Oh, it must be sunshine ! Where the heck is our typical Fall ? We have morphed from sticky hot and rainy summer right into cold damp winter. I for one am disappointed. I love Fall. I love the bright blue skies and the crisp clean air. I love walking on the dry scrunchy leaves; love wearing my Ugg boots and jeans and a big 'ol sweater. I sooo enjoy hot coffee in the cool mornings on my porch, with the rays of sun heating my feet, then legs and body as the sun comes up. I'm missing Fall. I have my cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg and oranges simmering on the stove so it smells like Fall. I hung my Witch decoration, and put 2 pumpkins on the porch. I have done my part. I expect  Mother Nature to play fair and give me my Fall. Everything is grey, including the hot tea I am sipping to try to warm up. October is almost over, and then November will be upon us with its bare tree limbs and grey skies, dead grass and lack of flowers.
  It's a good thing I have The Patriots, great books and good tv programs to send me into those dreary days ahead. I do like baking also, but when I bake , I eat more. I like my own baking. Need to get my stained glass and jewelry stuff out. That has no calories.
  Oh fickle winds of Autumn, blow our way and give us a few weeks of Happy Fall.

Penny, pills and peanut butter

   Having a constant furry companion is one of the joys in my life. It's also one of the heartaches in my life. Pets, dogs especially, become a part of the family. Everyone says this. I think it's more than that.
   My dogs,(all the dogs I have had), know me better than family or friends. They sense my sadness, sickness or happiness and they adjust their own feelings accordingly. People allow us to feel however we do, but dogs and I say some cats as well, morph themselves to fit our emotions.
   Right now, my 10 year old Aussie is under the weather...she's pretty ill. She has been incontinent for 2 years now She fell back on her hind end while trying to jump into the truck and did spinal nerve damage. She is extremely arthritic in her spine. Being incontinent, she does not void her bladder all the way, so she has infection after infection....which means antibiotics quite often. I feel we have been lucky to have her these past 2 years. Aside from all the floor cleaning, and the p-p pads and the baths and grooming, it has been normal dog owning maintenance. But, she is over 10 years now, and the normal aging has increased her problems.
   Giving her the necessary meds, usually pill form, has become a nightmare. She figures out what foods have the hidden nastiness and she refuses to eat the pill caddy, no matter how tempting. She is devilishly smart. I have tried all the suggestions and then some, but it has come down to either sticking them down her throat...hence the bites on  knuckles and fingers...or crushing them up in peanut butter, and often having to mash the peanut butter ball of crushed pills against her teeth, so she has to get it in. I'm at my wits end. She is so leery of my advances, I can hardly pat her without her look of, "Oh crap, here she comes again".
   But we will persist, and we hope that she will once again rally. For how long, we never know. Meanwhile, I will love to look at her, and talk to her and pat her soft furriness. She seems to enjoy her elder dog year naps, walks and talks we have together, and for now, that is enough.

Running Cows and day lillies

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN COWS RUNNING ?

This day lily farm is in Floyd on 221 south.
It is called "Wildwood Farm", and it's a good day trip. They have live Bluegrass music on Saturday nights, ( I guess 'live' as opposed to 'dead' ?) and on Sunday (tomorrow) they will have a classic car show...(1st and 3rd Sunday of the months during Spring and Summer.) They are on Facebook, so you can preview there. A general store with sundry items...I love that word...gifts, and even a "Kitchen" serving some foods. Worth the pretty ride , especially if you go up the Parkway as we always do.

We purchased some elderberry jelly, my favorite and some strawberry preserves for Bob. There were lots of pretty things in the gift part, and there are rockers outside for setting in. You can meander the flower beds although today was hot even in the mountains, so we walked several rows, then 'set' in one of the covered sheds, and finally opted to wait for a cooler day to finish my wish list of lilies.

The moon was full last night. I enjoyed the bubbly, soothing heat of my new spa while pondering all that it encompasses.

   

  Today I received my copy of Sharyn McCrumbs book, "The Songcatcher". I will add it to my collection of Appalachian writers...Becky Mushko;Carolyn Tyree Feagans; Leisha Kelly; Jan Karon; Peggy Shifflett; Karen Smith; Keister Greer; Rodger Doss;Silas House; Dan Smith; Richard Davids and probably some others hidden back on my shelf. That's another chore ahead of me, clearing out old papers and magazines. The books will stay.

   I am wondering if the McCourry family in this new book is an offshoot of my family, also originating in Scotland, the MacQuarrie clan. 

  That brings me to yet another thing I want to do, have my DNA tested through ancestry and see what I can find out about my roots. Maybe that's an age related desire, or maybe I know I will have more time to explore family history now in retirement. I have always felt it's important  to know my background.

  Daily life has sewn me up today, I need to finish laundry and do all the other domestic goddess chores as well as pop into town to bring a urine sample to the vet. Penny is starting into another bladder infection, I think, so I need to get her started on meds if it is. 

  So many things I want to do. I am excited for life !

        

It' now 2018, five years have passed since my last blog entry. Seems like yesterday when I reread it. I am newly retired from my paraprofessional job having spent 8 years with my little buddy Kris, who is now entering 7th grade this coming school year..
  My grandson Caine is now a big boy, he's 10. Bob and I are married 20 years,( how did that happen so quick?). My mother and Bob's mother are both passed, within a year of each other. Bob had kidney cancer and lost one kidney. He is doing quite well in spite of this. I have an artificial knee as well as the hip. I'm working at becoming bionic, or at the least adding years to my life with new parts.
  I am still an avid birder and train rider and animal/nature lover. I love to take photographs, and hope to be able to write again. Time will be available now that retirement is here, as long as all my time isn't spent at doctors. That is another goal, to get fit and stay healthy.
  So here's to more ME time ! I hope to share my adventures with you all here on my blogsite. That being said, maybe I should rename my blog ?
  I will sleep on the idea.
It's good to talk to you all again !

Stinky vents, cruddy veins and ice

This is week 4 since my new hip was put in. Today was regular blood work at Drs. and this was the 2nd try for the nurse at my Drs. No go, and this time I stopped her after she blew the vein in my arm and was happily going to 'try' in my hand...all my nice was used up, so I insisted going to the hospital where the lab got the first stick (mind you it was where I told her to try )...I am shaky and exhausted still...in 2 weeks I see the Dr to go over labs, and I will tell him then I do not want his nurse ever again!
Icy out today, and really feels like winter.

 

  The inside of my house is still green which makes me happy, however the smell in the whole house is most definably dead mouse in the ductwork. UGH !!! No way to get rid of it , other than mask it with candles and wait it out. Country living has its good and bad times. Not loving this. December 24th is the date I have x-rays to see if I can jettison this walker. Probably be replaced with a cane, but even that will seem so free. Looking forward to the New Year, back to work with the kids and walking without pain. If I don't get back to this before the New Year, Merry Christmas to all, with so much love, Claudia 

snow...is it winter?

It finally happened. Winter arrived after a brief weekend of summer. Caine was visiting for an overnight and we all were in our t-shirts with the warm sun and balmy 70 degree weather. Next thing you know, we are getting a snow storm ! School was called on Friday with a 2 hour early release on Thursday, and Martin Luther King Day is Monday, so I had 4 days in a row ! Tuesday and Wednesday are teacher work days, and the kids return on Thursday. Tuesdays high will be in the low 20's. I may be a Yankee, but that is cold by anyones standards. We had a blast 4-wheeling with Caine. He brought his little battery operated wheeler and rode all day! I was hoping the battery would wear down, but no luck. My battery wore out before his.
For some reason unknown to me, I cannot attach my pictures anymore, so until I can figure this out, I am going pictureless! I'll come back when I can show you my photos..

A new year

One thing I want to do for myself in this new year of 2013 is write more often. It's one thing I always enjoyed doing, and something I seem to do less and less. Another thing I want to accomplish in this year is to learn to speak Spanish. I used to be fluent in French, but as with all things, if you don't use it you lose it.
Seems to me that is what happens with all things, both mental and physical.
As with all three of my brothers, I am reaping the benefits of getting older. Arthritis, joint replacements, forgetfulness,failing eyesight, forgetfulness...oh wait, did I say that already?
We have 5 aging cats who are also experiencing the benefits. One is forgetting where the cat box's are. I am not delighted with this.Here are some pictures associated with the old year.

Family and friends ... my lifeblood...
I am hoping for another year rich with visits from my family and friends..Here's hoping for health for us all in this new year..A prayer for peace  and love and brotherhood for all in this new year..
happy new year, with love, Claudia

SILHOUETTES

   The pileated woodpecker rat-a-tat-tatting on the dead tops of the paradise tree woke me. With coffee in mug and fuzzy socks and jacket I went to the porch with my binoculars to investigate. I could see the chips of the bark flying even before I could focus on the big bird. The sun was coming up behind the trees, making the tree limbs and the birds seem like a black and white photo. Silhouetted against the morning sky I watched a mated pair of the huge woodpeckers work the tree.As the sun got higher and the crows and smaller birds became active the pair worked their way down the field line and headed for more cover in the deeper parts of the woods by the creek. Smaller woodpeckers appeared and worked the same area the Pileateds' had been, apparently enjoying the smaller bugs left exposed. Bob and I love to hear the monkey jungle sounds these birds make as they call to each other. We seem to have several mated pairs and are lucky to see them on a regular basis. Most people never get the chance to see them but they might have heard them and not known what was making the loud rapping , jack-hammer sounds on the dead limbs and the jungle noises.