Spring Notes...

 

The days seem to rush by.  I jot quick notes on the calendar to keep track of certain events. 

There was a big anniversary last month.  We watched an old 1930s Western to celebrate.  It was a good day. 

The first hummingbirds arrived right on schedule the first week of April.   They now spend most days in the honeysuckle thickets where I think they raise their young.

 Zinnias, Nasturtiums, poppies and other seeds have been sown about the place.  They are popping up all over.

Millie and I have heard the song of the Summer Tanager for the past few mornings when we walked the trail but have not seen him yet.  His song is definitely one of the joys of summer.

The little black kitty has gone missing.  He was happy and playful one evening but gone the next morning.  I have been sad about that, but the other three are doing well.  I love them and they love me, but they don't care for other people.  

April...

 

Even though I have already seen two hummingbirds at one of the feeders, these feisty little darlings really aren't here to stay yet, but, instead, are only travelers passing through.  I have noted through the years that they won't be here to stay until the Buckeye opens.  That will be soon.

When we moved to our current house here on the hill, I was loathe to leave my garden down below.   It really was a gardener's paradise.  I spent time there today - just looking and remembering.  

There's a new little Buckeye seedling growing not far from the parent plant  I will move it to my garden here.  If it should live, the hummingbirds would like it.  

Crabapple blossoms are strewn all about, even in the murky waters of the little garden pond that I built so long ago.  Salamanders live there now.  Back in the day, there was a pretty little waterfall flowing into the pond.  I can hear it still... 

Wild Winds...

 

It's time for fresh new flowers in the Garden Shanty, don't you think?  I do still like them, though, even when they are old and dried.  

All seemed safe this morning in my little bird-watching, note-taking, outdoor hide-away, thanks to newly installed door hardware.  The door had developed an inclination to swing wide-open with every strong puff of wind, exposing the interior to whatever wild weather happened to be blowing through.

Fierce wild winds had already begun to blow when Millie and I walked our trail yesterday morning.  I knew strong winds were in the forecast, but I dilly dallied too long feeding and playing with the cats, etc. before heading out.  The walk up the hill, bearing north was not so bad, but once we reached the top and turned westward, we were slammed.  My watch even alerted me of "excessive noise."   

 I hardly noticed my surroundings, for I walked with my head bent low against those fierce winds, and was intent only on getting back home. I don't know if there were deer in the meadow, or if there were more new green leaves on trees at the pond.  I do have some pictures of deer on my phone that I took a couple of days ago.  They and the coyotes are regulars on the hill.   

 

I continue to pick apart a couple of favorite old jackets from which I want to make patterns. It is slow, tedious work.  One of the jackets, which my mom made, is quite complicated.  I do wonder, as I told a friend, if I can ever get it back together again - kind of like Humpty Dumpty and all the king's men and all the king's horses.  

The original pattern is lost.  I have searched vintage patterns, but to no avail.    

One of my jackets made by Mom, but not the one I am taking apart.

"Chip by chip, day by day...

I enjoy this place from which I can watch and record bird activity.  It's hard to imagine that the first hummingbirds may be here in just over a month.   

 

Look at this weather acting all cute and springy like it didn't try to kill us last week.  ~From Facebook, of course. Fortunately we did survive the near record-breaking Arctic blast of last week, and now, it's as though spring has arrived in all her glory.  How great it is!  I am sure we must all have the worst case of spring fever ever.  I know I do!

We weren't far up the trail this morning before I realized I was way overdressed, so off came this old jacket, which is in reality just a liner from an old army surplus coat. (I am currently working on a new trail jacket that I can't wait to leave hanging on a cedar peg.) These old cedar branch stubs must surely have a purpose, wouldn't you think?    Over the years, there has only been one time that I forgot to go back to retrieve my coat left hanging there, and only realized it when the following morning I couldn't find my coat.  I was thankful a burly ole bear didn't find it before I did.     

"Do not curse the mountain for its height.  Climb it breath by breath, and let patience be your guide.  Endure not as one burdened, but as one sculpting a legacy, chip by chip, day by day."  -Stoic Wisdom

Today was walk # 1,055.  "chip by chip, day by day..."

Thoreau & More...

 

"I find it good to be out this still, dark, mizzling afternoon; my walk or voyage is more suggestive and profitable than in bright weather.  The view is contracted by the misty rain, the water is perfectly smooth, and the stillness is favorable to reflection...The solitude is real too, for it keeps other men at home...My power of observation and contemplation is much increased.  My attention does not wander.  The world and my life are much simplified."  

& MORE...Particularly about cats.

 

"Gather kittens while ye may

for time brings only sorrow

and the kittens of today

will be old cats tomorrow."

~Unknown 

The kittens had their appointments at the vet clinic.  It sounds like such an ordinary and common thing, doesn't it?  But, NOT!  These feral babies are anything but "ordinary and common."  

The plan from day one was simple enough -  Feed kittens in wire cage.  On the appointed day, close door.  Load cage, kittens and all, into Jeep and take to vet.  

But, it didn't happen that way.  When that big, tall scary man went into the crib to help carry the cage things got pretty wild.  As our granddaughter said, "They were like bouncing off the walls."  It was probably a good thing that the door came open and three of them escaped.  Well...  One was better than none!

 And, that's the way it was done.  One cat at a time.  By the time, this ordeal was over, we had made a total of eight trips to the animal clinic.  The kittens began to get very suspicious of my every move, so that by the time I got to Kitty #4, she was quite a challenge.  But, now they are all back home and doing well.  And, I am no longer having nightmares about catching cats!  

   

Winter 2025

 

The Pond Jan. 10, 2025

We got snow!  Lots of it... A walloping  total of ten-inches.  Millie and I made our daily walk, despite the fact that I had only 7-inch boots.  Thanks to Dan who made tracks in the snow for us to follow.  How beautiful everything looked!  I have no words to describe it.  Just Wow!  Walk #1,008 was certainly not one to be missed!  

I know this post is long on pictures and short on words, but, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

I will add that the kitties holed up somewhere during this entire event for 2 1/2 days, but are all safely back in the fold. 

 

  

The Next Day - January 11, 2025 ( I love those oh-so-blue skies!)