A Woodpecker Sittin' on a Rail

 

As the young Pileated Woodpeckers learn to feed themselves, their navigation systems are not quite developed.  They flutter around, sometimes landing on a chair or on the shingles and once even on the umbrella.  Most often they fly to the deck rail.  And they sit and try to figure out how to get up to the suet feeder.  They are fun to watch and after some missed attempts and fly-bys, eventually they land on the feeder and enjoy the suet.

 

 

 

Little female seems surprised to have landed on the railing.

 

 

 

 

She looks up at the feeder.  It seems far away.

Today marks a very special day for some of our readers.  Rosh Hashanah signals the beginning of High Holy Days for our Jewish neighbors.  Called the "Jewish New Year," Rosh Hashanah begins this evening at sundown.

A common Rosh Hashanah greeting is shana tovah u'metukah which means, "a good and sweet New Year."  And so to all of you, Jewish or not, I wish you a good and sweet new year.

Fridays Are Golden

 

 

The dogs go on alert.  They stare out the door to the deck, standing stiff as boards.

 

 

We're on guard duty!

 

 

And what has put them on high alert?  A squirrel sunning on the deck as if we had no defense.  Just lying there taking a sunbath.

 

Dratted squirrel

 

Of course, the squirrel runs away immediately when I open the door to release the dogs.  Ellie doesn't follow the trail, but Lucy stares down to watch the squirrel in the trees.

 

See?  I made him leave all right.

 

 

 

She sniffs and sniffs where the squirrel was sunning.

Both girls prance inside, so proud that they got rid of the squirrel.  They immediately go over to the treat canister for a reward.  We try not to say the word, "squirrel."  If we do, the girls run to the door and then wonder why we don't open it for them.

July is passing by so quickly.  There are only 165 days left in the year 2013!  It has been a strange summer here in the mountains.  While we are seeing more and more sunshine, we are having almost daily afternoon/evening thunderstorms.  I don't think we will dry out for a while.

Today's quote comes from satirist and author Russell Baker:

"Ah, summer; what power you have to make us suffer and like it."

I hope your summer is going well and your 2013 goals are half met.

 

HAVE A SAFE AND WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!  ENJOY THE SUMMER DAYS.

 

 



End of April Showers

Seems I've written a lot about the weather recently.  Perhaps that is because April's weather has been very strange...rain, hail, ice, temperatures well above normal and well below normal.  We know that April showers bring May flowers but we really did not expect such a deluge on the last weekend in rainy April.

Fortunately my husband has finished spreading the new pine straw and fertilizing the plants.  So we did just what Henry Wadsworth Longfellow suggested, "The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."

And rain it did; more than four inches Saturday and Sunday.  Looking out the garage toward the driveway.

Lots of rain

On this side as well

Wet yard bird

Wet hummingbird feeders (and birds as well)

Did you think for one minute the rain would ruin our grilled dinner?

Not a chance.

This morning has dawned sunny and bright.  The pollen count is down and the rivers are full, overflowing in some areas.  We need a week of sunshine please.

Hail Done Broke Loose

One of my favorite movies is "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?"  And one of my favorite lines in the movie is that of the maid Tillie who says, "All Hell done broke loose."  Well, the hail broke loose around here last week.  Like most of the country our weather has waxed and waned above normal and much below normal.  I do not recall making the switch from air conditioning to heat so many times in one short week.

On Thursday, after a few hours of rain, the hail started.  Small pebbles of hail bouncing all over the yard like popcorn in a popper.  And just as suddenly, the hail stopped and the sun came out!  Amazing how quickly it turned.

Icy hail in the sunshine

Fun if you weren't out

The deck was covered with little pebbles

The hail melted and disappeared in no time at all and we enjoyed sunshine the rest of the day.

Not everyone across the country has been so lucky.  Our thoughts go out to those in the Midwest who are dealing with the severe flooding.

And Then She Flew

I saw her before the little birds did.  Rapidly she dived from the tree to catch a Titmouse at the birdfeeder.  She missed her target and was unable to pull up before she crashed into the side of our house.  My husband was startled by the loud thud as the hawk (we think it was a female Sharpshinned) hit.  The dogs were very surprised to see a very large bird lying on the deck not a foot from their bed.

We all stared mesmerized by the beauty of this magnificent bird.  I grabbed the camera to catch a few snaps through the window.

This was just before she took flight.

Not quite ready to go but fully alert.

Immediately after the strike.  Note how she is already looking right at us.

(I didn't want to put this photograph first.)

Dazed, she got on her feet right away.

I stood by the window breathlessly waiting to get my first picture of a hawk taking to flight.  Alas, I was distracted for only an instant...the very instant she decided to fly.  Despite missing the photo op, I was nonetheless thrilled to see that this wondrous bird was not seriously injured.  And thankful for the opportunity to see her so close.

Memories of Snow

Many people are suffering with the excessive heat across our country.  We had a very mild winter this year, but for the previous three years we had above average snowfall.  A few people love to think back fondly on those cold days.  Especially during the heat waves of summer.

One of my Milwaukee friends came down to visit in March one of those years to enjoy our Carolina sunshine and get away from the Wisconsin cold and snow.  We laughed when the skies became cloudy and my friend mentioned that in WI that would have signaled snow.

Little did we know that it signaled snow here.  In the middle of March.  While it happens often in the higher elevations, it is not that common here.  And snow it did.  And it kept on snowing.

This cardinal glared at me as if I caused the snowstorm.

Lots of snow and still snowing.

A goldfinch picks up a mouthful of the white stuff.

The bird was sitting on the deck rail.

This photograph gives you some idea how deep the snow was.

And it wasn't done yet.

Branches were laden with heavy snow.

My friend and I had planned to sit on the deck much of the time,

talking, reading, or watching birds.

That wasn't going to happen this trip.

The snow lingered and we could not get to the airport for my friend's return flight home.  We changed her flight and she got to stay an additional two days.

Memories of snow...do I miss it?  Not at all.  We chose this place for our retirement because of the infrequent snows.  Even when it gets too hot outside, I still would not want a flake of snow.  I'll just stay in the air-conditioned comfort and try not to go stir-crazy.  At least I can still get in the car and drive somewhere.  And I can look at photographs of the snow more fondly than I looked at the snow itself.

On the bright side, we are expecting a cold front to give us some relief today.  It will be most welcome.

Fridays are Golden

We got this perfect Easter card.  No, that is not one of our Golden Girls, but it surely is adorable.

This week we took the girls on a new trail in Pisgah National Forest.  The trail is very easy and located near downtown, making it a very popular one.  A multi-use trail, it follows part of the Davidson River and most of the trail work was done by various volunteer groups.  My husband belonged to one of the work crews and that crew did amazing things.  Like moving and building bridges!

This foot bridge was not sufficient for the new trail since it was not wide enough for biking.  So the crew actually moved the bridge to this location to join a different existing trail.

 Then they built this new bridge to replace the one they moved.  The cost of the bridge was several thousands of dollars less than it would have been had private contractors built it.  As you can see it is sturdy and attractive.  And done completely by volunteers led by an expert who was also a volunteer.

The girls just loved this trail.  It is wide and even.  But most of all they loved the fact that so many people would ask if they could pet them.  We always have our dogs at "sit-stay" when other people are coming our way.  We are aware that some people (hard as it is to believe) do not like dogs and some people are intimidated by them.  Some would prefer that dogs not be on their biking trail.  And some of the hikers (although it is a stretch to call this a hike) are elderly and some have small children.  The girls are perfectly content to sit and watch the people as they pass.

After a ride that passed the veterinarian's office and a hike in the forest the girls were pretty much spent for the early afternoon.

Here Ellie snoozes in the sun.

 And Lucy is never more than a dog's length away from my husband.

The quote for the week comes from sef-made wealthy motivational speaker Vivian Greene:

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass...It's about learning how to dance in the rain."

This weekend is very special to many people around the globe.  For Christians it marks the death and ressurection of Jesus.  For Jews it marks the beginning of Passover.

So whether you are celebrating Easter, or Passover, or simply if you love chocolate bunnies, Peeps and Cadbury Eggs:

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

Of Course It Didn't Take a Week

Well, you see?  The weather has been magnificent and while we did get the DSL installed I have been playing hookey from blogging.  So that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

It did take the better part of the day for the installation.  Our contractor apparently split all the telephone wires from one trunk when the house was built.  With so many splits, our reception was not good.  So the installer had to pull a line specifically for the router.  And with our house and its high ceilings and angles, this was not an easy task.  But he figured it out and now we are happy we will be able to stream.  Especially since round ball is coming to an end.  Actually it ended with the 'Heels rather sooner than we would have wished.  Plagued with injuries they did not make it to the final four.  Our interest is turned to the Louiville vs Kentucky, one of the most fierce rivalries around.

The Golden Girls got baths last week.  We used to bathe them ourselves because we have a great place for doing so.  Then, when we had an injured player I found a great groomer.  Believe it or not, she trims and bathes both dogs for fifty dollars!  So I did some thinking...we usually did the process in two days.  One day to trim nails, pawpads, and ears.  One day to bathe them.  Throw in the dirty clothes and towels, along with our time and its a no-brainer to take them for grooming.  Their time at the groomer allows us to mop their room, wash the feeding dishes, change the crate pads, etc.

Fortunately the groomer has a very large crate that will hold both of them.  We take them for a long walk before they go to the groomer and they are totally exhausted when we pick them up.  They just lie around glassy-eyed the rest of the day.  (Which is different from their usual lying around without the glassy eyes.)

That afternoon they looked rather like zombies so my husband decided to go out on the deck and snap a picture or two.  He had to bend down for the shots.

Two zombie dogs and a pair of human legs.  On any other day, the girls would have stood up at the door demanding to go out on the deck with the human.

Look at that calf definition.  Does he ever miss a day of exercising?  Yep, he takes the day off every Sunday.

 

Well, it's another perfect day and we are all headed to the trails.

Winter Sky

Snow fell on many areas in western NC.  We did not get any snow and I don't mind at all.   We got some cold weather with strong winds at times.  This morning dawned beautiful, cold and calm.  Not long after sunrise, I noticed a series of clouds in the sky that looked almost like giant contrails.  The remainder of the sky was cloudless and (of course) Carolina Blue.  Here is the view from our deck this morning.

The sky is the daily bread of the eyes.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

The clouds---the only birds that never sleep.

Victor Hugo

Skunk Below the Deck

Our bird feeders and water are mounted on our deck.  Since we do not want to attract raccoons, bears, or flying squirrels we move all the feeders to the garage every evening.  In winter we also dump the water out of the bird bath to prevent freezing.

Last week my husband was getting ready to dump the water when he looked down.  He called me outside.  What do you do when you see a skunk directly below you?  Well, you surely do not dump a pan of water on him or startle him in any way.  And if you have a blog, you grab the camera for a few photographs before the skunk ambles on his way.

The photographs are not especially good ones.  I didn't take a lot of time to change the settings for a nightime picture.  I both feared and wished the skunk would move on right away.  I'm posting them anyway since I suspect you have not looked directly down at a skunk.

He stands near a drain to eat leftover bird seed.  Thank goodness he is much too large to fit inside the drain.

 He moves away from the drain.

 NOTE to husband:  Get the leaf blower out and blow those seeds into the woods.

The skunk family is made up of eleven species, most of them common throughout the United States.  Known primarily for their lingering and noxious spray, they are also vectors of rabies.  That is especially a problem here in the southeastern US.

Dog owners are always fearful that their dogs will encounter a skunk.  A terrible skunk story came from my husband's co-worker.  She was dressed and ready for work.  She stepped outside to call the dog only to see the dog chasing a skunk right into the garage.  The skunk released its spray directly under her car!  Dog, car, garage and the woman reeked of the  skunk odor.  They never were able to completely rid the car of the odor.

We have been very fortunate so far, but we keep a skunk de-odor kit in a pail ready for immediate use.  While there are several remedies, the one with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and mild liquid soap seems to work better than tomato juice, beer, or even commercially available products.  You can find it here.  We do take some precautions to avoid interaction with skunks.  We close the garage door at dusk when we bring in the bird feeders.  We never let the dogs off leash at night.  We wear headlamps and scan the driveway and street before taking the dogs out at night.

When you choose to live in the woods, you have to expect encounters with the animals whose habitat you are invading.  But we hope to continue to respect the skunks from afar and not up-close-and-personal.

Fridays are Golden

We don't give our dogs as many treats as most dog owners do.  Since they don't often get them, they really are special.  There are three things they consider treats which they get consistently.  Whenever anyone gets ice from the fridge, the girls are right there each expecting an ice cube.  I make green salads almost every day.  The girls just love carrots, so I give them a few slices of carrot.  And each evening they each get a treat when they get into their crates for the night.

They are anxiously watching and waiting for their carrot pennies.  And yes, it might have been a little cruel of me to take the time for a picture rather than pay attention to cutting the carrots.  But can you blame me for wanting to capture those beautiful faces?

My husband and I tend to keep tiny treats in our pockets.  Every so often, we will call the dogs.  They come rather quickly and sit down to await the treat.  We do this at different times and in different situations.  The girls always come quickly when called...not because they are so obedient, but because we might have a treat for them.

My husband has called the girls and they sit next to his chair.  (We tend to take off our shoes a lot and you can see my husband's shoes next to the girls.)  They expect a treat but sometimes the treat is petting them.  Since they are never sure whether a treat will be given, they come quickly just in case.  And they don't seem to be disappointed if the treat is just getting some petting and hugs.

How is the color in the NC mountains?  It has burst forth rapidly.  Rain and high winds around here have muted the color a bit, but it is still gorgeous.  The color at our elevation (3,000 ft) is not yet at peak.  The color above 4,000 ft is very near peak, and the color at 2,000ft and below is just beginning.  So if you are in the mountains, you can easily drive to a different elevation and you will find beautiful color.

I shot this photograph from our deck this morning.

Then I walked to the mailbox and aimed down our street.

As we look at the Autumn spendor we also enjoy some of our "winter" vegetables.  Squashes, pumpkins, and other vegetables taste so wonderful in this chilly season.  The quote this week comes from Bertie Forbes, who started Forbes Magazine.

Believe in yourself, your neighbors, your work, your ultimate attainment of more complete happiness.  It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring who reaps a harvest in Autumn.

So work on believing all through the year.  But believing by itself will not bring a harvest.  You must also take action and plant your seeds in order to reap the harvest.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERYONE!!!

Obese Bird

We are having rain and strong winds around here.  That is not a good thing for autumn color.  Hopefully it will stop soon and sunshine will brighten up the mountains again.

Remember the very homely Cardinal?  (here)  The bird continued to follow the parents long after he was able to feed himself.  We often saw him at the feeder alone, stuffing his beak.  If either parent came by, he would hop to them and beg for more food.  I am sorry to report that he has joined the legions of the obese.  He is not fluffing up his feathers like a sick bird.  He is alert, has no problem swallowing, no problem flying, and shows no sign of illness.

Maybe not quite so homely, but really really large.

 He still has a rather goofy look that makes him easy to identify.

 This shot of the feeder compares the large cardinal to the chickadee.  Note how the feeder is leaning under the cardinal's weight.  I assure you he has no idea the chickadee is there.  If he did, he would chase it away immediately.

The cardinal is often the first bird to the feeders when we put them out in the morning.  And he and his parents are almost always the last ones to grab a bite before we bring them in.

Fridays are Golden

A hummingbird struck the side of our house and fell to the deck.  It sat there upright but a little stunned.

Lucy immediately ran to the window to see the bird.  She sat there watching it until it flew away.  Every time the bird moved, Lucy would wag her tail as if she were cheering it on.

Ellie joined Lucy for a look-see.  Then she walked away, apparently less concerned about the outcome.

Pardon the lousy photograph.  I took it through the door since I didn't want to disturb the hummingbird and make it try to fly before it was ready.

I cannot understand why the hummingbirds remain so territorial, guarding the feeders passionately and challenging any other hummingbird that comes around.  They have such a long and strenuous path to travel.  One would think it in their best interest to conserve the energy they expend fighting.  I often wonder if any of them gets much nectar.  This particular bird was in a duel with another when it struck the side of the house.  The bird recovered very quickly so perhaps he will live to fight another day.

Autumn is upon us at last.  Our Jewish friends are observing the high holy days of Rosh Hashanah.  We are putting away the summer things and preparing for the cooler days ahead.  Only ninety-two days remain in the year 2011, so you might need to review and/or revise the list of things you set out to accomplish this year.

When your life feels too complicated and busy, think on this:

The most important things in life are not things.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERY ONE!

Not all Babies are Beautiful

We love seeing the fledglings and juvenile birds that grow up in our woods.  We often can tell them apart.  We have one juvenile cardinal that looks rather strange.  I'm not sure what it is about the bird, but it is goofy-looking.  Clearly able to feed itself, the parents of this large baby are still feeding it.  Perhaps it looks weird because the bird is so much bigger than either parent.

I wish the bird had turned around.  The frontal view is the one that makes it look weird.

 My husband calls this bird a "special needs cardinal."

I do hope your weather is as good as ours.  Beautiful sunny days and crisp cool mornings.

Fridays are Golden

Before we go to the dogs, I want to tell you about a free book you might find of interest.  I don't often mention books I haven't read, but this one is free so you have nothing to lose.

Bob Edwards was for many years the voice of NPR's "Morning Edition."  His abrupt termination a few years ago left many NPR listeners (including me) very angry.  He moved on to another successful career in radio and we moved on with our anger and returned to listening to "Morning Edition"  because it was better than most alternatives.  But please don't mention that to NPR.  They think I am still boycotting "Morning Edition."

Bob Edwards has written a memoir called A Voice in the Box: My Life in Radio which will be published on September 21.  This book is available right now as a free download to your Kindle or Nook, or other electronic reading devices and you can read it prior to the book release.  How cool is that?

Being cool brings us back to golden Friday.  Sometime ago we purchased canvas beds for the dogs to use when we were out on the porch.  I must say, they were not exactly a big hit with the girls.  This spring we had our decks stained again and the newly-stained boards can get quite hot in the bright sunshine.  We decided to move the beds up to the deck so the dogs wouldn't have to lie under the table for comfort.

Lucy is in love with the beds.

She will lie out on the deck even when the rest of us go inside.

Ellie does not seem to be especially fond of the beds.

She will lie on them when it is hot and sunny, but prefers the deck floor when it is cooler.

Dinnertime finds both dogs lying under the table next to the person most likely to accidentally drop something.  (Hint:  Those are NOT my legs.)  I'm just sayin'.

And here we are in September, although it doesn't feel much like it around here.  So many people in our nation and in other countries across the globe are struggling and in pain.  Think of them this holiday weekend.  And stay safe.

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!!!