Spring Break Wednesday

For the past 5-6 years a pair of doves have returned to our plant hanging from the patio cover. Don has suggested moving it to a more sheltered area but they have rejected hanging plants that are set farther back undercover so I convinced Don that if we expected to keep our doves returning, we must leave the plant where it is. This plant has really been through it. It is a combination of two succulents so thank God it does not expect much watering. It has died back to next to nothing as many times as the doves have nested. Right now it is at its peak and I did not expect the doves so soon so did not have a chance to prune it and clean away the dry growth. So, now it must stay lest I disturb the dove mommy. Dove daddy spends hours daily sitting on the back fence puffing out his chest and warning off any and all interlopers. Many dive bombing Red Baron fights have been witnessed over the years in the quest of maintaining their territory. Even the cats seem to understand that the doves are off limits. When the babies start practicing their flying it can be very nerve wracking in the backyard. But mommy and daddy doves are very good at protecting their young and so far cats zero, birds 100. Who would have thought that doves would be so assertive. I hesitate to use the word aggressive because, after all, we are talking about doves.

The pansies and Icelandic poppies went in today. The pictures I took later didn't turn out too well so I'll wait a while and when they are mature take more pictures and post them. In the meanwhile, I put a struggling geranium in a pot with a guardian angel. With luck, she will recover and bloom large.

Stephen, my boss, called me today. Big project and short deadline landed on his desk, so off I went for about three hours. Not my favorite thing to do during spring break but things are the way they are and it's better to be a team player in this event. Later I went to Raley's yet again and then home to work here. Now the day is winding down and I'm already planning my day tomorrow. Only four days left. I'm missing my time off already.

Someone called me brave today

Annie, who is brave and has a blog and has been artjournaling and now postcarding. Well, the list goes on and on, and I would need my own blog to address all.

Dee you are such an angel. Thank you for giving me a glimpse of myself through YOUR eyes.

Spring Break Tuesday - Part Two

Biene and I met for brunch today at A.J.'s. Turns out Don had lunch at 11 a.m. and ended up there too. He sat across from us but Biene and I still had a girlie tete a tete. Yes, girlie. I don't care how old we get, women stay girlie. We had a blast. The big plan is to get together one Saturday and go to this little yarn shop that she discovered at Knight's Ferry. K.F. is a great destination place. It is a one street town in the foothills east of Oakdale and is located right on the Toulumne River. There is a great historic covered bridge to walk across.

After lunch I picked up mom and brought her to the bank where she cashed in two of her savings bonds. That will keep her set for a while. The best part of the day though was going back to Sequoia Lake and feeding the ducks. Mom was so happy there. She and her walker went after the ducks and eventually she settled into one of the Adirondak chairs and enjoyed the spring sunshine. One of my independent lady ducks appeared unescorted and she very boldly approached mom until eventually she was brave enough to pick at the crumbs right at her feet.

I took lots of picture of mom and the ducks but not being digital, they'll have to be developed another day.

THEN!! this huge ruckus ensued. A very aggressive male chased, pecked, mounted and pulled the wings of a very unwilling female. They were circling our chairs and it was really quite wild. She finally shook him off and he then went after my independent lady. Miss I. L. was back in the water by this time and she was having none of it. Lift off! and she was gone. The nasty bad boy of the pond paddled away no doubt in search of other pray.

And so it went today. I picked up more flowers for the backyard and I'll put them in tomorrow. Knitted another square for my blanket this evening and watched TV. Nothing happened with the kitchen today so I'll tackle more of that tomorrow.

Spring Break Tuesday - Part One

I am on spring break at the university where I work and the inspiration is just pouring from my fingertips. I just finished an altered postcard for a young woman in Finland whom I received a postcard from via postcrossing. If you are not familiar with postcrossing, check it out at www.postcrossing.com. I have received postcards and sent postcards to like-minded people all over the world.

This particular altered postcard was inspired by a most unusual card I received from Anni, a 20 year old journalism student. She sent me an oversized postcard and included a message of an accounting of her day. I was so touched by this glimpse of her daily life that I instantly started working on a postcard to send back to her that includes elements of her fun day.

Spring Break Monday

The roses are in. Much winter debris is now in a pile in the corner. I don't compost so it will all end up in the green can for trash to haul away to the city composter. So, no waste after all. I purchased a birdbath last summer that for some reason the birds never used. At least I never saw a bird there in all the months it stood waiting for them. So this morning the birdbath became a planter. It is filled now with cosmos, oregano, and German chamomile. There is still plenty of room for more so later today I'll pick up a couple more herbs and set them in. It feels wonderful getting my hands dirty again.

Kris called before leaving school and was hungry. Late lunch, early dinner, call it whatever, we ended up at Vito’s enjoying caesar salad and calzone. The ducks at the lake enjoyed the bread and dough leftovers. It was a lovely hour.

Before going home we stopped at Raleys where I picked up cilantro and dill to add to the birdbath now herb garden. Once it fills in a bit, I take a picture. Right now it is a lot of dirt and splashes of green. Not terribly impressive but give it a week or two and it will look wonderful.

I also picked up the film I finished today. I’ve left a few images here of my cleaned up garden. I was feeling very arty. LOL

Just Ducky

My building where I work is right across from Sequoia Lake. Every spring we are able to watch the male ducks escorting the females everywhere around campus and fighting off competing males. It really is quite funny sometimes and I always cheer when the occasional very resourceful female can slip away from her escorts. But in the end nature always succeeds despite the few independent ladies and the result is an explosion of baby ducks throughout the spring. These pictures are from the second group I've seen. They are about a day old and amazingly fast. Even though I followed them all over, probably totally freaking out the mommy duck, these little guys moved like they had one brain between the bunch of them. I move one way, they moved the other. Looking for a contrasting shot was tough. Mommy kept them in the bushes and undergrowth. There is a reason these little guys are camouflaged. If you look hard you can see them in the road picture. Finally I let mommy and brood waddle off and I finally got my contrast shot in the grass. It was a nice way to start off my morning as I walked into work though I doubt if mommy duck would have agreed with me.

Connections

To my two mountain woman girlfriends.

Biene - V is in Placerville. Vicci - B is in Angels Camp.

You both have inspired me in such marvelous way. B, you got me knitting. V, you got me blogging and writing. B and V and ME - we three love coffee. Starbucks rules.

Today I plant roses, seal the drawers in my kitchen, take a walk, feed the baby ducks, and crop and chop a bunch of photos.

There will be a trip to the bank for my mom's business. Well, there had to be SOMETHING mundane happening today.