Make it rain

I’m writing this in the late afternoon. George is at my side, rain is softly falling, and my husband is in the kitchen putting something in the oven. I hold no hopes for what he’s making because lately when he cooks, it’s the same meal over and over again, and it’s really not my favorite thing. But I’m keeping my mouth shut and counting my blessings. And by no means am I complaining.

It’s been raining all day but I don’t mind. We needed it, and I spent most of the day at work anyway. But summer hours have begun, so that’s always a treat.

 

I took a few photos of a little basket that I was given as a gift by a co-worker. She brought it in last week on the last day of teacher meetings and told me it was because she thought I needed a little pick-me-up after the tough year I had.

I was touched.

 

I guess I did have a rough school year, but only compared to some.  There is so much to be thankful for and what goes around comes around. I know it’s silly but it’s one of my favorite expressions, because it’s true.

Today I talked to an angel at the billing offices of Johns Hopkins Physicians services. There was a huge mix-up that had me wringing my hands and wracking my brain since I got a call from a collection agency last week. Try to imagine the massive piles of billing statements and Explanation of Benefits that I have for all the medical things that my husband has to deal with. Then multiply it and put it in a big filing box because that’s what I do. That angel listened to my story, then began to research all the claims, and soon realized the mistakes, fixing everything. She told me she usually doesn’t answer the phone in that in that department but was filling in for the day to help them out. She was so sorry to have put me through all that worry, she told me. I was so grateful that I didn’t think a mere thank you would suffice, so immediately after I hung up, I wrote her supervisor to commend her.

What goes around comes around.

 

The sky one evening last week.

My husband pointed it out to me. (I was inside reading a book).

Can you see George?

 

A little more George for those who miss him.

And speaking of angels . . .

 

This came in the mail today from an artist who saw my cardinal print on this blog and wrote me asking if she could paint it. I had no idea she would send me one of the finished paintings when I traded my print with her for one of her watercolors.

 

The details are exquisite. And I love the colors.

 

CheyAnne Sexton is a regular reader of this blog and her work is just beautiful. She has no idea I’m giving her a shout-out, but what goes around comes around, you know. Please do check out her offerings on her Etsy site ~

CheyAnne Sexton on Etsy

: : :

Back to the rain now . . . as I was working on the photos for this post, my husband was in the living room here with me and clicked on the weather channel where I heard this lovely song playing. I told him to stop right there so I could get my phone out and use the Shazam app I downloaded recently.

I am a shameless Shazam freak.

It was Colbie Caillat singing Make It Rain. It’s a little slow in the beginning, and this is the best video I could find which isn’t saying much. But still, good listening for a rainy day.

 

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I smell fish sticks and french fries cooking and it’s so much better than wet doggie fur, I’ll grant you that! Thanks for coming by and spending some time here ~

The basics of bird photography

When BlogHer asked me to participate in this project, I initially thought I wouldn’t be able to comply. The assignment was “capturing summer fun” and my mind immediately conjured up images of sailboats on the water, children playing on a beach or having fun in the pool, and I wondered how I could contribute and remain true to my style of photography.


My favorite subjects have to do with nature, so it seemed fitting to do a post about digitally capturing birds –- and specifically the art of capturing The Elusive Bluebird.

MALE EASTERN BLUEBIRD

It’s really quite simple, so if you’re expecting a technical post, that’s not what you’ll find here. You see, the art of capturing these birds is simply a combination of timing and patience. Well, that and a good camera with a zoom lens. I used a 70-300 mm with built-in vibration reduction for these photographs, and believe it or not, all of the images were shot using the sport mode on the auto dial. I rarely use the auto dial anymore, but sometimes when the light keeps changing, as it was doing on this somewhat overcast day, the auto dial seemed to be just the ticket. I also set the shutter to continuous high-speed mode.

FEMALE EASTERN BLUEBIRD

My husband and I are caretakers of an old manor house that sits on a hill in Maryland and we’ve got several bluebird boxes posted along the old fence line that runs through part of the property. I love watching the bluebirds go to and fro while busily feeding their young. On this particular day, I noticed some bluebirds coming and going from one of the nesting boxes. Not having anything planned for the afternoon, I gathered everything I would need: the camera and lens, something to drink, and a comfy chair and footstool. I got as close to the box as I dared, and then settled in to wait, moving the chair closer and taking a few test shots, getting into just the right spot for photo composition.




The Eastern bluebird can have up to two broods in a typical summer period. The cycle begins in the spring, and I know something is up when I see the female bringing food to the nest. If it’s just the male bringing the food, the female will be inside incubating the eggs. When you see the female bringing food you know that there’s a brood of young hatchlings in there. And when the parents are near, I can really hear those babies chirping.




After I got settled, it took over half an hour for one of the parent birds to come around. It was the female, and I saw her go into the nest, listening as her brood made excited chirping noises. But when she came out, I saw that she had something in her beak. And I kind of freaked out a little, because it looked almost like a tiny bird. I know bluebirds are born blind and with no feathers, and this is what I thought I saw. I couldn’t believe that she and her mate would attempt to move the babies because I was sitting so near, so I got up and checked out the film on my computer to try to see if I could tell what was in her beak. After looking at the images zoomed in and researching on the internet, I found that what she had in her mouth was a fecal sac.


 


A fecal sac is a clean, tough mucous/gelatinous membrane/film containing the excrement of nestling birds. Nestlings usually excrete one sac after each feeding, especially as they get older. The parent grasps the sac by the middle with their beak. I read that both parents contribute to the removal of the waste matter, but it was only the female that I saw doing so on this particular day.




After three hours of sitting and being patient, and just taking it easy on a somewhat cloudy early summer afternoon, I managed to get them both at the box at the same time.




And all it took was time and patience. Hope your summer is off to a great start! Thanks for stopping by today ~  

Just call him Tiger

This is a funny little story, although I’m not poking fun at the person in it. Anyone could have made this mistake . . . well anyone who had never heard this noise before.

Let me begin.

At work yesterday, my intercom rang. It was a co-worker (who shall remain nameless). And well, here’s how the conversation went down . . .

HIM: Kate, come over here right away. I need to show you something. Come quick. Ok?

ME: I’m busy and I don’t have time for your silly games, you impudent fool. I’m hanging up now.

Seriously, do you think I would have said that? For one thing, he’s not an impudent fool, and for another, I wouldn’t be mean like that. What I did was hang up and walk over to this person’s office right away. When I arrived, I saw that his windows were open to the glorious day, and he was excited and had his ear to the one nearest his desk.

HIM: Listen. Just listen.

I stand quietly for a bit.

ME: I hear birds chirping.

HIM: Shhh. Quiet. Keep listening.

After a moment, I hear what has him in a dither. It’s a familiar scream that’s coming from the nearby woods and I’m fairly certain I know exactly what it is, so I smile.

HIM: I think it’s a TIGER! It sounds like a TIGER, doesn’t it?

ME: (laughing now) It’s not a tiger, silly.

HIM: It sounds like one!

It begins screaming more. And every time it does, he jumps.

HIM: A tiger. It sounds like a tiger! Or maybe a cougar.

ME: It’s a fox.

HIM: Nooooo. It can’t be a fox. Is it really . . . a fox . . . really?

ME: It’s fox screaming. They do that.





He calls out to his assistant, who agrees that she’s never heard this sound before (despite the fact that she lives in the woods), and I had a nice little chuckle, assuring him there was no loose tiger, and that it was really a fox. And it’s probably mating season.






I couldn’t wait to get back to the woman I work with in the office across the hall to tell her this funny story. She suggested I call him back to tell him that we just got a report of a loose tiger from the carnival that’s in town.

He didn’t think that this was very amusing when I phoned him back to tell him this.

Nor did he think it was funny that I started calling him “Tiger”.

* snort *

In his defense, he’d never heard a sound anything like this before, and if you listen to the video below in the section entitled “vixen’s scream”, it may have you feeling a little disconcerted, as well.

Fox Calls

And that is my story for today.

But I really don’t call him Tiger. That would just be unkind.

Until tomorrow, my friends . . .

The photos accompanying this post were taken in late December 2007, when I began writing this blog.

Photos from the phone

After dinner tonight, I walked around taking photos with my cell phone, a Droid X2. These aren’t anything special, just goofy images from my house.

Well, it’s not really my house. It’s the house my husband and I caretake. But it feels like home. Because it is at the moment.

 

George with laser eyes. We’re in the dining room in the original part of the house which dates to 1769. The new addition, built in 1810, begins at the step up by the stairs there.

(taken with Camera 360, then edited in Be Funky)

 

I made dinner tonight then cleaned up the kitchen and took a picture of the dish rack. Aren’t I exciting? We had chicken fajitas and they were great, if I do say so myself. I don’t often make dinner anymore and I sort of miss doing it.

Ok, let me rephrase that. I don’t really miss making dinner and I’d rather have a cook. But it sure is nice to make something that everyone wolfs down, burps, and then says, “that was good.”

True Fact: I actually enjoy washing dishes.

(taken with Camera 360, then edited in Be Funky)

 

Portrait of my fruit.

That sounds terribly odd.

That framed counted cross-stitch on the wall was done by me back in the early 90’s.

(taken with Camera 360, then edited in Be Funky)

 

George lounging on the little back porch. The door opens into the dining room and my husband and I wonder sometimes if this wasn’t the original front door to the house.

(taken and edited with Little Photo)

 

Where I like to sit sometimes.

(taken and edited with Little Photo)

 

Baskets of impatiens in the shade.

(taken with the camera that came with the phone – no editing)

 

My husband’s buoy collection, all acquired while vacationing in Maine over the years.

It makes the patio area look like hillbillies live here. But who cares!

(taken and edited with Little Photo)

Geraniums on the back porch.

(taken and edited with Little Photo)

 

George lounging in the shade garden under the dogwood tree out back. He’d better stay away from my impatiens. Sometimes I find him lying on them!

(taken and edited with Little Photo)

 

You still awake? Good. Thanks for stopping by and visiting with me for a spell.

Oh, crap. Now I actually SOUND like a hillbilly.

A perfect summer day

I did tell you that it would be awhile until I posted again, didn’t I? The school year is winding down but the busyness that goes with it is still there, however with the students gone, I had much less interruptions today. Ha! My boss told me that I could take the day off last Friday if I could get done my goals, which I did.

Friday morning found me in my favorite pajamas, sitting outside on the back patio while I enjoyed a satisfying cup of delicious coffee in the early morning light. And the birds were everywhere, so of course I went inside for the camera.

 

I know that some of you are thinking that all you see here are birds and more birds. But I’m not going to let it stop me.

I liked this pretty portrait of a female house finch as she sits on the curved wire top of one of the feeder.

 

This is the male.

 

Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

I don’t know where that came from other than they just look like they’re having breakfast and doing some catching up on the local gossip.

 

Male downy woodpecker.

 

 

And another female house finch standing on top of a decorative birdhouse that was given to me by a dear friend. I haven’t seen that friend in awhile . . . which is very bad of me.

 

It was windy on Friday.

And that night, a storm blew through.

But oh, the morning was glorious.

 

Carolina wren. Can’t tell whether it’s a male or female because both sexes look the same.

 

A little plane drones overhead on this lovely morning.

 

And then this, a catch I’ve never before experienced! This was taken from a long way away (hence the clarity). It is a Northern Flicker, the yellow-shafted form.

Northern Flickers are large, brown woodpeckers with a gentle expression and handsome black-scalloped plumage. On walks, don’t be surprised if you scare one up from the ground. It’s not where you’d expect to find a woodpecker, but flickers eat mainly ants and beetles, digging for them with their unusual, slightly curved bill. When they fly you’ll see a flash of color in the wings – yellow if you’re in the East, red if you’re in the West – and a bright white flash on the rump. ~ from the Cornell Lab of Orinthology

You learn something every day, don’t you?

Thanks so much for stopping by today, my friends . . .

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.  ~James Dent

A walk in Chestnut Hill

Today I’m sharing a few images from last weekend when I met blogging friends and ended up taking a photo walk around beautiful Chestnut Hill, PA. We strolled along Germantown Avenue, snapping photos and finding relief from the heat in some of the beautiful shops we saw.

 

Flower baskets were everywhere.

 

Window boxes, as well.

The pansies are giving a great last hurrah in the heat.

 

Cool tile embellishments in the sidewalk.

 

Dreamy displays.

 

We met this beautiful dog who was cooling off on the marble entranceway of a shop. The owners had the AC on with the door open, making it an oasis from the heat for their pet.

Such a loving, happy dog.

 

Daryl has a way with animals, and dogs love her. She photographs them for a series called {waiting patiently} that she publishes on her blog .

 

 

Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade shop, has a treasure trove of cool things.

You can purchase online, too:

tenthousandvillages.com

Sorry about that. Don’t mean to tempt you.

 

 

Gorgeous window at Robertson’s Florists.

 

 

View from a chair.

 

 

It was a great day. Hope you enjoyed the images.

 

Until later, my friends . . .