Rocks

I had a fun afternoon with a little boy and his mother.

 

Bye Bye Birdie

I had believed what I read about robins, and today was supposed to be the last day in the nest for the hatchlings.  I hid in the garage to get this picture.  Mom was ready, once again, to feed her babies.

This was gross and exciting at the same time.

Much later in the day Little Ben and I left the house for a walk around the block. I looked up to check the nest, and only one baby was there!  Oh, no! Where was the other?

I pulled my face out from behind the camera and immediately saw her, almost at my feet.  I likely missed her drop from the nest by seconds.

These last two weeks have been stressful.  Several times I was sure those babies were dead.  And now I thought baby brother had been abandoned by Mom.  I was very sad.

When Corinne got home, I showed her the pictures.  She raced out and raced right back in, practically dragging me outside.  The nest was empty.  Mom was in the tree.  She had spied the baby in the bushes.

We sneaked around my front yard like two burglars as we looked for the baby, and we found him!  He was just chillin' on a rock, happy to be out in the real world.  What an adventure this has been!

 

Robins, Day 14

I first saw these two hatchings 14 days ago.  My research has taught me that they will leave the nest any time now.  Even though the sun wasn't great, I took a picture, because I don't know if they will be here tonight.

The Columbine looked lovely in the morning sun.  While these are very delicate flowers, they love to spread.  I've never seen them in this particular location before.

All these blooms turned toward the rising sun.

I should know what's in my front flower garden.  I don't know what these are--I've never seen them before.  They seem to be in a prominent spot, so I'll keep an eye on them.

Feeding the Koi

The sun was perfect this evening for a cool picture.

Well, this picture is pretty cool, too.

Lunar Eclipse

This was our moon this morning at a quarter to 4.  I had a tripod in the driveway and I could see this over the top of the house, but just barely.

I walk every morning, and I didn't want to skip my walk, but I didn't want to miss the eclipse, either.

So I grabbed a 20-year-old backpack from the garage and and set out, tripod in hand.

The moon moves at 2200 miles per hour.  The earth moves at 66,000 mph.  And I was trying to get everything to hold still so my camera could focus.

My camera started to see weird things as the eclipse progressed.

I was having just the very best time.

By 5 am, the moon was very low in the sky.

Just as I came back to my neighborhood, I found the perfect place to see the moon between some trees.

And then the moon turned red.  I wasn't expecting that.

Petunias in the Morning Sun

The flowers in my baskets have been doing well despite the cool weather.

I chose to plant the baskets myself this year instead of having the nursery do it, just so I could have these petunias.

They are a stunning flower, and well worth the 20 minutes of effort it took to plant 3 baskets.

I noticed this shadow on a kitchen pillar as I came in the house.  These flowers are leftover from Mother's Day.

One Week Old

The two baby robins are one week old.  I've been checking on them all week, I'm pretty sure there are only two.  And there is for sure an egg in there with them.

I see them without the mom all the time.  This one on the right is simply yawning while his brother falls back asleep.

 

Two Hatchlings

The mama flew when I walked out the door tonight to get the mail.  I looked at the nest and I was pretty sure I saw movement.  Ben set up the ladder clear across the driveway and I climbed up with my zoom lens.  Exciting, but kind of a little freaky, too.  They look so, so fragile.

Four Eggs

Using my zoom lens, we spied on the nest today.

 

Unexpected

My sons surprised me with a flower delivery this morning.

 

Petunia

When I saw this petunia in the catalog, I knew I had to plant my own baskets this year.

 

Mrs. Robin

We have a robin for a neighbor.  She's almost on top of the door we use all the time.  Last week we spied the nest, but using a ladder, we could see there were no eggs.

I still don't know about eggs, but she spends a lot of time sitting on the nest.

New Blossoms

I can't tell exactly how many times I have gone outside to check on the new plants.

We had unexpected problems with the water supply for the sprinklers, which isn't under our control.  We improvised.

I am very encouraged.

No Patience for the Impatiens

I ordered plants this year instead of having a nursery plant my baskets.  They arrived yesterday.  I thought they looked fantastic -- as good as if I'd just brought them home from the store.  We immediately planted them.  When we were finished, I found the planting instructions.  I was supposed to leave them in their containers, let them settle, allow them to get used to their new environment for 48 hours to a week!  I was supposed to water them sparingly with lukewarm water.  Well, I wasn't going to un-plant them.  They look pretty good this morning.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.