Life With The Crew

Morning Moments

A quiet Spring morning. 

Dewy grass, spiderwebs, Forget-me-nots, new shoots, sunlight sparkles.  

Capturing the Light

Today started off gray and humid - not very October like.  It's been rather warm this week, up into the 60's.  I suppose it is nice that the cold weather hasn't set in for good yet, but it is odd to have a frost, but then I'm still picking red raspberries.  The leaf show this year has been amazing here in Pennsylvania and I am thankful every day that I live in such a beautiful state.  I think I'd get rather depressed in a place with no trees or trees that stayed green all the time.  They say variety is the spice of life (at least in some things - my morning raw milk maple latte does not vary.)  And really, the cycle of the seasons is a constant (at least for now...)

Here are a couple backyard photos from a golden afternoon in late October.  Trying to capture the light, to store it and dole it out a little each day throughout the coming months.

However, I'm not too melancholy about it because I actually love the cozy season of Winter.  Though sunflowers are nice too.

 

A Slight Shift

Only almost the middle of August, but there were definitely more than a couple of red leaves on the forest floor.  Definitely enough to draw notice and think, hmm, in a couple of weeks both the ground and I will be wearing more than we what we are today.  The mornings will be chillier, although the days will continue to be warm.  After a hot dry spell, today was a wonderful breath of relief, a just right morning in the woods by the lake.  

As we do most of the time, we had the woods to ourselves, and they were abnormally quiet today.  Wood Pewees, a couple of Rufous-sided Towhees, a Downy woodpecker, and bush birdies that I couldn't identify.  I only just discovered that the call that I've been hearing in the woods, the song that has been driving me crazy because I heard it constantly yet never saw the singer, is the Wood Pewee.  My husband used the power of technology, using the Merlin app from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.  I now walk through the woods a little more peacefully because I'm not racking my brain trying to figure out what I'm hearing.  We all have something that drives us crazy - sitting in traffic, people that drive too slow, people who don't pick up their dog's poop, that unidentified bird in the woods (actually all of those things raise my stress level...)

Hope you have a great weekend!

An August Morning in Blooms

It has been several months since I've visited this space.  Not for any one particular reason, just life.  But this morning we didn't have anywhere to go, the not so little babe who will always be my babe, was lounging in bed reading, and the sunlight was looking lovely.  And when I was out there puttering in the flowerbed with my camera, it felt good and I think I felt some stress melt away. 

The past couple days have been hot, while the nights are cooler and I think there is a very early feeling of that season to come.  August here means homegrown tomatoes, pesto making, backyard bouquets, happy pollinators on the native plants that only come into their own this month, Red-tailed hawks circling and screaming overhead during the heat of the day, good book reading in the afternoons (well that is anytime of the year actually), and cooling baths for the horses.  I've been filling up various containers of water around the yard every morning for the birds and insects, along with the large containers for the ducks.  I feel slightly guilty when I have as much water available as I want, when so many in the world have to hope for theirs.

I'm thankful for what I have.

Spring Musings

Little round balls the size of marbles, what do you hold inside?

I hold a gem, a little round ball as black as obsidian.

After a while I burst and I am a tadpole!

Soon I will lose my tail and grow legs and I will be a frog and have eggs of my own!

~P, age 9

Is Spring a thing you can see?  I saw a Wood frog hop away from me.

Is Spring a thing you can hear?  I heard the Robin singing with cheer.

Is Spring a thing you can feel?  I touched a slimy slug and it made me squeal!

Spring is near, Spring is here! I'm glad it comes back every year.

~Katie, age whatever

 

A Winter's Day

A Winter's day, perhaps the last real one, as the temps sound like they'll be a little more mild in the coming month of March.  And judging by the large flocks of robins we've been seeing, Spring is definitely on the way.  On this gray snowy day, we spotted a Brown Creeper busily looking for lunch on a Tulip Poplar and two Bald Eagles swirling around each other in the overcast sky.  With snowflakes lazily drifting down, we slipped our way over the ice through the field and wood.

With the upheaval in the world today, people's lives being threatened and destroyed by greed and power, I do not take these moments for granted.  These moments of peace and calmness with my daughter.  We admire the world around us, ask questions, notice details, and soak up the quiet.  And hope that some of it sticks with us as we go about our days.

February Beginnings

February started with the slight tease of Spring, and after frigid single digits, I felt guilty still feeling cold at "just freezing".  But then the rain changed to ice and the season meter was pushed firmly back to "Winter".  

I'm okay with that.  There are still audiobooks to listen to ("King of the Wind" by Marguerite Henry), books to read (The  Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson), and knitting projects.  My sidekick has been knitting a pink blanket for her kitten.  She first tried knitting when she was 8, which is an age that I had heard kids could pick it up.  She learned the knitting motion and was able to make several small squares, but only this winter (age 9), did it really click.  She has been knitting for an hour a day and asked to learn how to purl also.  I love seeing her sitting by the fire, listening to an audio, and knitting away on this blanket for her beloved Tiny Tim.  (And he had better appreciate all the hours and love she is putting into it!)

We have been hearing Great Horned owls calling in the early evening, as early as 6pm.  In Winters past, I have heard them in the middle of the night while my daughter was sleeping, so it was nice to be able to share it with her now.  This is the time period when they are choosing mates, so I've often heard one voice calling and then another answer from farther away.  I'm so glad that even in the suburbs, wildlife has figured out how to thrive around us.

On the knitting front, this wonderfully soft wool shawl with a lace pattern along the bottom is listed in my shop.  I just LOVE the color and would like it to find a home so I am not tempted to wear it!

In the Deep Midwinter

While the dark days of December may seem like the height of Winter, we're only approaching midwinter now.  Luckily the bitter dark nights are offset by the slightly less frigid days of bright sunshine, its strong rays calling to us to come outside and play despite the coldness we know is there waiting.  And because the lure of that golden sun on crisp white snow is strong and because one can only knit so much before her finger joints start to ache and because a wild child is always easier to deal with after she has breathed fresh air into her lungs and mind - we venture out.

One of our favorite places, icy cold and quiet in January, with just the chattering Chickadees and the moaning ice to keep us company.  Lake side cattails serve as a winter replacement for milk weed pods.  Beauty is all around, all the time.

 

 

Bad Day to be a Duck

We woke to an icy world today.  The frigid temps had warmed enough overnight for some of the snow to melt and then the rains came and everything was enrobed in ice.  Very pretty; pretty deadly.  Any surface that had partially melted is now super slick ice.  The ducks are NOT happy.  I spread wood shavings in their yard, but if they pick up too much speed, they slip and slide on their amply padded chests.  They could stay in their dry hut, but apparently there are still too many things to see and do on a day like this.  Gotta love their determination.

On the birding front, the feeder and suet block have been receiving a lot of action during these cold days.  If you're interested, this is a list of the birds that we have seen since Jan 1.  If not stated otherwise, they were sighted in our backyard in the suburbs.  Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Cardinal (M&F), Mourning Dove pair, White Breasted Nuthatch, Downy Woodpecker, House Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, Junco, American Robin, Starling, Cedar Waxwing, Carolina Wren, Blue Jay, Goldfinch, Red-Tailed Hawk, Tundra Swan (adult and juvenile at local wetlands), Coopers or Sharp Shinned Hawk (difficult to tell apart), Turkey Vulture, Pigeons (farmland), Mallard, Kestrel (on telephone wire near farmland).

 

Happy For What We Get

Just a couple of snow day photos.  This is our first "real" snow of the season even though it is barely 3 inches.  In a Winter that has been insanely warm so far, we'll be happy for what we get (those of us that enjoy the white stuff that is.)