Around The Countryside...

On May 20th, I took this picture of the phoebes in the rafters, and discovered not four, but five of the little birds! The next day, I went out to capture more photos, expecting them to be exploring a little and perhaps catching them in the act of learning to fly. They were gone. The nest was empty.  This was the last shot, before they left the nest for good. 

Five little phoebes.

 

The off and on again rain has made for some pretty cloud cover. Sometimes we only have a little, other times fluffy puffs float across the sky. Sunrise as we head to the bridge.

A puffy cloud is outlined by the sun.

A closer shot of the puffy cloud.

Buddy surveys the kingdom while Sammy gets a back scratch from Richard. 

This little guy tucked in as soon as the dogs got curious!

Porch sitting at Mom's and Pa's.  The little yellow finches are dominating the South Pole feeder.

Went to The Cook Shack (https://www.facebook.com/TheCookShack/) for dinner and a Luna moth had parked on the window screen all day.  Thanks to proprietor, Pam, for taking the picture for me!

We had to run an errand in a nearby town and took the scenic route home.  The cows in the pasture and the clouds in the sky made for a pastoral scene.

This old barn holds the timbers of its former glory, faded with time. 

The peach tree is fruiting out and is growing tall, too.

The raised beds - left is the potatoes and right is the lettuce, radishes and green beans. We hope to enclose the entire garden area, including the fruit trees and bushes, in a covered cage to keep the wild critters from eating our food!

First harvest of the strawberries. There was only one, the others are still ripening.

Stormy Weather...

We had a few days of almost cloudless weather, and then the spring showers came along. It's been really good for the garden, not so good for the morning walks. 

 

The weather is capricious, this clear sky is what we saw as we went around the bend.

The cool of the night causes a light fog, and the warm mornings burn it off. About ten minutes after I took this picture, the low-lying fog was gone. 

On the way home, this rabbit stood and watched us for a few minutes. He was about ten feet away from us, and although both dogs were showing interest, the bunny didn't move for a bit, and then he casually hopped off, unafraid of the dogs. 

Buddy sulks when it's cloudy and rainy, he doesn't get to go for a walk, and often, he doesn't want to go outside if it is thundering and/or if there's lightning.

Of course, Christian loves it when we stay inside because of the storms, he gets to lollygag all over my desk, occasionally stirring to climb in my lap for a cuddle.

The phoebe chicklets are growing fast, here's all four of them (one is only showing tail feathers).

Richard is still archiving old photos (both hard copy and on digital media). He came across this one. This was taken in 1989. I think it's our last Change Of Command ceremony while in Guam, Richard is wearing his sword because he was the Officer In Charge for the ceremony. The tradition dates back to the old days, when a party of officers was attacked at a gathering, and none had weapons. It was then decreed that the OIC would always have a weapon...hence, the sword.

A Perfect Horizon...

Usually, when we leave the homestead, the sun isn't visible. It's sunrise, but we can't see it due to the high horizon and trees. But occasionally, we leave a little late, and then we can see it.

 

Sunrise over our trees and driveway.

Going around the bend and down the hill, the sun disappears again, but leaves a coral glow in the clouds.

 

Sammy is so joyful about being out, that she and I run ahead of Richard and Buddy. But every few feet, she stops suddenly, and makes sure that they are still behind us. 

Every year the swallows nest in the crevices under the bridge.  When we approach, they start flying about, trying to chase us away. It's hard to tell in the photo, but there's a cloud of black spots in the air in front of the trees, and one swallow to the left, between the rail and the cement barrier. 

Pa has left a portion of his yard wild, a small patch we call the jungle. It is home to a host of birds, bunnies, and probably other wildlife. There were two bunnies, but one ran off. This one stood still as a statue for several long minutes. When my camera flashed, it took off.

Several turkeys nest just behind the parents' property.  Pa puts out corn for them daily. This young hen came up by herself yesterday. They usually come in groups.  

As we walk down my parents' private road, the scent of roses fills the air. These are wild multi-flora roses, they do not have the big, tight buds or numerous petals of modern roses. The scent is richer, with a slight cinnamon overtone, that accompanies us all the way home.  

We know Spring is here when the robins arrive. Usually, they are fat from winter feeding. As they take to nesting, the birds tend to slim down a bit, from all the work of building a nest and raising their young. This robin was hopping about the yard yesterday. 

We always have butterflies, and though I've seen quite a few, they've not been settling down so I can get pictures! However, this Red-Spotted Admiral finally allowed me to get a photo before it flew off.  

A late-blooming iris.  Just FYI - we planted only light lavender irises. I'm not sure what causes them to change color, but everyone up and down the road now has some white and deep purple irises, too. 

 

A walk about the property revealed that the lilacs I planted to honor the memory of Richard's mother, Alma, are finally blooming. One of them struggled for a couple years, but both are now doing well.

The potato bed is thriving. Yes, we know the bricks need to be re-pointed...all in due time!

The peach tree is thriving, we were worried about the late frost killing the blooms, but we covered it with blankets (and damaged quite a few blooms), and somehow, most of them have turned into peaches! Still have to figure out how to keep the wildlife from eating them before we can harvest!

Sunrise And Some Wild Life...

We take our walks early in the morning, often walking out of our driveway before the sun is fully up. The pink stretch is the sun below the horizon, glowing off the clouds. 

It's an odd thing, but through the mile to the bridge, the sky changes colors, and the surrounding area can look completely different in the light just a few yards away as we walk.

 

Pink sky at morning.

 

As we continue down the road, the sun starts comping up.

 

Halfway down the road, the sun plays peekaboo.

 

Along the way, the domestic life takes a peek at the strangers in their midst.

 

A ground web is covered in dew.

 

Not sure of the genus just yet, I'm guessing it's a duskywing, but I'm awaiting confirmation.

Morning Walks...

Almost every morning we walk Buddy to the bridge.  I take pictures along the way if anything catches my interest. These photos were taken on different days.

 

This is right outside our driveway, looking east (the bridge is to the west). Sunrise was very pretty, with the pink clouds and blue skies.

 

A lovely golden sunrise, taken just about halfway to the bridge over an adjacent meadow.

 

At the creek, there's a beaver family, they've been there for years.  We rarely see the beaver, but lately, the animal's been a little less shy and I've taken some decent pictures. Here he completely ignored us, and continued to eat. 

 

I don't believe this is the beaver lodge, it's just a pile of sticks gathered together. The lodge is situated under the bank on the opposite side.

 

The beaver is now swimming towards the lodge. The pile of sticks is to it's left. By the way, the pile of sticks is now gone from the creek a week or so later.

 

A turtle rose to the surface to check us out.

 

A raccoon runs across the meadow and into a drainage pipe to hide, probably from us, despite our distance from it.

Around The Homestead...

 

Wispy pink clouds at sunrise.

 

A bird's nest I found on the ground by the well...guess the wind blew it out of the tree. 

 

Buddy looking handsome.

 

Dinah hides in Tayla's stroller. 

Christian does what he does best. NAP!