Green Thumb Sunday

Today is the most beautiful of beautiful of beautiful snows! It's just falling straight down in huge flakes. Interspersed with two photos of the same, almost-a-blossom on my friends' "Christmas Cactus," you'll find a couple of photos of the snowfall from the front window. Have a wonderful day.

Quite the study in contrasts, wouldn't you say? :-)

Garden Bloggers' Muse Day (a little late)

My Winter gardening efforts are often reflected in the bit of quilting I try to accomplish. I found this quilting poem online. There was no title nor was credit given an author. Finally you'll find a photo of the quilt I'm finishing for one of my granddaughters (age 2). :-)

I've been told that a quilt is not supposed to be "perfect." So, if you look closely you'll find that mine is not.

A Quilting Poem
author unknown

This quilt is made of cloth and thread
To place upon your little bed.
It's not an heirloom-just to keep,
But to lay upon as you count sheep.
Or perhaps the floor's the perfect place
For a doll and teddy picnic space.
This quilt can be anything you can dream-
From superman's cape to the robe of a queen.
Pretend it's a raft adrift at sea,
Or just cuddle up when you watch TV.
So use it up and wear it out-
I promise I won't yell or pout.
Just tell me when its days are through,
And I'll make another, just for you.

If you want a pattern for the above quilt,
click on this link. Quilt

From "Grandma Shady"

Literary Wildflowers - Week Three

What a lot of fun this was! :-)

Below:
Purple Coneflower Echinacea purpurea, Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta,

Below:
Wild Bergamot Monarda Fistulosa in front of raspberries

Below:
Thanks to iboy, a positive i.d. has been made on this plant.
Germander Teucrium canadense is a native perennial.
It grows in colonies, up to 3 feet tall.
There are two horn-like projections
on each flower.

Below:
Purple Coneflower in front of a ?Sunflower? (seems like a lot of petals),
in front of Queen Anne's Lace Daucus carota (Parsley family) and, I believe, a variety of Goldenrod (not blooming).
From one of our field guides re: Q.A.Lace: "This plant is the ancestor of our cultivated carrot. It is considered a weed in Nebraska."

Below:
Thanks to i boy and mjd for identifying the Horsenettle Solanum carolinense
in the foreground. These flowers are white and turn lavendar with age. The plant and its fruit are poisonous to both humans and livestock.
I see some Wild Parsnip Pastinaca sativa (not native), about to bloom on the left. Many people are left with a severe rash (worse than poison ivy) if skin contacts blooming plant. Behind that, I think, is Daisy Fleabane Erigeron strigosus of the Sunflower family.

Some of my "helpers."

I'd Leave
I'd leave all the hurry,

the noise and the fray
For a house full of books
and a garden of flowers
by Andrew Lang

Here at home.


If Flowers Want to Grow

If flowers want to grow
right out of concrete sidewalk cracks
I'm going to bend down to smell them.
by David Ignatow

Or in this case, right in the middle of the front yard! :-)

Thanks to Wildflowers in Winter for the great idea!

Project FeederWatch Post

Project Feeder Watch

Sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Just look at this cute little Red-breasted Nuthatch below.
He's only about 2/3 the size of the White-breasted Nuthatch more commonly seen.

I try very hard to watch my bird feeders for periods of time on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Below you can see a Flicker, a Black-capped Chickadee and a White-breasted Nuthatch.
Project FeederWatch is a good outlet for people who like to feed birds, learn about them, and keep track of the different variety at their feeders. In other words, it gives a legitimate excuse for taking time to watch the bird feeders! :-)

Below is a male Northern Cardinal.

Project FeederWatch depends upon volunteers in Canada and the United States to monitor the presence of the Winter birds at their feeders from November through April 4. Much information is gleaned from the weekly/biweekly observations as to the numbers of birds, changes in the population, unusual sightings, etc. There is a nominal fee to join, meant to defray expenses. Participants also receive an informational journal by mail.

Here are two White-breasted Nuthatches and a Black-capped Chickadee.

I've just downloaded the a copy of the Winter Bird Highlights 2006/2007 publication. After breaking the continent into zones, they compiled graphs listing the top 25 birds sighted within each zone and the average numbers of each variety sighted at a feeder at a time. There is so much more information, as well.

Reporting upon the variety of birds at your bird feeder means that you monitor the number of birds of each variety that you see at or around your specific feeder/s at one time. If the number of these particular birds increase (or decrease) at any one time, you indicate the greatest number you've seen at one time together, that day of that variety. After a two-day recording time, you Never combine the numbers. You only report the highest number of each variety of bird seen at your feeder/s on either of the two days. I thought I'd give you an example of what I've seen these past two days. Bear in mind that due to the fact that I've only a total of less than an hour for my observations this time.

January 30/31
Flicker: 1 Downy Woodpecker: 2
Blue Jay: 3 American Goldfinch: 10
Northern Cardinal: 5 Black-capped Chickadee: 3
Tufted Titmouse: 1 White-breasted Nuthatch: 2
House Finch: 3 Red-breasted Nuthatch: 1
House Sparrows: 20 Dark-eyed Junco: 15
Mourning Dove: 6 Red-bellied Woodpecker: 1
Hairy Woodpecker: 0

I was a late-comer to this project. My first report was the first week or so in January. Never let it be said that you can second-guess anything! I remember thinking, during my second week of FeederWatch, that I probably wouldn't seen anything new... just more or less of the birds I usually see. Boy, was I wrong. The Lord, in creating the great diversity of bird, smiled at me the next week. I saw a Rufous-sided Towhee! And the next week, another surprise: A Sharp-shinned Hawk. There you go. Don't take anything for granted - be ready for those pleasant surprises! LOL!

Nothing "Shady" here! ;-)

Oh! I might add that just as I was ready to photograph a squirrel drinking from my Heated Bird Bath, he jumped off. I'll try again.

Yippee! I'm Stuck at Home!

This morning at 8:30 a.m. it was 30 degrees Fahrenheit. At 10:30 a.m. it was 6 degrees F. I don't know where it is now. The wind has mounted and it's snowing quite a bit, now (and the wind is blowing quite briskly). The ice returned to the birdbath, so I plugged in that new heater. ;-) I placed another small stone on the other side for weight.So far, I've captured a photo of a sparrow.While visiting with my dad on the phone, a house finch, a sparrow, and a junco each enjoyed a drink. So, it's worth the effort.
Why don't you try your hand at adding a final stanza to the Beverages poem at this posting?

School was called off this morning and children were taken home. Organizations have canceled meetings. In celebration of the weather, I've decided to try my hand at bread-baking. I haven't done anything like that for years, I think. If you're interested in seeing a recipe, I'll post it here. Later, when I'm done, I'll post a photo of the finished product. Hopefully it turns out! :-)

There's Been a Slight Change in the Weather
(sung to "My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean)

There's been a slight change in the weather.
The wind has brought cold temp'ratures.
The snow is all swirly and twisty
and indoors pursuits provide cures.

Winter
Weather
Perfect for staying indoors, indoors!
Winter
Weather
Bread Baking beats scrubbing floors!

The temp'rature's now close to zero.
The wind chill must be mighty cold.
And Shady's the birds' brand new hero,
'cuz her water will never get cold.

Winter
Weather
Perfect for staying indoors, indoors!
Winter

Weather...

But how do I get to the store?

Just hold the applause. ;-)

PS: A couple more photos:
The wind is wilder,
the snow is snowier,
and the birds are moving in
closer.




Look for 3 - 4 cardinals at
the feeder,
several on the ground,




and one on the bird bath! :-)

January 23-29 A Winter Image

I couldn't stray outside the yard yesterday, but here are some reminders of either days gone by or those yet to come. ;-)

A variety of low-growing sedum

and

Heuchera "Lime Rickey"

And I know these aren't wildflowers, but it is evidence of plant life in Winter. And the amended rules tell us we can enter domestic flowers or plants during this season. ;-)

Wow! A Balmy Day in January!

It was fifty-two degrees Fahrenheit today.

Wearing a light jacket and armed with a telescoping pruning saw/bypass cutter combination, I was a woman on a mission! Look out unwanted tree branches!

This is a photo of a backyard tree trunk where I'd done a little surgery.

This is the refuse at the base of this same tree.

And this is an expanded view of the backyard with limb refuse everywhere!
I'd begun this demolition duty in the front yard, on the north side of the driveway.
I just piled the limbs onto those still lying there waiting to be hauled away.
(Remember the ice damage in December?)

It felt so good to be working outdoors! :-)

The first thing I did today had to do with
bird-pleasing. After all, Shady's Retreat
Restaurant isn't any good without beverage.
(see Garden Author)

If it's beverages they want, then beverages they'll get! ;-)

Beverages

Chirping and flitting,
and fluttering about,
they all found the seed to be tasty.
BUT
Unrest was contagious;
Their thirst was outrageous.
Providing fresh water's not "wasty!"

"Okay!"replied Shady as she
plugged in the heater,
"This decision's never been hasty."

(I think that has to be the end of that!)
Or perhaps YOU have another stanza? ;-)