pollen fallin'

A red-tailed hawk has been spending a lot of time in our backyard lately.

I'm usually alerted to his presence by the cawing of crows.  A group of crows can 'mob' a hawk in a pre-emptive strike, and it's interesting to watch them gather on branches around the hawk and engage in intimidating swooping.  I wonder if this is the same hawk that spent so much time around here last year.  Check out that red tail!  

 

Hawks are doing slow circles in the sky every day.  They  make beautiful silhouettes.

The birds are definitely out lately.  When I go outside in the morning to feed the strays, it's usually still dark.  But there's a cacophony of sound from the birds.  I do my best to identify calls.  I love hearing one of my favorites, the house finch.  They're such cheerful little birds, and now they're everywhere, preparing nests! 

It's a bittersweet time of year, because the camellias are finished.  Oh, I can still get a few from the bushes, but they're limp within a day or so.  The azaleas are popping out, at least!

Even my favorite azalea is opening up.

The usual bouquets...they make me happy.

A brief period of pollen...

...and more signs of spring.  New fern fronds unfurling in our backyard...

...and woodland flowers in the woods.

Sweet Clotilde sleeps on our back stairs, watching it all happen!

Meanwhile, I have done little knitting and no sewing.  Just so busy.  But I did take some time out to bake a cake when we had company recently.  I used to bake layer cakes, but we'd always have so much leftover cake.  Now my go-to is the simple chocolate loaf cake from Smitten Kitchen.  It doesn't need any embellishment, but sometimes I whip up a little sour cream chocolate frosting.

Absolutely perfect...and nearly no leftovers!  :)

Have a great week! 

It's a BOO-tiful morning!

IT'S COOL OUTSIDE!  I felt like pulling a Julie Andrews this morning as I took in deep, chilly breaths.  True, we're supposed to be back in the upper 70s in a few days, but this morning it was in the thirties.  At last, at long last!  The hills are alive!!

The leaves, too!  I'm loving the colors that we're finally, finally starting to see.

Our dogwoods are showing the most change...

...but most trees are just barely tipped in color.

Todd and I were finally able to sit comfortably by the pond and watch the rain.  Yes, it rained (insert another Julie Andrews spin here)!

It's so nice to be outside again, checking out interesting fungus...

...and watching the insects!  Here is a syphid fly, a bee mimic.

Acorns are falling like crazy...maybe even more than last year! 

I'm keeping a very close eye on our camellias.  They've got some beautiful buds...maybe we're within a couple of weeks of full bloom!

Our early bloomers are already popping!

Meanwhile, our cats are falling into their regular cooler-weather rhythm.  Seeking out sunbeams...

...and, when the heat is on, sleeping on the registers under the couch to maximize their comfort.

It's nearly Halloween!  I ordered our cards...

...and baked Oreos.

Our scary movie marathon has already begun!  Hooray!

I have been trying to knit, but it is just killing my hands.  I finally switched back to Portuguese mid-sock, but it's slow going.  I think I should finally have these socks done within 2 weeks.  I've been doing my usual sampler quilt project, trying to complete one block per day.

And, I started a new quilt.  I know, I know.  I have a queen-sized quilt waiting to be sandwiched and quilted, plus this sampler quilt.  But here's how the rabbit hole of quilting goes.  I got an email from a fabric store, indicating that the fabric I bought recently...

...had gone on sale.  Hmmm.  I'd bought a pre-cut lot (half yard, I think) and had no idea what I was going to do with it, but maybe I ought to take advantage of this sale?  What if I needed sashing?  Binding? Quick, pick a quilt design, just to see if I had enough fabric or might need a little more.

This is perfect.   Four fabric patterns per 12 inch block.  I have 20 different fabrics in my pre-cut bundle, which equals out to five different color combinations.  The block is simple enough, and would show off the fabric well.

Maybe I ought to just make one to see how it looks...

Before I knew it, the whole first row was done and I was cutting up the fabric for the second row!  It will be mix-and-match...seven blocks of each color combination of four, plus there's enough leftover fabric from each color combo to create a few random ones.  I didn't intend to start another quilt, but I did, and now I'm alternating one sampler block with one welcome block.  I never did take advantage of that sale, either.  I'll just see how it looks once all the blocks are completed.  I LOVE the peach, navy, and cream color combination, and this fabric has birds, feathers, and flowers.  Love!!  It will be a great winter project. 

Happy Halloween!

The 'morel' of the story...

Spring has sprung for sure around here - even a month ago, that cold snap aside.  Everything is so green.

We've started going down to the pond after supper.  Sometimes the geese are out, and even a mysterious creature that might be a beaver or river otter, but most likely a muskrat.

It's funny how things fall into a yearly schedule here.  Percival Wemys, the intrepid Carolina wren, has come back and is sleeping on our front porch again.

Once again, I hung up my big ferns, and once again, they were immediately colonized by house finches.  Here's the red-capped male...

...and the plainer female.

I pulled down the ferns and saw that a very solid nest was already in one, with no eggs.  Of course a nest can't be disturbed if eggs are inside, but it's fine if no eggs have been laid (other than the birds' annoyance at having to build a new nest elsewhere).  The fact is, I'm in and out of that door all day, and the birds would constantly be disturbed.  I'd also be unable to water my ferns.  I read that birds dislike shiny things, so I make aluminum foil 'snakes' and coiled them amid the fronds.  Here is the male looking quizzically at the new development:

I felt pangs of guilt all day, but I'm happy to report that I still hear the finches singing every day and they've clearly stayed close, but built a new nest elsewhere.  Phew!

Clematis are blooming!  I'm not a huge fan of these floppy purple varieties...too tropical-looking...but I still pick them for the house.

Their centers almost seem to glow in the light!

We've still got our late-blooming azaleas:

...but I'm afraid that these are the last of the camellias.

I'll even miss all the insects that get dragged in with them.  This is a Zelus luridus, the pale green assassin bug.  They set "sticky traps" to catch other insects.  I'd love to see one in action!

Well, until I have time to get outside and search for insects, I can still enjoy all the green, and the dogwoods, from the sun porch.  The cats have set up in there, where they'll remain for the next 8 months:

They love all the windows.  Here's Tabitha, fierce hunter, preparing to attack a hapless butterfly:

All around us, buds on trees are unfurling.  Oh, spring is a beautiful thing.

We've even got some morels coming up in the yard, although Todd refuses to believe my mushroom-identifying ability.  Hey, I was mushroom hunting by the time I was 5 or 6 years old, but I guess this one will remain uneaten! #trustissues

I just haven't had much time for craft work, but hopefully I'll have something to report soon.

Have a great week!