let the sun shine in...

We had our last torrential rain storm on Friday!  Thankfully we didn't lose any trees this time, although we heard the cracking of trees or big limbs falling in the woods fairly regularly.  It's gardenia time, but delicate white flowers and constant wet do not mix well.

However, they persevered, and new blooms are ready to burst open!

The ducks love the rainy weather.

The goz do too.  I see them daily feeding on soggy vegetation down by the pond.  They're getting so big!  The oldest ones have finally taken on their adult coloration. 

They grow up so fast...sniff sniff!  At least the babies are still babies!

Meanwhile, since the weather is finally dry, Clotilde has settled on the stairs outside our sun room.  Tabitha objects strenuously but there's nothing she can do, really, except be grumpily watchful.

A bit of excitement on the front porch!  Last week, I noticed a finch egg smashed on the driveway.  Odd...how did it get out of the nest?  When I had time the next day, I checked and saw this:

Amazing!  See the larger speckled egg?  That's a cowbird egg.  Cowbirds don't make their own nests.  They watch and wait.  When they see a bird leave an existing nest, they sneak in, steal and destroy an egg, and replace it with one of their own.  The nest owner doesn't suspect a thing, even when the cowbird egg hatches a week before the others and the young bird is unusually big.  So the young cowbird will be bigger, stronger, and get more food than the other finches in this nest.  Sometimes they smother their competition. Mama cowbird, however, can move on without a thought and continue depositing eggs.  She can lay up to EIGHTY EGGS in a 2-year period!  But many don't survive, which will likely be the case here.  Cowbirds eat insects, and these finch fledglings will be fed seeds.  The young cowbird will probably starve.  There's a big internet debate about whether people should remove and destroy cowbird eggs when they are found in other nests, but I try to have a non-interference policy.  I'm curious to see what happens here! 

Work has been slow, and I've been working on things that don't make a big mess that have to be frantically cleaned up for showings, like puzzles.  I am an addict and have finished two in the past 2 weeks.

But soon, I won't have time for puzzles.

We sold our house!  As long as all goes well with inspections, etc., we close in early July.  It still seems unbelievable.  I'm not sure when we're packing up the house...where we'll stay when we reach Indiana...if we'll be buying or renting while we look.  For this type A person who's a compulsive planner, this is both exciting and scary!  Especially when we'll have truckloads of merchandise, 2 cats, and a dog.  But at least I know that it's going to be an adventure!

Have a great week!

Some Bunny To Love

Todd and I went on a quick jaunt to Indianapolis for a weekend wedding.  The day before the wedding, though, we stayed in Bloomington, Indiana.  Todd lived, worked, and studied in Bloomington for almost a decade.  He moved to Indianapolis after we got married, and we just didn't take the time to visit Bloomington very much after that.  We have missed it greatly, and on this trip Todd kept saying, "I just didn't appreciate Bloomington enough when I lived here."

(Note:  because I hate juggling multiple lenses on short trips, I brought Todd's junky camera.  Junky camera + low late afternoon light = less-than-crisp photos.  You have been warned!)

After driving around town and through the surrounding countryside, we visited Griffy Lake, just minutes from the IU campus.  No motorboats allowed, and lots of wildlife, so it was a favorite place for us to kayak.

Ahhhhh...

It's a wildlife preserve, so lots of birds.

A male red-wing blackbird peeked out of the foliage at shoreline.

Frogs croaked contentedly.

A great blue heron stalked, then caught, a blue gill.

I've always loved the IU campus.  So many beautiful buildings, flowers, walking trails, and green space!

...and, a surprising amount of wildlife!  Besides plenty of birds and squirrels, Todd spotted a chipmunk eating berries.

We saw at least 4 rabbits, including a baby.

I think I'm going to have to add a few rabbits to our eventual farm.  I love them!  Speaking of rabbits, I just ordered 2 rabbit art prints from a textile artist in the UK.  I can't afford her actual embroidered scenes, which cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars, but the prints of her work are very high-quality and detailed.  This is the same rabbit, one with summer and one with winter coat.  The embroidery work is amazing, but I couldn't seem to pick up the detail with my camera after I'd framed them.

They measure 8" x 8" and make me so happy!

After our lengthy car trip, we were happy to discover that all the gardenia bushes are in full bloom. We have tons of them and the air is so fragrant.

Our hydrangeas, too, are showing signs of life.  After years of nothing, I think we may actually get some blossoms!

In other news, I ordered a quilt kit from Craftsy called WALLFLOWER QUILT.  I love the super cheerful fabric, which includes a knitted print (stockinette), and one with sprinkles!

The finished quilt will look like this:

I'm still slowly working away at my Colorado quilt, but I'm not in any hurry.

Have a great week!

Strawberry jams and goslings "hams"

90 degree + heat and humidity notwithstanding, we've been spending a little time down by the water.

Todd has been working on cutting up the tree that fell a few weeks ago.

Thankfully a local resident is cutting up/taking most of it!  Down by the pond, I have to make loud, sliding steps, because the ground is covered by teeny tiny southern toads, no bigger than my thumb nail.

I've seen "the goz" down there several times, too.  Oh, they're getting so big!

Borga hangs out on her chain...

...or staring with adoration at "Daddy" when he takes a break from work.

I saw a single magnolia in bloom here last week...

...but we have lots of gardenias blooming now.  Especially in this heat, the fragrance is intense!

A friend gave me 3 pounds of fresh strawberries recently.  Aren't they gorgeous?

I made sorbet with 1 pound, but decided to make jam with the other 2 pounds.  All the recipes I found, though, called for FOUR CUPS of sugar per 2 pounds (or 4 cups) of strawberries.  Although I understood that sugar affected not only the taste, but the texture as well, I only added 1 1/2 cups.  I threw in some lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and 2 TB unflavored gelatin to help with the structure. Thirty minutes later - perfectly sweet, perfectly "jellied" jam!

I also (re)discovered the wonders of coconut milk ice cream.  Todd doesn't eat dairy, so when I read you could throw chilled coconut milk, raw honey, salt, and vanilla into your ice cream machine and get actual ice cream, I was thrilled.  I pulverized some chocolate chips to throw in at the end and got the most amazing chocolate coconut ice cream ever.

It is just as caloric as dairy ice cream, but much healthier.  And supposedly your body metabolizes the coconut fat in a different way than animal fat, so win-win!

If you don't have an ice cream maker, you can freeze the mixture in ice cube trays and toss the frozen cubes into your blender for a similar effect.  The recipe is here if you want to give it a try.

Have a great week!