Duck, Duck, GOSLINGS!!!

I've been peering across the pond, trying to keep an eye on our nesting goose...

...and I've finally been rewarded.  It's GOSLING TIME!!!!!  I've yet to get close enough for a good photo because the parents are very protective.  Here they are, across the pond...

...and I managed to get a quick shot this morning as they glided past our deck.

This group has a lucky number of seven goslings.  I just love watching them.  They grow so quickly!  I noticed that they're a little early.  Last year we didn't have goslings until the week of May 22nd. 

Speaking of birds, a really lovely red-tailed hawk landed in a tree outside my office window.  I fumbled for the camera and got two quick shots, one as he was turning to leave and one as he was taking off.  Still, his bright rust-colored tail feathers were on full display!

When we first moved to South Carolina, I quickly learned that many of the plants I had in our Indiana yard (columbines, lilacs, hydrangeas) didn't seem to do well here.  I just couldn't do without my peonies, though, and planted several.  Many were destroyed when our front trees came down, but four plants remained.  And, three years after planting,  ONE BUSH BLOOMED!  The flowers became very "blowsy" (as I call it) very quickly, not maintaining their original shape and drooping open after just a day or so.  Still, I really loved seeing them, even just for a few days.

Normally I take tons of photos over a typical weekend, but Todd and I have just been too busy.  The weather is perfect - no humidity, cool and in the 70s most of the day before climbing into the low 80s in the mid afternoon.  This is the time of year where we throw ourselves into yard work and last-minute house projects.  Todd is excavating our crawl space and building a concrete-walled room to create extra storage, and I've been doing the weeding/planting/pruning/staking yard maintenance work.  Our fence is up but not quite done yet, but Todd took some time out to make a second walkway.  The first was mainly for aesthetics, since our little tree right beside the path necessitated a pretty stooped walk to get past it.

I've mainly kept the camera next to me outside because I keep looking around and thinking, "Oh, it's so green!"  I don't know if it's the extra sun exposure that we have since cutting down those trees, but everything - the ferns, the liriope, the helleborus - is positively spreading and filling in everywhere.  I also hope that won't backfire on us in the heat of the summer, but I'm just going to enjoy it while I can.

I've got a few obligatory red geraniums on the porch, but haven't had time to do much else.

By June the yard will be in maintenance mode, the fence and spare room will be completed, and all the other little projects too.  We'll be able to spend evenings by the water, grilling out and playing board games.  I can't wait!

Have a great week!

For the Birds

Daytime temperatures in our region of South Carolina tend to stay between 40 and 55 degrees in January, but one day last week, we had a glorious 65 degree day.  The sun was shining, a warm breeze was blowing, and all the little songbirds were out.  I had a stack of work to do and wasn't able to take much time away from it, but I did go outside with my new lens for a half hour and got some shots (as usual, you have to click on the picture to full-size it). 

Here's a Great Blue Heron out in the pond. 

I've been seeing this guy around for quite a while, and I love watching him fly.  A very graceful bird! 

We've got lots and lots of Eastern Bluebirds around here.  Actually, there are several pairs of Bluebirds nesting in boxes not ten feet from my office window.  This Bluebird is a female - not quite as brightly-colored as the male.  You can differentiate the juveniles, too, by their spotted breasts.

A little Chickadee...

Here's one of my favorites...the White-Breasted Nuthatch.

They have such inquisitive little faces.  

They like to creep down tree trunks, looking for insects or perhaps collecting nuts or acorns that they secreted in bark crevices at an earlier date.

Here is a common pose...downright jaunty!

I've seen so many other birds - Tufted Titmouse, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Finches, Wrens, Martins, etc., etc., but not much yet this year.  I'm going to be more intentional about keeping our feeders filled, and see who shows up to partake!

One final visitor in the late day was a lone Red-Tailed Hawk.

The lighting isn't great, but check out those talons!  He flew off before I could get any closer. 

Speaking of lighting, I'm experimenting with a lighting system we bought for my work.  Here is a small set-up in the front living room:

We've since included several more light stands.  Since we have so many trees, it's so difficult to get good lighting in the house.  I practiced on a houseplant.

Natural (but dim) lighting:

Artificial lighting and a blue background:

I appreciate being able to get a sharper image, and I know that I can probably digitally manipulate the background (somehow), but I think I'll mainly use this system for my work photos and not necessarily for my nature ones, unless it's insect photography.  I might pull out some of my samples and see what I can get to show up under really nice light.  I can't wait!

Have a great week!

Wandering Cables and Cards for Your Tables

The busy holiday season is upon us!  I barely had time to make Thanksgiving cards before going out of town for a week...AFTER being out of town for a long weekend.  I don't usually make Thanksgiving cards, but since I flaked out on Halloween this year, I felt more motivated to make something for this typically low-card-yield holiday.

These cards were easy to make.  I cut out brown rectangles for doors and used a ticket punch for the panels.  A large brown brad made a simple door knob.  I used my leaf punch for the wreath, and stamped out a tiny "Thankful" sign to hang beneath it.  Foam stickers beneath the door panels and the wreath gave them a more three-dimensional look.

I put each card in a clear plastic envelope and sealed them with a glittery oak leaf sticker.

I'm very please with how they turned out!  But speaking of leaves...we were absolutely inundated with them in our absence...despite two Saturdays with the leaf blower!

There's a driveway there somewhere!

The cats love to be outside in the leaves.  I try to take them out on the back deck every week to sniff around.

Most of the time, though, ESCAPE is the only thing on their minds.  I have to be very diligent.

We have stray cats around that like to loll on the deck and peek in our windows.  I like having them here, but I can't risk them fighting and potentially injuring our cats.

We also have lots of birds of prey, like this red-tailed hawk.  They've carried off neighborhood cats before!  (Click on photo for larger view)

While we're on the subject of birds...I spotted a flock of these interesting creatures on our yard this week.  They resembled turkeys, but were much smaller.  I assumed the white one was a female.

My bird-expert uncle told me that these were actually female turkeys.  Female turkeys apparently flock together separate from male turkeys for part of the year.  The white turkey above could very possibly be partially albino, the result of inbreeding.  So interesting! 

I have been frantically working on my Christmas knitting in my spare time and just finished yesterday.  What a relief!  The project I've been working on is pretty labor-intensive and in the final stretch, I've started knitting a little something for myself on the side, just to have a breather from the Christmas project.  I'm knitting myself a pair of knee-length German stockings. 

I had one sock finished almost down to the ankle when I realized that I'd misread the instructions, as I so frequently do.  The nobby "V" shape beneath the cable is the mistake.  The increases are supposed to be much more gradual.

 

So, I frogged the entire sock and started over.  Second time's the charm!  This time has been much better.

 

It's hard to appreciate how pretty the cables will look once spread out on your leg:

I've actually just got half a foot to knit on this one, now, and then I can start on the left side.  It's not an incredibly complicated pattern, but you have to keep a close eye on things.  There are over 40 sizing combinations for it, so you have to make sure in each sock "section" that you're knitting the proper number of stitches for your specific size.  You also have two rows of cables that are wandering off in different directions, and a gradually increasing moss stitch center.  I've greatly enjoyed this project and will post photos when they're done!  They'll be perfect to wear over tights with a plaid skirt this winter. 

We just got our Christmas tree...

...and I can't wait to do my Christmas decorating.  I found these cool postcards at a flea market in Indiana:

They're quite old, over 100 years!

I like spreading them around on holidays or framing them.

A good find. 

Hopefully I'll have a recipe to post soon.  I've done a great deal of holiday baking, but have been too busy to photograph it.

Have a great week!