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I swear I don’t think it’s possible for our little front yard crab apple tree to have any more blossoms.
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Okay, maybe it’s not so little.
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But it’s small compared to the giant old apple trees in the backyard.
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People walk by and compliment us on it every year at this time.
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She’s a real beauty!
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If you’re a loyal reader you’ll remember we had a massive wind storm two years ago that did serious damage to our beloved ancient backyard apple trees. We had a professional arborist in to trim and prune them back and last year they were barren. No blooms, no apples.
But this year?
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Ooh baby.
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They are positively bursting.
And if you’re wondering how big they are?
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That’s the Barn Mahal for scale.
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I wish WordPress had smell-o-vision because trust me… it’s glorious.
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My little you never planted me but I grew well anyway crabapple is starting to spread out, but is lagging behind in bloom time.
Now I just need to fill my new rock bordered bed with perennials for a burst of summer color.
🙂
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I have a few Facebook friends who share nothing but motivational posters.
No family photos. No vacation albums. No silly animal videos.
Just these.
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Most of them are pretty.
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Some of them are cute.
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Okay, you got me. That one makes perfect sense.
And while I’m sure my friends mean well spreading their words of wisdom, I’ve never been a motivational/self help type of girl. I don’t read the books, I don’t cross stitch the sayings on pillows.
My idea of good advice runs more along these lines.
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Kind of the anti motivational motivation.
It’s just how I roll.
And in case you were wondering? My pickle algorithm is alive and well.
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No, they’re not.
Trust me on this.
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It was a long and nearly snowless winter.
Spring was late and with no snow to melt, extremely dry.
One lousy April shower and May took its sweet time showing us some flowers. Heck, we even had frost last week.
But finally….
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The lilacs are popping.
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Which means vases of that heavenly scent are scattered throughout the house.
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And while a little scraggly…
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The expensive dark cherry tree we planted last year is hanging on.
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The blooms are gorgeous.
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So my fingers are crossed it grows big and strong.
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In front of the barn?
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The choke cherry tree is in blossom. The fruit is inedible and sometimes poisonous, but the delicate spring blooms are sweet.
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Yes, I’m still bird nerding out that a female pileated woodpecker has found our backyard .
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Two sightings in twenty years and now twice in one week.
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Woot!
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Needless to say I’m making sure that particular feeder is always full in case she drops by.
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A bag fills the cylinder once with 1/4 left over, and I have to fill it every other day.
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Pricey, but worth it.
(Photo includes another of my coffee table metal sculptures since you seemed to like the hermit crab.)
🙂
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten was eyeing our Bradford pear tree the other day during his walkabout.
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If you recall this did not end well the last time.
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Because while His Lordship likes the idea of climbing trees, his experience with execution is decidedly lacking.
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But the blooms must have been calling his name because up he went.
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It started with a pre climb scratch.
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And then a jump.
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And that was basically it… because the daft bugger has no idea what to do once he’s actually on the tree.
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So, yeah.
He literally just hangs there until he falls off.
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And then walks off the embarrassment on the rock wall.
🤣
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Every night when the sun starts to set?
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We have a visitor. Sometimes two…
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Apples, berries and some taurine rich grain free dry dog food are the reason.
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They come to nibble seed that falls from our bird feeders but I can’t resist putting out a better snack.
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❤️
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If you care nothing for the feeding and rare sightings of our fine feathered friends please feel free to skip this post because I’m about to gush like a horny ornithologist.
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Yesterday evening at 7:41pm I walked by one of the windows that looks out over our backyard and saw this.
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We’ve lived in this home for over 20 years and I’ve only spied this elusive creature twice.
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They’re big, usually 20 inches long.
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They like deeply wooded areas and though we hear their jackhammer like drilling occasionally it’s rare to see them out in the open no less hanging on our suet nugget feeder having a nosh .
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To say I was thrilled is an understatement.
There was a female pileated woodpecker in our backyard!!!!
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The sexes can be distinguished by the amount of red feathers on their heads. Red halfway down the face to the eyes? Female. Red all the way down to the beak? Male.
River the bird nerd at your service.
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Not exactly a riveting video, I know.
But I had to share.
❤️
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I walked outside this morning to fill the bird feeders and found this.
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A pile of feathers.
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Having a hawk who uses our backyard as his personal hunting ground, this isn’t unusual… but seeing this around noon was.
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A young starling made numerous trips to the pile and gathered all the feathers in his (her?) beak.
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I’m sure they make wonderfully soft nest liners…
And are the perfect example of Mother Nature’s ability to recycle.
❤️
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Twenty one years ago… when we moved back to Maine and bought our house in the country, I gazed across the road at the giant empty field and dreamt of cows.
Yes, I’m that person. The one you take on road trips who points out the window and yells cow! every time she spots one.
I’m not sure why. I certainly didn’t grow up with bovines in New Jersey, but I’ve always found something immensely soothing about watching cows graze quietly in a meadow.
As you know, the property across the road was sold to an organic vegetable farmer… and while over the years he’s had goats and chickens and ducks, nary a cow has been spotted.
I’d given up my dream of wandering across the street and making hooved friends.
But last weekend?
I spotted something wonderful next door.
Something I never thought I’d see….
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Woot!
Cow!!
Well, a two week old calf to be precise… happily munching our neighbors front lawn. One ecstatic phone call later I learned he’s actually a class project for a grand daughter. Feed and raise a cow? That was never part of my school curriculum, but yay!
Our neighbor told me she has a feeling the adorable (cow!) project will more than likely be a permanent resident when all is said and done.
And I am beyond thrilled.
Cow!!!!
💕
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River's world..... 