Hummingbirds – In Living Color and In A Cross-Stitched Design

Hummingbirds fascinate me. One of my great delights these days is watching one of nature’s engineering masterpieces come and go to and from the feeder mounted on our living room window. We were thrilled when the first tiny black-chinned hummingbird of the season showed up at the feeder Monday evening.  We abandoned all activities while we watched him feed and fly away. We waited for his return.

He did not disappoint us. He came back several times during the course of the evening.

Since the first appearance we have seen him on a regular basis. Frequently over the next several months we will turn our attention to the window to watch the vision of the dainty birds’ mid-air dances. We think they have a nest in one of the trees near our back deck. As the season moves on, we expect to see the female counterparts. They will be joined by other species. We typically see interesting territorial battles between the various hummingbirds.

This brings to mind one of my all time favorite cross-stitch pieces. It is an appropriate selection for this week’s Stitching Post to mark the seasonal return of the hummingbirds.

Project Details: “Bird Watching” from Leisure Arts The Magazine, Cross Stitch, June 1998, Designed by Barbara Baatz. Stitched over 2 fabric threads of 25 count white Laguna with 3 strands of DMC embroidery floss. Custom framed.

Casual Friday 4/24/15

On Fridays I join Amie of Amie Writes for Casual Friday, a post “with no structure, no rules, no prompts, anything goes.” Check out her blog, and join us in observing Casual Friday if you would like to.

Another week is in the books.

We woke up on Saturday morning to a beautiful blanket of snow covering the trees and ground. The snow was gone by noon but it was a reminder to not ever take Mother Nature for granted. This was followed by a few days of cool weather. Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful, sun-shine filled today. Today we have rain in New Mexico, always a welcome sight.

Casual Friday 4/10/15

On Fridays I join Amie of Amie Writes for Casual Friday, a post “with no structure, no rules, no prompts, anything goes.”

What a week!

There is so much going on at work. Several projects I am involved in are either picking up speed or hitting road blocks.  There just is not enough time to deal with everything so each day we make as much progress as we can and then hit it again the next day. I can honestly say I am never bored but I am feeling that I could use a little bit of boredom about now. I come home exhausted every day. I so need this weekend!

Casual Friday 4/3/20

On Fridays I join Amie of Amie Writes for Casual Friday, a post “with no structure, no rules, no prompts, anything goes.”

Sometime I wake up in the morning and just feel good about life and everything that is going on. This morning was one of those mornings.  It has been warm enough that I sleep with the windows open.  The wake up temperature was about 40° outdoors so my bedroom had a bit of chill but the room was filled with fresh air. There was a bit of a breeze and the melodic tones of a  wind chime were floating through the open window. I had a deep-seated feeling of joy and harmony.

The Sensitive Plant – A Words Crush Wednesday Quote

And Spring arose on the garden fair,

Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;

And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast

Percy Bysse Shelly, “The Sensitive Plant“

I celebrate spring.  In truth, I celebrate nature and every change of seasons. Right now in springtime, I am smitten with the beautiful gifts of nature.  It seems appropriate that this week I would choose a quote that celebrates this season of rebirth. It is also appropriate that in the continuing cycle of life I quote from a poet who wrote 200 years ago.  This poem, like all great poetry, stands the test of time. An emerging spring marks the end of every winter and this poem eternally celebrates the seasonal change.

Percy Bysshe Shelly was an 19th century English romantic poet. Some consider him to be the greatest of the romantic poets. His poetry was considered to be radical for the time as were his political and social views. Among other things his writing reference incest, attacks on religion and free love. He was not well-known in his short 3o years of life as many were afraid to publish his poetry.  His fame came after his death.

Click here for information about the Words Crush Wednesday Favorite Quote Challenge proudly sponsored by Rebirth of Lisa.

Casual Friday – 3/27/15

On Fridays I join Amie of Amie Writes for Casual Friday, a post “with no structure, no rules, no prompts, anything goes.”

This was my week.

In the Greatly Annoying Department, my personal Facebook account was cloned this week. My current Facebook friends were invited to friend me again. Many of them were aware of the scam going around so rather than re-friending me they informed me this was happening. One person who accepted the invitation was immediately instant-messaged (supposedly by me). The message told her to delete my original Facebook profile and use the new one because the original one was infected by a Trojan virus. She messaged me upon the receipt of the message so I knew what was going on. I changed my password and notified Facebook that someone was using my identity. Facebook deleted the cloned account relatively quickly. I have heard now about other people to whom this has happened. I have heard that the cloned account sends out messages asking for money. It was an annoying happening because who wants to deal with that?  

Casual Friday 3/20/15

On Friday I join Amie of Amie Writes for Casual Friday, a post “with no structure, no rules, no prompts, anything goes.”

Enjoy this week’s version.

I follow college basketball and in particular my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin.  On Sunday Wisconsin won the Big Ten Conference Tournament and within an hour they were named one of the number one seeds in the NCAA tournament.  My hope going in to the selection show was that Wisconsin would not end up in the same region as Kentucky or Arizona.  I got half of my wish.  Kentucky is by far the favorite to win the whole thing so who would choose to meet them in an early round? That part worked out for me.  If both schools last that long they would not meet until the Final Four.  Arizona also has a great team. Because I have good friends and family in Arizona, I would prefer that the teams would not have to meet each other before the Final Four.  Arizona and Wisconsin are assigned to the same region and if they both keep winning there would be a rematch of last years Elite Eight game which Wisconsin won in overtime.  I will watch a lot of basketball over the next couple weeks.

Harbingers of Spring

We have not had enough snow in New Mexico this winter.  We have not experienced six feet of snow as did the northeastern part of the United States.  We did not have an ice storm that essentially shut down the city for much of a week as has happened in part of the country. Four to eight inches of snow were forecast over this past weekend.  Although it was spitting snow for a while we had no noticeable accumulation.

I stepped out on the back deck Sunday morning and I heard a chorus of birds singing loudly and beautifully.  We have a heated bird bath mounted on the deck and it was very busy.  The bird bath was visited by mountain chickadees and black-capped chickadees, sparrows, pine siskins and house finches, all of which we see consistently through the winter months.

The special visitors yesterday were a group of robins cavorting in the bird bath in spite of the gray, frigid, windy conditions.  Once the robins have arrived, can spring be far behind?

Overnight temperatures are in the teens.  I hope those robins have adequate protection from the cold.