Birds In The Garden

    Hi everyone. Happy mid-week. We've been having some gorgeous weather, and yesterday it even felt like summer. Thank goodness my husband got the plastic off the screen porch because I really enjoyed using it. 😄

   Today I want to share another  journal page for Mia's Birds challenge over at Art Journal Journey 

   I had this sheet of printed paper that came out of an old Somerset Studio magazine. I liked it, and decided I could make something with it as a background, versus cutting it up for something that is. I started by taking another piece of magazine paper and a diamond shaped die.  I die cut 5 images of this shape. I glued 3 together on the bottom of the page and then two on the lower right side.

   After that I fussy cut these 2 birds from a sheet of paper. I left them as is except I did add some yellow to their beaks and upper breast. I also used some punched out leaves and a tag. I made the background on the tag by inking it with a light green ink pad and then using a crackle stamp image and some darker green ink. To cover up the tag's hole I used a yellow dewdrop (manufacturer's name) for these small glass-like water drops. Finally I wrote in my quote.

  I must admit the only butterfly I’ve seen was yesterday, the first of the season. It was a big yellow swallowtail.  But I have had a whole lot of birds, including a male scarlet tanager I also saw in the woods yesterday,  but that I couldn't get a photo of because of all the leaves.

    Here he is, thanks to a photo I borrowed from Cornell's All About Birds website.

   Mom and  Dad Baltimore Oriole have been around. Funny how they always come by in the spring and then  vanish into the woods after a short time. I have lots of photos of Dad.

But only one of Mom as I haven't seen her as much as I have Dad.

   I've also had 2 male Rose Breasted Grosbeaks at my feeder too. Sometimes at the same time, but those photos didn't really come out. 

     I think the bluebird babies have fledged. Sadly I missed that event. Maybe they'll have another brood because last year they had 2. But before the bluebird house became empty, I snapped a couple of photos.

   And finally, I've seen the Myrtle warbler a couple of more times, but not as much as this pine warbler. He/she is around a lot and isn't too afraid of me either.

 I can see why they are called warblers, because one day he decided to sing as he sat on the fence and wow, what a song.

   That's all for me today. Have a wonderful middle of your week.

T Stands for Spring Finally Arrives

   Hi everyone. Happy new week to you. And hello to everyone who stops by Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog for T day.

  Last week we had some cool rainy days, and then, when the sun finally came out, spring arrived. ❤ We've had a few lovely days, with sunshine and beautiful temperatures. The last few days I've been busy working  outside, and here's a few highlights.

   Some of you might have seen my post last week when a bear came to visit. He ruined part of the pole where I hang my bird feeders. Luckily it's one of those poles that come in pieces, so I could go get another base part and not replace the whole thing. And luckily none of my feeders were damaged.

    Now my pole  is back together  and ready for some birds.

   Ha ha.  I didn't expect this guy to wander in from the woods and be the first to check it out. 😉

    I later noticed there were 2 lady turkeys down below my gardens on the edge of the woods that he was trying to woo.

   I also built another raised bed for my veggies. The bad thing is that the soil I found on sale was in 50 pound (22.6 kg) bags. They were also damp, so they maybe weighed 60 pounds (about 27 kg), which was quite a chore for me to lift them into and out of my wagon. (Never mind they are almost as tall as me if you hold them up straight.) The good news is a 50 pound bag versus a 40 pound bag meant I could fill the bed with fewer bags. I did get the bed filled and then I planted some tomatoes in it. (And thank goodness for Aleve to help with those sore shoulders and upper arms afterwards from moving the soil. Ha ha!)

   Last week I received a new batch of bees and got my second hive up and going. So far, so good. I went back into the hive a couple days later to check on the queen. She is shipped in a little box that has a cork on one end. She needs to get out of the box so she can start laying brood. However, you have to leave her in the box for a few days for the  hive to really bond to her. Sometimes the bees will even eat the cork out, but if not, a safety pin will easily pull it out.

  There were several frames with this many bees on them. The comb you see behind them is from an earlier set of bees. If you have frames with comb already built on the frame it is good to leave it  since bees can recycle the comb. Plus the comb helps insulate the hive on cooler spring nights (and days).

   The open queen box is put back into the hive so the queen and  her attendants have some time to get out. But here's the cork that I pulled out.

  It's also amazing (as you probably already know) how in just a  couple of weeks everything can green up so much. You can see the difference in my rose garden  between  this past Saturday (May 15) and not quite 2 weeks ago (May4). Here's the now:

     

    And here's the then.

  You might remember I mentioned I've been putting clover seeds into my less than perfect lawn. (Well, it depends on your point of view if a lawn is actually less than perfect.) The clover is growing great and filling in some of the bare spots. One thing I didn't do but seemed to happen naturally is that hundreds of white violet plants have grown there, and it's really pretty right now.

  And here's one of the patches of clover.

   The other exciting thing that happened during our outside spring chore weekend is my husband took the plastic off the screen porch.  To do that he literally takes down some old doors which he covered in plastic and replaced them with the screen doors that make up the screens.

   Then it's my turn to clean it and set it up!  I still haven't moved my inside plants out onto the screen porch, and I still need to move a couple of chairs out into the yard, but that will all be coming.  For T day, you might be able to spot my drink which was a mug of some home brewed ice tea.

   You can see it better in this close up.

     This Tuesday/T Day it is supposed to be quite hot, and my plan is to bring a fresh mug of iced tea and a book out here for some hammock time.  I'll spend the afternoon relaxing and staying cool. Ha ha.

  I hope you didn't find my outdoor "fun" too boring. Wishing everyone a happy T day, and a great week ahead. 

  

T Stands for This and That Spring Edition

    Hi everyone. Happy new week to you. And since it's Monday night, it's time  for T once again over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog.   

   So what's up with me?  Last week it was on the cooler side (and Sunday was even downright cold) ,and we even had a bit of rain. Thursday we needed to go into Boston for my husband's annual kidney transplant check up. It's been 9 years, and all is still good. 👍 😀❤ The photo below is Mass General Hospital where the transplant took place and where my husband still gets care. This is  not even all of Mass General Hospital, and that includes the 2 parking garages  which are part of the hospital property. Even though it's an amazing hospital, it's quite the zoo, at least driving in and out of. I suppose many big city big hospitals are the same.

    I've also been busy with some more yard work.  And look, we're starting to get some leaves. I know for some of you leaves are not exciting, but when it's the end  of what was a long bare branched winter, it is exciting.

     The weeping cherry is my yard (we call it Al after my Dad since it was a gift from my co-workers when my Dad passed in 2004) is blooming and attracting all kinds of bees, including some wild bees I could not get a photo of because they moved too quickly.

   I don't think Al will be  blooming for much longer, sadly. It's too bad these spring blooms don't last for more weeks. 

    The back deck railing is done, and it looks great. I think I need an updated photo though because the centers of the spindles do not have the part going through them. That has since been pushed up into place under the top railing.

   My perennial garden is looking great, especially with all the daffodils still blooming.

   And yes, this outbuilding needs a new roof and a new exposed chimney as it's original from when we  bought the house.  It's my husband's tool shop. 

    Mama Bluebird is getting used to me, but not quite as used to me as all the chickadees that come to the bird feeders. She and Dad bluebird have been busy feeding some chicks in the bluebird house.

    But there's no sign of the babies yet.

   And probably the biggest spring news is what opened this weekend.

   Until late June they will only be open on weekends.  The hubby and I went for dinner Sunday evening and split a seafood platter. It was as good as it ever is. And  we still couldn't finish it. 😉

    It was also good because the price of this meal did not go up ( at least not yet) from last year nor  from the year before. And the best thing about Pop's is that they don't mind if you bring your own drinks, which we did. You can see my Diet Coke which is my  ticket for T this week.

   That's about all the new things with me. Wishing everyone a Happy T day and week ahead. 

Flowers and Birds

 Hi everyone. Happy Thursday. We are supposed to have sunshine all day today. Hurrah. There's been a lot of rain in the past several days. 

   I'm back today with a page for Neet's challenge at Art Journal Journey. This month Neet's theme is It Must Have Wings.

     The colors on my page are what they are  because I like to clean off painty brushes on journal pages before I wash them. No sense wasting paint. My page had red and light blue paint on it, so I decided the colors would be red and light blue.

       I used a Andy Skinner Paper Artsy stamp several times to make the background image. Then I used a sheet of 12x12 red and a sheet of 12 x 12 blue cardstock as well as an old Sizzix TH giant flower die to cut out all the flowers.  I layered them on my page and used both a white paint pen and a white pen to add some details.  I then use another older Sizix die and some dark blue scrap paper  to die cut the birds. I cut them I think 3 times to get enough for my page. Finally I used an old rubber stamp and some white ink to stamp the quote randomly around my page. 

     The daffodils are still blooming, at least for now.

    

I took this next photo on this past Monday. The view after that is on Tuesday. The next 2 are on Wednesday. By today, you can imagine it will be even greener.

The tall trees are all oaks, which are always later to leaf out. But I love the bright green lacy look as the trees get leaves. 

The carrot and beet seedlings are getting their next set of leaves. 

And the potatoes I planted are coming up too.

    I'll leave you with this rhubarb plant. I've had it for at least 10 years, and it didn't like where it was growing, so last fall I dug it up and put it into a planting bag. I put the bag in my veggie garden because I wasn't quite sure where else to plant it.  It gets more sun here, and now it is bigger than it's ever been. I am going to transfer it into the sunny end of my veggie garden  later this season so it can have more space to grow. But I think it's just about time to cut a few stems because I like to make rhubarb pie or sauce. Hmm, it will be a big decision which to make.

Have a wonderful day ahead.