Guinea Video

Well all it's not very good quality but it's the only way I could load it! Enjoy...

HEY! What a Day....

First they cut...Then they fluff... next they pile... Then the big dog comes...

and poops them out.

That's the technical term!

It's a big job. Then evening comes... and the job is done.

And they are all still here in the morning.I love looking out my front porch this time of year!

Real Summer Days....

Sunday our farmer came and mowed the field. He always waits until late in the season, which I like. I think (I hope) the birds have fledged and left their nests. This one's for you Roy! This morning there were hundreds of tree swallows lining the wires out front. They always seem to enjoy my fields and wires....must be I have tasty bugs here.

Today is SO beautiful....lots of sun and although there is a breeze it's not too hard to photograph or fly for that matter.

I was so excited to see a Clearwing moth!I photographed my first Painted Lady. It's somewhat faded but I'll take it! A Black Swallowtail joined the gang! And then I heard one of my favorite sounds the humming of wings!

HI Buddy!! And my sweet kids were enjoying the whole thing from the balcony! They are having such fun!

Something Different...

I was recently visited by Denise at "An English Girl Rambles" http://anenglishgirlrambles.blogspot.com/

so of course went to visit her blog. What I found was a magical blog with beautiful photography, memories, wonderful poetry from the world's best poets and so much more.

In 2005 while in my Creative Writing college class I created a calender of bird poetry which was my final for that class.

The poems were written with children in mind but I've found that adults get quite a kick out of them as well.

So with Denise in mind, (this one's for you Denise), I thought I would post a poem every now and then.

Mallard

There's a drake in my pond

He's all by himself,

Why is he here everyday?

He paddles alone

for hours on end

and sometimes he flies away.

But he always returns

to my small little pond

the reason

I'm sure I don't know.

Until one day

he reveals to me

The reason that he didn't go.

His duck waddles out

from the thickest of weeds

with her nine little ducklings
in tow,

and my drake is so proud

and his duck quacks so loud,

so happy her family

to show!

By Eve Sweatman

Just a few pictures...

Another one of my lilies...A Canadian Swallowtail in my garden. This was taken about three days ago and it's still out there today. It actually let me pick him up from behind. Sat right on my hand until he realized I wasn't a flower...
but my guinea kids think I'm sweet!!!

Chaumont Beach

Wow super-slow internet today...I'm having flashbacks of my dial-up days!!! Not a good thing for me!!

So Morgan and I went to our local beach which is quite nice and somewhat unknown. It's free, and had a lifeguard and the locals are feathered and friendly...

It's just such a peaceful place...with the excitment of a Caspian Tern... ...doing his thing!!

Foggy Morn...

Where do you suppose the spiders go when it's a foggy morn?

Garden Lily

My lilies are in full bloom and all of a sudden I've noticed that I have quite a few beautiful varieties! I just don't know all their names. It's time I started a system for remembering. Lilies are so easy to grow and they multiply quite nicely. The Guineas are just starting to explore the outdoors and I'm still working on getting a video of that on my blog. I'll post one soon.

An Artist in the Making....

Thursday my daughter, Morgan, and I were outside on the front porch, relaxing after working in the yard. She, being 10, was a bit bored and said "what should I do now?". She had her little note paper and pens out so I suggested that she draw something.

This was her inspiration...

And this was her interpretation!!

I LOVE HER WORK!!!

A nice day for a walk...

We got out for a little walk yesterday. It was hot! Well, living in the northeast when I say "hot" that translates to pretty darn nice to many of you in the south and mid-west. That said...

one of the first critters seen was a Northern Crescent. I'm just starting to see them out at this time.

A nice Monarch was sipping from a common milkweed...and hopefully laying eggs. A milkweed beetle. A potato beetle...hopefully soon to be known as Guinea food!

We passed a few Black-eyed Susans along the way...Then under the Shagbark Hickory getting heavy with nuts... Ole found this little guy, who was probably looking for nuts... Then to the pond...which is completely dry but still full of life and little frogs...many plants, which I don't know... A White-faced Meadowhawk.

I'm going to say this is a type of Spreadwing but I'm not having luck finding it in my book. A sweet little fellow though!

Climb That Tree Girl!!!!!

Striving to reach a seemingly unattainable goal, be it completing a tetrad through a cow infested bramble (Jen, http://wrensnaturenotebook.blogspot.com/ ), starting a whole new way of life (Danni http://critterfarmgirl.blogspot.com/), or creating your own blog (hint, hint, cousin Julie), is the challenge that brings a richness of life that we may have missed if we had not tried to accomplish it. All the greatest inventions that have changed our lives were achieved by reaching for what seemed like an impossibility. Sometimes we slip and fall, but failure, and the unrelenting desire to succeed, will always bring great things! Take the time today to reach a goal, no matter how small, and get that good feeling of pride in yourself!

Sneaking in the Pink...

I went out to the pond Sunday evening and found this little crab spider hiding on a beautiful pink Swamp Milkweed. Most of you have seen the Crab Spider that John from "Maine Nature Photos" posted yesterday, in it's yellow camouflage. This picture was difficult not only because the wind was blowing hard, but I had my camera overexposed!! Silly mistake!

Coneflower

There's lots of blooming going on around here. Hope there is where you live too!!

Have a great Monday!

Oh Happy Day!!!

As you know we have been working hard to get our guinea coop finished...while working, our guineas were growing by leaps and bounds!! If you know anything about guineas, you know leaps and bounds literally comes with growing!!!

Look how very big they are getting!!!Here is the coop the day before we finished. There is still a bit of tidying up to do but last night at about 8 PM they were in the boxes to make the trip out the door. Daisy Lu was so excited because now she could get close-up and personal with her new pals!! She's been looking at them through a wire wall for 3 weeks now!! Sometimes she lets her Jack Russell side take over but with a quick word from me she goes back to being a Shih-tzu. Do you remember this little guy from the early days??? Do you suppose this is that fiesty fellow??? Your guess is as good as mine!!