Our first hummingbird showed up at the feeder this morning, just a few minutes before I returned from doing errands.....so my husband was the first in our family to see a hummer this year! I haven't seen one yet, but I will be keeping a sharp eye on the feeder for sure.
As far as other creatures....our fat little groundhog is making good use of the back yard looking for tender clover to feed on. And today my husband went to get something out of our storage shed, and found a big black snake curled up in there. My husband said that he quietly closed the door and didn't disturb the snake, figuring that if he got in, he could get himself out of there too!
It's time once again to visit Pratt's azalea gardens outside of Woodstown, NJ. As you might remember, Mr. Pratt welcomes visitors, free of charge, during the last week of April and the first two weeks of May from 1 - 5 pm daily. At the light at Richman's on Route 40, heading west, turn left and then take the first left, go a short distance, and you'll see the sign for Pratt's Gardens on your left. Go down the drive to the open field, where you can park. I think we'd better hurry over there, as the azaleas are in full bloom everywhere I go. The azaleas in the Bridgeton City Park are in bloom, and it won't be long before the rhododendrons are in bloom everywhere too. Mine are just beginning to open. We wait so long for the spring blooms, and all too soon they are gone!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
And the Winners Are.....!
Friends Nancy and Bob win the "prize" for seeing the first hummingbird of the year on Saturday, April 24! They live about a mile from me, so I know it won't be long before I see one around my neck of the woods. I have gotten out the feeder, cooked up some nectar, hung it right outside the kitchen window, and I hope to see a hummer soon! When that window is open, I can hear the little chirp, chirp, chirps of the hummers and the buzz of the wings when they feed.
The long-awaited spring blooms have come and gone so quickly this year. I still, though, have some late flowering daffodils in bloom....cute, little ones. The yellow magnolia is done, as is the "Jane" magnolia....supposed to bloom late, but already done this year. The redbud is still in full bloom. Herb says the redbud is his favorite spring tree. My lilacs have been blooming for more than a week and will soon be done. If there is any fragrance more lovely than the scent of lilacs, I don't know what it is! I stop to smell them each time I pass by them....I have to store up the memory of that wonderful scent! If someone came up with a perfume that smelled exactly like a lilac, I'd wear it all the time!
Today, being cold and rainy, seemed like a good day to make a pot of vegetable soup. I get a mixture of beans, peas, and barley, soak for 2 hours, cook the mixture 'til the beans are cooked, then add V-8....it makes a wonderful soup base. Throw in lots of dried dill, as many vegetables as you can find....fresh or frozen....let simmer and serve with some kind of hearty bread that "fights back". No wimpy bread for me. I get rye bread from an online store that imports partially baked sour rye bread from Germany, and it's perfect with vegetable soup....especially still warm from the finish baking.
I've been filling in for a member (she's traveling in Europe!) of a handbell choir at Elmer Methodist Church. There will be a handbell concert at 4 o'clock on Sunday, May 2 at Vineland High School. Three church choirs are combining for the concert. It should be very impressive. Playing the handbells is great fun and quite challenging....maybe you'd like to come out to hear the concert. All those handbells should make for a really happy sound!
The long-awaited spring blooms have come and gone so quickly this year. I still, though, have some late flowering daffodils in bloom....cute, little ones. The yellow magnolia is done, as is the "Jane" magnolia....supposed to bloom late, but already done this year. The redbud is still in full bloom. Herb says the redbud is his favorite spring tree. My lilacs have been blooming for more than a week and will soon be done. If there is any fragrance more lovely than the scent of lilacs, I don't know what it is! I stop to smell them each time I pass by them....I have to store up the memory of that wonderful scent! If someone came up with a perfume that smelled exactly like a lilac, I'd wear it all the time!
Today, being cold and rainy, seemed like a good day to make a pot of vegetable soup. I get a mixture of beans, peas, and barley, soak for 2 hours, cook the mixture 'til the beans are cooked, then add V-8....it makes a wonderful soup base. Throw in lots of dried dill, as many vegetables as you can find....fresh or frozen....let simmer and serve with some kind of hearty bread that "fights back". No wimpy bread for me. I get rye bread from an online store that imports partially baked sour rye bread from Germany, and it's perfect with vegetable soup....especially still warm from the finish baking.
I've been filling in for a member (she's traveling in Europe!) of a handbell choir at Elmer Methodist Church. There will be a handbell concert at 4 o'clock on Sunday, May 2 at Vineland High School. Three church choirs are combining for the concert. It should be very impressive. Playing the handbells is great fun and quite challenging....maybe you'd like to come out to hear the concert. All those handbells should make for a really happy sound!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
O, O, Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada
A white-throated sparrow singing right outside my bedroom window woke me at dawn this morning. What a nice way to wake up, even if it was a bit early! He sang and sang....I think maybe he was saying goodbye. It won't be long before the white throats are all gone from our area....to be replaced by hummers! I checked my notes from last year, and the first hummingbird of the season was spotted in our area on April 20, 2009, so it's time to get out our feeders. Please let me know when you see your first hummer this year.
I found the following article in a newspaper a while ago. I thought it was worth sharing...
In his book Walking Your Blues Away, Thom Hartmann notes that walking provides a break from the routine because the outside environment is always changing. "Looking at the same walls, the same furniture, the same place and people often anchors us to a particular state of mind," Hartmann says. "When we go out for a walk, that state is broken, and new states of mind and emotion provoked by new sounds, sights, smells, and sensations offer access to new ways of knowing and understanding ourselves and our problems or opportunities".
I couldn't have said it better myself!
I found the following article in a newspaper a while ago. I thought it was worth sharing...
In his book Walking Your Blues Away, Thom Hartmann notes that walking provides a break from the routine because the outside environment is always changing. "Looking at the same walls, the same furniture, the same place and people often anchors us to a particular state of mind," Hartmann says. "When we go out for a walk, that state is broken, and new states of mind and emotion provoked by new sounds, sights, smells, and sensations offer access to new ways of knowing and understanding ourselves and our problems or opportunities".
I couldn't have said it better myself!
Monday, April 5, 2010
A Crowd of Daffodils...and More!
For the last several years, I have planted more and more daffodils, and this is the best year yet! My early bloomers are fading now, but the middle bloomers are all opened and are stunning. I have many different kinds...I think I counted 12 or more. I just love all the different colors together in one vase. To paraphrase Joan Rivers, one can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many different kinds of daffodils.
My Easter cactus plant has been threatening to bloom any day, and somehow its first bloom actually opened Easter morning! Now, how did it know it was Easter?!
Yesterday afternoon the first yellow magnolia bloom opened, and by the time we returned from dinner at my daughter-in-law's house, many blooms had opened. Today the weeping cherry turned pink. The cherries along the drive are in bloom, as is the pear tree. My bluebells are peeking through, and soon they will take the place of the fading first-blooming daffodils. Isn't this time of year wonderful?!
I woke up early this morning to watch the launch of the space shuttle. It is fascinating to watch the astronauts crawling through the shuttle hatch and then being strapped into their seats. They then lie there on their backs for several hours until launch time. Within 90 seconds of launch the shuttle is going 1000 miles per hour....and in only about 8 and 1/2 minutes they are in orbit. It's amazing! I learned by listening to the NASA TV channel today that launch times are decided by when the earth rotates the Kennedy Space Center into the same plane of the space station's orbit, so that the shuttle can be launched into an orbit that will allow it to catch up to the space station. After this one, there are only 3 more shuttle flights to the space station, then the shuttle fleet is being retired. In the future, astronauts will be "cosmonauts" - launched to the space station in a Russian space capsule. A couple of days ago, 3 were sent up to the station - 2 Russian men and one American woman. The Russian capsule is very tiny and the 3 space travelers are really packed into it. The bravery of all these people is astonishing....but the view of the earth from space must surely make it all worth while!
My Easter cactus plant has been threatening to bloom any day, and somehow its first bloom actually opened Easter morning! Now, how did it know it was Easter?!
Yesterday afternoon the first yellow magnolia bloom opened, and by the time we returned from dinner at my daughter-in-law's house, many blooms had opened. Today the weeping cherry turned pink. The cherries along the drive are in bloom, as is the pear tree. My bluebells are peeking through, and soon they will take the place of the fading first-blooming daffodils. Isn't this time of year wonderful?!
I woke up early this morning to watch the launch of the space shuttle. It is fascinating to watch the astronauts crawling through the shuttle hatch and then being strapped into their seats. They then lie there on their backs for several hours until launch time. Within 90 seconds of launch the shuttle is going 1000 miles per hour....and in only about 8 and 1/2 minutes they are in orbit. It's amazing! I learned by listening to the NASA TV channel today that launch times are decided by when the earth rotates the Kennedy Space Center into the same plane of the space station's orbit, so that the shuttle can be launched into an orbit that will allow it to catch up to the space station. After this one, there are only 3 more shuttle flights to the space station, then the shuttle fleet is being retired. In the future, astronauts will be "cosmonauts" - launched to the space station in a Russian space capsule. A couple of days ago, 3 were sent up to the station - 2 Russian men and one American woman. The Russian capsule is very tiny and the 3 space travelers are really packed into it. The bravery of all these people is astonishing....but the view of the earth from space must surely make it all worth while!
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