June day at home and away, and strategic planning for 6/14

I wake early these mornings, and get my walk in before it gets too warm and the shade moves away.

Only a couple of frogs at the pond Wednesday morning, jumping, but I could hear them farther away 

Back home I did a bit of garden cleanup, mainly battling with catbriar, and carried the debris to the trees to add to the grass cuttings left by the landscapers.

Then I transplanted the spearmint into its own pot and gave it a place outside.

Back, California poppies I think, front, small zinnias, spearmint and large zinnias.

Finally got the lemons processed. I use lemon zest a lot, but don't love using the micro plane. It's effective though. I like tackling life with zest (!)

Since the lemons were large, the rind was thick, so I chunked the lemons up for lemonade, rather than juicing them. 

Thick rind usually means less juice, though the smell was still heavenly.   And I dealt with yet another sinkful of dishes, amazing how they add up.

This afternoon I read, well maybe slept, on the deck, Frederica, old Heyer favorite on my Kindle. 

There's a lot of woodpecker activity close by, drumming in trees, rattling calls, so I'm hopeful of a nearby nest. I haven't seen who's active, could be flickers or downies or red bellies, since we have all of them.

The cardinals are busy and there are tiny peeping sounds, maybe young getting around to flying. That and chickadees, and wrens. 

I see very little activity,  but I hear quite a bit. A crow was chased out of the nearest tree by a bluejay, who may be nesting there, too. It's an avian condo development in a couple of evergreens.

This is a great time of year, not too hot yet, not too buggy yet. Wednesday was my  sister's birthday. I think she'd have been 96. She made it to 92, living independently at home till her last couple of days.  I'm hoping for something like that. I'm in much better health than she was at my age, so we'll see.

Happy day everyone! Getting ready for Saturday, those who can march and demonstrate. Thank you! 

And if agitators attempt violence in order to discredit the march, here's the strategy

Ted sez do what we can, be safe, and loud.

Mobius cowl and backyard birds

Yesterday's snow and ice storm, and the ice sticking around today both caused indoor work to get going.  Also outdoor work, hungry birds ripping at the suet feeders to fuel up.

I've been seeing red bellied woodpeckers frequently, one at a time, but studied them and decided it was a pair, taking turns.  The male has a bigger red hat than the female.  They're very quick to take off if they spot me, so this is the best I could do, after many tries! The bird is on the lower feeder, not the bright red one.

The nice part about the feeder is that they have to cling on and curl the tail up to balance, so you get a view of the red feathers on their belly, a great help in identifying.  Then today both arrived together, yay, and it was indeed a pair.  The male snarled at the female who retreated to a nearby branch waiting for him to leave.  Then a starling started on him, and after he'd rapidly eaten a bit more, he too vanished, into the trees out back. I'm hoping for nesting there.

After all the bigger birds had gone, the patient Carolina wrens took over the feeder, definitely a pair, and hoping for nesting there, too. They were the first to realize that the red feeder was full of good stuff, and the other birds have caught on from them.

Meanwhile, back on this side of the window, knitting happened, 

and next time Handsome Son comes over, he will pick up his own Mobius cowl (which I call a scarf for him, thinking that cowl may sound girly!)  I did it again in Shaker stitch, and you see how nicely the edges roll over. This is acrylic, his choice, easy to wash etc. It can be arranged in any number of ways, depending on the weather and wind.

Over in beautiful metaphor, you'll see a lot of studio activity, too, ahead of the residence series in April.  Great fun to have a destination for art.  And, since I've done my current bit for Creative Collective, writing the pr for both upcoming shows, and providing my bio and label information to the right people, I'm free to make my own stuff again without thinking about deadlines for other items.