School's out!

What a busy time I've had over the last week or so...however the children are off on summer vacation, and I am off for a 4 day weekend, before heading back to work to finish off the school year paperwork, and get ready for September...then I'll be off for 6 weeks. (Doing a happy dance..well I would if it wasn't so HOT). I think it is still 25 degrees outside and it's after midnight. I fell asleep (becoming a habit) in the afternoon, and now I'm not tired at all. So I have gathered some of today's (oops, I mean yesterday's) photos together to share with you.

One of the first things I did this morning was to take the griddle outside to cook breakfast. This gives me the feeling that I'm camping, but with all the comforts of home. When I was opening the folded table to put the griddle on, look who was resting on one of the table legs...







He seems to like the deck so I decided to make him a house using some of my heart rocks. I have no idea if he will use it, but I had fun! I even put the little frogs that were on my window sill on the edge of his "roof".










After breakfast I took a wander around the garden, and here are a few photos:













The fruit tress: pear, apple and cherry trees show promise, but the cherries are often ready by July 1 ~ not this year!












Here's Nikki's beautiful rose bud opening ... the ONLY bud in my whole rose garden, thanks to the deer (oops, sorry I mentioned deer Daffy... more later)





Deer Daffy ~ just for you





AND here's something for Flighty, on the occasion of his first Plot 124 blog anniversary...

Catching up!

Quite often, now that the summer weather has decided to appear periodically, I'll be out on the deck...you can see my lounge in the distance...




The other afternoon I was lounging on the deck, being mesmerized by the clouds overhead. I came out again later to take an evening photo...






Yesterday, my son and I decided to go to our little airport restaurant for supper ~ only one small plane took off during our meal...




Here's dessert...


When I set off this morning for a drive, the first animal I saw was a deer that had been spooked by a barking dog. The deer leaped across the road much to the surprise of a bicyclist! I stopped at the side of the highway with my flashers on to warn other motorists, in case the deer darted back again. I took some photos while waiting until the doe safely headed into the woods.








When I found out that the plant nursery I was heading for was closed for business, I went in search of another and came across a couple of animals inside:




On my way back to my car, this caught my eye... a shiny T-bird in the parking lot, which I took a fancy to...


When I came home, I took a planter out of a planter box to add some new plants and lo and behold, something "fell" out and landed on the railing...OMG!! My very own Frog! I wonder how long he has been living here...could he be the same frog on my previous post "Pane of Separation" on April 13? Is he another ponderer?? This is ribbeting news!!




After all that excitement, I lounged and read, taking a photo of this busy bee who was still working away...


I could hear the baby nuthatches in the cherry tree above my head, but I couldn't catch them in my camera lens...speaking of CATching up, I hope the neighbour's cat isn't spying on my little birds....

Pretty in pink!

Oh, Deer!

I took this photo a couple of years ago, when I saw these two walking down our street. The photo seems a little blurred, but just to show you the wildlife that wanders through the neighbourhood, looking for tasty morsels....like new growth on roses ~ but aren't they dear? :)

Nuthatches and ...a nibbler!!

The little nuthatches were out flitting in the trees again about 6 p.m. I'm not sure how many, but at least three. I was able to get a few more photos. They are so much fun to watch. They flutter their wings, then hang off the ends of branches and flit between the fruit trees. I haven't actually seen them coming from the birdhouse, though. In fact I got a photo of a nuthatch on the birdhouse with something in its beak...I don't know what it's doing or who it is??

However....there was something else in the back...in the rose garden... quite possibly last night. I thought the roses looked rather odd, and then realized that the ends of the new growth had been nibbled off, probably by a deer. I wasn't impressed. Nikki's bud however, remains intact, but looks rather strange sticking straight up with little foliage around it. The other new little bud is gone. Three sides of the garden have fencing up, and the other side has a shed, so I spent the afternoon putting a couple of hinges on a screen door and rigging up a gate to keep whatever it is out of there... I hope it does the trick, and hopefully the roses will not have suffered any lasting damage.

This one's for the birds!

After reading about baby wood pigeons on Daffy's blog and fledgling blackbirds on Louise's, I decided to go and have another look outside for my baby nuthatches. It was about 6 p.m., a time when there seems to be a lot of feeding and fluttering going on ......oh my! I'm sure I felt the same excitement as Flighty when he found young Frog Newton! There were two "somethings" perched on the clothesline...possibly Peter and Paul, because one flew away...
I really enjoyed watching their little fluttery feather antics. I'm not sure how many youngster all told, but there was much activity.
Here is a collection of my baby nuthatches, including a little video so you can hear their chirpings:









I have heard a lot of humming going on in the backyard as well, and I just happened to get a shot of what I think is a female rufous hummingbird in the process of picking something off a web:



Tomorrow is Sunday, and I can spend more time outside with these lovely little creatures :)

This bud's for you, Nikki

Nikki's beautiful roses inspired me to try to plant a rose garden of my own. So in honour of Nikki and her birthday, here is the first bud to appear in my "rose garden"..."Elle" ~ which is rather apt, since "she", (Nikki) has recently returned from a visit to France. Happy Birthday Nikki ~ this bud's for you ;)

My friend, Oakley

Here's Oakley's mother, and also a top view of Oakley.









I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Oakley :) A few years ago (I wish I could remember exactly which year), I planted an acorn in this pot, and wonder of wonders, it sprouted. Each year it has grown, but this year the leaves are as big as the ones on its mother tree! The original red oak tree was given to me by a student who I worked with in her final two years of high school...she said I was to plant it so I'd always remember her and our time together! The really endearing thing about the offspring, is that each autumn, just like the big trees, the leaves turn a beautiful red shade and then fall off, and all that is left is a little twig trunk! I suppose that is to be expected, but it still is amazing to me. The mosaic stone that the pot sits on was made for me by a friend's little girl who knew I liked the sea. She used blue glass for the water, and orange and yellow for the sun. Very special gifts from the heart :)