....would we learn how silly we look to them? Judging by the look this fellow gave me... I think so! (Click picture to enlarge)
"In order to be an immaculate member of a flock of sheep, one must above all be a sheep oneself." ~ Albert Einstein
"Oh! Hello! Just taking a picture of the fascinating windmill on the pivoting base with the Dutch architectural influence, that sits right in the middle of your fenced pasture here in Williamsburg! What's that? You don't really care?! Oh, but you should.... what with all this history right around you. Oh! Right! You're most interested in the next meal or perhaps wondering when you will be sheared next... Yes, hope it IS before those 95 degree summer days! No, I really didn't call you over here. No, I really don't have anything special for you to eat. OK. I'll just be on my way!"
"But... before I go, could I just snap a picture of your handsome face... you see.. Carmi has a weekly themed project and this week it is "animals". Why would I want to include you? Well... er.... you see.... you ARE one!"
Black shutters pop on this colonial home...(Colonial Williamsburg) (click pictures to enlarge)
"Without black, no color has any depth. But if you mix black with everything, suddenly there's shadow - no, not just shadow, but fullness. You've got to be willing to mix black into your palette if you want to create something that's real." ~ Amy Grant
I love how the texture of the wood shows up, even with the dark black paint. They took such care to build the shutters with the angled boards to make a pleasant design. I think this window is what inspired me to paint the shutters on my parent's house a similar black, before we put it on the market... it sold in less than two months!
Does he know how elegant he looks? I think so! (Muscovy duck)
"I fell in love with black; it contained all color. It wasn't a negation of color... Black is the most aristocratic color of all... You can be quiet, and it contains the whole thing." ~ Louise Nevelson
I put two totally different pictures in this post because I loved them both and since I've been late in getting these up, was afraid Anna's "black" project would be ending. This fellow thought he was the king of the lake as he strutted his black plumage around. Up close he proved the color black to be a compilation of all color as his feathers had a purple sheen in one light and a dark green in another and still a touch of blue as well. Again, the contrast of another bright color against the black, makes it all the more alluring and mysterious.
"One of the most attractive things about the flowers is their beautiful reserve." ~ Henry David Thoreau
I am slowly trying to plant in the front flowerbeds; easy care flowers that will eventually provide color from the early spring well into the late fall. I found these dwarf lilies at the local garden center, not yet in bloom, so the spectacular colors were quite the surprise as they opened. And they are great subjects for the macro lens that Stephen gave me for my birthday. I love how stately lilies are, so regal and serene... of course the recent rain and residual droplets of water don't hurt either!
My first entry for a LensDay in ages... this week's subject is "flower". (end of post)
Black pickets standing guard around a bit of history. Colonial Williamsburg.
"There is an undeniable virtue to a true black; allowing the brain to be mesmerized and pulling the pupils deep into that unfound but sensed abyss." ~ Jamie Lavin
This is the real thing... the old fashioned wrought iron fence...not aluminum but heavy iron. It's old... surrounding an historic home in Colonial Williamsburg. Perhaps it needs a new touch of paint.... see the tiny patch of color? Mauve or perhaps a touch of rust?
This week I have been converting a white enameled wrought iron twin sized bed into a black enameled wrought iron twin sized bed... you know, something that is a bit less "little girl". In two weeks, we will be loading all the furnishings we have obtained from Craig's list, the local thrift shop and various garage sales (and then completely refurbished with more elbow grease than money)... and be off for a fabulous and fun-filled sixteen or more hour drive to Mississippi. (OH JOY!) She will have her first apartment and begins her graduate work in meteorology at Mississippi State. (I just re-read this and did I get off topic or what?!!!)
The point I started to make was that I have a can of black enamel paint left and I could just squirt a bit on that patch and ... voilá.... it's fixed! Anyway, another example of the color "black" for Anna's current project.
Yellow-green eyes hidden in a deep dark furry swirl of black.
"There's something about black. You feel hidden away in it." ~ Georgia O'Keeffe
This cat had a rough life before she met up with my cousin in Atlanta. Then her fortune changed. Kenny persuaded his brother Bob to take her and another orphan to his home in Indiana. It wasn't long before they realized that she was pregnant.... so now there are five. We must all have the cat gene in some form or other because these little gray and black waifs pulled Bob in with their antics and individual personalities. No more roaming or having to scrap for food for this girl....who ever said that black cats were unlucky?
We missed the ark and the carnival this week, but Anna is doing a "Project Black" and while we are again late in posting... better late than never!
"Nothing's more playful than a young cat, nor more grave than an old one." ~ Thomas Fuller
It isn't easy getting old. Somehow I thought that Clover never would. After all, she will only be 15 this July and my Siamese have always lived long lives. Her sister Chloe is spry and feisty still. But somewhere between the moves and all the mayhem.... Clover suddenly got old. She lost weight and became extremely wobbly in her gait. The vet found calcification of a couple of her vertebrae but nothing else. So now she gets to stay in my room with a soft heating pad and access to her food all the time. She eats well, but doesn't gain weight. She doesn't jump up on the bed or anything else for that matter now and getting up from a nap or laying down for one is a very slow process. We both take glucosamine/chondroitin supplements and it doesn't seem to help either of us! Now her eyesight is going as well. She stays close to my leg as I move around the room and uses her whiskers to feel her way at times. She demands more, more often and delights in keeping me awake at night, then snuggling down to sleep with her stuffed dog as soon as I get up.
But Clover still purrs, in fact she purrs more now than she ever did as a younger cat. So as long as she purrs and eats and keeps demanding.... I'll keep giving in to her whims, keep getting her Fancy Feast in her favorite flavor and keep gazing into those deep blue marble eyes.
Clover will be a late comer over at Friday's Ark this week but she's old and slow so they'll forgive her. If she has any energy left she will head out to the Carnival of the Cats, hosted by Mind of Mog.
"We all like to congregate at boundary conditions. Where land meets water. Where earth meets air. Where bodies meet mind. Where space meets time. We like to be on one side, and look at the other." ~ Douglas Adams, "Mostly Harmless"
It was hot, but not too hot; certainly not like today, when you literally could fry an egg on the sidewalk! Perhaps not on the sidewalk, but definitely on the hood of a parked car. Yes, that hot! And it has been so for four days now. But on this day it was a perfect hot day, one with a breeze off the water, not too much, just enough to keep those of us who relish the low lawn chair in the shade, coolish! (Yes, I know coolish is not a word.) Anyway, the sea grasses swayed in the breeze and this had a most hypnotic effect.... the type that made any hope of movement almost impossible and kept your focus on the motion of the dark grass against the bright intense blue of the sky. All the cares of the world fell away and for a moment time stood still. Then with a click it was captured: the moment, the space, the feeling. And on these stifling hot, humid and hazy days, I can still "click" and again return to that moment, that space, that feeling.
Anna is ending her "Project Blue" tomorrow, so this will be the last "blue" entry here as well.
Mr. Rhett... not so sure about this hammock. (Click picture for larger view)
"Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you." ~ Roald Dahl
Mr. Rhett wanted to go outside. He loves the hardwood floors, but he really wanted to go outside. So, Nyssa took him outside, to swing... with her in her brightly colored string hammock. He loved sniffing the air and looking at the trees and he kept one eye on the grass (tends to want to graze on it); but I am not so sure he knew what to make of the swinging. Here his eyes look a bit glazed over.... either he didn't care to see the ground moving beneath him or he was thinking about his friend Sophie (she asked about him the other day and it always puts him in this weird dream state).
It has been much too long since he visited aboard Friday's Ark or was able to attend the Carnival of the Cats. Rhett is hoping to do both this weekend. And he, along with his bright hammock are included in Anna's "Project Blue".
"When God made the blue-bird He wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth, so He gave him the color of the one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast." ~ John Burroughs
This bluebird is part of a scientific study as noted by his banding. I saw him in a little park up in Williamsburg. We have bluebirds in Hampton Roads as well and mom wanted to put up a bluebird house at the new place. We have the pole just the right height and placed facing the correct direction..... there are woods close but not too close and a golf course nearby.
In February, three males showed up and checked it out. They went in and out and made a visit on two consecutive days. One put a bit of leaf inside.... I decided he must have been the real estate agent. Then they left. In April, they still had not returned and I noticed tiny chickadees going in and out of the box. I opened the box and they had filled it half way with a beautiful green moss nest, topped off with bits of down and clean lint from the dryer vent. I didn't have the heart to clean it out. Sure enough, they laid their eggs and successfully raised four babies (another post).
While the house was still inhabited by the chickadees... the bluebird showed up again and looked in.... I just shrugged my shoulders and said..."What can I say? You're late!" We cleaned the house after the baby chickadees left and now another bluebird has been visiting... Who knows if he will get his act together and let the female in on this prime property! We'll see!
Another entry for Anna's project.....blue! There are some fabulous pictures being posted!
Bossy Blue Jay with a beautiful song! (Click picture for larger view)
"The moment a little boy is concerned with which is a jay and which is a sparrow, he can no longer see the birds or hear them sing." ~ Eric Berne
The birds have been amazing this past winter and spring in our new place. I have my boyfriend cowbird following me around from room to room, finches, wrens, chickadees, robins, cardinals, towhee, woodpeckers of several varieties and of course the grackles, crows and red-shouldered black birds. We also have squirrels and a couple of raccoons that routinely empty the "squirrel proof" feeder near the preserve. The blue jay is a different story. They are shy around here, not coming out when other birds are around. Only rarely do I see one brave enough to check out the feeder system near the house. So this was a treat! And they have a lovely song!
Misty blue pansies. (Norfolk Botanical Gardens) (Click picture for larger view)
"The color blue is everlastingly appointed by the deity to be a source of delight." ~ John Ruskin
The heat has finally arrived with two consecutive days of 85 - 90 degree temperatures, so these lovely creatures are on their way out for the season. The pansies in all shades that stand up so well to the cold nor'easters of winter will faint under this sun. I enjoyed this group at the botanical gardens in March when my cousin and I took a rare afternoon off from the house renovation work. They filled one area of the bed with a sea of palest blue. When I sit quietly and gaze on this beauty, a feeling of calm and peace closes in.... I love that!
Anna at Anna Carson Photography has posted a new group project; this time the color is blue. I'm a little late as this is probably the second or third day but then, this seems to be norm for me lately.
"The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning." ~ Ivy Baker Priest
It is still hard to believe! In just 44 short days on the market... a contract! Then another very short 9 days... a closing! In between was much work and angst and a bit of sadness and nostalgia.... it is hard to live in a house for 21 years without the latter. And now... this house, this home will begin helping another family make memories!
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known." ~ Author Unknown
No other words necessary.... I love you, Nyssa.... Graduate... Class of 2008!
Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all. ~ Emily Dickenson
We have a resident cowbird who perches on the birdfeeder just outside my mom's bay window. He sits here and stares at himself in the glass, sometimes for just a few minutes and at other times he stays for a half an hour. Occasionally, a female approaches, but he pays no attention! Is this narcissistic cowbird simply enamored with his reflection? Is he confused? Or does he see a rival?
He does this dance over and over. He looks this way and that and then begins to fluff up his feathers, thickening his neck and puffing out his chest... trying to make himself look as large and menacing as possible! Then he unfurls his wings, opens his beak and starts flapping his wings as he tilts forward and bows. A high pitched chirp pierces the air.... then the process begins again.
I think he is confused and thinks his rival is wanting to fight.... but they puff and bow and show off and no one ever makes a move on the other.... Isn't he gorgeous?
"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." ~ Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)
Just a short post, mainly for my brother. While he was here the last of February he got the ball rolling on the guttering. It was a necessary and practical improvement as the water gushed down the gables near the foundation and we wanted to make sure it flowed away from the house. Of course the guttering "made out of that metal we shall not name because it is a hot item on the thieves list" was probably not necessary; but it is beautiful. We had many, many gawkers driving by and staring at the shiny, shiny, reddish brown metal. Now it has moderated a bit, darkened somewhat, lost some of the shine and is blending in with the color of the brick. The sponge material keeps the leaves and pine needles out and we no longer have dirt from the flower beds flowing across the front walkway. YEAH!!!!
So, here a a few pictures, after the final touches and after the beginning of the patina. It's lovely and it works!! Oh, yes... it means I can now get my handy dandy ladder out and start on a window washing spree... no more excess dripping and splashing on them now.
