By-Product of Imagination

 

We haven't seen any Luna moths at our new home yet, but I sure hope we will someday.  This large, mint green colored moth with angel-like wings is one of my favorites in the moth/butterfly world.  The Luna is just so enchanting and ethereal.

 

While waiting on a Luna sighting, I imagined what it would look like if the graceful moth floated in on a gentle breeze and alit on a fluffy cluster of lilac flowers. The miniature painting above is the product of my imagination...and...of my hope for an actual appearance :)

Parade of Flowers

All the flowers to follow are a sample of those growing in our yard ~ we love all the color & variety!

Daisies



Garden Chives

Pansies

Roses

Classic Peony

And someone else loves our gardens, too...

 

HAPPY Birthday

 

 

Today is a day of celebration, as it is Kevin's 54th birthday!  On his birthday eve, the box turtle in the photos above showed up in our backyard.  After taking a few photos, we placed him in the leaves in the woods, where we believe he'll be much happier, but it was very nice of him to visit :)

 

Inspiration

Inspiration for a couple of my most recent ACEO miniature paintings came right out of our own backyard :)

Hard Work

After battling with Kevin day after day over her chosen location for a nest, our resident robin settled on a perfect spot in the corner of our cabin home under the eaves by a drain pipe. Her first choice was a spot right on top of our front porch lights. Kevin removed her nest in progress each day and she replaced it each day.  This went on for about a week, until she finally decided to stop battling and start building her nest in the new spot just in time for her eggs and coming babies.

All that hard work tired her out, as you can see in the progression of photographs to follow ~

We're really looking forward to the arrival of the baby robins ... which should be any day now!

 

New to Me

Eight Spotted Forester

While I was outside watering our gardens today, I came across what I thought was a butterfly I'd never seen before.  It seemed happy to come across the water droplets on the surface of the patio.  As you can see in the photograph above, this specie has a bold pattern of white spots on glistening black wings and bright orange, furry looking leg patches.  When I tried to identify it, I came up with nothing to match in my butterfly guide.  It turns out this brightly patterned "butterfly" is actually a moth!  Ordinarily, moths are creatures active in the nighttime that have thick, feathered antennae, but the Eight Spotted Forester is the exception to that "rule."  The adults are active in bright daylight and have butterfly-like thin antennae.  They are found in woodland edges in the eastern half of the United States.  It's always so exciting to come across something new and different outdoors! 

Raging Waters & Delicate Flowers

 

After an evening of torrential rain, our little mountain stream is swelling and its whitewater is cascading down the slopes with a roar.  When we first visited what would become our mountain home, the stream was just a trickle and you could barely see it and couldn't hear it at all.  What a huge difference a winter of heavy snow and a spring of heavy rain made! 

 

In stark contrast, the rains have brought forth the most delicate flowers.  Our yard is filled with azaleas, now all in bloom ~  hot pink, salmon, lavender, so many different shades!  My very favorite azalea has pastel, light pink blooms that look so pretty against their emerald green leaves.

 

 

To deter the bears who had quickly become everyday visitors, we had to put away all of our bird feeders for at least a couple of weeks until the bears entirely lose interest.  I miss both the bears and the birds, but with so many different flowers in bloom, there's still so much natural beauty to enjoy.

"...and...Bears...OH MY!"

Word got out in the wildlife community that Haney's Hollow is the place to go for the best eats ... so the bear above wonders, "Where's the food?" Since our first bear visit on Mother's Day, we've had continual visits not only from the Momma Bear and her Cub but this young gentleman also paid several visits. His manners got so atrocious we had to close down our dining facility.  Each evening since the bears first foray into our backyard, our hummingbird feeders have been torn from their stands and thrown on the ground and the seed in the birdfeeder entirely consumed by nonbird folk ... aka BEAR.  Early this morning around 5:00 AM, the young bear seen in the above photo had a last hurrah when he threw the large, heavy rock off our trash can containing birdseed and dumped the can over on the patio.  We scared him off and cleaned up his mess, but at around 7:00 this evening said bear came back.  Not only did he find that the seed can and all our other trash cans had disappeared, but, to his utter dismay, the bird feeder was nowhere to be found.  He simply sat where it had been looking utterly perplexed. Like the guest who just doesn't know when it's time to go home, he wouldn't leave despite a total lack of refreshments and mischief making possibilities.  Our more polite efforts to let this guy know he was no longer welcome had obviously gone right over his head, so we upped the ante to let him know he'd overstayed.  Kevin shot a couple of gunshots in the air and this tubby little bear barreled up our back hill, scampered over the fence and kept on going as fast as his chubby little legs would carry him.

 

We've really enjoyed getting a close look at our bear folk, and we've been fortunate they haven't been more destructive.  It's sad to have to entirely close up our outdoor café and I sure will miss seeing all the birds, but for now, it's what has to be done so the bears will realize we are no longer a bear friendly eatery.  Hard to do...because they are so cute and fun to see...but cute just can't cut it. The bears need to go elsewhere to frolic and forage...for our sake and theirs. 

Rewarding Rescue

This afternoon, Kevin and I heard a very loud bonk against our back window.  We discovered a female cardinal that initially looked badly injured flopped across the patio.  I quickly fetched my warm winter gloves. By the time I'd gotten outside to her, she'd been able to right herself, but she was still extremely dazed. As I've done so many times in the past in cases such as these, I lifted her ever so gently and cupped her in the warmth and safety of my gloved hands.  I could see that her neck wasn't broken, and, despite the severity of the blow she'd taken, she seemed to be okay.  I took her to a shadier spot where we sat together for several moments.  She still clung tightly to my gloved hands, so I just waited.  Soon, I could see signs that she was becoming perkier, so I urged her to fly. Eventually, she took a short flying leap to the tree limb you see her on here.  I waited a while and she simply stayed put.  I got my camera, and taking a few photos of her was all the urging she needed to fly off into the safety of a nearby cedar tree.  It was remarkable not only to see that she seemed to be just fine after her ordeal, but that her bright red mate, whose soft chipping calls continued the whole time I was with her, entered the cedar tree right behind her ~ a rewarding and relieving end to this rescue mission! 

Momentous Mother's Day

My daughter visited us this the weekend.  Today, she treated Kevin and me to lunch to celebrate Mom's Day.  When we arrived home, we heard plaintive cries coming from our backyard.  Kevin rushed to investigate and called out, "You won't believe this...a bear cub is in our yard!"  We all hurried inside to get a better, safer look at what was transpiring out back.  What follows is a photographic record of what we witnessed.

Wayward Baby Inside the Fence, Desperate Mom Outside

 

Mom on Fence Trying to Get Baby to Follow Her Up &Out

Attempted Airlift (Failed)

"Oh, What am I going to do with you!?!"

 

 
If you can't beat em, join em!

Come on let's have some fun :)

"Whee, Piggyback ride!!!"

 

Both happy after a snack at the bird feeder ~ birds not so happy!

Alright, Kiddo, enough excitement ... it's back to the den.

 

And with that, Mom AND Babe both successfully climbed over the fence and disappeared up the mountainside.

On a calmer note ... my beautiful daughter and my reason for celebration today :)

One more...

Too cute ... had to add!

Photos for Today

Today's planting project involved purchasing flowering plants and planting two boxes.  I went to my favorite plant nursery and chose some pink impatiens, purple petunia-like flowers and some pink baby's breath which all fit nicely into two planters that hang on the porch railing on our back porch. 



The bees found the new flowers right away and the hummingbirds checked them out too ... but they preferred the sweet sugar nectar from their easy access feeders.  Below a tiny female ruby throated hummingbird pauses between sips, her bright green, jewel-toned feathers glistening in the sunlight.

 

May Flowers

The old saying "April showers bring May flowers," has certainly proven to be true here.  We had very heavy rains at the end of April and now our gardens are literally popping with new flowers, some just in bud, but with lots of blooms on the way.

Of the flowers just starting to open, I'm most excited about the lilacs and lily of the valley.  They both have such heavenly scents!  We inherited some lovely plantings from the previous homeowners and garden tenders. The garden beds are lush and full.  What, a couple of months ago looked like barren ground, now has truly come alive with greenery and bright color.  And just in time for the arrival of the hummingbirds ~ I put out two hummingbird feeders yesterday, and, within an hour, we saw our first ruby-throated hummingbirds of the season.  Such a wonderful time of year!