Fotografaire - Blog and Photography

Relax

What are some of the ways that you relax? Are they outdoor or indoor forms of relaxation, or do you incorporate a combination of the two, depending on your mood?

Music relaxes me immensely. I like all genres of music. What I listen to depends on how I feel at a given moment. The wonderful thing about music is that it crosses all boundaries, both cultural and generational.

Gardening is another form of relaxation for me. I like working with plants, flowers, shrubs, etc. I listen to music while I garden, and am in another world which is inhabited by all types of creatures and critters, aside from the horticultural life forms. From butterflies flitting everywhere, to birds that sing and fly back and forth, to the insects in the ground, life is abundant in a garden. It is pleasing to see it before my eyes.

Taking a drive in my car to a local lake, river or other scenic spot is another form of relaxation. I look forward to the scenic beauty, and look forward to taking photographs along the way. Nature brings its own serenity, and the tranquil settings are a joy to look at.

I also relax and unwind by going to the movies. I am an avid movie-goer. Reading is another way I relieve the stresses of the world. I collect first edition books, and am a diehard bibliophile.

Please share some of things you do to relax.

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Four Pale, Two Speckled!

The saga of the bird’s eggs continues. The nest, huddled within a hanging basket that contains pansies, now has six eggs inside of it. Four pale white, two speckled.

I may just have to give the pansy plants up, and not water them any longer, at some point, so the mama has a chance to sit for longer periods of time, in order to hatch the eggs. Once they are hatched, I definitely will not be able to water them, as there will be tiny babies inside the basket, and they could possibly drown. Also, mama will be around, and she will be constantly feeding and protecting them, and eventually be teaching them to fly.

Tomorrow…will there be seven, or is this the limit. We’ll see.

~~Notes From the Garden - April 26, 2007

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Now There are Five!

Since I last uploaded my photo with the one egg, in a bird’s nest, snuggled within my hanging pansy basket, there are now five eggs! Mommy has been productive. I wonder if she will lay any more.

I have a feeling that there are two different mothers sharing the same nest. There are two distinct egg types. Two are extremely speckled, and three are slightly speckled at the wider end.

I did some research, and here are the results:

House sparrow eggs are heavily brown speckled. The two brown-speckled eggs of cowbirds do look like the two in this photo. Lark and Chipping sparrows have slight speckles at the wider end of the egg. The eggs look like the three lightly speckled eggs in my photo. I read an article online where it states that sparrows do share their nests, and, so I think there is one sparrow mother, with two eggs, and four cowbird eggs in this nest.
~~Notes From the Garden - April 25, 2007

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Early Bird Got the Worm

Yes, indeed, that old euphemism “The early bird gets the worm”, was literally true, this morning. I was able to watch a robin red breast in my yard, as he swooped down and picked up a worm, flew off, and sat perched, high up, on a branch in one of my oak trees

I had my camera on me, with its 55-200mm zoom lens, and managed to capture this photo. I ended up having to crop it quite heavily, but I am still pleased with the result.

Notes from the Garden - 4/21/07

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Determined Frostbud

One of my favorite shrubs are “Pinkshell” azaleas (Rhododendron vaseyi). They are known in the gardening world as “the royalty of the garden”, and I enjoy watching them mature. I love to watch the natural process of their growth. I love their vibrant blossoms, their delicate look, the blouses of their petals as they show off their ruffled edges, and I love their lovely buds, just before they open.

My azalea bushes were blooming earlier than usual this spring season, as we had a few days of unusually warm temperatures. Then, quite unexpectedly, the temperatures dropped, and the evenings were full of below-freezing temperatures, ranging in the low teens. I covered my bushes, but to no avail. All of the buds turned brown. This happened over one week ago.

This morning I walked about my yard, looking at my plants, flowers, shrubs, etc., and I came upon this lovely and beautiful pinkness illuminating through the dead brown growth. There, before my eyes, was one small, pink beauty, one pink bud. Out of my six azalea bushes, one bud, survived the frost…one small, determined frostbud.

~~Notes From the Garden 4/19/07

© Copyright - All Rights Reserved - No permission is given or allowed to reuse my photography or inspirational prose/quotations, or my poetry in any form/format without my expresss written consent/permission.