Since this is a long holiday, today feels more like Saturday than Sunday - until I realized what day it really is and I know that it is time for Sunday gratitude.
It's been a beautiful week. Most of the time felt like an early spring with temperatures often in the 70's. After the rain at the very beginning of the week, everything seems to come to life. The air feels different, too - there certainly is spring in the air!
I wonder whether it will keep like this - or is a cold spell still possible? Sometimes we have some frost in February and sometimes even in March. I think just to be on the safe side I wait another two week before I start some serious pruning in my garden. My fingers are itching to start right now!
It was also a short week since schools were closed last Monday as well. It was nice to sleep in a little especially since I felt rather tired due to a bad cold. I'm feeling so much better now, and the tiredness has gone! I'm so happy - I don't really like to have less energy and being tired.
On Friday I finally walked around the lake again. It was quiet there, almost no wildlife except for a few birds. My "friends", the Black-crowned Night Herons, were nowhere to be seen, and only from the distance did I spot a Green Heron. However, I enjoyed the different bird sounds like the funny noise the Red-winged Blackbirds use to call each other, or the loud screaming of the Steller's Jay.
There is always a variety of ducks out on the lake. I'm not quite sure which ones these are, but I think it's a Bufflehead. I need to learn more about ducks and the different kinds.
I was very surprised when one morning I saw a "new" bird in my garden. I first thought it's a robin, but when I looked closer I saw different markings and figured that this is a Varied Thrush. They usually stay here only in the winter, and I had never before seen one - what a lovely surprise! Sorry for the very bad picture, this was taken through the window, and this bird is very shy and flies away immediately.
Kaefer was invited to a birthday party at the beach - on a day when it was 70 F out there! Usually it's much cooler at the beach than here, but the weather is really weird these days. Anyway, she and her friends had a blast and a really good time. Afterwards two of her friends stayed here for a sleepover. We had a noisy dinner, and I thoroughly enjoyed the chatter and laughter of the girls. Teenager can be so much fun! I am lucky to have them in my life!
We also had some colorful sunsets again -
Oh, and there is work! I got a huge custom order in this week that I am still working on. I love custom orders as there is usually some communication with the customer beforehand and I know a little bit more what they need the item for. It somehow makes the work different. Today I ran out of the ribbon for her project, so I had to go and find the right one - a nice excuse to do some shopping and look around the craft store!
And - I enjoyed Valentine's Day! We don't give each other gifts, but I loved to decorate the breakfast table with dark chocolate hearts. Kaefer didn't have to go to German school, so we had the entire morning for us. Such bliss!
It was a beautiful week. I hope yours was wonderful as well and you have many reasons to be grateful.
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Sunsets over the ocean are the subject
in some of my photo art cards,
available in my Etsy store
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9 comments:
Hi Carola, I hope you will be over your cold very soon. I have never seen a varied thrush before. It has such distinctive markings. How wonderful! I enjoyed all your other birds. We get the red-winged blackbird here and I too love to hear its trill. I enjoyed all your other photographs also. Thanks so much and have a great week.
Carola, your photos are so gorgeous and heartwarming. Thank you so much for sharing.
Wieder einmal super schöne Fotos Carola!
Das zweite ist mein absoluter Favorit, die bunten Vögel sind auch toll.
Und das mit der Schokolade ist richtig gemein :))
Wünsche Dir eine wundervolle Woche!
Liebe Grüße
【ツ】Knipsa
Hi Carola, I love the way you combine the scenic views with the close ups. Very nice! To answer your question about Cowtown … In its early development Fort Worth was a hub of cattle ranching activity. I think the name was applied with a bit of humor. Especially when compared to its neighboring city: Dallas, famous for its “sophistication”. Now, a question for you: With your expertise from your Etsy store … What kind of luck do you think I might have opening up an Etsy store to sell some of my old postcards like the ones I’ve featured on my blog? I’m especially curious about Etsy vs. eBay. Please feel free to leave an answer on my blog. Thanks in advance. John
Wonderful collection of images.. Congrats on the Varied Thrush, I would love to see one..Pretty scenery, flowers and birds. Have a happy week ahead!
That Steller’s Jay has amazing blue colors. I had never seen one so close as you show us in your picture. We do get regular blue jays here but never birds like that. Lately for some reason we don’t get as many birds coming to our bird feeders – I am not sure why. It could be a hawk or howl in the neighborhood, or some furtive cats.
What wonderful bird images, Carola! Beautiful sunset too! Yes, spring seems to have sprung and its hard to imagine winter returning, but it's possible. I'm enjoying it too, although it feels like a guilty pleasure.
Red winged blackbirds are some of my favorite songbirds here in Iowa--they have such a beautiful song! Glad to hear spring is starting to venture into your part of the country.
This post is so beautiful and heart warming ;o)
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