Time to return ----------

Lonesome gull - Hampton Beach, New Hampshire

We'll be flying south tomorrow after a really great trip.

Cabbages and roses -

Changes in one's eating plan can sometimes make amazing differences. 

Many of us have tried diets of all kinds for reasons from wanting to lose

 weight, gain weight (though I admit never had that problem!), treat digestive

 problems etc., and apparently to address issues with food allergies.

The Low Histamine plan is completely new to me and, after doing

 it for four days, I have to say good results are already seen. 

I have dropped 3 pounds of that 6 pound COVID weight gain, don't

 feel hungry, and actually feel quite healthy. It's extremely restricted

 though with no dairy, no fermented foods, no alcohol, no citrus, no

 bread or baked goods, no sugar, limited vegetables and fruits. . . in

 fact limited everything really!

All meals must be freshly prepared at home - which fortunately

 is what I'm used to doing - and leftovers have to be discarded.

I don't advise anyone to follow this diet as a way to lose weight,

 and please remember any new diet you consider following

should always be discussed with your physician.

When this recent Polymyalgia (PMR) flare started, my own physician

 decided I should try this eating plan along with the Prednisone as I was

 possibly having reactions to fresh strawberries which I'd been enjoying for

 a couple of weeks as they are in season here and being sold at roadside

 farm stands! Also, it might help with the inflammation caused by PMR.

See that gorgeous Savoy cabbage waiting on my dining room table.

I used it as a centerpiece with some garden roses for the weekend!

It's one of the vegetables allowed - yes, there are even veggies, and

 fruits high in histamine which I cannot eat now!

The weekend weather was perfect here. Other than picking up fresh eggs

 at the Saturday Farmers' Market and taking a short walk, we stayed home

 enjoying the garden, front porch (above), and suppers in the gazebo while

 watching and listening to many birds now with chirping youngsters in tow. 

We have a nest of four baby Carolina wrens tucked into the urn by our

 front steps, and another with five Black-capped chickadees snuggled in

 the old wooden nesting box hanging in the fig tree. 

The jasmine is now in full bloom along the fences and the perfume 

quite intoxicating in the evening air. Hydrangeas are opening, peonies

 and roses budding, grass thick and green, basil, parsley, dill and sage

seeds all germinating in their sun-kissed pots along the front walkway.

Such a lovely time of year.

Enjoy this first week of May.

In the land of lost words -

My latest choice of books arrived last week - delivered to the door like so many other things these days. Browsing for an hour or so in a lovely independent bookshop, perhaps curled in a wingback chair with some classical music playing very softly in the background, is on hold of course. Just when we really need beautiful books and tantalizing stories, we have to get our hands on them via a computer, a wait, the grey Prime van pulling up at the bottom of the driveway, the loud 'plop' as the heavy box hits the top step outside the front door. Slash open the box, pop some bubble wrap - you do that too don't you? New books are lovely. You have your own favorite chair, your own music to play if you enjoy quiet background sounds. If warm, sit by the open window, birdsong is everywhere these days.  Life is still good, very good if you allow yourself to grab and hold on to loving your favorite things be it cooking, painting, writing, listening. . . . . and of course reading.

If interested in the reasons for my latest book picks, read here.

From top to bottom of the stack:

In Patagonia - Bruce Chatwin
"An exhilarating look at a place that still retains the exotic mystery of a far-off, unseen land."
Having visited there twice, I've had this classic by the great British travel writer on my 
list for a long time - starting it today.

The Shell Collector - Anthony Doerr
A book of short stories so wonderful I couldn't put it down. After enjoying his novel
 "All The Light We Cannot See" so much, I just had to read this. . . . .loved it, 
and will be reading over and over when in need of a fabulous short story, beautifully
written.

Peregrine Spring - Nancy Cowan
"A Master falconer's extraordinary life with birds of prey."
Nancy (and her husband Jim, a work colleague of Bob for many years), are friends.
 I have visited their internationally known New Hampshire School of Falconry and 
felt the weight of an exquisite, huge raptor fly in and land on my gloved hand to eat. 
An experience like no other!
This book is going to be wonderful, educational, and I'm anxious to read it.

A Way to Garden - Margaret Roach 
'A hands-on primer for every season'.
I know Margaret well from her wonderful online blog and many
years as garden editor for Martha Stewart Living magazine. 
She also writes a New York Times column.
Margaret's weekly blog post from upstate New York is always full of fabulous 
gardening tips, podcasts with other well known gardeners, and generous
 book give-a-ways (I won one!).
Now I will be opening her book often, enjoying the beautiful photos and learning
 more about a hobby I love. After all, "A garden is a job for ever".

The Lost Words - Robert MacFarlane & Jackie Morris
The lovely surprise was that this is an exquisite oversized book which looks 
perfect left out to be picked up, opened, and to be in awe of because of the
 beautiful illustrations.
Publication of the most recent edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary - widely
 used in schools around the world - dropped around forty common words
 concerning nature, as they weren't being used by children. "Lost words" 
included acorn, bluebell, fern, newt, otter, dandelion and willow. 
Words taking their place include attachment, broadband, cut-and-paste
 voice-mail and blog!

Powerful signs of the growing, and quite frightening to me, gulf between
 childhood and nature.
A picture book of the best kind - it is truly fabulous - and you will find me by
 that open window, listening to the birds, as I turn the pages during
 these days at home.

A weekend thought -

Wearing a mask inside your home is now highly recommended. 

Not so much to prevent COVID-19 but to stop eating!

Have a great weekend anyway dear readers!

Seeds forever. . . . . . . . .

Hmm! What's this I see?  Something new for breakfast.

Really amazing how one sunflower seed can grow into a strong, 6 foot tall sunflower with a

gigantic head full of another few hundred seeds - didn't stop to count but it certainly looks that many!

I've saved quite a few seeds which hopefully will germinate next summer - the

 remainder are feeding lots of garden birds and it seems the cardinals are really

 enjoying them the most.

Lovely sunflower season is over now. I've cut down all the tall stems and will

 look forward to planting again in that spot next year. 

They brought brilliant color and joy both to me, the neighbors, and even

 people just driving by.

Fixing house and home. . . . . .

Next week some planned home and garden Spring fix ups will be addressed.

Due to start Monday, a few days of repairs by a professional hopefully

will take place - please 'Mister Contractor' answer my text of yesterday and let me
 know if you really are going to show up, grrrrrrr!
Keeping up a property no matter the size or age, seems to be ongoing with
 something often breaking down, wearing out, or looking just plain old and
 dingy. . . . . . .hmm, the owners have similar problems but I won't even go there!!!

Meanwhile, my weekend is going to be busy enough with some gardening

 chores on the schedule. 

Concerns are building for budding and flowering shrubs and plants with the predicted
 below freezing temperatures on Saturday night bringing possible plant damage.

  Fingers crossed this won't be serious, however I'm putting off purchasing my 
new annual Boston ferns for my porch hanging baskets until later next week.

Mother Nature up to her old tricks again!

Figs are forming already, another prolific harvest perhaps, even though

 I still have pots of jam to be eaten from last year.

Brown Thrasher in the fig tree.

Hostas are poking through.

Time to mow again Bob!
Sweet birds -  Mourning doves and a male finch. . . . . . 

. . . . . . and nuisance cute squirrels, are enjoying the warm weather and water this week. 

Have a fabulous weekend wherever you are.

Just thinking about nesting. . . . . . . . . .

With the official first day of Spring now here. . . . .I've been thinking.

Mostly about the garden which requires a lot of sprucing up and TLC, and 

about the bird population which seems to be ever increasing around here.

It's a good thing! 

I need to start dragging home large bags of mulch to replenish the sad looking beds.

The sun has just popped out so it may be a good afternoon for a garden center

visit - with the temperature due to hit mid-60's.

Will there soon be more tulips?  This is the first and probably an old bulb, 

the stem and leaves are very short. Last Fall's planting are all in large pots 

and just coming up. . . . . . I hope they will be tall and strong, able to wave 

to passersby in the March winds.

Does my year-round robin, sitting in the fig tree, and whom I now think is a 

female, have a gentleman caller at long last? Is she playing hard to get? 

Will there be a nest construction project in the near future?

Note the suet cage on the ground - each time we fill it some animal, probably 

a raccoon, takes it down, opens it up, and has a greasy midnight meal.

Our woodpeckers are getting really upset!

Talking of nesting - will our longtime porch-living wren family be building again this Spring? 

I've already seen one checking the window box but still too cold and a bit early perhaps 

to start on construction.

My lovely blog friend Deb at Just Cats in still really snowy/chilly Ontario, Canada, 

has a great idea which I must share, and will be doing too as I already 

have the suet cage. Hopefully raccoons will steer clear!

She fills her cage with leftover scraps of yarn cut into 2" pieces, and even cat hair from 

her beautiful kitties - all of which nest building birds will pull out and use. 

Other bloggers, in their comments to Deb, also share the bits and bobs they 

put out for their birds, including lace. 

How lovely is that, a tiny bird weaving delicate lace through a twiggy nest.

 I usually tuck chunks of dryer lint into places on the front porch, and will be starting 

this again after my next laundry load - I have seen the lint used in the nests in our garden.

Hyacinths are late blooming this year too.  These will be pink and pretty, but blue

are my favorite - perhaps I can find some at the garden center for the dining room table 

Easter vignette. I love their fragrance

The white rabbits are ready, out of storage, and waiting for their place in the sun, and 

with Easter coming early I must stop thinking and get to work.

So dear friends, a very happy beginning of springtime. 

May your days get warmer, your blossoms bloom, your birds find mates, 

build pretty nests, sing early in the morning to start your day joyfully,

(notice how much louder they are singing now),

 and the real bunnies stay away from your lettuce!

Garden Calm Before The Storm. . . . . . . .

Saturday afternoon we were able to do a little garden clean up and some pruning.

It was cool, sunny and at first not windy, but things soon changed and the 

sky became a bit threatening, so we packed up and came in to get ready for 

an evening out, supper and some Shakespeare - "Much Ado About Nothing" -

at our local community theatre.

The always sweet and gentle Mourning doves cleaning up the crumbs on this morning.

One Robin has stayed around permanently this Winter. 

He's surprised me by bathing daily as the frozen water melts, this often assisted 
by us emptying a kettle of hot water to speed things up.

 He's also loving the suet feeder and often stands guard over it for up to five 
minutes and scares other birds away.

Feeding in pairs - House Finches

"Hey you guys looking out the window, guess where I'm headed?"

This is an easy to recognize squirrel because of the little white tufts of fur behind his ears. 

He comes to the feeders constantly and it takes some chasing to keep him away for long. 

Our neighbors must think us nuts always running down the front steps clapping 

our hands and yelling "Get out of there you naughty squirrel". . . . . . . or sometimes

 worse language I won't repeat here!

Here's another visitor knowing he's misbehaving. This is when the humans run down 

the steps clapping hands and shouting rude words!

Yes, we are cute, aren't we?

"But we love it here and will clean up the seeds then come back tomorrow".

I'm sharing the wildlife now because all may be white in the next day or so. 

Arctic blast, chance of SNOW at long last - will be our first of the season!

Birding in the backyard………………

I took a break from all the indoor busyness, such as packing, this lovely morning, and sat in my wicker garden chair looking UP!  I looked up for so long I thought my chin would never come down again.  My neck was quite painful for a while. I even sent Bob for a can of OFF to spray for the mosquitoes making a meal of my bare ankles and elbows.

What we do to get photos of our garden birds, it's almost ridiculous.

Several blue jays were making such a commotion in the neighbor's oak tree I just knew something was up. Looking in that direction it wasn't difficult to spot this beautiful red-tailed hawk, probably a juvenile as it had a speckled chest. These birds grow to 25" and can have a wingspan up to 4 feet.

Click to enlarge

The jays dive-bombed at the hawk over and over, bumping its head and shoulders. 

Jays, highly intelligent birds, are known as the alarm of the forest screaming at any 

woodland intruders 

The hawk wouldn't fly off, just moved to another nearby branch………

………and was then also cawed at several times by two crows swooping down.

We then noticed a dead squirrel on the neighbor's chimney - brought by the hawk 

and dropped there most likely.

This hawk stayed in the tree about an hour……then it flew away, picking up his takeaway lunch from the chimney, all just a few minutes after I gave up waiting for that shot and went back in the house - of course!

Always happens when photographing wildlife, doesn't it?

Blue jay and red-tailed hawk on a beautiful May morning.