Watching

You have heard this before: I am on chore duty, which means that I have to watch over everything while The Head Gardener has gone fishing. You have seen the photos of the horses eating, the chickens pecking, the grass growing, and my jokes about shopping when he is gone. I'll spare you that story.

I do wish I had more to share on the garden other than my continual Weed Rant. I'll spare you that misery, too.

In fact the weeds are doing quite nicely, thank you, given the amount of rain that we have been receiving. So I have been watching them grow out of control. Snow last Sunday, only one sunny day last week, and lot of rain with more on the way. Threats of hail. Tornado warnings.

The weather guy breaking into my fav afternoon soap opera just when the story is getting good with ominous reports of hail in other parts of the state miles away and harsh tornado warnings along with reminders of what to do: go inside; go to basement; stay away from windows. Blah Blah Blah. I liked my mother in law's storm warnings better.

The tile installer worked most of the day yesterday installing the back splash in the kitchen. She will return this morning to finish the installation then return tomorrow to do the grouting. So after she left yesterday, I went for a walk down town, visiting the little antique shops on main street. I hurried a bit on the way home to avoid the rain that was on its way.

On my way home I watched the storm clouds. My mother in law was a watcher of clouds. She could  tell where the storm was coming from, how severe it would be, and where it would go--all before the sophisticated Dopler and satellite storm tracking. Me? I just like looking at the clouds. I used my iPhone to get a few shots of the clouds as they rumbled and tumbled by.

I like thunder storms. I like to hear, even feel the thunder. Lightening, not so much. I like to watch the clouds swirl and turn--as long as they don't send down the ominous fingers that could stretch into funnel clouds. Time go inside then.

 You can see the distant rain as it falls on fields west of us still waiting for corn to be planted. The clouds gather over the school and the football field.

East of the Garden Spot, a thunder head forms. Not a very angry one--yet. It's headed my friends out in northeastern Colorado.

Down my road the sky looks clear, I heard distant thunder.

I watched Lily Thurdsay. Just as I was getting ready to leave at the end of the day, a beautiful rainbow appeared. Lily, nearly 3, had never seen a rainbow and declared it "Beautiful." Rainbows are the big payoff after a storm, aren't they?

 

I  watched the girls and momma work in their Fairy Garden at the end of the day, too. It is located in a shady spot underneath the upper deck. They have built quite a village. Take a stroll with me through their little fairyland.

Outside the deck, Jen has planted a Korean Lilac. Similar to my Miss Kim, it has smaller, more delicate leaves, fuller blooms, and a more whimsical look. 

I think Lucy took this photo, so it is a bit out of focus. The girls were working on the river bed.

An expert thrift shopper, Jen looks for interesting pieces on the bargain shelves to add to the fairy garden, and she finds interesting rocks, stones, and old wood camping that she adds to the garden.

We tried to decide what sort of bird built this nest because it looks like a nest within a nest. I am thinking that the top one is a hummingbird nest. How cool is that!

See the little mushroom? The girls painted wooden drawer pulls to create those delightful forest mushrooms.

 I think my favorite item so far in the garden is the little bunting that Jen made.

And a May Pole

Even a clothes line with fairy tutus/

And a classic red phone booth.

Finally I am bird watching. Generally we hear the new birds to the garden first. Sometimes I know them  by their song, other times I spot the migrating warblers by their movement in the aspen trees in the center circle. Right now the aspens, as are many other trees, are seeding. These tiny birds feast on the aspen seeds and bugs, filling their little craws so that  they make the flight to the mountains. Some even fly far into Canada, so my Canadian friends keep an eye out for these sweet singing little birds.

I added this photo so that you can see how hard it is photograph these tiny birds. They flit amongst the branches and leaves so quickly that it is really hard to get a good shot. I use my Canon Rebel with a 75-300mm telephoto lens and try to get as close as I can without scaring them way. 

   

I want to say the top is a Yellow Rumped Warbler, but I am not able to find one on the Audubon site that has a white throat. There are a couple of species that have these similar marking.  Below, a Yellow warbler that was flirting around the honey locust tree, and perhaps a Nashville warbler, which I just could not get a good photo of.

There will be other migrating birds to come through and I get very excited to see them: Indigo bunting, rose breasted grosbeak (very rare for here but we do see them at the feeder), or a lazuli bunting. Most migrating birds hang out at the feeder for a day or two and then are gone. I am glad to provide them with a meal to keep them strong for their long journey. I keep hoping that some day I will see a northern cardinal at the feeder. Fat chance, although there have been very rare sightings of the male cardinal in Ft. Collins west of us.

I am not done watching. I'll be watching for birds all summer. Watching the grass grow. Watching grand kids when school is out in, can you believe it, a week? Watching Iris bloom. Watching clouds. 

What will you be watching?

As I end this post I am watching the tile installation. Very exciting. Next week you will get the grand tour of the kitchen remodel, for it will be done then.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit. Be sure check out Lavender Cottage for Mosaic Monday.