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Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry Writers Site

Gardening Tips From A Dog~

Why do we think birds have it so good
Because they don’t have credit cards
and electric bills
That they can fly
when and where they want to
without worry..
Maybe they think what we have is great
Living inside structures
that don’t fall down in heavy winds
and we aren’t someone’s food, or play toy…
Seems we have more in common than not
I just wish I had wings…

The rain poured down this morning, an attempt by Mother Nature to clean off the winters sludge from the roads, buildings and ground. Most of the snow surrounding the house melted off this morning. Before this winter will be official over it will take a few heavy rains, then some sunny days to bake everything clean.

I walked over to the Bog Willows and peered inside their tangled branches, I saw where the snow was hiding. Every bit of ground in the shadows was snow covered. White and icy, refusing to let go of winters bite.

Uriah was very disappointed when I refused to walk in the cold water, which covered the low end of the path. He carefully inched along the un-melted ice and drank from the water.

The skies above us were heavy with moisture. The clouds were a deep soft grey, they moved quickly overhead. I looked up at the motionless tree tops. All the wind was high up in the clouds, the winds pushed them into rolling mountains that swiftly changed shape every second.

With our walking path blocked I turned my attention to the vegetable garden. This past October I had covered it with a tarp and wooden fencing, and an occasional pizza box. I had stuffed a large plastic garbage bag full of autumn leaves and set it in the garden. My intention was to dig those leaves into the newly turned soil and pile them around tomato plants. Right now that bag sat, bloated, in the middle of the garden waiting for me, and spring.

 I walked around the covered area. Stopped and called for Uriah.  

Uriah came over and sat next to me and stared at the garbage bag like I had commanded him to, and then looked up at me waiting for a biscuit.

I pointed to one of the tarps. “You think we can uncover one part and set up a cold frame?”

Uriah actually looked as though he were thinking. He stood up and stepped into a section that was not covered and slowly tried to dig in the dirt. Then he looked up at me with mud stuck to his paws.

“Okay! I get it too mushy to play in, maybe next week!”

Uriah looked at me, sighed, then walked over to a hole and stuck his nose in it, and then he stood back and sneezed. 

“Right! That last rat has to go!” I backed away. I am not crazy about rodents!  “You get right on that!” I raised my eyebrows and kept inching backwards.

Uriah isn’t fond of rats! This rat has taken his biscuits, food and chew toys over the past few months. Whenever I mention that fact, I am told rats bite, hard!  Uriah gave me a look and went into the kennel and slipped into his dog igloo and left me standing there, alone.

 I looked up into the sky, I could hear the high pitch scream of the Red Tail Hawk.  

“Hey, Uriah maybe the hawk will get that last rat for us!”

I turned my attention to the birds. I could hear Blue Jays screaming. The Black birds were congregating in the tree tops and a Robin chattered angrily at me from a Mulberry tree.   Cardinals flitted in and out the branches of the leafless Crab Apple trees.  Somewhere on top of the barn, Doves cooed in a rolling Scottish accent:-)

I pulled my camera out, fully intent on capturing a picture of that Robin. I haven’t seen one since December. I started snapping pictures of the clouds and the lack of snow.

Uriah decided he was bored and followed me to find that Robin. Except every time I pointed the camera he decided to bark at the birds. I gave him a biscuit, or three.  He was trying to protect me from the, big mean Robins. How dare they chatter at me…

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Poetry

Jingles Thursday Poets’ Rally ~ Blueberry Jelly..

Blueberry Jelly

By

Gerardine Baugh©9/2008

 

Blueberry jelly

Splattered across the table,

Ingrained in the rug

Flowing patterns spattered on the wall

Sitting in the corner, I watch

The spray, of bluish purple

Fly across the room

Slightly worse than spaghetti sauce

In the way it stains

In a way it is artistic

Blueberry jelly, relished

As an adornment,

A tasty goop of sweetness

Slathered on bread, toasted and buttered

None other than a child’s

face covered in blue

Hands sticky sweet, pulling at tuffs of hair

Stupefaction in the moment

Take not my blueberry jelly

and wash it down the drain

Let’s play sticky games on the walls

The rugs

The doors

The dog

for he will join in and clean

with tickling delight

That giggling face, hands and feet

Both will sit without quandary

reveling in the delight of

Blueberry jelly…

 

I had written this for my writers group in September 2008
 
Now I am posting it again for Jingles Thursday Poets’ Rally Complete with the original picture used at the writers’ site.http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/03/10/thursday-poets-rally-week-9-march-11-17-2010/    

 

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

Sixteen Seconds Of Geese And Wind~

This morning I stepped outside to sunshine and heavy humid air. Along the western horizon I could see dark clouds moving slowly east. Black birds were pushing aside wet leaves in an attempt to find worms that had felt the warmth and slithered to the surface. I wondered how many they actually found.  Or was my guess of worms wrong and they were eating seeds, or larva.  The ground was still a solid block of ice, later on I will have to crawl around and check out the area myself…

I shuffled over the leaves and the black birds scattered as I passed by.

 The low area of the path had gotten muddier over night. Even now, the ice and snow melted under the glare of warm sunshine.  The thick broken ice became more of an obstacle course than an uncomplicated walk. At least the ice held the sharp sticks as I slipped over them. The mud, black and slippery, allowed the one to two inches of broken and cut sticks and grass, the opportunity to puncture my boots. 

Walking through this area took more time than it had yesterday.  Uriah became impatient and ran on ahead. He had disappeared into the trees by the time I started walking up the slight incline. I moved south, then east, straight into the un-melted snow.

The distinct smell of skunk wafted around the trees, I glanced around and didn’t see him. I decided, that it was a smart idea to leave, while I could still taste and smell.

 The birds were very vocal again today. Their songs intermingled into a sweet sound of spring.  I stood next to a knocked down fence post and closed my eyes and listened.

A train was heading through the town; the wind blew straight at me from the south, bringing every clack-clack and heavy thudding sound clear as a bell into my universe.  I turned on my camera and started the video; I was only able to capture a sixteen second piece of geese flying over head, before the camera flashed low battery and shut off.

Ooops! I forgot to recharge the battery last night. I slipped the camera back into its case and started walking home.  

A breeze kicked up around me, low to the ground. I smiled, and looked up at the tree tops, enjoying the warmer air. Then I started to sneeze, and sneeze and sneeze and sneeze. I’m allergic to mold! When we have a heavy rain that hangs around for a few days or like today, slow melting snow… That’s when mold appears and I start sneezing, eyes watering and I sound very congested.

I stopped my trek to admire some bright green moss I had found yesterday under a tree. (I had taken a picture.)  That tree had mold growing along its trunk… Oh well!

By the time I reached the house the sun had disappeared behind heavy dark grey clouds.

If it was possible it felt like the air had doubled in humidity. At least I stopped sneezing…

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Poetry video Writers Site

Spring Is Trying Real Hard To Find Its Way To Illinois!~Lovely Skunk Perfume:-)

A fog rolled in over night and hung on through the morning, the sky a grayish white that shifted downwards and covered everything. As I walked around the back path, I stopped and listen to the birds. They were heralding in spring.

Rains had started yesterday so the ground had a mushy soft coating like frosting on a cake and ice hard underneath.

I side stepped muskrat holes, coyote and raccoon scat.

 This is a muskrat hole I have been avoiding all winter, still the snow hangs on around it…

As I headed back home I hesitated along the northern section and tried to pull out movement in the underbrush. Two days ago, when I walked this same area I stepped into a cloud of skunk perfume. I gagged and blinked, Uriah who had been right  behind me, slowly backed up and grimaced, then took off on a run, back towards the house.

Chicken!

I really wish I could move that fast.

Luckily the spray didn’t hit me directly so I was able to smell and taste within the hour.

Michael kept coming up to me all night and sniffing, then asking if I smell a skunk….

Today I didn’t see or smell a skunk. But the birds were in full song, especially the Black birds! The cardinals live in the trees near the house. The past few days the geese have been flying low, honking and filling the sky with their V shaped formations. I pulled out my camera and started video taping the birds. I edited them, and added a short poem.

Categories
Nature photos Poetry Writers Site

Poetry Thursday~ Fire And Ice In March~Watching~

Watching

A cold March night

changes clothes

from mornings

black

to daylights

blue

to sunsets

red

Back to black

 

A blood red sky shifts

into darkness as I stand

outside at sunset

 

Fantasy in light

reflecting the horizon

red fire and blue ice

 

I wrote this for, Jingle’s Poetry Thursdays.  I missed last weeks and did not want to miss this weeks.

http://jingleyanqiu.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/thursday-poets-rally-poets-homecoming-week/

I used the picture I took tonight at sunset. I loved how this one turned out, even as my hand shook slightly.  Of course, Uriah has to be in on the sunset pictures.

Do you see a poem inside this picture? Or maybe there is one right outside your door.

Have a great day!!

Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

What Does This Shape Look Like To You~No I’m Not Sneeking in a Rorschach Test~ Or Am I?~

Good Morning!  First picture: just before Uriah went outside we had an early morning visitor.  This picture was taken off the video I shot through the window. A bit blurry, but the coyote didn’t want to stand still.  He was hunting.

The second was taken when I opened the kitchen door to check on Uriah. Notice the screen has seen some better days. The cats heard Uriah moving around outside.
I find this very weird; if you look closely at the second and third picture you can see a reflection in the window, and orange spot. It is an orange bag of Iams cat food- what does it look like to you?
The third picture, the only cat that was interested in Uriah was Sano. The other two were irritated he scared off the birds. They didn’t stick around to watch him; they headed to a different window.
In the fourth picture, I was ready to download pictures when Sano decided Uriah was worth talking to. I wonder what they are saying to each other?
*
Just for fun I found a Rorschach test on line
I took it twice. The first time My sickness Quotient was 68%- I was insulted so I took it again and told the truth. Ahhh! 99% much better!!
Sickness Quotient: 99%
WARNING: Your Sickness Quotient of 99% is very disturbing.
 
Here’s the link have fun.
http://theinkblot.com/
 
Categories
Nature photos Nature Writing Rambling Writers Site

Winter Is Holding On As Cartoon Birds Run Through The Trees “D’oh!” ~

Yesterday, the temperatures rose high enough that the snow became heavy and started to thaw, just enough to become slippery and wet.

Twenty-four hours later, today.  The snow was solid and slick with chucks of sharp ice. 

The snow was so hard Uriah’s paws slid as he walked across the top without breaking through. Instead he slipped and fell.  He was not amused!   I tromped over to him, allowing my weight to break the top layer of snow.  I moved slowly to where Uriah sat. He looked irritated at the smooth, white snow stretching out in front of him. 

Stabbing my ski poles into the snow on either side of Uriah, I tried to slide him off the top of the snow bank, onto the area I packed down. When he was back on his feet/paws, Uriah glanced back at the tree he had been heading for, for a second he hesitated, sighed and made an odd grumbling, growling sound. 

If Uriah had fingers I bet he would have flipped the bird at that snow bank. 

Uriah made a half hearted attempt to walk behind me, then he decided to walk next to me, on that snow covered frozen path.

As we walked the sky cleared and a deep, purplish blue sat on the horizon to the east.  I stopped and looked straight up. The sky was slightly hazy grey. Some low clouds moved above me, giving me a closed in feeling.

The air held an odor of pond water, fishy and green smelling.  As I headed along the path a sweet, bitter smell of smoke curled around me until I reached the far back. At that point, the path turns to the north and rounds out and heads back west, towards the house. Just then, the wind picked up blowing in from the north-east, and pushed away the burning campfire smell.  The air changed, I could smell cows, manure and hay.

As far as I could see, the snow covered the fields. A pattern of colors and lines weaved in and out. I looked towards the farmer’s barn; I could see cows walking slowly and dark earth pushing up between snow drifts.  Grey ice covered the lower areas, frosted and untouched by the slightly warmer air.  

Uriah and I reached some heavy bushes; we walked underneath them instead of around. A tiny, black headed bird, complained at our intrusion. Uriah nudged my pocket I stopped and broke a milk bone in half and handed it to him. He was happily crunching away when a stick snapped next to us, we both turned to the right.

Not more than a foot away from us was that Pheasant! His neck was stretched up high. Light grey with a dark blackish blue ring around his neck. He looked startled and scared, and he slowly backed away from us, then turned and flew into the taller trees. He missed the first branch and then started running towards the Bog Willows. He ran into a tree trunk flapping and scooting around until he disappeared into the trees. 

 Picture a very stupid cartoon bird!

All this took no more than a couple of minutes, both Uriah and I watched him with our mouths open, Uriah forgot his biscuit. I forgot my camera…

Insert, heavy sigh, rolling eyes, slap on forehead and Homer Simpson’s “D’oh!”

Uriah looked at me. I shrugged and he made a half hearted move to chase the bird.  He took a couple of steps, then changed his mind and continued eating his biscuit.

Winter around here won’t end until April, if we are lucky.