Love Anthuriums - Heart Shaped bloom

I love the symmetry in nature. It's like being in a world surrounded by mathematical equations and geometry. This is one of many plants in nature that's shaped like our heart but it's shape is much more symmetrically perfect than our hearts.  It's a living heart, just like ours.  It lives and dies just like ours. But for the time it lives, it brings the word word LOVE to our minds.  A gentle reminder that we are loved.  Thanks Mother Nature.

Beauty of Aster

I love the beauty of Aster plants in bloom.  Close up, you can see the beautiful details of the flowers; their vibrant color and intricate centers.  But from afar, you see a mound of color, pink, blue, purple, like cotton candy floating on the landscape,  Planted as borders, they invite you in to their beautiful home.  Grouped in threes, they give any garden the splash of color needed to paint a beautiful portrait.

Spring was in the Air -- Birds and Blooms (indoors)

I love nature and spending my meal times watching the birds eating is one of my favorite things. This week it's been colder than usual for this time of year.  The poor little fliers are cold, thirsty and hungry.

The Dark-eyed Juncos are still around. They love to be on the deck floor eating what the sparrows and finches drop on the floor.

I also get visits from a couple of Downy Woodpeckers. They visit the feeders when I put out the yummy suet.

The Cardinals love to come and eat the peanuts I put on the feeder.  I had three couples come visit right after a snowy day in February.  They are so beautiful and photograph so well.


The Blue Jays love to tell me when I'm out of peanuts.  They will squawk until I put some peanuts out.

The Robins came early this year.  Usually I don't see the flock of Robins until Spring is ready to arrive, but this year they came before our last snow fall.  I was convinced Spring was coming soon and then, WHAM! we get hit with a snow storm and then an arctic blow out. The Robins came with a non-welcomed group of Starlings.  They do look pretty when they have their "stars" on in the winter, but they scare away all the other birds except the Robins it seems.  Robins don't usually come to the feeders, but they do like the water in our heated birdbath.

Now the Blooms of this winter. I have a few orchids that I managed to not kill this year  I have two plants that have new shoots with flowers on them already.  I did kill the big orchid I got a few years ago from my son.  It never bloomed again and it finally died this year.   I love orchids inside.  They don't take up too much room and their blooms last a long time.

I also have a trusty and very old african violet and a christmas cactus that blooms for me all the time. It was full of blooms in November and December and it just started blooming this month again.

These birds and blooms make me feel a little happier during the long winters in Nebraska.  It seems we've had winter for 4 months already.  Although I love the snow days, the friged cold temperatures with winds between 15 and 40 miles per hour get old really fast.  It keeps people indoors and you think twice and sometimes three time,s before you decide to engage the bitter wind to go out shopping.  Just going from the car to the door can be wicked.

March is just a few days away and hopefully spring will come in just a few weeks.

2011-11-16 Downy Woodpecker

This morning was full of surprises out in the backyard. First there were Sammy and Sasha, the squirrels. They were fattening up for the winter. Then this little gal showed up. She seems to live in the area and visits usually in the morning. I've seen her in the Birch tree hunting for bugs.

2010-07-18 Killdeer Babies arrived today!

I've been watching these four eggs for a couple of weeks now and they finally hatched. This was early Sunday morning. The sun was just rising over the horizon. It had been a couple of very hot days and I was getting worried that the eggs may have been cooked by now. But Mother Nature has a way of taking care of things.

The Mom was there guarding the nest while the little ones dried off. Once they're dry, they take off running. By the evening, the three little ones were running around the yard as Mom and Dad and even Aunts and Uncles were trying to corral them into one area.

The last egg hatched the next day or maybe that night. I didn't get a chance to see that one. By the time I made it back to the nest area, about two days, they were gone. This year, I did get to hold one in my hand. It was awesome.

Backyard Birds

Blue Jays are such big and strong birds. They dominate the bird feeders and scare the other little guys away. Many of us still find them captivating and welcome them to our feeder. Blue is my favorite color so I love watching them fly and show their blue and white colors.

I hadn't seen Blue Jays in my feeders for a couple of years and this day, I had two visit and they came back the next day too. I wish I had more days to sit and watch them play in my back yard, but unfortunately, I have to return to work.

Next weekend will come soon enough and I'll get another chance to sit and watch the backyard birds.