Cotton Candy Sunrise

 Today was a cotton candy sunrise, the pink glow across the city was just gorgeous.  Don't blink cos it is a fleeting scene but I managed to get a few pictures.

Trees

 

Bright yellow, red and orange,

The leaves come down in hosts;

The trees are Indian princes,

But soon they'll turn to ghosts.

–William Allingham (1824–89)

Happy 8th Birthday

 Seems like you just helped yourself to living in my house a few days ago but here you are in for about a year and a half now.  I am glad you chose my house to live in.

Where Are They?

 

D35 is still enjoying east central Minnesota, although she has made her way a little south from Princeton/Cambridge to the Elk River area, passing within a mile of our Great River Energy peregrine falcon nestbox. Breezy and Brooklyn could have easily seen her from their vantage point high atop their new nest pole! Unsurprisingly, she's also spent some time at the large landfill on the north end of town. We might cringe a bit at the idea, but the landfill is rich in food resources and has a very distinct footprint from on high. Perhaps she saw other birds circling and wanted to check it out! Vultures are known to track bald eagles in search of a meal, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if eagles did the same.

D27 is back in Decorah, just a few miles south of the hatchery! She and D36 haven't crossed paths that we know: they've been in similar places, but not at similar times. She's hanging out in Bald Eagle paradise (Decorahdise?) - plenty of steeply folded hills, cold trout creeks, and wide open pastures for soaring. We hope to get a chance to go look for her this week!

How about D36? Everyone's favorite little homebody continues to hang out in the Decorah area, although he's made trips as far south as Claremont and as far north as Harmony, Minnesota. We just missed seeing him, since he left the hatchery area two days before we started camera work! Brett writes: "After D-36’s loop trek from Bluffton to Strawberry Point to north of Decorah on the Upper Iowa River, he has shifted northwest just across the IA/MN border where he is at peace just south of Harmony, MN." We hope he enjoys it!

To date, D35 has traveled about 611 miles, D36 has traveled about 499 miles, and D27 has traveled an incredible 12,358 miles - although she has had a little over three years to do it! We wish all of our eagles favorable winds and fair skies. Stay fierce and fly high!

What To Do

 I have wanted a life size skeleton for Halloween to dress up and put in the window.  While I would love to hang it outside we have a little thief in the block who thinks everything belongs to her.  So it would have to be in the house somewhere.  I am not paying the price they want so I have gone to plan B.  Yesterday at work they had these mannequins priced from $80-$100 for only $30.  Because I work I get a 20% discount.  So I picked this up.  I want to do something for Halloween with it, but have not decided what yet.  So off to Pinterest to look for some costume ideas and see what I can come up with or I may work on it all year long and put it up for next year. I am thinking maybe in the corner window in the living room with some lights so those who drive through can see him.

So I popped over to Pinterest to see what costumes they might have and Medussa kept popping up. I have a head that can be redone with a black wig and makeup and I have a snake wreath that I can incorporate into the outfit. I know it is a male mannequin but who cares?

Wrens

 I love the wrens.  I rarely see them but this morning the tom cat was in the sitting room and started attacking the window.  There is a hole in the screen by a tree scratching that I am going to remove and the poor thing got in between the screen and window.  So I put the cats up and opened the window hoping I could grab him, nope he flew to the dining room and tried to fly out the window then into the kitchen into 2 windows and finally landed on top of the fridge. I could see he was stunned as his eyes were closed and he let me pick him up with a fight. I carried him out the deck rail and put him down and petted him and talked to him. He finally opened his eyes and sat for a minute and flew off. I hope he will be ok, isn't he gorgeous?

You Never Know What You Are Going to FInd

 Friday at Scraps I did a lot of shelf stocking as Saturdays are busy, so you need plenty of merchandise for customers to buy.  Plus my boss was not there so I just stocked shelves.  I saw so many patterns that I wore in High School.  While I did not wear my dresses this short, my father would never have allowed that, I did wear maxis, this one is 1971 and was only $1.00 which was expensive in those days.

At the checkout there is a box of free magazines, well this is not a magazine but they gave it to me for free cos it was in the box. I would have gladly paid for it. It is men's socks from 1953, there are several I will make and there is one vest pattern in there as well. I wonder if my dad wore socks like this.  The book has $.50 on it for the price.

I love working here for a few hours a week, it is like being in my grandmother's sewing room and you never know what you are going to find.  You can tell by the contents of each box I unpack and price and set out what generation the person donating was from. 

Halloween Season has officially begun

 

65 and Medicare

 I turn 65 today, how did I get here? I should not be this old, should I?  It snuck up on me for sure.  However there is nothing I can do but realize I start Medicare now and I am on the downhill third of my life, so I best make sure I use every minute to get all things done I want to.  I was trying to come up with a post for today and one of my friends posted this on FB and I think it is perfect for today.

Thank you Lord for the rain this morning, it is much needed and a great birthday gift.  I don't want to do anything today as it is the first birthday without my dad, so I will go visit him later and sit a while and talk and come home and just veg, clean off the DVR, go through some pics of my dad and I and knit.  I don't care to celebrate just spend a quiet day at home remembering all the great birthdays before with my dad.  There was always a package of fig newtons, maybe I will go to the store after visiting him and get some fig newtons.

Barely the day started and... it's already six in the evening.

Barely arrived on Monday and it's already Friday.

... and the month is already over.

... and the year is almost over.

... and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed.

... and we realize that we lost our parents, friends.

and we realize it's too late to go back...

So... Let's try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time...

Let's keep looking for activities that we like...

Let's put some color in our grey...

Let's smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts.

And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left. Let's try to eliminate the afters...

I'm doing it after...

I'll say after...

I'll think about it after...

We leave everything for later like ′′ after ′′ is ours.

Because what we don't understand is that:

Afterwards, the coffee gets cold...

afterwards, priorities change...

Afterwards, the charm is broken...

afterwards, health passes...

Afterwards, the kids grow up...

Afterwards parents get old...

Afterwards, promises are forgotten...

afterwards, the day becomes the night...

afterwards life ends...

And then it's often too late....

So... Let's leave nothing for later...

Because still waiting see you later, we can lose the best moments,

the best experiences,

best friends,

the best family...

The day is today... The moment is now...

We are no longer at the age where we can afford to postpone what needs to be done right away.

So let's see if you have time to read this message and then share it.

Or maybe you'll leave it for... ′′ later "...

And you'll never share it....

Sit Quietly

 

Around the Yard

 Flowers are kind of on their last life, beginning to die back.  The Zinnias are turning and seed will be dropped in the pots hopefully to come up next year.  I brought in a small sunflower head to seed and plant next year in a new spot and the milkweek pods are being collected to be buried later this Fall and hopefully produce even more milkweed plants next year.  I have yet to have caterpillars again this year but I am still hopeful.

I love marigolds, i have some vibrant oranges as well and the seed is being dropped in the post hopefully to have new plants next year. 

One of the neighbors trees is starting to turn. It is too early does that mean early Fall and then early Winter? I hope not.

I always seem to have 2 sunflower plants here that come up volunteerly probably from the gold finches dropping seeds.

The Naked Ladies were gorgeous this year.

This will be the 3rd summer for these Vinca, bringing them in again this Winter to see if they survive only to be set out again next year.

The portulaca (aka moss rose) is all abloom this morning, seeds brought from Powell Garden.

This lavender is for a friend building a new house, part of her House Welcoming gift.

This beautiful moth had a nap on the porch behind the Naked Ladies. He was here for several hours.

My female feral, Smudgey, sleeping in the asparagus barrel

The hummingbirds have been large in number this year, this one is quite chubby.

More like the Locusts singing

And from the hot field's farthest edge

The cricket's soft refrain

With mellow accent tells the tale

That August's here again.

–Helen Maria Winslow (1851–1938)

Summer is on the downhill side

Summer declines and roses have grown rare,

But cottage crofts are gay with hollyhocks,

And in old garden walks you breathe an air

Fragrant of pinks and August-smelling stocks.

–John Todhunter (1839–1916)