I love to take photos of places I go and things I see. Here is a collection of photos that I have selected to represent the month.
You know we don’t have cold enough winters to plant perennials like daffodils, but I found some bulbs on sale down here that I couldn’t resist. I planted a dozen small daffodil bulbs around my magnolia tree. While they didn’t last long, for a short-time I was reminded of the spring I spent at the Tulipfest in Skagit County, Washington. It’s been a long time, but the flowers were just as colorful.
It was a foggy morning on my way to the office, and I took a shortcut due to traffic. I am glad that I did because the sun was rising on the other side of the bridge, and the fog made it glow.
A quick trip to Savannah, Georgia was in order for a holiday getaway. We were only there a day due to rain and a marathon, so we did not get to visit many of the places we had planned. Harry came along and was wowed by the fact he could eat at the sidewalk cafes while we had lunch. This is the fountain in the middle of Forsyth Park. There are so many pretty parks to see.
The parking lot was full when we went to Grandfather Mountain, so we parked down the mountain and hiked up. This fun little path was well worth the walk and gave me another view of the mountain that I had never seen before. It comes out under the bridge, so you can see just how low the bridge actually is to the bottom. Fun hike!
This guy has been hanging around lately looking for birdseed, birds or whatever he can find. We have chickens in the neighbor’s backyard, so I suppose he snacks on eggs now and again. He looks fairly healthy, so I will say he’s probably getting enough to fill his belly and keep his coat smooth and silky. Check out that tail.
The beginning of a beautiful Monarch butterfly is happily munching on my aphid filled milkweed plant. We did a number of milkweed plants – both red, yellow and the Florida pink milkweed – in an effort to increase the Monarchs that will find their way to our yard this winter. So far, my milkweeds have done well and we have planted more and more seedlings, so our garden is always filled with butterflies.
This guy was on my plumeria eating leaves. He is a caterpillar form of the giant leopard moth, and I hope get to see him in all of his glory.
Well, I don’t know when this happened, but we became home to two little Titmouses – Titmice – not sure what the plural of Titmouse is. We were surprised to see them sitting in the feeder one summer morning.
I got a cool app for my phone. Merlin bird identifier, so if you have sounds in the yard you don’t recognize, this little app will help you figure out what birds are using your yard for their social activities. I have discovered a worm eater warbler, a Cooper hawk and a hoot owl all have been chatting amongst themselves in the morning. The hardest part has been isolating the cicada noise, so morning is the best time to listen for birds.
I finally got around to visiting the Don Garlits drag racing museum in Gainesville, Florida. I have passed the museum many, many times in the 35 years I have lived here, and this is the first time I stopped. If you love drag racing or collectibles of any kind, check out his museum the next time you’re in Florida. I thought I kept a lot of things, but I am unashamed now that I have seen Don’s collectibles. Well worth spending several hours wandering around in his two big museums. Lots of Cha Cha Muldowney memorabilia, too.
After wandering around in the Wildlife Preserve looking for the painted bunting and not seeing one, it was rather exciting to find out that he was sitting in my front yard feeder all along. We had a pair that spent a few months with us. There must have been something very yummy in the seed mix.
Now, they have flown off to spend a season breeding, and hopefully, they will remember the birdfeeder when next winter rolls around.
Julie L. Cleveland 