The Wordsmith's Forge

Today is sunny and cool.

I fed the birds.  I've seen several sparrows, several house finches, two robins, two starlings, a male cardinal, and a mourning dove.

I dug the hole to plant the 'Fall Gold' yellow raspberry.

EDIT 3/20/24 -- I planted the yellow raspberry.
 
EDIT 3/20/24 -- We moved the 2 bags of cypress mulch from the trunk of the car, one to the Colorado blue spruce tree and one to the picnic table.

I've heard crows and red-winged blackbirds in the yard.

EDIT 3/20/24 -- I spread compost around the yellow raspberry, then added the jug and the label.

EDIT 3/20/24 -- I put the groundcloth around the spruce tree.

EDIT 3/20/24 -- I spread a bag of cypress mulch around the spruce tree.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

Red-tailed hawk with a rare condition is surviving, in part, due to 'love,' biologist says

With around 2.5 million of them flying around North America, scientists know a lot about red-tailed hawks.

But Angel, a red-tailed hawk in Knoxville, Tennessee, is getting the attention of scientists — and perhaps tugging at their heartstrings.

"I was like oh my gosh, that's a leucistic red-tailed hawk, that's crazy,” Connor O'Brien, a project manager and biologist at Window to Wildlife, told WVLT of first seeing Angel.

Today is cloudy, windy, and cold.  Temperatures are dropping and expected to freeze later.

I fed the birds.  I've seen several sparrows and several house finches.  Something has finally been eating the suet cake, but I haven't actually seen a single bird on it.

I put out water for the birds.
 

Today is sunny and cool.  It rained off and on yesterday afternoon and evening.

I haven't fed the birds yet, but I've seen a flock of sparrows and a pair of house finches.

I raked the leaves away from the Colorado blue spruce.

I started trimming stems around the hazel bush.

The apricot tree is blooming.  So are the first of the solid-purple violets.  :D

EDIT 3/15/24 -- I fed the birds.

The day has gotten considerably warmer.  Honeybees are now loudly servicing the apricot tree. \o/

I hauled a bag of compost and manure to the spruce tree, cut open the bag, and started spreading the compost.  At least for now, Rural King has my favorite brand, American Countryside.

EDIT 3/15/24 -- I spread more compost around the spruce tree.

EDIT 3/15/24 -- I finished spreading compost around the spruce tree.



EDIT 3/15/24 -- I watered the compost to flatten it down some.

That's all I have time for today, so I am done for the night.

Today is sunny, breezy, and warm.

I haven't fed the birds yet, but I have seen several house finches, a pair of mourning doves, a lady cardinal, and a robin.

I dug a hole for the Fall Gold yellow raspberry.

EDIT 3/13/24 -- I fed the birds.  I've heard a squirrel chattering but haven't seen it.

I finished planting the yellow raspberry.

EDIT 3/13/24 -- I planted the two pink bleeding hearts in the forest garden.  However, there were also a couple of big root pieces that didn't have shoots but might survive, so I want to plant those separately.

EDIT 3/13/24 -- I watered the yellow raspberry and the first two bleeding hearts. 

I planted the two extra roots, then when I dumped out the peat moss from the bag, I found four MORE smaller roots.  \o/  So I planted those too.  I don't know if any of these will survive, but one already had little buds on one end, and several had small hairy feeder roots.

I've also seen a fox squirrel on the hopper feeder.

EDIT 3/13/24 -- I watered the extra roots.
 

Today is sunny, breezy, and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've see a flock of sparrows.

I cut brush along the south side of the house.

Apricot is starting to leaf out. 

EDIT 3/11/24 -- I started trying to trim the hedge in the south lot.  I discovered that much of it is thicker than my clippers could handle.  Also, the spring broke off, so now I don't have working clippers. >_<  Ironically, that happened on one of the tiny twigs.

EDIT 3/11/24 -- I started hauling some of the cut brush, which is the sapling size stuff, to the ritual meadow.

EDIT 3/11/24 -- I threw cut brush into the back of the brush pile in the ritual meadow.

EDIT 3/11/24 -- I hauled more brush to the brush pile.

Today is sunny, breezy, and cool.  It rained off and on yesterday.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows and a small flock of house finches. 

I took some pictures in the yard.

Today is cloudy and cool. 

I fed the birds.  I've seen a fox squirrel.  Yesterday there was a flock of sparrows, a flock of mourning doves, a pair of house finches plus an extra male, a pair of cardinals, and a robin.,

Bluebells and celandine poppy are sprouting in the forest garden.

 

Today is sunny and mild but quite windy.  Lots of flowers are open though.  :D

I took pictures around the yard.

EDIT 3/3/24 -- I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows and a female house finch.

I put out water for the birds. 

Today is cloudy, drizzly, and cold.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a flock of sparrows and a male cardinal.