Putting it in perspective

Here's a picture of a lovely hibiscus bloom:

The color is such a rich red in the shade and when sun shines behind it on that top pedal it is a translucent pink. But I didn't stop to take a picture of this flower because of its color.

To really appreciate this fantastic flower you need perspective...

so here it is beside my hand:
This is one HUMONGOUS blossom!
It's bigger than your head!
That's why I stopped to take its picture.

The Unknown Beetle

Socks went out after dinner and I stepped out too. I noticed something bright in the bird bath. It was not a bird, but it was as brilliantly colored as an exotic parrot.
Its colors were iridescent and seemed to shine even though it was in the shade.

I looked closer...what a creature! A gold head! A pink cape! And look at that horn!
Do I know what it is? No. A beetle of some sort.

I tried to look it up, but I couldn't find anything like this.

If you find out what its name is, will you let me know?

Hood Ornament

You may wonder why I am taking a picture of the garbage can. This is the view out the kitchen window from the sink. Usually I watch a flock of feeding birds on the edge of the driveway - just about where that patch of sunshine is - this is where I scatter seed in the morning.

You don't see any flocks of little birds down there right now.

Look closer and you'll see why.
A little hawk is decorating the lid of the garbage can.

This year's tomato

Granddad's tomatoes are kinda ugly this year.

We don't know what kind they are because he started them from seeds he spit out last year from a tomato he liked.

They're greenish-pink even when they are ripe.

He grew them in containers with the vines propped up with lawn chairs.

They'll win no beauty contests for sure.

But when you bite into them?

The sweetest tomato ever!

Spit out those seeds! We want more!

Is a baby catbird a kittenbird?

While we were watching the tree trimming out the bedroom window, we saw something moving in the bushes by the corner. It was a fledgling catbird, just out of the nest.
No wonder the catbirds have been chasing everyone away from that corner!

Tree trimming

We had a thunderstorm a couple of weeks ago. After the storm you couldn't see the waterfall. This was because a huge limb of the mulberry had broken and fallen down. It split the trunk down to the bottom. Most of the limb was caught in lower branches so the whole thing was precariously balanced over the back of the waterfall.

This called for a tree trimming crew! They came last week with gigantic trucks - which they BACKED all the way from the upper shed down to the pond!

That was one impressive feat of driving!
The main truck had a bucket on it that took the tree cutting guy up and down and back and forth so that he could get his chainsaw in the right place to cut the limbs.

Naturally, Granddad wanted to watch the action. He had a great view from the bedroom window. It was fine entertainment for him!
Nothing more fun than watching people work.

I thought of you tree-climbing sorts as they scrambled up in the tree and swung down on ropes.

Granddad wasn't the only one watching the action.

Do you see the hummingbird in this picture?
This feisty bird was not fazed by the noisy saws and chipper - he just kept coming and going from his feeder.
When all was done and they'd cleaned up the twigs and sawdust and the trucks had trekked back up the yard and everything was quiet again, Granddad said: "Now what are we going to have done tomorrow?"

Hummmmm

I got a fat envelope in the mail this week.
Inside were some wonderful letters and a newspaper article all about hummingbirds.

How did Sarah know that this is the time of year when we have lots and lots of hummingbirds in our yard?


We have three special feeders for them that I fill with sugar water.
Right now they seem very hungry!
The article says that they have to eat at least every 30 minutes when they are not sleeping.
And they eat twice their body weight every day.
But with all the flying around they do, they never gain weight.


If you look out the window at the feeder, you are sure to see one of the young hummingbirds. If you sit outside and watch them you will hear them too. It's their wings that humm - their voices are little chittery tweets.
If you take out the camera to get a picture, they move away fast.
So I have a LOT of pictures of places where a hummingbird was just a second ago.

I wait and wait and snap and snap and get lots of very blurry pictures.

I knew the wings would be blurry - they move something like 20 times a second.

Sometimes they sit on the rim of the feeder. Snap! Caught one looking up.

What about those beautiful hummingbird colors? The iridescent green, the sparkling ruby throat? The sun's on the other side of the feeder. I just get silhouettes. Guess I'll have to just keep trying to take the perfect picture of a hummingbird.
In the meantime I'll read all the interesting facts in the article Sarah sent.