Hummingbirds

This is a female Rufus Hummingbird. The red spot on her throat is clearly visible.

This is a male Rufus Hummingbird. His red throat is irredescent and turns yellow as he moves.

This is a male Rufus Hummingbird. He is about 3.5 inches. He is very friendly.

This year we have put up 3 humming bird feeders. One in the front of the house, which is visible from the laundry room window. And two on the back deck - one visible from our bedroom window and one visible from the living room window. We began to see the little hummers about a month ago and so I put up the first feeder. Well, it was not long before we had lots of hummers and they were very aggressive towards one another. I put up the other two feeders to give them plenty of syrup, which helps with the aggression and fighting. The hummers are very friendly and very curious towards us. When I fill the feeders with fresh syrup, they are so interested and buzz me and check out what I am doing. The other day I had my camera in hand and stood about 2 feet from one of the feeders on the back deck. The lighting was great and I got some AMAZING photos of these beautiful and brilliant little birds.

Elsa on Easter

Miranda sent these photos of Elsa in her Easter dress. It had a crinoline petticoat and she looked like a little princess. I miss her so much. She is so adorable. She just turned one year last week. Looking at the adorable little face, you can see why I miss her so much. They are coming out in Sept. for a visit, but that is still 4 months away. Thank God for digital photography.

Elsa Jane

In March Joe and Miranda went to Hawaii with Miranda's family for a vacation (Christmas gift from Miranda's parents). They had a fun time on the beach, and enjoyed the warm sunny weather compared to cold Toronto. Elsa would not keep a sun bonnet on her head, so they put a scarf on her and she kept that on to protect her little hairless head from the sun. You can see that she clearly loved the water and the boogy board.

I love this photo of Elsa looking at her Daddy with absolute love.

Great family photo

Birds and Babies

We are confirmed 'birders'. We have 3 seed feeders on the south side of the house and love to watch the birds of all varieties come and eat. Some are definitely feeder eaters. Some are ground eaters - eating what the feeder eaters drop. Some are very skittish, some are very aggressive, and most are willing to share the seed. We have a large number of Red Wing Black birds this year for the first time. They love the feeder, but they scare the smaller birds away. And we have seen very few of the lovely American Goldfinch because of the large black bird population. We also have a large number of the Cow birds. They are not particularly pretty and also keep the finches away. We have a lot of the various sparrow varieties. And recently a pair of Grosbeaks have made our orchard their home. We even have a Peregrine Falcon that seems to appear every now and then. Unfortunately, he has killed a sparrow and a Mourning Dove. We have seen the remains under the feeders. Bob even saw him appear out of no where one day and dive bomb a sparrow and poof! No more sparrow. It was lightening fast and brutal. But Falcons eat other birds. One day he sat on our feeder for hours just waiting. There was not a bird in sight for an entire day after that. They may have small brains, but they are not stupid.
This week we have a delightful couple that seems to have made our orchard their home. A pair of Lazuli Buntings. Their coloring is exquisite. They are very skittish and it is almost impossible to get a good picture of them. But I did manage to capture two of them thru the kitchen window. One is at the feeder and one is in a cherry tree next to a female Grosbeak. What a treat!





When our daughter, Jenn, was 2 years old we got her a Playschool fun house for her birthday. It was quite expensive 32 years ago, but we thought it would be a toy that would provide hours of fun and creativity. After she played with it, our son, Joe, also had many years of fun with it. Being the practical person that I am, I decided that I would clean it up and put it away for our Grandchildren one day. So I put it in a big plastic bag and we lugged it with us for four different moves. I know that these toys are rare and if you find them on Ebay, they are very expensive. All the parts were still working and none of the pieces were missing. Well, now that we have Grandkids, I got it out and put it in the Toy Cupboard for Jacob and Abby. They love it! I was able to get this wonderful picture of them playing with it yesterday. One generation passing their fun on to the next generation - 32 years later. Nostalgia and memories fill my heart.

Jacob with his Grandpa

Abby and Grandma

Yesterday was so fun because our Grandchildren, Jacob - 4 and Abby - 2, came over and spent 8 hours at Grandpa and Grandma's house. Jenn and Tim wanted some time alone and we were most anxious to accomodate. Abby is talking so much and you can understand most of what she is saying now. She is absolutely crazy about Grandpa and wants to sit in his lap and look at books all the time. He is naturally willing to spend as much time with her as he can. We both know this window of opportunity is so short. They grow up much too fast. Jacob is such a sweet boy and so polite. He says, "Please, Thank you, Excuse me, etc". He wants to be right with us and is such a social little fella. They both are really funny and keep us laughing. This is a precious time and we are so blessed to be able to spend time with these amazing little people. Thank you, God!