Life with cats, and other things…
1818/3rd April 2026, The Sun appeared just in time to set. Back in the Fall, Grant collected a large bag of acorns on one of our drives and planted a few, hoping to get some to grow. A previous attempt produced two tiny oaks that are now struggling to survive out of the hill. This … Continue reading “More please?”
0726/5th November 2025 If it's not snow or orange trees... . 0728 ...there's bound to be another boring sunrise on offer. . 0737 Perhaps I should save some of these for when nights shorten, bringing dawn too early. . And I could save pictures of snow for the height of summer in the hope of … Continue reading Thieves
1810/4th September 2025 Could the weather finally be on the change? According to the weather forecast, there's an 80% chance of rain, to continue through Sunday, but the weather map suggests that the front will stop just short of our location. It would be nice to see the flora refreshed. . "My grass is getting … Continue reading March past
2025/8th July 2025 . When visiting my maternal grandmother in Wiltshire, we drank Camp Coffee which I seem to recall I preferred to the kind we had at home. It had been decades since I even thought about it, but seeing chicory growing along the highways reminded me, so I obtained some but discovered I … Continue reading Captures
1047/29th June 2025 . Sun spots drifting across the fields drew me outside to the displeasure of juvenile starlings that fluttered off. . Little Red darted under a hedge. If I waited so as not to disturb the wildlife, I'd never go out. No matter which door we use, there's always some creature lurking. . … Continue reading Disturbing
0748/8th June 2025 . "Feed me!" . Set foot outside these days and your eardrums will be assaulted by the chatter of newly-fledged starlings that fill the trees and populate the grass. . "Have a nice berry, dear. " . Suddenly we can't keep up with the demand for suet. While doves merely look reproachful … Continue reading Sightings
0638/25th May 2025 . It appears, so I am advised, that the groundhog burrow in front of our kitchen window has been abandoned, which I wouldn't have realised as these little faces still pop out regularly. However, Grant spends more time outside and says they run along beneath the bushes and disappear down a selection … Continue reading JR
6th April 2025 . After a flirtation with Spring, we are reminded that this is only early April and Upstate New York - frost and snow still very much a possibility. . Weeds, it seems are irrepressible and begin to flourish even as the last layer of ice dissipates. Encouraged by an early warm spike, … Continue reading Special treat
0704/17th October 2024. It had the look of Winter. . Warm rays of the rising Sun turned overnight frost to vapor which soon dispersed offering a brilliant morning. . The bird baths were frozen over, but the ice broke easily when I bashed it with a stick. Too dark for photographs. Later on, I missed … Continue reading A quick hour
1815/6th May 2023 Every time I see it happen, it's as if it's the first time. I've been enjoying the early evening light here for nearly 5 years. But I still rush outside for these brief moments when floodlights bathe our trees... ..after first checking that I won't be disturbing someone's dinner... . Last summer … Continue reading Substitutes