More New Things

We'll start with the last two of the new plants. The final one I had ordered came today. It's very tiny, but I have hopes it will spread. Actually, it will probably do so faster if I separate the rosettes. Maybe tomorrow. It's a Sempervivum- one of the arachnoideum (has filaments like a spider web on it) and is called 'Arctic White.'

Here it is in context. Definitely need it to spread. I spent a fair amount of time deciding where best to put it.

The other new plant I bought last month may turn out to be a mistake. Or not. The leaves are a vary dark green, which is a nice contrast depending on what's next to it. (Not much yet.) And the flowers are a deep blue. But they are also very small, so they are pretty much lost in the rock garden. We'll see if it survives. It is Veronica peduncularis 'Georgia Blue.' Common name- Creeping Speedwell.

The thing down on the road that is new is the paving project. Lots of people are complaining about how disruptive it is, but I can assure you that when I was a kid a project of this magnitude would take at least one whole summer. They will probably have all 5 miles of this done in a month. I'm impressed. The only thing that's tricky is they are doing it so fast you never are positive which lane is the one you are supposed to be in. No accidents so far!

This is new only in the fact that I've never seen a mourning dove come on the deck before. It both used the bird bath and took a few seeds from the saucer. Fun!

In other news: We got 0.7 inch of rain yesterday, but things dried out pretty well by afternoon so I could work in the garden without getting too wet. I did all the tasks as usual. Still trying to work my way through the rock garden for the second time this season. But I've now completed all the spaces where I have to be slightly acrobatic to get to them. The rest will definitely be easier.

Sigh. I have 3 plants in an online shopping cart. Because I had a gift card for most of what I've bought so far this year, I'm not even remotely close to what I spent on the gardens last year. But I still need more money for my tooth, and I just had a big car repair too. Decisions, decisions!

See Some of the new plants

Gray but OK

  Today was anything but the sunlight edition. The sky was flat gray all day. It seemed like dusk began as soon as the sun came up. But it was an OK day to do my road walk.

Even the drainage ditch managed to look a little appeaing.

The barnyard grass held tight to brown instead of giving in to the universal gray.

I found three mourning doves hunkered down high in a tree. They were all fluffed up against the cold. See the link below for how sleek they look in summer.

The biggest excitement was this lightning strike. Yeah, I'm pulling your leg. It's snow in the cracks in the road.

In other news, I wrote a chapter in the morning and worked on several projects in the afternoon. I felt really disciplined, despite not finishing any of the afternoon tasks. Progress was made. That has to count.

See Whose Silhouette

Spring for a Day

 
OK,OK, we had one or two other days that felt like spring, but this one is supposed to be followed, tomorrow, by a return to winter. So I decided to especially enjoy it. Even though it was pretty cold the wind was not blowing and cruel, which allowed the sun to feel pleasant. It smelled like spring.

The critters are beginning to move around. I finally got a nice picture of a mourning dove that isn't sitting on a wire.



And, no face, but here's a cute little bluebird butt. At least from this angle you can definitely see the blue.



This robin let me get ten feet away. It's red breast is so bright and has such clear edges it looks painted on.



My best find was in the bypass pond. Can you see them?



Me neither, in the picture. But as I walked past there were flashes of sunlight reflecting from something. Turned out they were turtle shells. There are five of them. Painted turtles.



I walked an extra mile in hopes of finding the Blanding's turtle that was my first turtle sighting of 2016, but no wildlife there.

In other news: I'm going to spend the writing time I have between now and April 23 on North Country Quest, a long overdue project. Got one chapter nailed down. It's a project that requires too many bulky research materials to take on a pleasure trip, but I should be able to make some headway between now and then. And I read about half a book. Still half taking it easy after my big completion of the Dubois Files books.

	See First Turtles of 2016
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Whose Silhouette?

 
Some birds have a distinctive silhouette and are recognizable even if the light is such that you can't get any detail. This is one such bird. Do you know what it is?



I'm reminded of the banner I saw in a church once that was supposed to celebrate the Holy Spirit being like a dove. Unfortunately, the person who made the banner wasn't a birder, and had chosen a silhouette of a robin to cut from white felt for the decoration! Not at all like a dove. Yes, this is a mourning dove.



Zenaida macroura is called the mourning dove for its plaintive, sad cooing. It's considered the closest living relative of the extinct passenger pigeon. Their wings also make a whistling sound when they take flight.



For some reason I can't quite explain, I don't like them very much. Maybe their cooing is annoying. They are very attractive in a muted way when seen up close.

Also, when seen flying, from the rear, there is a lozenge shape outline of white showing in their tail feathers.

They eat seeds almost exclusively, and will often clean up seeds spilled to the ground from feeders.

Mourning doves are nearly ubiquitous in the United States.

	See A Bouquet of Birds
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At Irene's

 
Blog posting will be sporadic for the next couple of weeks. But I spent last night at Irene's. Of course we took a short walk back to her pond.



Dear Sandy Fe is 14 now, but still likes her slow walks and to take a dip in the pond (see her behind me in the above picture).



Johnny-jump-ups and tulips- cheerful





And a new crop of baby doves.



Gotta scoot- Catch you sometime!

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