Rain, Rain.............

It is May and for awhile there I thought it was April! April showers brought May flowers, well this year here in Tennessee May showers brought the flowers. The rain has kept us in the house a lot but outside the flowers must have been smiling. Thought I would share a few pictures I took of some of them. Can you name them?

Camping in a State Park

Always loved State Parks as the are reasonable, or at least they were years past.  The parks are lovely, can be serene and spaces are usually big enough.  However, ticks!  Just got back from it and I had a tick on me, my Dh did too as well as my dog.  It happens and be aware of it.

This past week or so we camped at Harrison State Park in Tennessee.  Beautiful lake, nice spots to park, this time of year hardly anyone there, birds around to watch and the squirrels.  I know that may be they are rodents but so cute with fluffy tails.  However, they are very brave, coming right up to you for scraps if you let them.  Can be a nuisance too.

It was amazing that we were parked where we could see a Marina through the trees.  Amazing because of the larger boats, houseboats, sailing ships moored there.  Thinking of the austerity of the owners in this slow economy and price of gas.  WOW!  We are not talking about pontoons or fishing boats, I mean yatchts, of course they were not moving, they were tied up.

Katie was not to thrilled about them!

 

Must Be Spring Now

Got a little Spring story to tell. I was apprehensive about when Spring would arrive here in Tennessee
since our Walnut tree has not bloomed or budded out as yet. This was always a sign that Winter was not really over yet and no one would be planting just yet for fear of a freeze.

Okay, I can grasp that even though it seemed all the trees other than the Walnut are flowering or greening up.

Now, the story to tell is one of Spring besides the flowers or the greenness of the  trees.  It's the birds. I have a lot of birds and my husband can attest to that when he gets into his truck and sees these white spots that do not mean he needs glasses, if you know what I mean.

Sitting on my lower level deck I noticed two swallows perched on branches by our steps near my new
birdhouse, resembling a covered wagon I just put up. These two, husband and wife, kept peeking in the birdhouse, finally going inside and Lord only knows what they were up too.  Over the weekend they started to protect that home of theirs they were making from other birds, like the house wren.

This tiny house wren apparently wanted to rent out space in the covered wagon but the swallows did not go along with that idea and kept on guarding their home to the extent of pecking like crazy at the poor little wren.  So,we put up another birdhouse that was a little distance from the "wagon" for the wren.

The wren proceeded to check that one out too. Then Mrs. Swallow took look at this modern home across the way and flew to check it out.  Mr.Swallow, who was sitting on the doorstep of the "wagon" was a little cross with her and immediately flew to that which Mrs. Swallow was checking out.  In the meantime Mr. and Mrs. Wren saw was happening and a fight proceeded.  It all ended quietly with me watching all this as the Swallows finally flew to their home and all is quiet now.

I thought there might be some parallel to this story or some meaningful virtue or something in it, but I just gave up that idea and went for it to just be a story, maybe for a grandchild of mine, but adding a little more interest for them.
Hope this didn't bore you but it is one of those things that you really had to be there to see it.


I have one more observance.  A robin has decided to make a nest in a corn sheller that we have hanging under our deck. Now, we sit under there in a swing while she (Mrs. R) waits with branches in her beak for us to leave.  Believe me, we do leave. For awhile at least.

                         Mr. & Mrs. Swallow at home.





















Mrs.Robin builds her dream house.

Its Spring???

I did notice this wonderful flowering out tree in my traveling to the post office yesterday.
Then the next day we had snow. The snow did not last long but came down like is was going to.

I do not understand Mother Nature, she must be very angry with us or just trying to frustrate
us because of all the other ways we destroy our earth.

Even in Florida, the Sunshine State is not very sunshinny lately. .  My friends there have been
complaining about freezing weather, rain in buckets, low temperatures. Storms all over the United States.

Global WARMING give me a break!

A Friend of Mine

A Friend for 65 years, starting as neighbors when we were 12. She, Joyce passed away the first day of Spring, yesterday. She found out just last month that she had cancer. She could live another three or four months on Chemo but if not was given a week or a month at most.  She chose to go home and die. Brave woman. She lived a little over two weeks. I write about this on my blog because of the way it has affected me.

 She lived in N.J. most of her life while I lived in either Florida or Tennessee.  This prevented us from having any coffee on the front porch type relationship, but we always knew we could phone or email or write to each other. She had a stroke at one time too and it was hard for her to talk where I could understand her so we limited those calls.  Knowing she was bed ridden now I phoned her daughter and was able to talk a little too her.  So glad I did for a week later she passed away.

I am wondering why I have been feeling so sad at losing such a friend. Not the normal sadness one would feel but something else.  There was a period in our lives that we didn't see each other for years as our children were growing up and we worked.  Just too busy I guess. After we retired would meet every so often to renew our friendship and compare us aging together.

That friendship was there always.  She was a year older than me, 78, so maybe I realize how fragile life is at this point in our lives. We would compare our aches and pains and medications as old people do, yet the end of life seemed still so far away.

Our young years as children were etched in both our minds as I would email letters to her reminiscing about those years.  I was told how much she enjoyed them.  Writing to her about school, boys we dated, the seashore we hung out at.  A lot of old memories. I could picture everything we did in my mind. It seems that that part of my life was gone, with her.

 Now, am I on the end of my life?, I kept thinking.  Not to get so morose about life and death but one has to think of those things occasionally as this event has shown me. People pass away at this age but this was

so sudden for me to fathom.  I will live with her loss as will her wonderful family other friends.  I will start to share with my children, my childhood, my friend Joyce.

Photo taken in New York after graduation from High School . Joyce is on the far left and I am on the far right  across from her.  We were all either 17 or 18.

Alphabetically Speaking

 Most of you know by now that I love being in a creative mood.  I love swapping on Swap-Bot, there are so many people doing so many creative things.

I decided to put a swap up where you look for letters of the alphabet around your world.  I now drive down the street looking for letters.  Rather, DH does as I look around.

Mine were easy as there were signs everywhere that lure people to come to our area because of Pigeon Forge, Dollywood and Gatlinberg. 

My swap person sent me hers and they were great.  She has a great artistic eye I believe because you really have to look to find these letters.  Mine I think you may know and have seen. "M" for McDonalds and "F" for Food City, a local grocery store here.

But hers were just great as she saw letters in shadows, a fence line, and  in Architecture, that made letters.  Then you make a 2 letter word to send, hers was HI and mine was ME.(E and I not shown)

                             There is an M, an S, A and P - Tell me you see that, even upside down

Now here is an obvious H and an M and above this is an F and a C

 

I know some may say we have too much time on our hands, but I think being creative is a brainerism. I want my brain to stay alert while I don't care too much about this old body.
So enjoy.

Using his Noodle

 

Building a nest for Spring.

 

I just happened to see this wren in the bird house out front in my Pear tree.

There was a 2 foot string hanging from the branches and I noticed this little head grabbing the string and tugging enough to get it off the branch.  Hopefully you will see this little guy or gal doing what comes naturally, making a nest.  This is the third time I watched it dragging in string and thought it so cute that I waited and caught the action.  I hope you can see it too.  Make sure you watch it to the end.