Category Archives: Blogging

It feels hard to start writing. Has it really been a year since I have written on my blog? I got notices that fees were due to keep the blog open and I would think of closing it down. But I was not ready end it. I thought I might write again.

I love this image of the mailboxes, the different shapes and colors. If I had a mailbox like this I would love getting letters even more than I do now.

Hello Again

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Exercising my writing muscles. Definitely feeling rusty and lethargic. Sleep deprivation could be a contributing factor. More on that later.

How are you all doing on your journey through life? Are you driving, or taking an Uber? Are you being swept along in strong currents? Do you have a sturdy craft or at least a good life jacket? I feel like I barely have floaties lately. Maybe only one floatie.

‘Let’s go swimming’ by peasap via Wikimedia.orgI

Incidentally

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The moderate temperature and sunshine led me to sit out on our patio today and read a recent book selection from the local library, ‘The Rising Tide, A Vera Stanhope Novel’ by Ann Cleaves. The author has really got her Vera character down pat. Her mannerisms and humor clearly illustrated. It is very comforting to read mysteries that you know will be solved by the end of the book.

I thought while sitting outside that I don’t spend enough time enjoying our yard. I have missed out on what is going on out there. There are hummingbirds who fly under our lounge chair and peck around. I wonder if they’re gathering cobwebs for their nests like I saw the Say’s Phoebes do.

There is a bird nest in one of the citrus trees. It looks a bit messy. I am not sure if this is intentional or if the nest has been disheveled by the wind. The birds have not had a lot of success with nest building in our yard.

We have a low flow sprinkler system on our property. Around a fruit tree in the yard is a small tree irrigation ditch. When the sprinklers are on it fills up with water that is slowly absorbed into the ground. I recently noticed a group of finches making good use of the little pond. They were taking sips of water and jumping in to splash around. It was fun to watch them from behind my patio door. This morning there was a white-crowned sparrow in there.

White-crowned sparrow by Wolfgang Wander via wikipedia.org

We have been harvesting some of the grapefruit. Not as many as last year but still enough to share with neighbors.

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Natalie at Natalie the Explorer.

Featured image is a ‘Lesser Goldfinch’ by Andy Reago and Chrissy Mc on Flickr.com

Pause

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If we were having coffee, I would tell you we can feel the season changing here. There is a chill in the air which is not at all unpleasant. It feels like a time to slow down and take stock as winter approaches. I want to pause and take time to think and not write. Writing is like talking for me and I need to be quiet and keep my thought to myself for now. I am taking a break at least until the New Year.

Say’s Phoebe by Jamie Chavez on Flickr.com

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Natalie at Natalie the Explorer.

Free Time

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I would say that waking up with no obligations of any kind for the day is a dream scenario. In fact, when I wake up, I often ask myself what day it is and do I have anything I have to do, appointments or planned activities. If my day is free, I feel relief. If I do have something on the schedule, I usually check the time and calculate how much free time I have before I need to get ready to go. How much free time I have to do the things I like to do. Like leisurely read the morning papers with coffee and toast. Do the NYT Wordle and Spelling Bee. Check the weather report and gaze out my patio door to see if the nesting birds have returned, (they haven’t returned yet).

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Natalie at Natalie the Explorer.

Featured image of ‘Free Time’ by gfpeck on Flickr.com

Birds, Booklists, and Baking

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If we were having coffee, I would tell you that nesting birds do not like the sound of gas-powered hedge trimmers. Our gardener was here early Monday morning in the backyard sawing away at some of the bushes before I asked him to stop. I think it might have been too late for our nesting birds because their activity around here has dropped dramatically since then. I have not seen them at all for the past couple of days. They did like the site over our patio door. It is high up and sheltered by the patio roof. But it may get too much human traffic and noise for them to take up residence here.

I have not had much time for writing lately. I have been busy reading book reviews. I am looking for books that will interest my local book group and books that will interest me. I am casting a wide net for my own TBR list. I have 25 books on my library book list waiting for me to get back to them. It’s going to take a long time to read through them all because I keep finding more books to add to the list.

The roadrunners have been keeping a low profile. They definitely don’t want to stick around for me to take a photo. This photo turned out pretty well. I like it when I can catch them with their head crest up.

We went to a block party yesterday evening. It was great to get together with the neighbors. We haven’t socialized much at all the past couple of years since the pandemic. Starting to ease back into it. We were asked to bring some appetizers to the party. I am pretty out of practice with making appetizers. I bought some frozen ones. The instructions on the box said I should cook them on parchment paper. I only had wax paper and thought it would be a good substitute. On the wax paper box, it did say you could line cake pans with it for baking. It turns out it works ok for cake pans but not anything else. My appetizers baked onto the paper. I tried peeling them off but some of paper was baked on and I worried about people getting waxed paper along with their appetizer. So, I decided not to bring them. Luckily there was plenty of food at the party and nobody missed them.

Weekend Coffee Share is hosted by Natalie at Natalie the Explorer.

Nesting

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If we were having coffee, I would tell you the weather has been cooler the past few days. Expected to get into the low 90s F today, and the breeze will make it feel cooler. There has been a flurry of nesting activity over our patio door this morning. The birds are bringing pieces of dried plant stems, small leaves, and cobwebs up to their nest.