Mish Mash, Around the Yard

Happy Thankful Thursday!


The Purple Coneflowers are looking pretty, the flowers around my yard make me happy.  🙂

It's the little things in life, notice them! 💓

" Kindness is simple. It is seeing the good in everyone and celebrating it." 

Is this  a Pine Warbler or maybe a juvenile Northern Parula. I saw this bird in a tree/vine at the end of our driveway. Another day I saw a Black & White Warbler on my deck, that was an unusual sighting. 

Our Upright Fuchsia has so many blooms, looks beautiful. 

I am thankful for the flowers, they can can expel clean oxygen. 

Outside my dining room I can see the Ruby-throated Hummingbird at our flowers. 

I am thankful that my hubby has a green thumb! 

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail is a common sight in our yard, seen mostly on the butterfly bushes. 

I am thankful to see the birds and butterflies in my yard! 

On Aug 3rd, I went to a wedding shower for my future DIL Allie.  We had a fun time and I am looking forward to the wedding in October.  I am thankful my son has found the love of his life. 

For my Skywatch photo, I am sharing this shot of the moon on July 14th. Some times when I can not sleep I have gone out on my deck when the moon is really bright, I took a few photos. 

We have a local family style restaurant near our home, this is the view from the window at our table. They serve one of the best Maryland Crab Cakes, YUM! There is a pretty view of the sky, pond and farm land. 

I am thankful for a good book, I am getting into Harlen Coben's suspense/thrillers. Another recent book was Spilled Milk by K.L. Randis  it is a compelling true story. I am waiting for my online library to get the latest Louise Penny book called A Better Man. 


I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 


Thank you Michelle for hosting Thankful Thursday. 
Thank you to Yogi the host of   Skywatch Friday



Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Around the yard in August

 August 29, 2013

It's that time to link up with  Skywatch Friday 
I am looking forward to seeing everyone's beautiful skies, I hope you can join in with Skywatch Friday.

These are some various shots taken from my backyard, some sky shots, some birds and butterfly in the month of August. Sometimes it can be so easy to enjoy the simple things in life.

A blue sky and a pretty Tiger Swallowtail.

This shots reminds me of a hand with the index finger pointing up.  Pointing up...that is a good sign to see right?

A cloudy day, but they are cool looking clouds.

A moon shot on the morning of August 24..is the Waning Gibbous 84% full.

My juvie Eastern Wood PeWee.. has a slight crest at the back of the crown, dusky flanks, wingbars and a two-tone bill. I have been watching this bird hanging around the yard lately. 

I was able to snap a few photos with different poses of my Eastern Wood PeWee.

  Happy Skywatching everyone!

Thanks for visiting my post and  blog and I always appreciate your comments.

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday!    I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Blue Moon

I am linking up with NF Winged   and  Skywatch Friday

Aug 22, 2013


It's time for Skywatch and my birds for NF Winged, I hope to see everyone sharing their skies and birds. On August 20 there was a rare full moon. The full moon this August is known as the Blue Moon or the Full Sturgeon Moon. It is the third of four full moon in a season, most seasons only have 3 full moons. My shot was actually the full moon setting on the morning of August 21.

I just love zooming in on the moon, it is so beautiful.

The shadow in the bottom right is part of our pine tree. The moon was starting to set behind the tree.

Skywatching from our deck...watching the contrail.

Another one of hubby's sunset shots at our lake.

And now for the NF Winged part of my post I am sharing one of my juvenile Cardinals, Turkeys and a couple butteflies.

One of the neighbors is raising turkeys..you can reserve one for Thanksgiving Day dinner.

A Fritillary Butterfly on our Buddleia butterfly bush.

A Tiger Swallowtail on our pretty butterfly bush.


  Happy Skywatching everyone!

Thanks for visiting my post and  blog and I always appreciate your comments.

To see more pretty skies from around the world please visit  Skywatch Friday
and to see more of the winged critters check out NF Winged

Thanks to Sylvia, Yogi  and Sandy for hosting Skywatch Friday! Thanks to Monica the host of NF Winged.   I wish everyone a safe and happy weekend.

Birds, Butterflies and blooms

I am linking up Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-b-birdin

August 3, 2013

I hope you will join in on the fun and share your critters and birds. My post is on the birds, butterflies and blooms in my yard.

 I love sitting on my deck and watching the Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, I am seeing around six of them at my feeders. They are such fun to be around, sometimes there is a juvie that will hover right in front of my chair.

This is the second year for this hibiscus plant, we brought the plant inside for the winter. It is not very full and bushy but it seems to be blooming very well.

The beak on this hummer looks weird, I am not sure if it not developed all the way or if something happened to it? I believe the hummer is a juvenile, I hope it is Ok.

The hummingbirds have been seen sitting on the branches of this trumpet vine.

Seen on the same evening I was watching the hummer show..a male Scarlet Tanager in the treetop above my yard. The Scarlet Tanager is a breeder in the woods next to my house.

I included these butterfly shots in one of my mosaics in a previous post but now I am showing just the photos. Above is the Tiger Swallowtail.  One of the more common butterflies seen in my yard.

A little ragged but a beautiful Black Swallowtail.

A Sulfur on the Purple Coneflowers. I hope you enjoyed this post,

 Ok, here is my new list for the week of my favorite blogs to visit and if you missed any... look back at all my previous Saturday posts they go as far back as 6/22/13.

Tammy @ i heart florida birds shares her beautiful Florida Birds. After vacationing in Florida I also love Florida birds and enjoy visiting her blog.

Mick @ Sandy straits and beyond  is sharing his birding and  outings from Australia. I learn about the Autralian birds that I would love to see someday in person.

Kusum @ Scrapbook_ a travel blog is sharing her many adventures traveling. Fantastic photos and you can learn about all the wonderful places she visits.

Gary @ Vermilon river wildlife shares his hikes along the Vermilon River and shares his awesome wildlife photography.

Indrani @ ishare is a lovely blogger from India. She shares her wonderful travel photos, I feel like I have been around the world with Indrani.
 

I hope you are able to find some time to visit some of my favorite blogs above, they are all wonderful bloggers.

 I wish everyone a happy weekend.

 To see more beautiful photos and cute critters

 please visit:  Camera Critters and I'd-Rather-B-Birdin. Thanks to the gracious hosts Misty Dawn of Camera Critters and to Anni of I'd Rather-B-birdin.

Birds, Blooms and Butterflies

  I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday .

July 21, 2013

Even though it is still hot this weekend I was able to sit out on my deck and enjoy the birds, butterflies and blooms. The Great Blue Herons have been really noisy lately, they are growing bigger and sound even louder. From my deck I can see them flapping their wings even though all the trees block my view of their nest.

It was neat this weekend sitting out on my deck and watching an eagle fly over my yard.

This Sulfur and the Tiger Swallowtail seem to prefer the Purple Coneflowers over the butterfly bushes.

The Goldfinches add some bright color to my yard, the males are such a bright and pretty yellow.

A pretty male American Goldfinch.

I have been enjoying the butterflies around the Fritallaries seem to be one of the common butterflies in my yard.

The Tiger Swallowtail butterfly

A Carolina Wren, I have a family of these cute birds hopping and singing around my yard. As always, I hope you enjoy my post and thanks for visiting my blog. I always appreciate your comments.

Join in on the fun and for more wonderful photos please visit  Mosaic Monday and more
 from  Our World Tuesday

 Thanks to our host: Mary our host of Mosaic Monday and to the hosting group of Our World Tuesday: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, Sandy and Jennifer.  I wish everyone a happy week!

Shenandoah National Park

I am linking up with Mosaic Monday and Our World Tuesday

Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend.

These photos are from another recent day trip my hubby and I took to Shenandoah National Park. The park is one of our favorite places to visit . We enjoyed hiking on some trails and driving along the Skyline Drive. I recently heard on the news that the National Parks are trying to get young people unplugged and outdoors visiting the National Parks. They are saying the average age of a National Park visitor is 54 well that is pretty close to hubby's and my age of 55. It is being said that there may not be enough young people to care about National Parks to keep them going. Now, that sounds really sad to me. I know hubby and I took our son to many National Park during our travels over the years. I am hoping my son appreciates and loves the National Parks as much as hubby and I.

The shots above are from one of my favorite trails..it is called the Limberlost trail. Here we saw amazing numbers of the Chestnut-sided warblers. Quite a few American Redstarts were also bouncing around in the trees. The wildflowers and butterflies were a beautiful sight to see. I also saw some Canada Warblers but those photos were blurry. These warblers bounce around so fast it is hard to catch any of them still enough for a good photo.

I was amazed at the numbers of the Chestnut-sided Warblers we were seeing. Above you can make out the pretty chestnut side, but can not see the top of its head which has a yellow crown and bordered by black.

Some of the wildflowers seen along the Limberlost trail.

Above are some of the pretty pink wild azaleas, a tiger swallowtail butterfly, a view from the Rangeview overlook, the Appalachian trail and a Catbird. We also saw and heard many Indigo Buntings and Scarlet
Tanagers.

The American Redstart one of the common bird seen along the Limberlost trail.

A view of the Big Meadow located in the middle section of Shenandoah Nat'l Park on the Skyline Drive.

I hope you enjoyed our Shenandoah visit...it is one of the many National Parks that we love.

To see more wonderful mosaics and photos please visit Mosaic Monday  and Our World Tuesday
Thanks to Mary the host of Mosaic Monday  and to the hosting group of Our World: Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia and Sandy

Wordless Wednesday

To see more click here Wordless Wednesday

Thanks for stopping by to see my butterfly. Have a great day :)