Winter Flowers Day

December 8, 2010

Today is Winter Flowers Day.  So what kind of flowers do we have blooming right now?

Well, the peacocks are prancing around with flowery looking feathers.  Does that count?

picture of peacock

Peacock's Flowery Feathers

No, I guess not.  Well, how about something that started as flowers?  Like the red berries on evergreen bushes?

picture of heavenly bamboo

Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica)

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picture of red berries on holly

Red Berries on Holly Bush

Okay, okay, berries aren’t flowers any more.  Well, sad to say, even my Lenten Rose is drooping in the cold weather, and no blooms there either!

picture of lenten rose plant

Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis)

So that leaves only ONE thing around here that still has a few blooms on it. . . the Camellia bush.  Right before Thanksgiving it was in peak bloom:

picture of camellia winter's star shrub

Camellia 'Winter's Star' in full bloom

However, we’ve had hard frosts since then, and only a few blooms are still hanging on.

Camellia oleifera 'Winter's Star' bloom

So that’s it, for Winter Flowers Day we have only a few ragged-looking blooms left on the Camellia bush.

Happy Winter Flowers Day anyway!

Conundrums on the Farm

August 25, 2010

Conundrum – defined as

  •  a : a question or problem having only a conjectural answer
  • b : an intricate and difficult problem

Besides the obvious conundrum we’ve had of wondering why the cria was born too early, there are other puzzles on the farm.

For instance, what happened to this rooster’s tail feathers?

red-gold rooster

Where's the tail feathers???

Or how about this?  Why does this guinea hen have a chicken chick?

guinea fowl with chicken chick

Mama guinea with her chicken chick

Or we might pause to wonder why there was a foil star balloon blowing across the main pasture . . .

balloon hovering over grass

Why do we have a balloon in the pasture?

And perhaps we could wonder where it came from in the first place.

Then there’s the question of why something so pretty as a butterfly should enjoy something so disgusting as manure tea. . .

2 yellow and black butterflies

Taking a break at the Manure Tea Cafe

We could also wonder what all these peafowl and guineas are looking at.

peacocks and peahens in aviary

Do you see THAT???

Except that’s not really a conundrum, because I know what they were looking at and squawking about. . .

hawk in sky

Soaring and Seeking

There’s a hawk that’s been hanging around the last couple of days, and I fear it might enjoy a chick or keet for a meal.  If it’d eat the mice, I’d be happy, but I don’t think it will be particular about eating other birds.

Maybe it’s a conundrum after all.  How do you enjoy having beautiful predators like hawks around without having to worry they’re going to snack on your baby birds?

An intricate and difficult problem indeed!

Thursday’s Thoughts: Thinking In Three’s

June 17, 2010

No deep thoughts today. My brain is too tired, ha! So here’s an easy one… thinking in three’s. I mean, if pictures are worth a thousand words, then there’s some serious thinking going on here, right?

This trio of bright orange fungus starting to grow on a rotten tree limb is likely Sulfur Shelf (Laetiporus sulphureus), also known as “Chicken of the Woods” because it is an edible mushroom that some people think tastes like chicken. (Just once, I’d like to hear someone say, “You know, that tastes like beef.” Or even pork. Just something besides chicken!)

Orange fungus on tree limb.

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This threesome is our older peacock with two of the peahens.

Peacock with two peahens.

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A trio of red roosters… they no longer reside here.  And we still have too many roosters!

Three Red Roosters

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These three trees are in our woods. This is an older picture taken back on a beautiful winter day in December of 2009.

Three Tall Trees

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These blooms, however, are on the plant right now. It’s a big Hosta ‘Blue Angel’.

Hosta ‘Blue Angel’ Blooms

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And finally, 3 blooms on a Chinese Sweetshrub.

Alas, that is not a tree we have growing here.  I took this picture when we were at a local nursery buying vegetable plants.

That’s it for today!  My brain is thinking more along the lines of Tired Thursday than Thinking Thursday, or Thursday’s Thoughts, or whatever.  So we have reached the conclusion of today’s post…

A conclusion is the place where you got tired thinking.” – Martin Henry Fischer

Even More Fowl Spring

March 8, 2010

The wild birds aren’t the only ones looking for a mate. Our peacocks are also strutting their stuff, trying to catch the lady peahens attention.

Peacock showing off.

Proud as a Peacock

What a lot of people don’t realize is that this pretty boy doesn’t just show off his plumage.  Nope, he also shakes and rattles his feathers, so they sound a lot like maracas.

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The junior peacock also tries to strut around and impress the ladies, but I’m afraid he just hasn’t got enough plumage yet to really “wow” them.

Peacock strutting.

"Darn! I guess size DOES matter."

He’s only a couple of years old, so his feathers don’t match the old dudes.  I’d guess his feathers are only about half as long as the older peacocks.

He’s a cheeky little devil for all that, but the girls still aren’t paying much attention to him.

That’s all right.  His time will come!