Duck-Duck-Goose!

Here are images
of the ducks' nest
with some eggs
and the Geese's nest
with two eggs.
Notice the
different shapes
of the nests
and the size
and number
of the eggs?

Blue Jay

A Blue Jay
stopped by
before
the freeze
and had some
of our feed.
He was a big one.
Click on
the title above
to find out more...

Chickens and Geese-a-laying

The birds are busy.
here are an
"African" Goose egg,
a blue/green
"Auricana" chicken egg
and a brown
"Buff Orpington" chicken egg.



goose eggs are delicious, but also
the very highest in cholesterol.

Geese bathing etiquette

Now that the embden's are older, they try to bathe all together in the water trough by the well. They do not take turns like the older brown geese, who are quite polite and patient with each other.

Winter blooms continue

The rest of the camellias are finally starting to bloom.
The Seafoam japonica is still blooming and the
Red "Showgirl?" japonica is also blooming by the fence.
I am waiting on the Ave Maria and the Pink perfection...
Winter blooms continue

Grumpy Geese

The geese are not very happy about the lack of green things to eat.
I planted some rye grass in the south yard- but it hasn't come up yet.

New Baby Charolais

I saw a baby bull
take its first steps
and its first drink
of milk the other day.






What a beautiful thing indeed to start the new year.
The breed is a Charolais: Originally from France. They range in color from creamy white to light buff and are very sturdy.

Busy Bees unwrapping Camellia Gifts

One of the nicest things about Christmas Day,
was that early in the morning,
The bees were all busy on the Camellias.



That is one of the most wonderful things
about planting winter blooms,
is to see the life that they bring to the garden.

Seafoam in Winter

The "Seafoam" Camellia Japonica
that we planted several years ago
finally bloomed.
It was worth the wait...

We finally built a fire this winter

LICHEN

While gathering kindling for the fireplace, we found lots of
Parmotrema stuppeum or "powder-edged ruffle lichen" or Phaeophyscia ciliata "smooth shadow lichen"
hummingbirds often use the lichen bits to camouflage their nests
To find out more about lichen click on the title above...

Feeders are active

The bird feeders are active now that the temperatures have dropped for the winter...

The Goldfinches have arrived...

Click on the title above to learn more about Goldfinches