zleonska

:: Welcome to My Brown World

This is a personal blog. Words appear about critters and plants living in our home. Notes are made on what I am creating. Posts are written commenting on life's occurances. I write to help my mind focus on my life around me. There is good in everyone's life; here is my take on mine. A contionary side note though: I tend murder the King's English. Please be forgiving of my mistakes. Do check out the 'Tags' for listings by category and 'About' if you care to read more about who I am. (If you figure out who I am... please let me know!) ;)

Lifting my glass: "...to the Journey",
Zuzanna

• Reading: Carl Sagan a Life by Keay Davidson
• Listening: Down Child Blue's Band
• Roasting: Smoked Ham from Lawrence Meats --- the best!
• Growing: over-achieving white amaryllis blooming for the sixth time in a year

:: Something About Rabbits

discovery at the corner

Everyday on our walks we attempt to push boundaries. Where the snow melts around the farm, we walk. One goal is a circle around the barn, so the dogs can sniff for rabbits. Don't worry, the dachshund has decided he is too old to go to ground with a mature rabbit. Opps, sorry Chirpa, too mature and dignified for such antics. Circle of barn completed I had my 'Today I Learned' experience.

:: for a Jug

swirly magic

This is an old project I love to use, touch, pet and generally feast my eyes upon. The colours of the sock yarn cannot get any better, just for the record. It is made with miles of i-cord. Once I get started with my trusty knitting dolly, I just can't stop. Yarn! More Yarn!

:: and Eyes Beginning to Open

Stuffed and sound asleep

The pictures I took yesterday were out of focus. Cause: shaky hands, old eyes and tiny phone. Effect: white fuzzy blurs, black eyes and bright red mouths exhibiting no details. Okay, today take two. The chicks parents fed them so well, even an intruding human finger didn't disturb their sleep. I was sad I missed the upright heads and wide open beaks. Their mouths are a bright red. Kind of scary when you see in out of focus snaps actually. Maybe catching them snugly settled in their nest was the better photograph after all.

:: Perfection

I know now how a humming bird or a honey bee feel about flowers. We walked into our local grocery store, my head swivelled and body followed. On a low display sat the most incredible orchid. It was beautiful with long green leaves and an unbelievable arch of flowers. I could not take my eyes away from it. The depth and range of colour you really need to see in person to get the full effect.

:: Additions to the Family

Yesterday evening held a surprise for me. Whilst doing my nightly food and water check on the canaries, Lily aka Knothead left her nest. Since I was on the step ladder I took a quick look. I then dashed down stairs to tell my sweetie - to the enjoyment of the hounds! We have baby chicks! It appears there are four little ones, covered with downy fuzz. This is the earliest I have discovered hatchlings. The females sit tightly on the nest, not giving anyone a peak. You sort of go by the approximately two weeks timetable and try to catch an open nest to sneak a look. The last thing you want to do is spook the hen into abandoning her nest. This happened with Fern and Troubadour's first clutch; Chewie bumped the next box.

:: Snoopy Says it Best

This is the card my Hero gave me with the roses. I can't resist love from Snoopy, I mean my Hero. I love you more than my heart can tell. I like being your wife.

Seeing Snoopy on the card brought forth the memory of Snoopy flying his dog house against the Red Baron. And the song, "Snoopy vs. the Red Baron" by the Royal Guardsmen, "Just at the turn of the century, in the clear blue skies over Germany..." My friends and I sang that song often enough to annoy parental ears!

:: Roses from my Sweetie

a Gift of love

What is best about receiving a dozen roses is the look he gives me when he places them in my arms. Makes me feel like a teenager again. I love you sweetie. How can I resist yellow roses on a cold arctic day. I hum to myself as I go through the ritual of clearing the wrap, trimming the stems and placing them in a vase. I have a perfect location for them in the parlour. The fireplace has a mirror behind the mantle; there it looks like I have dozens of yellow roses!

My mother-in-love showed me how much better roses look when you actually arrange them loosely, giving each rose room to breath. Much better than my previously jamming them a jar! Growing up bud vases made an appearance, but I don't remember a dozen at once, until I met Steve.

I know many hate Valentine's Day. If you are not in a relationship, you can treasure yourself. You are special -- you don't need anyone to make it so. Take care of yourself; be gentle with yourself.

:: the Tale of an Over-Achiever

a sweet over-acheiver on her nest

These are the birds in the third tier of the cage rack. The bird on the perch is the chick from the first nest. He is a knothead crested like his mom. The orange boy in the feeder is Minstrel, filling up on seed to feed his family. Fully fluffed out and setting is Lily AKA Knothead. The moniker was bestowed on her when she took longer than expected to learn where the food/water was in her fist cage.

But you cannot but take note on how quickly she accepted her mate, built a nest and laid her eggs! She knew what she was about. This was evidenced in the perfect hemp twine nest she built. It appeared complete in a few hours. From this nest she and Minstrel raised the one chick, both feeding and caring for it. Once Lily had made the second nest, Minstrel took over full care of the fledgling. He also makes sure his mate is fed whilst incubating the eggs.

:: in the Dark of Night

Not sleeping tonight. Restless, not wanting to desturb my sweetie or be grumped at by Chirpa. Too tired to do anything requiring thought. Sitting at my laptop trying to avoid the hell-hole that is doom scrolling. Looking at my data drive wondering if there is something exciting enough to hold my attention. A flicker of interest. I have my newest blog working. I am happy with it; why not clear out the accumulated chaff consisting of decades of old blogs, blog attempts, blog ideas, blog templates... There must be thousands of directories listed under LBBWeb.

Soon I was happily puttering away deleting collected themes from long forgotten platforms along with the notes made in the attempt to understand them. Ah, yes, delicious progress, the trash bin filling up and bytes freed for future use. Then it happened, this tiny, unassuming file with one of those blog challenges popped open on the screen. "If I were..." Tired brain seizes on this and starts typing...

If I Were, I’d be

If I were a month, I’d be September, remembering the excitement of back to school.

If I were a day of the week, I’d be Monday, the freedom of being back at school.

If I were a time of day, I’d be 2300 or so, quiet and peaceful.