What I see out the living room window

A few more images that I captured out the living room picture window.

It's called a picture window because it's where I take pictures of my feathered friends.

Tufted Titmouse
These 'moats' are hangers for the Hummingbird Feeders, they keep the ants away when I keep them filled with water.
As bonus, the little birds find them for a quick drink of water.

Tufted Titmouse rear
Not a common bird this far North according to eBird, but I've been fortunate to have them year after year.

Crappy photo, but quite a colorful squabble between Oriole & Grosbeak.

Chickadees love mealworms.
They are not greedy, they take one, fly to a branch, snack away, and then return for a refill.

I have about 2 hummers, one female, shown here and one male.

Mr. & Mrs. Baltimore Oriole

 I love these little beauties!

Graduation gifts

Great niece Emily had her graduation party on Sunday.  It was a nice gathering of family and friends at Oak Forest Retreat, just NE of Luck.

I didn't take many photos that day, as family friend Jaime was on the job, but I did take this one of Emily and her cousin Alyxis Class of 2020.

Emily Chivers & Alyxis Johansen

Banner I made from Graduation Day photos I took.

Gifts this year...

For Emily I sewed an ensemble; wallet, credit card case & adventure bag.

Cork Fabric Exteriors

Interiors

Adventure bag 

Emily's Ensemble.

For some of the other girls in Emily's class, I made a travel jewelry pouch.

Step Mom Ev made these for all her daughters, granddaughters and a few friends about 20 years ago.

I still have mine and have used it a bunch.

These were fun to make and I'm going to keep a few on hand.

I still have to make a couple of Adventure Bags for 2 boys who graduated,

I'll have to mail those.

Best of Luck to the Class of 2019.

Stare down

I glanced out the kitchen window and saw this boy nibbling away at a bush in the backyard.  I went for the camera and when I came back to the window, he was staring at me.  I suppose she noticed some movement, but she just stood and stared at me as I clicked away.  

Finally, he loped off.

I hope he stays safe, the county road at the edge of my property claims quite a few deer.

I hope I see him again soon. 

Hummers, et al

I sat out on the deck today and waited for the Hummingbird to show.  She did not disappoint me.
This was my first attempt at taking photos of a Hummer, and it was fun.  When she was done with me, she buzzed past my ear so close that I jumped.
Pretty girl.

A more formally dressed bird, the Rose Breasted Grosbeak also stopped by.

And also the Catbird stopped for a bit of jelly.

One of my faves.

I'm rolling through the jelly & the meal-worms and the sunflower seeds like crazy right now, 

but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Will they stick around

Two male Indigo Buntings were in the yard this afternoon.

I sure wish they could find housing near by.

It's a treat to see them, even on a cloudy day, they are brilliant.

The wind took down one of my Maple trees about 7 foot up, the Woodpeckers had drilled a line of holes in a row, I had worried that the tree would be weak, guess I was right.

A little hand saw work and I got it cut off 

with exception of the 4 feet that is still  hanging by the bark that is too high for me to saw.

That piece should fall in the wind tonight, and it won't hurt anything.

My lawn mowing dude was here today, and this tree broke off after he had been there, I'm sure glad it didn't clonk him on the head as he was mowing!

Winter

Well it got down to 31 degrees overnight, nipped a few of my flowers, but today the sun was out.  I'm ready for warmer nights so I can turn off the furnace, but it seems slow this year.

Today was our annual trip to Winter Greenhouse with the Cameron Area Senior Citizens.  We take a bus of folks, I drive my car and haul home all the loot.  This year I had room for more plants, but several folks cancelled at the last minute thinking it was going to be Winter in Winter.

It was really a nice day.

Sunny, a little breezy but just fine with a sweatshirt or jacket.

Everyone enjoyed the trip and several brought home a nice flat of plants to add to their yards, 

me included.

After I got home, I saw a little bird hit the living room window.  It didn't seem like a really hard impact, but when I looked I saw a little warbler laying on the bird seed platform.

He acted like he might be a little stunned.

I kept an eye on him, snapped a few photos and then off he flew.

I've never ever seen a Magnolia Warbler before.

What a pretty fella.

Carry on little singing dude.

The Graduate

This year, our high school graduate is Miss Emily Chivers.

Elizabeth Johnson and Emily

Jake Jensen, School Board President, and Emily

Turning of the tassel ceremony.

Happy Grads, Emily & Liz

Dad Aaron, Grandma Chris, brother August - barely, Grandpa Lonnie, brother Owen Great Aunt Lois, brother Gus (not too happy), Mom Angie, Graduate Emily, Grandma Lois, Great Aunt Wanda.
Quite a good cheering section, but missing is sister Megan who was dancing in a competition in Minnesota.

August, Angie, Emily, Ivan, Aaron, Owen Chivers

Emily and Mom Angela

Congratulations Emily!

I realized after I posted this, I needed to say a little more about Emily.
She was the first born to Angie.  She and Jack introduced us to what it was like to have little kids around again.  Emily has always said what was on her mind,
sometimes landing her in a little hot water.

Emily has helped raise her siblings, a sister and 3 brothers and has shown much patience through the years of a somewhat chaotic family lifestyle.

I watched Emily become an accomplished volleyball player, she didn't always get to play as much as I wanted her to, but she took it all in stride and gave it her all when she was called off the bench.

Most enjoyable was to watch Emily in the school plays.
She is a natural comedic actress and I hope she will get a chance to continue as I would love to see her on stage again.

Emily reminds me of Drew Barrymore, a natural beauty and a freestyle personality with wit and brains behind it all.  I'll miss Emily when she heads off to Eau Claire, but it's only an hour from my house, so maybe I can actually see her more, if her schedule permits me to butt in.

Emily was inspired by her Family & Consumer Science teacher to pursue this as her major.  I haven't seen many high school seniors feel like they were not done with high school, but Emily really isn't feeling ready to leave.  That will likely change in a couple of months as the excitement of a new challenge becomes reality. 
Maybe Emily will return to high school to inspire other students when she finishes her degree,
maybe even at Luck School.
She can do it.