The Little House on Creek Road

Ojai, Oh My  -  5/21/12

               

Have you ever had the feeling that someone up there was trying to tell you something?  Like, it’s time to slow down, take a deep breath, smell the roses and stop painting and scraping?  Well, evidently I wasn’t listening ‘cause last week I tripped over a metal pipe and dislocated my shoulder.  Fortunately it hurt so much that I reflexively (is that a word?) screamed and popped it back in.  At least that’s what the bone doctor surmised when I told him my story and he looked at the x-rays. 

But back to my story.  There I lay on the ground, on my back (I had managed to flip myself over), stomping my foot because I was so ‘efn’ angry.  Fred saw me from a distance and thought someone had told me such a funny joke that I was laying on the ground, holding my stomach, stomping my foot in hilarity, unable to speak.  Once it finally dawned on him that that wasn’t likely, he came running over to help me.  This I was thankful for because I could not get up without his help or the rental of a mechanical lift. 

Scene of my fall, just a few yards away.

So, that’s my story.  But, let’s make lemonade.  The good part is that it is my left shoulder and I am not left-handed.  That leaves me with one good right hand and arm for painting and scraping.  There, you see, there is a bright side to this story.

But enough of my story (you can tell I really want to talk more about poor me, but that will have to wait until the end of today’s blog – see below).  I promised I would share with you photos of the plants and flowers that adorn our little acre, so here they are.  I have put captions on them if I happen to know what they are:

The beautiful Locust trees.

Locust bloom.

I have had much fun planting flowers and adding "ranch" accents to the yard.



Can't go wrong with Gazanias



Tiger Lilies

 

Something yellow by the metal barn.

Somehow as I was wandering around taking photos of plants and flowers, I found myself next door at what we have always called The Big House, the home where my parents lived for so many years.  My sisters Patrice and Ramona have done a beautiful job of carrying on mom’s tradition of seasonal flowers and shrubs.  Here are just a few:



Mona's perennial garden.



The Iris garden.



Patrice's shade house & koi pond.

 As you may have noticed, there are far more beautiful flowers next door than on our little plot.  The nice thing is that I get to go visit those flowers whenever I get the urge.  It’s a good trade off.  Mona comes over and watches the birds at my bird feeders and I wander through their gardens.

For those of you who would like to know the outcome of my spill, it is this.  An MRI is in the works and in the meantime I am wearing a sling to keep my arm stable.  No more popping out of the socket, thank you very much.  Physical therapy is scheduled to begin June 5^th, which seems a tad far off but I’m sure Kaiser Permanente has more important things on their mind than my sprained shoulder.  I’m not in a great deal of pain except at night when I want to sleep and my shoulder wants to throb.  But they gave me some nice little pills for that.

So I have slowed down.  I am taking time to smell roses and write my blog.  I am trying to practice less zip and more zen.  Yes, I got the message - but couldn't there have been a better way to deliver it?

The Little House on Creek Road

Our Birds - 5/2/12

Fred thinks I may be overdoing it with the feeders.  What do you think? 



You know you're a redneck if you have more than 3 feeders in your front yard.

We spend our early mornings watching the birds arrive.   Sitting at the window of the RV sipping our coffee, we watch the Finches cling to the Nyger sock.  They are the early birds and the Nyger seeds are definitely their favored seed.   

Then come the Grosbeaks, mom and dad.  Lately the babies have been joining them.  



Dad, the two kids, and mom Grosbeaks

 
Junior House Finch squawks to be fed and dad does his best to ignore him, hoping he will take some initiative and learn to take care of himself. But dad eventually gives in.



"Oh, ok, but only this time."

Soon the Orioles show up at the nectar feeder.  It took them a while to figure out this feeder because it has bee guards on it and it is not Oriole-intuitive.  But once they get the knack, they suck it up.  You always know when there’s a new Oriole at the feeder because he pecks and pecks and just doesn’t get it.  Eventually the learning curve kicks in and he finds the spot.

Patiently waiting for his turn.

We have one little lady Oriole who has an injured leg.  It was difficult for her to perch on the feeder, but she was persistent and eventually balanced on her one good leg to get her fill of nectar.

Our little lady Oriole.

Soon after the Grosbeaks and Orioles arrive the Scrub Jays swoop in.  Pretty much every bird in the yard disappears when this big guy shows up.  They love the sunflower seeds.

               


Scrub Jays

 The only ones who can intimidate the Scrub Jays are the Woodpeckers.  Their favorite meal of choice is the suet feeder, particularly the orange-flavored block. 

               



Junco



Two of my favorite little guys are the Juncos and the Fly Catchers.  This particular little Fly Catcher just started joining the feeding frenzy in the mornings.  He seems very interested in the sunflower seed feeder but I don’t think nature designed his little beak for such a large mouthful.  It seems much more appropriate for catching flies.  Nonetheless, he is fearless as he sits on the feeder with the Grosbeaks and House Finches.

                

 

  

Fly Catcher



Of course our little acre would not be complete without our very own chickens.

          

 Each variety of bird has a preferred source of food at the feeders.  Whether it’s Nyger seed, sunflower seeds, orange-flavored suet, or nectar.  Sister Patrice and I stumbled upon a container of dried “worms” at Lowe’s the other day and because it had a picture of a Blue Bird on it we thought we’d give it a try.  When we got home we discovered the worms were from, guess where, yes, China.  No kidding.  Patrice said she hoped our Blue Birds liked Chinese food.  Well, it turns out they do. 



Blue Bird



               



Wonder if he needs soy sauce with those Chinese "worms"?

 

Of course no yard is complete without the obligatory humming bird feeder.  However, for some reason our hummingbirds prefer the Oriole feeder.  They totally ignore the red hummingbird feeder.



               

Finally someone took a bath in the bird bath.  The finches love to drink out of it, but no one would bathe in it.  That is, not until Mr. Robin came into the yard.

Mr. Robin after his bath.

We even have ducks fly over our little house once in a while.

           

Does anyone know what kind of bird this is?  He is always in the yard picking up seeds that are dropped from the feeders.  We have searched and searched in my Audubon app and on the internet, but no luck:

               

What are you?

So there you have it, our little world of birds on Creek Road.  There are many more that I don’t have photos of yet like quail, hawks and herons.  And many more yet to be discovered.  Our friend Lisa saw four Lazuli Buntings in her yard the other day and I am totally jealous.  It’s so much fun to discover new birds in the yard. 

Until next time when I share photos of plants and flowers….