Stitching Borders Garden Borders

There's so much to do and not enough time to do it. 

And thus my stitching time day after day is next to nil. 

I have managed to get in a little bit of stitching on "April's Daisy".  The border grows... 

We've had lovely day after lovely day and the Outdoors has been my main venue of late.  

There is a local glass artist who makes wonderful things including this glass flower. 

A word to the wise:  Nice days in April do NOT mean it is yet time to  plant warm weather crops!  The soil is still too cold.  I bought an ornament sweet potato vine in early April and oh it has suffered through several frosty mornings - its response - it has lost most of its leaves. 

I have a couple of these fern fronds - they've weathered the cold morning temperatures just fine. 

We do have some Iris blooming.

I've had this Lewisia for three years now and am pleased it is blooming.

More glass art - I love this dragonfly panel.

Here's a first for me: Three over-wintered Auriculas all in bloom!

I love the blue fern-filled pots on my rustic picnic bench.

My darling little glass Ladybug.

Evey garden needs beneficial insects, right?

So I also have plenty of bees in my garden too.

I'm not sure if my Blue Bugs are beneficial or not...

And what's a garden without a cat? 

The cats do not like dragonflies as they will bite if bothered.

This is my Guardian Grasshopper.

My latest garden motif - mushroom!

Woodpecker Week

I'm living in a Woodpecker Wonderland!

Sunday morning I was treated to a Pileated Woodpecker 'fly-by'.

And I spied this shy Red-breasted Sapsucker tapping away in a Big Leaf Maple.  This is a great photo if I do say so myself!  I was 30 yards away and the zoom is so clear that even the eye of the bird has detail. 

I've 'caged' the suet to make it so the Pigs Starlings don't eat it.

The Flickers now have to work hard to get at it, but if they stretch, they can.

I think this female Red-shafted Flicker looks as though she's posing for the camera. 

She's a pretty bird with polka dots on her chest and stripes on her back.

I've finally figured out how to tell the difference between male and female Acorn Woodpeckers.  This is a female.  The top of her head is white, then black, then red.  The males are just white, then red (no black on top). 

As you can see she's become a 'regular' at the peanut feeder.

She uses her long pink tongue to help snag a peanut. 

And here is a male Acorn Woodpecker and he's got a peanut too!

What's A Cat To Do?

The last several days the temperatures have been 73F, 75F, 77F, and 79F!

In April.

In Oregon.

Wow!

The cats have acclimated and are behaving like cats...  

Enjoying the sunshine...

Taking in vitamin D...

and otherwise doing as little as possible.

I've been working in the front flowerbeds...

...under the watchful eye of many a Tiger.

Until all that supervising becomes exhausting... 

...and its time for an early morning catnap!

Ah, the life of a cat!

Big Birds Little Birds

See the Big Bird in the tree.

See the Big Bird (Turkey Vulture) fly away. 

See the Little Birds (Goldfinches and Pine Siskins) at the feeder.

Each day I am getting more and more Goldfinches.

I counted fifteen 'guys' on Thursday. 

And aren't they handsome fellows?

Here's a handsome Goldfinch couple.

I wonder if they are courting.

The Golden-crowned Sparrow can't compete with the finches.

But perhaps subtle color is charming in its own way.  

Back in Early April

This less than wonderful photo shows the bit of stitching I was able to do last evening on "April's Daisy". 

I want to go back in time a bit to the beginning of April. 

That's when this field of daffodils was at its best.

While there are a few daffodils along side the road...

...by far the best display is at the edge of the Oak grove.

I don't know how many years ago the originals were planted, but they've naturalized and multiplied over the last several years. 

The display is one I look forward to each year.

Exuberant

Charming

Bountiful

The great thing is that no one picks them.

They're left alone so that everyone might enjoy them.

The  "host of golden daffodils" is to me, one of the first signs of Spring.

Nature is often a wonderful gardener!