sunday selections ...

Upper Peninsula, Michigan.

A robin chose to build a nest by the front door of the house in Ewen.  We didn't use that door at all, so she stayed undisturbed, but it gave me a "bird's eye" view to the growth of her babies.

Jack in the Pulpit. 
I may look into finding some of the corms to plant in the boggier areas of my backyard at the base of the mountain.  It is toxic to humans and dogs, so I will need to fence the area off if I get a puppy at some point in the future.  Rabbits and deer avoid it, but birds can eat the red berries that it will produce after flowering.

Pink Lady Slipper Orchid and Yellow Trout Lily.
I already have some of the lilies in the backyard that are growing in the boggy area (not many tho) and would love to be able to get some of the Pink Ladies to grow there as well.
Gardening goals!

This was a robin that had gotten trapped in a roll of chicken wire the mom decided to nest in.  I heard his cries and got him freed without any harm before setting him in a tree where mom could find and feed.

Wishing you wonderful memories of happy discoveries ... Hugs, Ci💚

friday finds ...

Genie

  Wednesday evening while doing my Day 1 PT exercises on the recliner, I found a 2023 Christmas movie "Genie" with Melissa McCarthy that was really quite touching and enjoyable.  I don't know how I missed it before.

  Although, in retrospect, Christmas 2023 was part of the year with the six roommates in White Sulphur Springs, and I was not watching much television at all that year.  I wonder what other movies I missed.  I mostly kept up with my show series via Hulu on my laptop but wasn't looking for any movies to watch.

  Thursday I was finally able to take off the wrap around my knee and shower (which felt amazing to be able to wash my hair since I had overslept on Tuesday morning and only had time for a quick 3-minute shower).  It looks pretty good considering.  Monday the sutures come out and I'll be cleared to drive again.  Yay!

https://www.reathlete.com/
 

  One of the recovery nurses on Tuesday told me of a portable cold therapy wrap that would be helpful, so I ordered one as soon as I got home.  It arrived Thursday morning and is just amazing feeling!

  It does kind of look like an Alien wrapped around my knee, but the pulsating cold really helped to relieve some of my pain.  I would highly recommend to anyone who has joint issues.  It can be used on shoulders, back, neck, probably even hips.  I got mine from Walmart, though I'm certain you can get them direct or via Amazon.

  Lucy was snuggling with me last night while I was working on ankle flex exercises.  I think both girls enjoy time with me when Charlie is with his besties because they don't have to worry about him growling at them and being jealous.

  This morning, I saw this male cardinal on the front porch cam.  It prompted me to do some rearranging of the bird feeders, so I have moved two to the far end across the driveway by the trees.

  I spend more time on the front porch than the backyard anyway.  Next, when I feel comfortable with climbing the step ladder in a week or two, I'm going to add another security camera that will overlook the feeder and where the groundhog lives.  I think I also have rabbits nesting under the front porch area but haven't been able to bend down or get on my knees to see yet.

  While moving a shepherd's hook for the feeders from back to front, I found a hatched robin's eggshell, which I always love to find.  They are such a pretty color, and so hard to believe that such a tiny egg can hold what becomes a much larger bird!  Which reminds me that I should pull out some old Upper Peninsula photos to post on Sunday.

  There are honeysuckle vines getting ready to blossom across the alleyway, so my front porch sitting will soon be beautifully fragrant as well.

Wishing you a weekend of beautiful discoveries!  Hugs, Ci💚

recovery ...

Tuesday's knee surgery went well.  The wrap comes off tomorrow.

This was a moth I saw on the front porch on Monday.  I love the little feathery wings.

The front yard is partially in bloom. 
You can kind of see Charlie on his throne.

This morning, I added a new bird to my life list.
While I didn't actually see it, I heard it and can now identify it by song.
I read an article while living in the Northwoods of Wisconsin about birding hikes for blind students at a wildlife sanctuary there and was fascinated by how they identified by songs and calls only.
It's now my favorite way to have coffee in the morning on the front porch.
Altho, if I was a Worm-eating Warbler, I think I would demand a new name.
It sounds like one of the insults that Robin Williams created when he played Peter Pan for the movie Hook.

true colors ...

[This is an ongoing chapter a week story that began with the first Words for Wednesday for 2025 on 1 January. I'm hoping to continue it through 31 December, the last Wednesday of the year. To start from the beginning, click here to be taken back to 1 January 2025, and then look for chapters to appear weekly between Tu-W-Th]

  Shoving the other wood elves out of his way with his elbows Thal rushed to where Kael was standing with a stunned look on his face, staring into the bonfire.  He appeared to be talking to himself, and when Thal finally reached him, he leaned forward to hear what Kael was whispering.

  "I never imagined.  I never knew.  I didn't think.  What if we hadn't been attacked?  They all would have been killed."

  Thal shook him harshly until Kael finally focused on him.  Bursting into tears, Kael threw his arms around him in a hard hug.  Lyri and El joined them, and shielding him as much as possible, they took him to Thal's cottage where they waited for Kael to compose himself enough to talk.

  He filled in what Thal couldn't remember about the attack on the gnolls, and the human that controlled the ones that had attacked.  He talked about the house he woke up outside of, his encounter with Alexander, and his eventual escape.  He had been forced to swim across a murky canal, heavily filled with a population of wicked water nymphs that grabbed his legs and tried to pull him under.  Nights spent in total darkness where ghosts and evil spirits mocked his cries for help.  He'd been gone for almost three months, but in his mind, it felt like a decade.

🙈🙉🙊

  Alexander hated being made to look like a fool.  More than he hated being cheated out of cheating someone else.  Kael had made him look like not only a fool, but a liar, a trickster, and someone trying to cheat the bidders who had come to see the wood elf.

$£€

  Finding the gnolls had been a one-off happenstance that he didn't expect to ever happen again.  Getting them under his control was simply achieved for the price of a few cheap pounds of raw meat occasionally.  Understanding them and keeping them contained was a different story.  They knew he wanted to exchange the meat for what they could bring him, or do for him, but exactly what he wanted was not translatable.  So, they brought him values found in their raids.  Gold.  Jewels.  Precious stones.  Pure silver.

  One evening the chief gnoll that Alexander had been dealing with drew an image in the sand that they used as a way to communicate an image that was distinctly humanoid, and different from the gnolls.  Alexander pointed to himself with a questioning look on his face, that the gnoll shook his head no.  He then drew an image of a gnoll larger than the figure and pointed to himself, followed by a much larger image of a human and pointed to Alexander.  

  The meaning was clear.  Something else lived in the forest besides the gnolls.  Something smaller, something humanoid.  Something that his business associates at the annex might be willing to bid on.  Dollars, pounds, and Euros danced in his head as he tried to calculate how much just a find could contribute to supporting the lifestyle that he wanted to become accustomed to.  Would it be enough to fly him to Monaco to spend a year playing in the casinos?  Or perhaps to buy his own island casino?

  Alexander pointed to the smaller figure, then gestured with his hands to "bring to me" and nodded fiercely.  The gnoll nodded once to show he understood, then disappeared into the darkness.

Image Source:
Pixabay.com

$£€

  Now, that priceless commodity had vanished and he was a laughingstock.  This would not do.  No longer seeing money signs, Alexander's true face began to reveal itself.

The Words for Wednesday can be found here.