Happy Spring, Happy Easter, Happy Holidays~

Sunrise over a field of Henbit.  
Fields of Henbit dot the area where I live this time of year.  When I see it's arrival, I feel very happy.  What about you...  
What is one of the first signs of Spring that makes you feel very happy?  

A promise of hope, new life, new opportunities.  I love the newness of colours that always without fail turn out in their full glory.  Some may fade very quickly, while others linger for the entire season.  I have a few that will arrive early and not leave until the first frost in mid Autumn and those do make me very happy too. 

We have birds that are nesting from the wee Chickadees to the Bald Eagles and Hawks.  Next week I will share about the nests of both the Bald Eagles and Red-Shouldered Hawks near where I live.

This is for Christians, our Holy Week leading up to Easter Sunday celebration.

For those who celebrate this special day, I hope that you have a blessed time with family and friends gathered~

~HAPPY EASTER BLESSINGS~

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after                                                                you have read the narratives~

I am joining in the fun with Eileen at:

http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

Saturday's Critter

Anni at:

http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 

I'd Rather Be Birdin'

 Linking to I'd Rather B Birdin'

    

Maggie's  MOSAIC MONDAY

                                              https://normandylife.blogspot.com/

& 

Stewart for:

http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/

Wild Bird Wednesday

Above...my neighbor Sue gave me the gift of the bird planter and I filled it with Sedam.  Below is our home of going on 36 years.  Soon the canopy of green shall fill out and spill out over the two and a half acres~

My neighbors all seem to have Lilacs. I have a Lilac bush as well, and yet after many years, I am fortunate just to get green leaves to grow on mine.  The purple Vinca, the Spring Beauties and the Indian Hyacinth are mine though ;)~

Can you see my hawk nesting platform that my husband built?  I hired someone to place it up in the tree and yet the hawks have not yet decided to try it out~

The second nesting platform is below just beyond the dog yard, straight up in the tree the runs along the fence going back. HUGE SIGH  That particular nest platform was also a hired out to place and they put it in the wrong tree while I was away, even though I showed the tree to three of their crew on three different walks... They refused to move it ;(~

Can you see the platform yet?

My Survhee Pipka kit-cat.  I almost lost her a couple of weeks ago due to my own human error.  I have never purchased liquid Flea protection for the large dogs, only for her.  I use chewables for the dogs.  

I opened up the tube and put the oil on her fur.  Something immediately seemed off.  There is usually only a few tiny drops and yet this time, it kind of poured out.  I had washed my hands and poured my coffee and it still bothered me enough to get the container back out of the garbage pail.  It was intended to be used on a canine up to 80 pounds.  I was frantic and immediately moved into action because it can be deadly to feline friends.  I used shampoo mixed with vinegar and rang up my Vet.  They told me that I needed to get her to the 24 hour ER service promptly.  

The half hour drive seemed to take hours.  Once we arrived they said that I had done the right thing to bathe her.  They cared for her and once she was OK to go...I paid my $162.00 learning experience fee and brought her back home.  The photo was taken the afternoon after her big ordeal.  

Very thankful heart.  Survhee Pipka is a very special kit-cat to my family!

While at Blue Pearl ER Hospital a man sat near by with a lovely dog. There were other pets in the large room as well. This dog, appropriately named Buddy began to whimper and kept trying to reach me. The gentleman named Steve who owns him said that Buddy sensed I was upset and wanted to come closer. I changed seats and that's when this beautiful dog began to lick my face and made the most precious noises almost like he was trying to console me. You know what? He did! What a sweetheart. Buddy is only 3 and had a seizure Saturday and was being checked over that day.  It turned out to be Epileptic Seizures and with proper medication and continued TLC, Buddy will be just fine~ 

     This is Buddy.  What a precious soul~

Our three Long Coat German Shepherds are doing great and enjoying the Spring weather.  From the front is Meaka, 9 years, Svetka 10 months and Silveit 4~

The younger two Silveit and Svetka both came from the same breeder, our dear friend Theresa out in Iowa~

I always enjoy seeing how this tree changes out on Covered bridge Road~

White-tailed Deer near the Bald Eagle nesting site~

Pretty soon I shall not be able to see the hawks as the canopy of green soon returns.  Here is a Red-Tailed Hawk that I spied on my early morning back road ride~

My daughter Brittany got me a Weeping Cherry tree for Mother's Day a few years ago and I enjoy the delicate blossoms, as well as the fond memories~

A Blue Jay for my dear blogging friend Poppy, one of her favorites.  

Poppy, I also have Chickadees nesting in my nest box.  Photos coming soon~

I have wildflowers growing on my acreage.  Wild Phlox, Forget-Me-Nots to name a few~

The local news had shared a couple of times about 3 Bald Eagles over at a nearby park.  I decided to drive over and see them.  I went everywhere looking, asked about them, but no one seemed to know a thing about them.  I never did find them and yes, I was at the right place.  I did see however a first year Red-Shouldered Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk as well as a man kind enough to let me photograph big catch of Blue Gill ;)~

One Sunday morning I stopped to visit my friend Anne after attending my Bible study class.  I was taken by her quaint little home and the old farmhouse and barn that was on the land behind it.  It seems as though the land and buildings had belonged to her grandparents and so she knew the history well.  The structures were wonderful, with great charm and character~

Baa Baa Black Sheep have you any wool?

They have had baby lambs...oh so sweet.  I adore them~

More flowers growing on this land~

These are the barn structures behind my friend Anne's home~

More of my blooming flowers and my neighbors as well~

I have shared this old structure before and when I passed it the other day, it was nearly totally hidden from view now~

A field of farm working horses and goats and their kids~

I was sharing with Poppy last week that I always enjoy seeing people share yellow flowers, yellow birds, the colour of yellow anything.  However, I have a hard time making yellow objects show their textures for some odd reason.  I went out into my garden the other day and took a few images of some yellow flowers and I thought that they looked OK...after a tiny bit of HDR and sharpening to them~

This old barn has seen it's day and is being taken down after heavy damage from winds and such over the years.  Barn raising used to be a big thing and now they are just coming down~

A bit more of the yellow flowers in my garden~

I was roaming the wooded areas in my neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, trying to find the local Red-Shouldered hawks, when a Cooper's Hawk made a brief appearance~

More Spring flowers on my land, sprucing up things after the long grays of Winter~

I am pretty sure that this is a first year Cooper's Hawk taken at dawn one morning~

Have you ever heard of a Turkey trot...I am not sure what they are, but when I saw this wild Turkey hen running down a field, across the lane, under a fence and into a field on the other side...that was what I thought about.  I never did see what scared her to make it run. They can and do fly, but she chose the land method~

A pair of Red-tailed Hawks sunning at dawn in Oldham County~

Does anyone know what kind of houseplant this is?  I would love to have one.  My friends Sandy and Linda both have them but don't recall what they are~

I just enjoyed this image for some silly reason~

A Winter Day Visit to the Louisville Zoological Gardens

Well I published a pretty descent post on the 27th day of December and attached the post to my favorite memes and then forgot each day to post to all of said memes...has to be the age thing and I am sticking to it... Life does get really quite busy though, even when retired.  Not sure about you, but my days run together so swiftly I sometimes cannot even tell you what I did on a specific day.  What about you...do you have days that just seem to run together and you have to think about what day it is and did you miss anything...

We had our first snow, not a huge amount, but it was quite slick.  In fact my daughter Brittany and her husband had an accident and flipped their car into a creek.  They were thankfully OK, other than aches and pains, but had to escape the vehicle by way of the roof top window.  Their car totaled!

Above and below are some of the visitors that make their way into my yard just about every evening to partake of cracked corn that we offer them, outside the dog yard.  This time of year is extremely harsh on them and several neighbors help care for this herd of 11 to 16.

Hoping that you have a very Happy and safe weekend and week ahead~

Remember to double click on the first image, to view a larger slideshow presentation after                                                                you have read the narratives~

I am joining in the fun with Eileen at:

http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/

Saturday's Critter

Anni at:

http://id-rather-b-birdin.blogspot.com/ 

I'd Rather Be Birdin'

 Linking to I'd Rather B Birdin'

    

Maggie's  MOSAIC MONDAY

                                              https://normandylife.blogspot.com/

& 

Stewart for:

http://paying-ready-attention-gallery.blogspot.com.au/

Wild Bird Wednesday

 On a cold Sunday morning I had to get out just far enough to get a newspaper for the husby and since I was already out... well I took a little bit of a long way about getting back home, not too far though, the roads were not great, but I saw the sunrise~

Taken through glass and looking into my side garden I got these captures of the wee little White-throated Sparrows, American Goldfinch, male Cardinal, Eastern Towhee, also known locally as the Rufous-sided Towhee and a wee little Chickadee~

 Our three pup-cubs...Silveit on left turned 4 this week, 7 month old Svetka and 9 year old Meaka~

Our little kit-cat Survhee Pipka, part of the dog pack and a huge part of our hearts~

Svetka had her first fun in the snow this past week and she LOVED it~

4 year old Silveit celebrated her birthday on the 9th~

9 year old Meaka still enjoys the snow, but no longer romps with her sisters out in it~

More of the herd of White-tailed Deer in our yard~

I had to run errands one morning this week and could hear Crows caw-cawing quite loud, even with the windows up.  They were chasing a Red-tailed Hawk from tree to tree, for no other reason than harassment~

 I took the grand-twins to the Zoo while they were still out on their Christmas holiday.  My young nephew Josh happened to be working at the Zoo, and we surprised him.  He is such a kind young man and showed the boys and I some behind the scenes with a few of the captive animals~

I am fascinated by many of the animals that our zoo has and while I enjoy them very much, I also whence inside, thinking that they should have had a wonderful life of freedoms also~

Helen below turned 58 years of age this week, the next to the oldest captive Gorilla~

Twin Kerrick on the right gets a fist bump from one of the Silver-back Gorillas, through glass, of course ;)~

This Puma/Cougar/Mountain Lion depending on which name you want to give it, has only been at our Zoo for less than a month~

We also have two new Canada Lynx that were stunning...captive bred and very accessible for photos~

Snow Leopards are one of my favorite exotic animals.  The zoo had two for a long time and not sure if one has passed on, or if it was just off exhibit.  This beauty was quite active on the early, cold morning that we went by~

I am thinking that I have only ever seen a single Maned Wolf at a time at our zoo, but on this day, they had two on exhibit.  Aren't they lovely, even if through fencing~

Finally the two Bald Eagles...always enjoy seeing this pair, but have very deep feelings about the fact they were injured and could not be released back into the wild.  I always have to stop by and see them~