gardening – ginnybirdbeakspeak

Change

Change is difficult to say the least. I love to rock along surrounded by the comfort of everyday routines, content in the knowledge that I can handle whatever the day may decide to toss my way. But life is crazy like that. When we are most comfortable, we sometimes are forced to make changes that shove us out of our comfort zones and into the arms of new adventures.

These past few years I have abandoned this blog and many other things that created the pattern of my world. A pandemic has certainly contributed to this alteration in my lifestyle. But now, with two vaccinations and three boosters on board, I am trying to return to some sort of normalcy as is each and every one of us. But…my new norm includes still wearing a mask indoors and out if there are large groups of people. My new norm still leaves me uncomfortable removing my mask to eat in a restaurant, to visit with new people and certainly intense discomfort if I must fly on an airplane. I know I am not the only person experiencing these emotions, struggling with the adjustment to new norms and wondering when, if ever, life will resume as we once took it for granted.

Since my last posting here, I have abandoned the high rise lifestyle of downtown urban Austin and moved North to a retirement community in nearby Georgetown Texas. Unsure at first about whether this was “my cup of tea”, I have come to embrace a new wonder about living in my own home with a lovely garden for a backyard on the ground level of terra firma. Do I miss the spectacular panoramic views overlooking Lady Bird Lake? Absolutely, but this move has brought me closer to Mother Nature and returned me to my roots of digging in the soil and nurturing seeds to fruition and just enjoying the wonders of bees, birds and butterflies and all the other creatures that visit my little piece of earth each day. Perhaps it is the result of age that I find just contemplating what is around me to be an exciting adventure. Whatever it is, I am thoroughly enjoying this “change” in my life.

There is high drama in the wild green space behind my back garden. A local Road Runner skirts quickly through my back garden and up into the green belt in pursuit of breakfast. Road Runners can fly but definitely prefer to “run”. He darted and dashed making remarkably quick 90 degree turns and captured a rodent in astoundingly quick time, hurrying back through my garden to enjoy his meal. And this morning a gray fox trotted through with his latest catch and in the process startled a buck who immediately chased the fox away. I will never know the end of this story because they disappeared into the surrounding trees and bushes beyond my view. As I complete this piece a resident squirrel races along the top of my back fence and a juvenile doe saunters by as butterflies, dragonflies, moths, bees, wasps, lizards and birds flit about exploring my new garden oasis and hopefully make a decision to share our common space.

Resident Squirrel

Happy Gardening!

August 3, 2022 by gkennedy2171 Categories: MusingsTags: birding, gardening Leave a comment

Jumpstarting My Life

I am half way there…maybe. I received my first dose of the Covid 19 vaccine almost a month ago and am scheduled to receive my second dose this coming Saturday. But will I?

Health Care Professionals – Our Fierce Warriors

My initial encounter in this process was wonderful, very efficient and from arrival time to the shot entering my arm perhaps 10 minutes elapsed. I was impressed. I was given a card with the date of my first shot and the potential due date for my second shot. I was told I would be emailed the date and time of my appointment. And therein lies the rub. To date I have received no email and an email I sent requesting instructions generated a robotic response with a phone number to call if I needed further assistance. So I called the number only to hear the dreaded terminal busy signal and the web site very politely states there are no more vaccination time slots at this time. Refresh, refresh, refresh!

On the plus side…I retired on January 31, 2020 so my timing was perfect. I have used my lockdown time to hone my artistic abilities. I have tried countless new recipes, keeping the best, trashing the rest and eaten my way through a year in solitary confinement. I transformed the balcony of my condo into a 75 square foot garden and somehow managed to grow an astounding amount of food. I’ve watched countless U-Tube videos on gardening learning about new plants in exotic places and developed a list of favorites…the Mumbai Gardener in India, Bob Blast for art, and Crazy Lamp Lady who manages to do a fabulous job of taking me along with her as she scours thrift shops seeking a buried treasure to flip for profit. I discovered that anything I might want to learn is available there. I’ve read a long list of books and watched multiple television programs. In short, I’ve tried to maintain my sanity as best I could. I am in good company for every other person in my world has done their best as well. So I wait…

Swiss Chard, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Basil, Mother Thyme, Lemon Grass, Peppers

Update: Success! I received my second shot and unlike the first one it did manage to take me down a notch. I had fever, general malaise, body aches, headache and the annoying symptom of not being able to keep my eyes open for want of sleep! A very small price to pay for my freedom after a year of isolation. I’ll still wear a double mask, still social distance, wash hands and continue to try to be a thoughtful and caring human because I DO CARE about my fellow humans.

DO YOU CARE? If so, please wear a mask.The life you save is loved and treasured my many other people.

February 26, 2021 by gkennedy2171 Categories: UncategorizedTags: art, Corona time, Covid 19, gardening, painting, pandemic, vaccine 2 Comments

A Butcher Knife, a Cup of Water, Some Sticks and Faith

I visited my sister in Burton again this past weekend. We jumped into my car and headed over to Lake Somerville to do a little birding. Along the way we spotted a Crested CaraCara, Black Vultures and once in the park, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Whimbrels, Sanderlings, Killdeer, Cardinals, Mockingbirds, American Coots, Ring-billed Gulls, Common Terns, a lone Cormorant and a Savannah Sparrow. The lighting wasn’t great, but we captured a few photos as memories of this outing. We headed home and had a lovely dinner…pork roast, sweet potato, vegetables and an apple crumble for dessert. After dinner we drove out into the country and tried to call up an owl or two. Unsuccessful, we went home and reminisced on a good day of birding.

One of the things I love about visiting my sister is hearing some of the stories from our childhood. Being older than I, she has some memories of our maternal grandmother that I don’t share. One of these was of a time when our Grandmother was visiting us at our new house in Southwest Houston. Grandmother had some azalea cuttings and she was determined to plant them all along the front of our new house. Armed with a butcher knife, a bucket of water, those bare cuttings and my sister Linda, she began directing the planting of those cuttings. She used the butcher knife to stab holes in the soil, instructed my sister to plunge the cutting into that hole and pour a cup of water from the bucket upon each one. Our Grandmother had great faith and she must have provided an ample amount that day because those azalea cuttings flourished and grew to be enormous, each Spring bursting forth with beautiful blooms to adorn the front of our modest house. My sister confessed to me that as she was performing this planting ritual with our Grandmother, she had serious doubts about those “sticks” growing. She thought that the effort was pointless and it was a big waste of time and energy. Yet she forged ahead and helped our Grandmother. I believe our Grandmother planted her own seeds that day…the seeds of a master gardener in my sister’s soul.

As we sat on her front porch overlooking her beautiful gardens, listening and watching the resident birds, we were witnessing the transformation of our Grandmother’s faith before our very eyes. Each plant, seed or cutting in my sister’s yard was lovingly planted, tenderly cared for, vigorously protected, and ultimately culminated in a peaceful place of repose. We sit on that porch drinking our morning cup of java, enveloped in the peacefulness of nature that surrounds us on all sides. It is a great place to reminisce, share memories and plant the seeds of our next adventures.

Happy bird searching!!!

May 2, 2016 by gkennedy2171 Categories: BBC, Musings, UncategorizedTags: birdwatching, Burton, Burton Texas, Common Terns, gardening, killdeer, nature, Whimbrels 1 Comment

Sister Linda’s Flower Garden

This past weekend I visited my sister in Burton again. Walking around her beautiful garden is a great pleasure. Gardening is therapy in our worlds… digging into the soft soil, smelling the earthy aroma, watching the squiggling earthworms as they burrow deeper trying to escape the trusty shovel or trowel, the mystery of planting seeds and the daily anticipatory excitement of watching for the appearance of the first green sprouts. My sister is a Master Gardener and the beautiful flowers that flourish under her tutelage are breathtaking.

Spring is always an exciting time for any gardener. Winter clean up has been completed, seed catalogues perused, selections made, ordered, received and eagerly planted. Gardeners are optimists…always hopeful that each seed will grow and we can reap the rewards of our hard work of digging, hoeing, weeding and mulching….flowers to adorn our dinner table or a kitchen window sill and fresh vegetables from our gardens that enhance our meals throughout the growing season.

Each season brings with it the end of the flowering cycle, movement to the seed making cycle, dispersal or gathering of those seeds to save for sowing the following late winter. I have gathered thousands of larkspur seeds and shared them with fellow gardeners. The very larkspur seeds I shared were given to me by a complete stranger when I stopped my car one day and admired her garden. This is what gardeners do…we pass it on. Seeds are spread by birds, the wind, other mammals and of course from the hands of one gardener to another.

And the beautiful flowers, blooming bushes and shrubs attract birds and bees who also participate in the life cycle process.

So take a chance, grab a trowel and plant some flower seeds, herbs or tomato plants. It is a vastly rewarding and relaxing endeavor!

Happy Gardening and bird searching!!!

April 14, 2016April 14, 2016 by gkennedy2171 Categories: Musings, UncategorizedTags: climbing pinkies, flowers, gardening, iris, nature, poppy, purple iris, springtime 2 Comments