What's outside of your picture window today?

Posted by John, Volunteer Mentor @johnbishop, Nov 25, 2020

As we get ready for the real winter to show up and COVID-19 still playing a major part in our lives I like to spend moments of my day de-stressing about what's going on in the world today. All I have to do is look out the window and observe some of natures beautiful creatures, how they interact and ponder how small it makes my troubles seem. Sometimes I may even get the opportunity to take a photo or two. How about you? Anything going on outside of your window(s) that you want to share?

For those members that have the ability to size your photos before you upload them to the discussion, may I suggest using the following sizes:
– 500 x 335 pixels (landscape)
– 210 x 210 pixels (square)

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Just Want to Talk Support Group.

@becsbuddy

Well my picture window was all around the East coast. We arrived just in time for the 17year cicada hatch. Only saw a few at my mother’s place but my brother said his yard was over run with newly hatched cicadas (they borrow up from deep underground) and the discarded shells. He sent this picture. They are harmless, lay new eggs and die. The new pupae fall to the ground and burrow down for 17 more years.

Jump to this post

This is quite a phenomena. Do our bird friends enjoy the goodies? @becsbuddy , @ artscaping, @johnbishop, @loribmt, @sueinmn, @avmcbellar .@merpreb and all. Glad we don't have those babes! We have all other insects, tho. But, more for circle of life.

REPLY

To catch up a bit....sitting upstairs in bedroom recliner, looking out my window into the live oak tree I love so, brings me such peace and glory inside! Such a wonder....listening on my laptop to St. Olaf Choir singing 'When He is Silent', Josh Grogan, The 12 Tenors. Andre Bocelli while watching the Mayo Falcons in their nesting box, 54 degree weather. They will be learning to fly soon....What a few hours of peace from my window, my music, the falcons and my Connect friends, Blessings to you all. elizabeth
@loribmt, @sueinmn, @becsbuddy, @johnbiship, @gingerw, @merpreb, @jakedduck1 . @artisit01, @colleenyoung and so many more

hope to go downstairs soon to spend some time on patio w/feeders that need cleaning, new food, birdbath is a mess, water feeder empty....have UTI, got shot and meds at crucial care yesterday. Also had few days w/heart junk after changing med to take one gastro wants to help swallowing issues, but lowers BP. so, PCP took off metoprolol and on dytl XL. NO! Bp ok, HR stayed over 105+ part of Thurs, all day Fri and Fri night. Had shakiness, severe pain in right jaw/neck, only for a moment then went away and didn't come back! Same pain I had in 2017 heart attack. stayed home, didn't know what was happening, very ill for 4 days, alone and didn't know what to do. Before Mayo. Bad experiences at local ED so refused....called friend, nurse...Friday, scared me. Emailed PCP , told him I was going back to original med and not taking new onel I don't need to swallow better!
Went to Crucial care for UTI and to be sure ok. Yes. ok. HR normal, bp normal. emailed PCP to see if he thinks I need follow-up re neck/jaw pain. always happens on week-end!

So, staying quiet, enjoying the tree, music, falcons, and ckg on some wild birds to identify, ordering groceries. all on laptop. love it.
bless you all! Life is so full of surprises, eh? Ups, downs...I can handle. It's the sideways out of nowhere that tend to shake me a bit. God and had lots of chats last few days. Good time.

REPLY
@ess77

One of my favorites. several years ago, before my firance died, I was home alone looking out the window from the LR when a huge, dark shadow came over the house. I looked outside at the pool/deck area. There was a huge, absolutely beautiful blue heron....was just thinking of osprey and big birds!!!!! this came to mind to share....he was huge. Flew over the house and it was so large it created a dark shadow over the entire living area. It sat on top of the pool house for ever, just ckg out the area, deciding if to or not take a swim, ck'd out the creek behind the house and seemed to be there just for me. The only time this happened. He was to me a gift from God, as I love these birds so. I naturally had no way to take a picture. It's forever in my mind. clear as day. thanks for the memory, @merpreb
bless you, elizabeth

Jump to this post

Hi @ess77 there are so many beautiful birds for us to experience outside our window. Living in Florida allows us to see even more of them in the warmer climate. I too could not snap a picture of a blue heron I saw less than 5 feet behind me while I was trimming bushes. I was surprised it flew so quietly and close to me without being afraid of humans.
Just last week I had an egret in my backyard but I was not quick enough to take a picture of it. They indeed are very big and graceful birds. I hear their distinctive call sound everyday. I believe a neighbor across the street feeds all kinds of birds. I have set up a bird bath and hummingbird feeder in the front yard. I have also planted sunflowers for our feathered friends to feed on. Maybe now I will see more of them through my window.

REPLY
@loribmt

A great day for fishing! @ess77, @artist01 @jakedduck1

Jump to this post

Oh, my goodness! How lovely, they are beautiful birds. You do take wonderful pictures, Lori. I'd love the first one framed and on my wall. I wanted an Audubon print of the blue heron but didn't get it. Sorry about that.

Thank you for sharing the love. Still upstairs resting. Apparently my body needs more time before I hit cleaning the birdbath and feeders. I got some solar fence lights to add to the inside on my fence. Love them. Squirrels don't...too bad.

Hope all is well with you. Bless you for these beautiful pictures. Amazing, I'm soon to bed. It's only 5:35~ Been doing this the last week or so. But, getting stronger tomorrow and enjoying the birds and others and plumbing beginning tomorrow...love my tomorrows today!
be safe/be well/be blessed.
elizabeth

REPLY
@avmcbellar

Hi @ess77 there are so many beautiful birds for us to experience outside our window. Living in Florida allows us to see even more of them in the warmer climate. I too could not snap a picture of a blue heron I saw less than 5 feet behind me while I was trimming bushes. I was surprised it flew so quietly and close to me without being afraid of humans.
Just last week I had an egret in my backyard but I was not quick enough to take a picture of it. They indeed are very big and graceful birds. I hear their distinctive call sound everyday. I believe a neighbor across the street feeds all kinds of birds. I have set up a bird bath and hummingbird feeder in the front yard. I have also planted sunflowers for our feathered friends to feed on. Maybe now I will see more of them through my window.

Jump to this post

It is a joy, isn't it, to have so many lovely, beautiful birds of all kinds. You know, I was amazed at the huge size of this bird on my pool house roof. He was huge!

Congratulations, for the birdbath and hummingbird feeder. Do you plan to add a seed feeder for other birds? They can be messy, but you can get a natural, less messy seed that does help. You will enjoy the hummingbirds for sure. I don't have many....just a couple and I need to replace the sugar water more often and keep it fresh. Also, plan to plant some hummingbird flowers as soon as I feel better. that will help, I think, and once they find me, i'll have some hummers visiting.

I've had a few interesting feeders, tho....red body with blue and red wings that fly so fast, just like a hummingbird but really small and reminds me of an insect. I'm looking it up now to see..

Have fun and bless you for sharing your love of our water birds. be well, elizabeth

REPLY
@ess77

It is a joy, isn't it, to have so many lovely, beautiful birds of all kinds. You know, I was amazed at the huge size of this bird on my pool house roof. He was huge!

Congratulations, for the birdbath and hummingbird feeder. Do you plan to add a seed feeder for other birds? They can be messy, but you can get a natural, less messy seed that does help. You will enjoy the hummingbirds for sure. I don't have many....just a couple and I need to replace the sugar water more often and keep it fresh. Also, plan to plant some hummingbird flowers as soon as I feel better. that will help, I think, and once they find me, i'll have some hummers visiting.

I've had a few interesting feeders, tho....red body with blue and red wings that fly so fast, just like a hummingbird but really small and reminds me of an insect. I'm looking it up now to see..

Have fun and bless you for sharing your love of our water birds. be well, elizabeth

Jump to this post

One of the payoffs of advancing age I think is a capacity to appreciate the sources of joy that surround us.

REPLY
@ess77

Oh, my goodness! How lovely, they are beautiful birds. You do take wonderful pictures, Lori. I'd love the first one framed and on my wall. I wanted an Audubon print of the blue heron but didn't get it. Sorry about that.

Thank you for sharing the love. Still upstairs resting. Apparently my body needs more time before I hit cleaning the birdbath and feeders. I got some solar fence lights to add to the inside on my fence. Love them. Squirrels don't...too bad.

Hope all is well with you. Bless you for these beautiful pictures. Amazing, I'm soon to bed. It's only 5:35~ Been doing this the last week or so. But, getting stronger tomorrow and enjoying the birds and others and plumbing beginning tomorrow...love my tomorrows today!
be safe/be well/be blessed.
elizabeth

Jump to this post

@ess77 I’m happy you enjoy our Big Blue! The size of the fish that character drags in always impresses us!! He/she stands absolutely still for an hour just watching for a fish! Then with lightening speed makes a stab for it! One day he was hunting, nabbed a big fish, laid it on the shore to process it! A huge mommy eagle swooped down and flew off with it!! 😲

I’m sorry for not having the chance to write back for awhile. I’ve been absorbed in projects that had a timeline. But I’ve certainly been following your postings. Elizabeth I swear you’re just unstoppable! I keep up with reading what you’re going through on a daily basis health-wise and then you still have all this energy to tend your birds, take on house projects, care for your son and keep encouraging the rest of us to keep on going...with blessings! So when I see you’re heading to bed at 5:35 I’m feeling better that you are listening to your body and taking good care of yourself.
This holiday weekend we are blessed to have our daughter, son-in-law and their old English Bulldog staying with us for 5 days. It’s been over 10 months since we’ve seen them. So we’re having a glorious reunion and making up for lost time. My daughter and I are incredibly close and share the same eccentricities, artiness and distracted behavior. Hahaha! Our poor husbands... Thankfully our son-in-law and husband get along great and are otherwise occupied.
Because of my transplant, I’m still banned from doing any gardening to minimize dangers from fungal infections. So my daughter planted the pots and window boxes for me. We grabbed our watercolors for a little ‘brush up’ on skills. I’ve been involved in book/journal making and had several to make for bday gifts. I’ve also had a number of baby blankets to sew for 3 of the young Chemo nurses who became like daughters over my 8 weeks’ stay at our local hospital. It’s like everything comes at one time. ☺️ And now it’s dinnertime. No fish for us today...it’s for the Blue Heron!
Sweet dreams. Fondly, Lori.

REPLY
@ess77

To catch up a bit....sitting upstairs in bedroom recliner, looking out my window into the live oak tree I love so, brings me such peace and glory inside! Such a wonder....listening on my laptop to St. Olaf Choir singing 'When He is Silent', Josh Grogan, The 12 Tenors. Andre Bocelli while watching the Mayo Falcons in their nesting box, 54 degree weather. They will be learning to fly soon....What a few hours of peace from my window, my music, the falcons and my Connect friends, Blessings to you all. elizabeth
@loribmt, @sueinmn, @becsbuddy, @johnbiship, @gingerw, @merpreb, @jakedduck1 . @artisit01, @colleenyoung and so many more

hope to go downstairs soon to spend some time on patio w/feeders that need cleaning, new food, birdbath is a mess, water feeder empty....have UTI, got shot and meds at crucial care yesterday. Also had few days w/heart junk after changing med to take one gastro wants to help swallowing issues, but lowers BP. so, PCP took off metoprolol and on dytl XL. NO! Bp ok, HR stayed over 105+ part of Thurs, all day Fri and Fri night. Had shakiness, severe pain in right jaw/neck, only for a moment then went away and didn't come back! Same pain I had in 2017 heart attack. stayed home, didn't know what was happening, very ill for 4 days, alone and didn't know what to do. Before Mayo. Bad experiences at local ED so refused....called friend, nurse...Friday, scared me. Emailed PCP , told him I was going back to original med and not taking new onel I don't need to swallow better!
Went to Crucial care for UTI and to be sure ok. Yes. ok. HR normal, bp normal. emailed PCP to see if he thinks I need follow-up re neck/jaw pain. always happens on week-end!

So, staying quiet, enjoying the tree, music, falcons, and ckg on some wild birds to identify, ordering groceries. all on laptop. love it.
bless you all! Life is so full of surprises, eh? Ups, downs...I can handle. It's the sideways out of nowhere that tend to shake me a bit. God and had lots of chats last few days. Good time.

Jump to this post

Good morning Elizabeth- Sometimes we just have to put our feet down- different doesn't always better.

I'm worried, since you live alone, how do you take care of your hygeine and food when you are ill, or not?

REPLY
@loribmt

A great day for fishing! @ess77, @artist01 @jakedduck1

Jump to this post

@loribmt Hi Lori. Awesome photos!! I don't see many birds at all out of my window, aside from the occasional robin or sparrow. Since our seniors' building is inner-city, with traffic noise and few trees, the only thing I can enjoy is the chirping of those two hardy species. Good enough though! I hope to go further afield when Covid restrictions lift and family and friends take me outa' here occasionally!

REPLY
Please sign in or register to post a reply.