Saturday, October 17, 2009

I'm not much good for any thing other than pictures this week...

Unless you want to hear how miserable Ella was and Mike is with the swine flu, I thought the only thing I was good for was a photo essay. I needed a break from the house of pain and walked around this morning taking some photos with the zoom lens.

The first thing I encountered were two phoebe's perched next to the pond. One is a resident, the black phoebe and they are common all year round dipping and diving over the water catching bugs. The second is a Say's phoebe, which is migratory and only seen in the fall and winter. They act the same as the black phoebe but are not quite as dippy-divey.


Next I took a few leaf pictures since the colors on the bloodwood sycamores were looking fall-like still.


Then I meandered out to the horses to check on them and remembered that Alfie rolled in the mud. Ahhhhh! That's horse heaven or horse happiness, take your pick.


His rear and middle were covered in caked mud.


Nothing was missed.


"Yeah, I'm muddy. So what?"

Then I decided to check out the chickens and in route I saw I could not pass my Mexican sage without taking a picture.


Then walking away from the sage, the turkey vultures started popping up from behind our trees. There were at least a dozen, but all I could get on the film at once was four or five.


They circled around over my head and followed me like I was some kind of dead meat.


Oh, and one of them had dead meat in it's beak. Yum, ground squirrel. I think they were hoping we were all going to expire from swine flu. They must have smelled my husband Mike.


Then taking a moment to notice the smaller birds I saw a small flock of white-crowned sparrows, more winter visitors from far away places. They will disappear around February or March flying north.


In the garden, the giant pumpkins were looking marvelous!


And checking on my kids I found them playing imaginatively with our broken screen door. They finished ripping off the bottom of the door and used it as a ramp to roll walnuts. Ella is feeling much better and did not have a fever last night. She is still snotty and coughing. Wyatt has survived almost unscathed by the swine flu.


So hopefully next week will bode better and we can be through with our portion of the cold season. I can wish can't I?

27 comments:

Leigh said...

So glad to hear y'all are recovering! I'm hoping we are too. I haven't been sick myself, but my little Morgan is sure miserable.

Debbie said...

Great photos. I am so sorry to hear that you all have been so sick. Only one of us have had it so far but I expect it will make its rounds.

Anonymous said...

Hahahaha! That last picture! Your kids are quite imaginative!

I love your photography.

Hope your house is healthy soon!

Lesley Speller said...

So glad their feeling better! Finn's fever finally broke last night. (right after I took him to the doctor of course) So now we're all immune right? The rest of the season will be spectacularly pleasant. ;)

brokenteepee said...

I'm so very sorry it's been hell. I hope everyone gets to feeling better soon. And you get back to life as normal.

Liz Mays said...

It has to do your spirit good to be outdoors, even when your body is feeling blah.

Olde Dame Penniwig said...

Well, I had been wondering about the flu's progression at your house. That is excellent news that Ella and Wyatt are going to be okay, but unsettling news that now your husband has it. Very scary. Glad you got out and about in the fresh air and got some great pictures!

I had to laugh at your quip about the vultures smelling your husband...lol...

Lisa said...

Sorry to hear you guys have the flu at your house. I hope everyone is feeling better soon!

Great pictures, too!

Five O'Clock Somewhere said...

Why is it that we try so hard to keep our horses clean and they try so hard to keep themselves dirty? An ongoing battle.

How's Shmobie doing?

Rick (Ratty) said...

I hope you all continue to get better. All of your pictures are excellent, but the most interesting thing here is the last one. Rolling walnuts looks like a fun game. I'd have fun rolling those wobbly things down a ramp too.

rose AKA Walk in the Woods - she/her said...

What lovely images and the muddy horse is just inspiring. Truly ~ I want to go find mud to roll in!

And healing blessing to all - Be well!

Sara said...

Great pictures!!! The meat one with the turkey vulture is great! The kids can find anything to entertain themselves with. Very creative. Hope everyone recovers in the coming week and you can reclaim your home from the sickness.

The Mind of a Mom said...

Happy Fall! Those a great pictures, I hope Mike and Ella get better soon!

Frogs in my formula said...

Your kids crack me up.

We have tons of turkey vultures near our house. They used to perch on a cathedral down the street but the church sprayed something so they'd stop landing there. I love how the vultures shoot across the sky on windy days. The wind in their mullets is breathtaking.

Hope your husband feels better soon!

The Silver Age Sara said...

Loved the photos. All of them were incredible. I can relate to the mud horses although on my mare it kind of blends in.
It does look as though Ella is feeling better and what an entertaining game she and Wyatt decided to play.
Take care of yourselves.

Rural Rambler said...

The photo essay was great and the pictures wonderful. Hope everyone is feeling much better at your house this morning, it has been a long haul! The pictures of the kids playing, too funny. The imagination of children! Horses and mud. That mud butt brings back memories!

Suzi said...

Great pictures! Hope everyone is feeling better soon.

LifeRamblings said...

lovely captures. hope everyone is on the road to recovery.

Karen said...

Aw! They are so cute and are using their imaginations. I sure hope all of you feel better soon. Your pictures are beautiful.

Vixen said...

You can wish, it can't hurt right? I hope Mike feels better soon and that those vultures will have to move on to deader pastures (ha ha).

theUngourmet said...

Nice photos for autumn Julia!

At first I thought your little ones were rolling eggs down that board! :D Ha! Now that would have been a fun blog post for ya!

Hope everyone is feeling better. My son came home with a fever and sore throat today. :0(

DayPhoto said...

Your photos are amazing!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

Mammatalk said...

SO sorry to hear your family has been hit by that nasty bug! Much luck for a speedy recovery.

Great shots!

Jennifer MacNeill said...

So sorry to hear about your family's ordeal with swine flu!
The photos are amazing though.
Sending heals vibes your direction:)

Doris Sturm said...

Julia, I know you're hurting right now, but to me it seems that you are having a wonderful life out ther on your 5 acres with your animals and family - enjoy every moment and God bless you.

I will be visiting you "here" often ;-) Glad I found you!

Doris

Doris Sturm said...

p.s. it's not just horses, my little doggy is the same way - I give him a nice bath and he looks so clean and fluffy and off he goes...finding the biggest pile of dirt to scratch in it and kick up his heels - must be the "boy" hin him ;-)

Animals - aren't they something?

Doris Sturm said...
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