Little Birds

One of the delightful pleasures I discovered when I came down to GA was the presence of hummingbirds.  I had first put out my finch feeders and was really disappointed that no finch ever showed up because I really liked seeing those things up in CT.  Up there I had a lot of goldfinches during the summer months.  Here, as said, not a one.  When I noticed the hummingbirds flying around last year I got myself a feeder and hung it up on the porch and really liked watching them.  This year we've had them around as well and I get a kick out of watching them.  One thing that really got my attention was how fast these little suckers fly.  I mean we all know that they're small and they hover and can fly backwards but I never knew how fast they were.  We've got a couple this year that seem to be chasing each other around constantly... darting here and there right in front of us at times.  I grabbed the camera and was able to snap some pictures.  It is NOT easy!!  They come in fast and the leave fast!!  Anyway... here's what I got:

This is the view when sitting in a chair on the covered part of the porch.  The windchime is on the left of the brick column, the hummingbird feeder is on the right.  There's actually one feeding now but it's a bit tough to see.  Now don't forget, you can enlarge the photo by just clicking on it.

So here's one of the little suckers coming in to refuel.

It puts on the brakes and takes aim.  This is probably the best shot.  Pretty good I think :)

Closing in...

Closing in... almost there...

Contact!  Sometimes they just grab a drink from one of the petals... sometimes they take a drink from each of them... whatever the mood suits them, I guess.  Of course our presence makes them a bit skittish.

If a bird is already at the feeder, or if it just feels like sitting a spell I guess, they have taken to sitting on this support for the windchime.  Very cool :)

Still waiting... or resting... doesn't really matter.

The Hawk and Passion Flower

Once again there's not a whole lot of news to report but I do have some photos to share of stuff going on around the house and such.  We'll start with the bird... a beautiful hawk that sits in the trees in the yard and swoops around the place as though he/she owns it.  I think the closest it ever came to anyone was a time last year when the thing swooped maybe 3 feet behind David when he was visiting, standing on the deck at the time.  He didn't even see it happen :)  Anyway... a few photos of our hawk:

Go ahead... click on the photos... you can see it well.  I really wanted to get a photo of it eating something but no such luck.  I did see it swoop down and grab at a snake but it missed it... guess it was still learning how to grab snakes.



The Passion Flower vine (or whatever) is growing rather splendidly on the trellis attached to the garage.  They're magnificent!  So, for those of you who don't have their own Passion Flower vine, here are some pictures.

OK... here's what it looks like against the garage.

Now, stay with me... this is what the buds look like just as they are about to open in the morning.  At night and when they've growing they are closed tightly. But when they mature, and the sun comes out, the petals open, and then actually reverse themselves, so to speak.

See how the petals opened and reversed to point down?  I told ya!  When they pull back they expose the most intricate inside.

Is that the most incredibly beautiful thing or what?!?!?!!  Remember now, click on the photo to make it bigger -- hit your browser's back button, or just hit the backspace key, to return.  Go ahead... do it.

A little closer.  Loving my new camera :)

And 2 more blossoms pretty much in the center of the trellis.  I really am amazed by the intricate design of these flowers... I really am. 

Grandpa's Girls

I headed over to Hope Mills, NC over the long Labor Day weekend to see my new granddaughter, Riley!  Visiting with the little ones was very, very nice as was the whole visit.  The one thing that turned out to be a big disappointment was that when I put the pictures on the computer the majority of them were very blurred and unusable.  That perturbed me, greatly!  Regardless, I did get some shots that I'll share here.

Hannah had her school to go to on Friday morning.  She was just the cutest thing what with her sun hat and overloaded backback and all.  I took a shot of her in the house but that was one of the crud ones so this is the best I can do.  Here she's headed to the truck... happy as a lark to be going to school and the swimming pool to have some fun with her classmates.  Take my word for it... she looked cute!

I'd heard that Hannah was just a wonderful 'Big Sister' to Riley and what we saw proved all that to be true.  She's kind and loving to her and displayed it just about every time Riley was awake, which was more than it has been, or so Samantha and David say.  Again, look past the blurry aspects of these photos and just take them for what they are... Hannah and Riley getting along rather well together :)

See?  I told you they got along fabulously! 

While we were visiting I asked Samantha if she could make arrangements for us all to go out and visit with her father, and she did.  I really like Garry and hadn't been to his house and property since a couple of months before David and Samantha were married so it's been almost 10 years or so now.  Aside from the brick house that he built himself there are many other structures that he built himself, including a pond with plenty of fish in it and a waterfall kind of structure that just makes for a wonderful place to sit and think about nothing.  Hannah wanted to fish a bit so using some of the leftover hotdogs that we had for lunch for bait, she proceeded to haul them in.  I'm pretty sure she caught 3 or 4; daddy caught zip.  Here's some photos from the pond area.

She no sooner had the hook in the water when she landed her first one.  Pretty nice size!

Love that smile!  Love those boots!!

If this isn't the greatest way to fish I sure don't know what would be.  This place is incredible and every single thing was built and put where it is by Samantha's father.  Figures... I don't have a photo of him!  Right above Hannah's head in this photo is the water 'thing' that Garry built.  He pumps water up to this little flume-like thing and then it pours over back into the pond.  It is just so peaceful.

 

David and Hannah wanted to walk down to the creek to try their luck there.  They didn't even catch a sunburn but this picture just seems to nice to me I had to include it.

And now what you've all been waiting for, I know.  Grandpa and Riley.  Regardless of what David said about it being gas, Riley was smiley when I was with her.  Look... you can see for yourself!

 

Too bad you can't see it in this picture... Riley was not only smiling, she was laughing and sort of talking to me, too.  Really!

She may be tiny but she packs a lot of happiness in that little body.

Oh yeah...  Life is good.