Cedar Waxwings: Part TWO!

As promised, here is Part Two of my two part series on

the wonderful Cedar Waxwings that flew into our apple orchard.

I was lucky that they flew into our front yard orchard, where the lighting was better than it was in the first set of pictures I posted.

His colors show up so much nicer in the sun!:

I love his head crest!:

Here are three of them on the same branch, happily munching on apples:

He looks so regal!:

And he even looked the other way to give me his "other" profile!:

They were having quite the buffet of apples!:






They even eat upside down!:







I caught the one on the right in flight!:

They haven't been back since I caught them on camera that day, so I am really glad I was home when they stopped by to feast on the apple trees.

P.S. A reminder that I pre-published this blogpost. As you read this today, I am actually in Florida visiting my daughter. I will be checking my comments as I can get WiFi at the hotel and will be trying to stop by your blogs now and then too. I will get caught up with your blogs that I don't get to read when I return. Thanks again for continuing to read my blog while I am enjoying some southern sun. I will be capturing some tropical scenes down there to post for you when I return.

Cedar Waxwings: Part ONE!!

In the spring and fall, we are visited by Cedar Waxwings.

They are fascinating birds.

They LOVE to gobble up all our our apple blossoms in the spring and then when they return in the fall, they eat up the apples right off the trees!!

We heard them come in to the apple orchard.

I caught these two on one branch:

I was cursing the lighting because it was kind of foggy out and the sun was straight ahead, making it hard to get the birds clear in the photo.

But they obliged me and flew around to the front yard, into those apple trees instead.

Where the lighting was perfect:

I love the little crest on their heads.

See how his feathers stick up on their head?

I love it!:

Here is a close up, so you can see the colors on him.

He has a little red by his eye and his tail feathers are trimmed in yellow:




There was a LOT of squawking going on as they were fighting with each other as to who was allowed to peck on the apples:

See him eyeing up the apple?

He is beautiful!:

Stay tuned for the next blogpost for more shots of them.

As usual I took a zillion shots of them, so I had to divide the blogpost into Part One and Part Two.

*P.S.: A reminder: I have pre-published the last few blogposts because as you read this, I am gone to Florida to visit my daughter. Thanks for continuing to read my blog while I have been away....I will read your comments on the road, and try and catch up with all of your blogs off and on during the trip and when I get back. Miss you all! But you can bet I am busy in Florida taking some tropical shots for future blogposts for you all!!

I GOT Him: Part TWO...

If you read my last blogpost, you will know that I am thrilled because I FINALLY caught my elusive Cardinal on camera.

He came on a very foggy day, and let me get some shots of him---

but then he flew.

But, luckily, he returned about 5 minutes later and gave me a second chance!

Isn't he pretty:

Here he is in flight!:

Such a pretty bird!:

Look at his backside!

Even THAT is beautiful!!:

Dark and foggy outside,

he was a wonderful bright spot of red out there:

This was one of the few shots I was able to get when the sun came out for a second through the fog:



But after ALL that complaining about not being able to get ANY of the elusive Cardinal for WEEKS now...

I was very happy to get all of these shots.

Thanks, "Red"...I really appreciate your patience with me!:

I hope some of your wishes come true for you today too!!

*P.S.: Just a reminder that I have pre-published the last few blogposts...as you read this I am on a road trip to Florida to visit my daughter. I will be checking comments on the road wherever there is WiFi and of course will be "live" posting when we get back sometime around the 15th of December. Thanks for reading my blog while I am gone...I may get a little behind in reading your blogs, but I will catch up with you when I return.

I Got Him: Part ONE

Remember my whining about not being able to get a Cardinal on camera???

So it went down like this:

We got the foggiest day we have had yet this fall.

I look out the window at the lake, like I always do.

And there.

Sitting in the apple tree...

in the FOG

was my elusive Cardinal!!!!

I run to get my camera...

And he sees me coming to the window.

I thought for SURE he would fly.

Instead, he tries to HIDE:

He thinks the branch is hiding him:

But I was patient.

And he finally relaxed a little.

Then?

He started downright showing off:

Showing me his wonderful backside.

His gorgeous plumage.




And then, he gave in.

Finally.

He blessed me with a front shot:

But enough was enough.

He flew:

Sigh.

But at least I got some chances to catch him on camera.

But, wait....

he came right back!!

To give me some more chances!:

I wished it was a clearer day to get clearer shots.

But hey, I wasn't complaining!!!

He gave me some time to catch his gorgeous self:

And so much so, that I have enough for a second blogpost!

Stay tuned for Part TWO...

Sunshine, here I come!!

By the time you read this, I have left on a trip!!!!

To sunshine....

To the giant waves...

To gorgeous sunsets...

To my youngest daughter's arms (which I have been missing!) once again.

Yes!!!

We left Tuesday for Florida and will be gone for a two week trip to visit my daughter and the love of her life: Nick.

I have pre-posted some posts for you to read while I am away, so please keep visiting my blog over the next two weeks!!!

And I will be checking your comments whenever I can get wifi at the hotels we stay at while I am on the road.

And you can bet I am going to take some brand new pictures of the tropics for you while I am there.

Because I LOVE things like THIS:

Any kind of tropical birds.
Like this pelican, whose picture I took last year, for instance.
Isn't he GORGEOUS???

I called him up for another date. I told him where we would have our secret meeting.
He said okay.

But you know how they are. (All bills and beak and no action!)

He better not stand me up!

It would break my heart!

And then there is that little thing called the ocean.
You know.....
crashing waves and all of that.

I think maybe...
just maybe....
I can find a little time to photograph it again, like I did last year.
Can you smell the salt?:

And the sunsets!!

Sigh.

And the second best thing to a sunset?
Birds in the sunset....

Like this one I took last year:

And you can bet that I will be right here every night that I can,
capturing more sunsets.
Rapture!:

I don't know if my daughter will let me take any photos of her while we are visiting or not.

I'll see what I can do to get her to let me...

(If I can quit hugging on her long enough to aim a camera on her, that is....)

P.S. I am verrrrryyyyyy close to having 200 Followers!!! Wow!! I am totally honored and THRILLED!

So, if you haven't signed on as a FOLLOWER yet, do it this week, and leave a comment telling me that you joined on.... because as soon as I reach 200 Followers (and when I get back from my vacation), I will put all my 200 Follower's names in a bag and pull ONE name out to get a secret surprise. Its going to be GOOD, I promise.

And I want to personally thank each and every one of the rest of you for being Followers of my blog. It has meant SO much to me...

As Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz...I love you all!!!

November's This and That Photographs...

Today, I thought I would post a few of the pictures that I have taken over the last few weeks that really didn't have a "theme" to them...they are just things that I found beautiful.

We have both male and female woodpeckers coming to our suet feeders all during the day.

This little girl's face was too cute to not take a picture of:

(I love how the suet is on top of her beak):

Here is the male companion. You can easily spot a male by the bright red spot on his head:

We have had several crystal clear, brisk days with sun on the lake:

Another one of the female at the suet feeder:






This was taken one early morning when the fog was still on the lake. The sun was burning it off, but it was a nice effect!:

The clear days bring wonderful reflections of the same exact shoreline.

I thought it might be neat for you to see the same exact location, only at a different time of day:

I know that within a few days we will be all white with the winter wonderland that arrives here with power....and stays here for months.

I know that this is just the "lull before the storm".

But I am so glad to have experienced it.

Nature is like that.

It never stays the same.

That's what makes it so interesting and beautiful.

You say you have leftover pumpkins that you had for Thanksgiving and you just don't have the heart to throw them out? DON'T until you read this!...

Okay.

I know how you feel.

If you eat ONE more turkey leftover, you are going to Ralph.

And now you have to take down all of your Thanksgiving decorations and replace them with Christmas cheer.

And you still have those stupid pumpkins sitting outside.

You can paint them red and green and pretend they are Christmas ornaments, but I'd advise against that.

Actually, I have a much better idea.

And once you do it, you will NEVER want to use canned pumpkin again for your Thanksgiving pumpkin pies, your pumpkin bars or your pumpkin bread.

Today:

I am going to walk you through how to use REAL pumpkins for your favorite recipes instead of using the poop-brown, canned, icky pumpkin that you get at the store.

First:

Gather all the pumpkins you still have that haven't frozen outside or haven't gotten moldy. We bought these WEEKS ago but since it is chilly here, they have lasted fine:

No, that stuffed turkey is not a pumpkin. (Just in case you were wondering).

Step one:

Carve out wedges of pumpkin:

Step Two:

Carve away any seeds and pulp away from the wedges and also carve away the outside part of the wedge (like you do with a cantelope or honeydew melon):

Step 3:

Cut the wedges into smaller pieces:

Step 4:

Add about 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of a microwaveable bowl,

and then add the pumpkin pieces that you just carved up to the top of the bowl:

Step 5:

Cover the bowl with the pumpkin and the water with a piece of wax paper

and place in the microwave.

Cook on high for 15 minutes.

Stir it.

Cook on high for about another 15 minutes:

Pick pumpkin with a fork.

If it is soft, like boiled potatoes, it is done:

Step 6:
Dump them into a strainer and let all the water drain off of them.

(Be careful, they will be VERY hot!):







Step 7:
Place cooked, hot, drained pumpkin pieces in a blender and puree them:

Note: You will probably get at least 3 bowls of pumpkin per carved pumpkin to cook, strain and puree like in the instructions above. I often am cooking one bowl while puree-ing another bowl.




Step 8:
Dump the puree into a fine strainer (the one shown is a little big, if you have one with smaller holes it is better).
Let sit for about 5 minutes (to drain off the excess water away from the pulp):





Final step:
You can use it right away (like you would canned pumpkin) for your recipes OR you can:

Measure the pulp into 2 1/2 cups to 3 cups each and freeze:

You can defrost these one at at time and use the pumpkin all the rest of the year for your pumpkin recipes.

When I take them out of the freezer, I let the water drain out of the pulp one last time before measuring the pumpkin for my recipes.

I promise you, that once you make your own pumpkin like this and use it in a recipe you will NEVER go back to using canned pumpkin.

The taste just cannot compare.