Oh No!

I peeked out at "my" robin's nest on the stone wall next the condo before dark last night. Mommy robin was sitting in place. I took Fenway out for his walk and came back past the building at 7:00 a.m.

I know it's nature and sometimes nature isn't pretty....but my heart sort of sank. I was looking forward to the action of four little robin babies in the next few weeks. There was no sign of any eggs or egg shells so I have no idea of what happened.

But it makes me sad and it's not the way I wanted to start my morning. Darn.

 

Almost Eleven.....

I do not have a green thunb. I enjoy looking at gardens and each one of our eleven houses did boast some flowering plants to brighten the yards. But I wasn't very good at keeping things up and growing and often moved to lots of hostas to fill in spaces. They were very low maintenance!

So I was very happy to notice a little bloom on the plant in the corner of our living room yesterday. The plant is an iron plant (I think)....and it is really easy and forgiving.

This one sits between the sliding door to the deck and a side window so it does get some nice light. And I only have to water it maybe once every two weeks or so. (When we travel I have a neighbor who stops in and does that for me.) I've cut the plant back a few times, I trim dying leaves, I use a damp cloth to wipe off the leaves once in awhile and we did re-pot in fresh soil maybe two years ago. So I was very happy to see the unexpected little white bloom pop up on the side.

I brought this plant home from Park Ridge just after my mom's funeral. It was one of the plants bringing life to the space where we all gathered to say goodbye. So maybe that's why my one green plant means a lot to me....and the surprise of a bloom is almost like having my mom give me a little nudge to say hello.

My mom lived a busy and independent life for almost 89 years.....a life well lived. She married young and worked hard and raised two daughters. She was a motherly-mother and much loved by so many.

I think she'd be smiling to see "her" plant still doing so well in our condo.....thanks for the air hug mom....it means a lot!

Almost eleven years......my plant, my memories.....still fresh.

Sophisticated Faces....

Yesterday I drove to Chicago to visit my sister. She took me to the Art Institute to see a special exhibit. Not knowing what to expect I walked into the first gallery featuring Bisa Butler's work and my mouth hit the floor. This artist's quilts are unlike any I've ever seen and I certainly don't have the right words to describe them.  All of the figures are life size and many seem ready to move right off the wall with personality plus.

I went onto Youtube and listened to Lisa talk about her inspiration and her work....a very interesting and worth while five minutes of my time. I thank my sister for taking me (even though she is not a quilter) and I encourage anyone who loves art to take the trip down to Chicago. You won't have a chance to see something like this very often.

Lisa describes how old photographs have been an inspriration for her work and each quilt captures a specific moment in time.  Take a few moments and get to Chicago....or at least use your "google" and find her work on line. You won't be sorry.....and I am about to throw out all my stash!!!

Welcoming New Neighbors.....

This has been a pretty busy time at 415 N. Lake Street.....our condo has 38 units and three have recently sold and sold quickly. There is another one currently on the market. So we will soon see some new faces in the building and meet our new neighbors.

Walking Fenway home the other day I came in along the west side of the building, next to the block wall that is the boundary to the building's property. A small movement caught my eye.

A robin's nest is now tucked into the wall just below the top. She's about eight or nine feet off the sidewalk and was able to keep a sharp eye on me as I snapped a picture with my phone. I wondered if we would be able to spy on her from any of our condo windows?

Upstairs I peered out and down from our bedroom. Success! We have a really good view from our vantage point.

A little later in the afternoon I went back to check again and caught her just as she stood up and flew away over the fence and the bike path. Must have been time for mid-day meal. We have a great view of her four beautiful robin's egg blue eggs!

This is just another small example of Mother Nature at our doorstep, and it's just a robin, and it's just four eggs. But I will enjoy checking every day or so to see when they hatch and how she handles her "big" family in a small space.

New neighbors of all shapes and sizes.....fun!

My First......

I've probably said this before, but when I walk Fenway up the bike path, down along our little stream or along the lakefront I look for wildlife. My "goal" is to keep walking until I spot something.....most of my daily discoveries now familiar, a deer, a heron, a seagull. Sometimes I have to "settle" for a squirrel.

Today we walked along the stream toward the volleyball court and a sudden movement caught my eye. I thought to myself "What a beautiful cardinal." But as the sun hit the bird's feathers I thought "Wow...that's a lot more brilliant than any cardinal I've ever seen." Today I spotted my first male scarlet tanager and I stood and just stared at it until it moved off into the trees. 

My phone never would have captured the bird at such a distance, so this is not my photograph. But wow, I'm so glad I picked just the right time to take Fenway out. A glowing orange/red flashing through the trees......he was gorgeous.

Nature right outside my door....I am one fortunate woman.

The One Day.....

So Mother's Day 2021 is sort of grey in Port Washington....but it's not raining and it's not too cold. Our spring is creeping out more and more every day with trees popping their leaves and flowers poking up through the dirt, and we arrive at the one day of the year when we celebrate moms. 

Last year I think I posted a picture of my two kids when they were little saying something about how they were responsibe for making me a Mom. They were....and I hope they look back and think I did a pretty good job.

This year another photo came to mind....one of my mom in 1946 when I was just a baby.  So I dug through a box in our closet and found it. She was really beautiful.

She was 89 when she died in 2010 so she lived a long and active life. She was a wife and homemaker until my dad left when I was 16, a mom (forever), she worked for the Park Ridge school administration for many years. But her favorite role was being a mother......she was born for it. And I know I didn't say it enough, but she was a wonderful mom. 

Happy Mother's Day in absentia Mom.....thinking of you today especially, but also on so many other days! 

Happy Bored......

There has been a lot of "to do" after President Biden's address a few nights ago. It was unusual to see our President standing in front of such a small crowd, and certainly unusual to see him standing in front of two of the most important women in the government. And the speech was a bit long....but I was putting the border on a quilt so I sat and listened.

I didn't expect to see "the other side" greet any of his proposals with wild applause, but I also didn't expect to see the guy from Texas basically fall asleep. (To be fair I've seen some Democrats doze off once in awhile in that same chamber.) I have no idea how many of his proposals will actually find enough support as they wind their way through Congress to actually affect America. But the fact that such a large percentage of the American public is in favor of his ideas gives me hope.

And, frankly, after four plus years of waking each morning to another ten or twenty of 45's tweets I was thrilled to listen to a man who could actually speak in full sentences, basically follow his script and not go off on wild tangents or sprinkle dozens of lies or half-truths along the way.

Happily I'll take "bored"....and sit back and watch the "other side" to see if they actually do anything other than throw up their objections. Look for the common ground folks....it's in there somewhere. Maybe it's hiding behind Mitch....but it's in there.