|
Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings Kathy Lawler — Guest Blogger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  The "Good Times Day Spa" for birds! We have had so much rain in Virginia this year. Saturday was our first day to get outside and finish the yard projects we had been trying to do this year. This was not only our first chance to enjoy the Spring — due to the crazy number of rainy days — it was also our last chance to enjoy a bit of Spring — before we get into a long hot summer! This year, to add to our Artsy Fartsy plant containers we made last year, we decided to build a birdbath (or bird spa as I like to call it) to add to the fun aesthetics and to enhance our variety and number of visitors! I built this using terra cotta pots that I spray-painted and stacked. The finished birdbath stands about 3 1/2 feet and is made up of 5 different sized pots. Two upside down terra cotta saucers make up the birdbath part of the piece. Birds do like a shallow-water bath so these saucers worked out quite well. If you do an internet search for terra cotta birdbaths you will find a surprising number of great ideas and different looks for your pending creation. Be sure to read about how to finish the terra cotta pots before you begin.  Come On, Birds.This is what you'll be looking for. I also did a bit of reading about what birds like best in a birdbath — unfortunately I read this after I had planned, painted, and constructed my birdbath. So here are the do’s and don’ts for you to consider when you build a birdbath for your yard.
You will need to change the water and clean your birdbath often — apparently birds aren’t opposed to pooping on, or in, art. We are still waiting for our birds to discover their new spa. I’m thinking that they are as tired of all the water falling from the sky as we are. Of course, we’re hoping for some great photo ops coming soon and we will share them with you when they happen! Thank You for visiting,
— Kathy, Guest Blogger P.s. Have you added a birdbath to your yard? How did you get the birds to start using it? Do you have any great suggestions you would like to share? We would love to hear your ideas and compare notes!
2 Comments
Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Recently, at an Art Fair, I was talking with a couple kindergarten teachers about how I view my world prior to photographing it. I spoke of how I employ virtual tunnel-vision in my Mind’s Eye to home in on a small subject; to eliminate all the visual clutter and distractions around it; to show it in its unique singularity, unhampered by the chaos around it. In discussing this concept, we came up with a great two-part project for their students. In Part One, the class would learn about telescopes and what they have done to improve / advance civilization. The students could then “build” their own “telescopes” by coloring the outsides of TP or paper towel tubes using Crayons, markers, or finger paints (OMG!). Hey! We even managed to work Art into Science class! With Part Two comes Nature Study. The telescopes become microscopes with the Little Nature Explorers crawling around in the grass and among the bushes looking at life through their ‘scopes. A vociferous discussion soon erupts about all the colors, and bugs, and leaves, and pebbles, and worms, and…, and…, and…  This is what I spied with my little eye. This Harvestman is about a quarter inch big... small (?) This is essentially what I do every time I go out on a Photo Safari. My TP tube is a bit more sophisticated. My voice is a bit quieter. But I’m still a kid, on my knees, rooting around in the garden, discovering the mystery, the majesty, the esoteric, the familiar [re-seen differently], the minute, the wonderful… all seemingly for the first time.
It’s Grand to be a Kid again! Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. Do you think you might try this with your own kids? You did?! How’d it turn out? What did they discover? Share their stories for us all to enjoy. Kathy Lawler, Guest Blogger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To Bee Or Not To Bee . . . Bee Good To Your Garden. We enjoyed planting a number of annuals throughout the summer last year. Since we live in the city, our yard is rather small. Between the front and the back yard together we have only 375 square feet to work with. We really enjoy the variety, sizes, and types of annuals we could chose from and of course, loved the repeated trips to our favorite nursery, Holly, Woods, and Vines in Alexandria, Virginia. Not only have we enjoyed the ever-changing color and texture combinations of the annuals we planted, but we now have a parade of little visitors who are enjoying them, too. Our plants have inspired hummingbirds, frogs, praying mantis, butterflies, moths, dragonflies, and the all-important bees — the best pollinators. Turns out, any size garden can support pollinators. Bee populations are in jeopardy and it is important to encourage their populations. We all understand the importance of bees, but the scope of the importance can’t be overstated. According to gardeners.com “one out of every three bites of your food depends on a pollinator”! Certain flowers that are nectar- and pollen-rich will help attract these pollinators. Here are a few suggestions for planting:
There is also a region by region guide to planting. You just put in your zip code and voila! You will have a PDF outlining which plants in your region the pollinators prefer. We have had several of our annuals grow a crazy amount last year and they looked wonderful. This Lantana flower, attracting both butterflies and bees, started its life with us in a 4 inch pot — now look at the size of it -- this purple pot is 12 inches across! This was grown in one of our “new pots” we created.  This Lantana plant went C-rrr-aaa-zzz-yy! We have been so inspired with our little garden and all our visitors, that we are making more and bigger plans for this year — we might include a vegetable garden, a water feature . . . who knows!
Stay tuned for additional BUZZ through out the year! Thank You for visiting, — Kathy Lawler, guest blogger P.s. What pollinators have you planted? What do they attract... bees... butterflies... hummingbirds...? What have you found to be the easiest to plant and propagate? Share your experiences and we'll all learn something from one and other!  That's one Contented Majesty Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I got cat class and I got cat style” — Stray Cat Strut, the Stray Cats, 1981 Google up ‘stray cats’ (not the musical group) and you’ll find it is estimated there are 70,000,000 stray cats in the US. They are wrong. There are approximately 69,999,999 since we just adopted one! Consider this: the area of the US, including land and water area, is only 3,700,000 square miles. We have nearly 20 stray cats per square mile — including all the water, all the roadways, all the land covered by buildings, the middle of the deserts, the top of Mount Whitney, the bottom of Death Valley! We already had Majesty, a senior female about 17 years old. About a year ago, we had to euthanize her very ill house-mate, Nooni, and Majesty had been moping around ever since. She needed a “pet”. We considered a hamster but figured that would be pretty much a one-shot-deal. So we settled on getting her a cat.  Mrrooow! Rrr-rr-rr! Prr-rr-rr-rr! We’re still in the “sequestration phase” of introductions, and things seem to be going well. They look warily at each other through the screen keeping The Newbie in her room. Even so, they seem interested in each other and trust and a feeling of ease is growing.
The Noob was, for a time, nameless. We don’t name our animal friends right off the bat; we wait a time to see what their unique personalities suggest. Hence ‘Majesty” as in “Yes, Your Majesty”. “Right away, Your Majesty”. “Anything else, Your Majesty?”. The Newbster has now given us a clue… Her name is to be Miss Chatterley. Not because of the Miss C. of literary fame, but rather because she is constantly chattering! She makes these little muttering, chattering, squeeky sounds quietly in her throat as she plays, investigates the nooks in her room, and whenever she sees us. Sometimes, first thing in the morning, it sounds as though she’s saying, “heh-rrrow”. Need help naming your new "Kid", or maybe you just want a good chuckle? Look here, or maybe look here, or you could even look here! Chatterley’s a friendly, calico female — spayed, of course — who’s not really a lap-cat but she is a cuddler when you lie on the floor with her. She’s a little over two years old and a terror for any toy with either feathers or fabric. We’re going to have to get her a rawhide chew to play with! She’s also a knead-er. We’ve seen her lie on her back to knead the air. It’s hilarious! I cannot say enough about adopting a dog or cat (vs. buying or breeding your own) when you decide to add to your family. Our Chatt-ster came from a vet’s office that had an area of the lobby set aside with 4-5 [make that 3-4 :-) ] adoptable cats. Our cat sitter, who is very active in feral catch and release programs, told us about this vet. So when you and your family are ready to add a member… or two… ask your vet, go to a shelter, contact a private organization, call a pet day care company… There are all kinds of sources out there, along with 69,999,999 cats to choose from! And when you find your Chatterbox, you’ll just know it! Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. Have you adopted or rescued any cats or dogs? What were the circumstances? A happy outcome, we hope! Are you a “Noob” to adopting and want some reader input? Hit the comments section, and we’ll share stories and advice. |
Categories
All
About Chris
I am a Virginia-based photographer and gather my images while hiking in parks and natural areas here at home and in the locations I travel to. I also love to visit arboretums and botanic gardens to find unusual and exotic subjects. Archives
March 2017
|
RSS Feed