Steve`s Country
For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Little Things #1.
Hello everyone and welcome to our first post in a new series! This one will take turns with my other series, “Art In Nature”. It should have been on Thursday of last week, but things are a bit mixed up right now with Christmas coming and new changes happening on my blog. I will be more regular once the New Year arrives. Anyway, in this series we will look at lots of different little things that we can see if we just slow down long enough to take a look around us. Just like with art in nature, it’s the same thing. There is just so much that we miss these days because we are always in a hurry, running here and there, and we miss out on so much beauty as well as some oddities in the little things around us.
A slight warning though, there will be insects shown from time to time, I know some people don’t like those little critters. But they really can be quite interesting in their different shapes and colors. And so many of them are attracted to the nectar in flowers. Unfortunately some were a bit too small to get a descent picture of them. Not all the little things I show will be real tiny however. But they will generally be things that are rather inconspicuous and so are things that we can very easily walk right past without ever seeing them. Which is a shame because they can be very pretty, interesting and sometimes quite unusual looking.
I have found myself walking along the path down to the river and have missed seeing something on the way down, but do manage to see it on the way back up and I wonder how I could possibly have missed it. Especially when they are not exactly hiding. So it is very easy to miss things. And when we are in a hurry, we miss even more, because we just don’t have “time” to stop and look. But always being in a hurry is not a good thing and can actually be bad for our health. Slowing down and taking some time to stop and look at some of these beautiful little things can bring a lot of enjoyment and happiness. And that can be very good for our health. Well, just a little introduction to our series today, I hope you enjoy the pictures. Have a wonderful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
Morning Coffee In The Afternoon At Steve’s Country #20.
Good afternoon everyone and welcome to a later edition of my morning coffee post! The coffee is on, fresh and hot, just help yourself and relax! Sometimes things happen that toss everything around so some changes have to be made. That was me yesterday, which not only affected things yesterday, but also today. So I wasn’t able to do my post this morning, but we’re back now and happy to have you visit with us again. Muffin is sitting at the door eagerly waiting for our first friends to show up!
The birds have been busy at the feeders this morning. All of our normal birds were here, plus we had a nice visit with a flock of around 30 evening grosbeaks, nearly all males with about a half dozen females. Due to reasons already mentioned, I was unable to go out and get any pics. But it looked so beautiful with all those bright yellow birds sitting on the feeder. There were 20 males on that feeder at one time which was just an amazing sight. I like those evening grosbeaks, they really brighten up the winter. As do the pine grosbeaks with their nice rosy red. We had some of those pine grosbeaks earlier this winter, but there are none around now which is kind of odd. Jasper had to once again defend his territory, most likely that same squirrel from yesterday who likely won’t give up easily. But Jasper managed to chase him off again. There was no actual fighting this time, but lots of chasing and chattering.
So I gave Jasper some extra big peanuts when he came over afterwards. “That other squirrel seems to be persistent.” Loud Chip. “Yes, this is your territory, it’s important to protect it otherwise squirrels will come and chase you away.” Chip. “He has his own territory?” Chip. “Oh, he likes the peanuts here.” Chip. “Why do I feed him? I don’t really, I just toss out the peanuts for the blue jays and sometimes he comes and gets some of them.” Chip. “I’ll try to watch, but it’s not easy, he’s almost the same color as you.” Chip. “Yes, I’m definitely on your side. But it’s your responsibility to chase away other squirrels.” Chip. “Yes, I know it’s tough, but you can do it, and there’s all these big peanuts you get afterwards.” I give him an even bigger peanut which he takes and runs off back home. Oh my, it’s cold out here still. It was 12F (-11C) this morning and it’s still that way. Getting cloudy now, we’re supposed to get some snow overnight, and even more snow coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. I hope you enjoyed your afternoon cup of coffee, have a beautiful day and God bless!
Steve and Muffin.
©2020 Steve McLeod
Steve`s Country 