FIRST THINGS FIRST ~ Baby Quail Update
We've had more baby quail in our yard this year than we have had since we got Summer Girl. We have sighted a quail family in the front and back yard quite often lately. They only have two babies, but I believe this is the family that started out with four babies. It’s hard to tell because they all look the same to me. We enjoy seeing them so much, and so far Summer Girl has ignored them. I believe she is getting a little too old to mess with birds!
Momma Quail surveyed the entire garden and back yard from her perch on the fence, while the babies stayed huddled up a little ways from her. Poppa Quail was behind them, partially hidden by the bushes. I was sitting under the tree with Summer Girl on my lap when I spotted them, or rather heard one of them chirping. I had to take the kitty inside so they would leave off of the fence and go eat under the feeder. The parents are so cautious with their precious little babies, and no wonder because the babies are still quite small. The quail love the cracked corn we provide for them and visit the back feeder almost every day.
VISIT IN TACOMA
This week I have Part Two of our trip over the mountains for the birthday celebration. We went to Seattle first, had our birthday celebration for Linda's daughter and sister, stayed there one night, and then drove about an hour and a half to Tacoma to stay with Linda’s sister and her husband for a couple days. We got a bit lost on the way over to their new house, but eventually we got there a little before noon. They have a nice little patio area out back underneath some tall trees. I found myself out there quite often, enjoying the cooler weather and watching the bunnies and birds. Under the trees there are patches of brier bushes, probably blackberries, which grow wild all over the place in that area. I named one of the bunnies “Bre’r Rabbit” (from the Uncle Remus stories) because he would appear all of a sudden from out of the brier patch. At first I don't think he noticed me, but then he stopped dead still and the only thing that was moving was his nose. I think he could smell me. I took a shower that morning, I promise!
The other one I named “Ole Swivel Ears” for obvious reasons, which you will see in the video below.
I saw a few birds there at the feeder, but it was in a dark area and there wasn't enough light to get any good pictures. I'm sure we will be going back to visit them before too long, so maybe I can get some more bird pictures then.
The next morning, Linda, her sister, and I decided to take a walk at the Chambers Bay Park. This used to be an old Pioneer Sand & Gravel quarry.
This old quarry has been made into a beautiful park which runs alongside the Chambers Bay Golf Course. Some of the old structures from the quarry are still there. I don't know what this picture below is of, but I call it “Tacomahenge.”
Another large structure dominates the landscape.
There is no telling what its original purpose was, but it now serves to provide a place for birds to build their nests.
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| Mud nests built by swallows |
The main attraction for all the walkers that day was the osprey nest. Two large osprey chicks were making their presence known with their loud squawks. Soon the reason for their squawking became apparent when we saw Poppa flying up with a fish in his talons. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of him with the fish, but it all happened so fast. However, I did get a video right after he landed on the nest and deposited his fish. It even looks like one of the babies is starting to munch on his lunch.
Of course, after you eat lunch it's time to take a bath. This little (?) guy was busy doing just that as I watched from below.
I finally succeeded in getting a pretty good shot of the twins sitting on the nest. That's about all they did the whole time we were there, but one of them took a practice flight around the structure and I happened to get a couple of pictures of that as well.
At the shoreline of the Chambers Bay Park there is a beautiful footbridge over the railroad tracks. Linda and her sister took a walk out on it while I was busy with the ospreys.
The interesting thing about this bridge is the large number of locks that people have placed on the bridge cables. They were very pretty with the rays of the sun bouncing off of them. Linda said they are called Love Locks, and you place a lock on the bridge in memory of a loved one, or to commemorate a special event, or just to celebrate your love for someone. The next time we go to Tacoma, we are going to go there and take one of Dad's old locks and put it on the bridge. What a beautiful way to remember someone!
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| "Love Locks" |
BACK TO YAKIMA, BACK TO ROUTINE
We really enjoyed our trip over to visit the family in Seattle and Tacoma, but we were glad to get back home and get back into our routine. I haven't really posted any recipes lately because, you know, it's summer and, well...birds. They do tend to take up a lot of my time, but I have been cooking, don't get me wrong. Today, while writing this blog, I managed to make three Instant Pots full of applesauce to put up in the freezer for Linda. That's the beauty of the Instant Pot, you can just dump everything in it and go do something else.
This past week I also turned a sink full of parsley into Parsley Pesto and a sink full of basil into Basil Pesto. We also put this up in the freezer. I am hoping to get at least one more harvest of basil, and maybe parsley, to make another batch before it's all over with.
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| Basil (left) and Parsley (right) |
And now I have an update on the most important thing out in the garden...the tomatoes. I am happy to say that there are several of the Black Krim heirloom tomatoes that have red color on them and will be ready to pick before the end of the week. We also have a couple tomatoes on our new Big Rainbow tomato plant, which are turning a yellow-reddish color. Here's a picture of it, and I cannot wait to cut into it and see what it looks like inside...as well as taste it.
I hustled up to Safeway today and got one of the main ingredients for that cherished Southern delicacy that I have been anxiously waiting to make. Can you guess what it is?
Yes, folks, that's right. It is that delicious, mouth-watering concoction known as the Tomato Sandwich. I would show you a picture of one right now but I don't have a ripe tomato yet. You can rest assured that as soon as one is ripe, I am going to make me one and you better believe THAT picture will make the blog. Then I am going to let my friend L.H. know so she can stop by and get a juicy, ripe tomato and enjoy one herself.
PARTING SHOT
One day this week I looked out the back bedroom window to see this sight. I swear, she can fall asleep anywhere!
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| On the Rocks |
That's all for this week, my friends. Tune in again next week and find out if I ever got to have that tomato sandwich!
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