Wilderness Wednesday: Snacking Sparrows

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birds, humour, nature, nature photography, photography, sparrow, Wilderness Wednesday

Torn between eating a snack and looking like one!

There is no “we” in food…so get away from me!

Unknown

Use your smile to change the world. Don’t let the world change your smile!

Happy Wednesday!

CFFC: Eyes

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beach, birds, black and white photography, cat, CFFC, family, guinea pigs, nature, nature photography, pets, Photo Challenge, photography, Wilderness Wednesday

This is my submission for Cee Neuner’s Fun Foto Challenge: Eyes

CFFC: Apple Red

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birds, CFFC, Fall, nature, nature photography, Photo Challenge, photography, summer, trees, Weekly Photo Challenge, winter

This week’s Fun Foto Challenge by Cee Neuner is Apple Red.

Red is one of my favourite colours. I even wrote a Red Shoe Manifesto. Sadly, I haven’t been able to wear my red shoes this year, but I have enjoyed splashes of colour in other ways.

There is a shade of red for every woman.

Audrey Hepburn

CFFC: Caramel Squirrels

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CFFC, humour, nature, nature photography, Photo Challenge, photography, red squirrel, squirrel, squirrels, Weekly Photo Challenge, Wilderness Wednesday

Technically, they are red squirrels, but the Cee Neuner’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Caramel Colour, and I’ve been looking for an opportunity to “show off” recent photos of the stars of my backyard! We didn’t have any backyard babies this year…or perhaps, these squirrels were the backyard babies of 2019 or the dynamic duo of 2020.

The red squirrel is more common and less dignified than the gray, and oftener guilty of petty larceny
about the barns and grain-fields.

John Burroughs

What’s in My Cup: Baked Apple Chai

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#whatsinmycup, food, food photography, humour, nature, nature photography, squirrels, tea, tea addict, tea cups, tea lover, tea time, what's in my cup

It would seem I’m not the only one enjoying apples these days.

Yeah, I see you. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t leave your half-eaten apples in a row on the fence!

My little friend has been enjoying apples for breakfast nearly every morning this week, and today I thought I’d follow his example.

I reviewed David’s Tea Baked Apple Chai (formerly Spiced Apple) back in the Fall of 2019, and since then it has become a staple in my stash. Apple and cinnamon is a common pairing because, quite frankly, they’re made for each other. They work well in sweets, in savouries, and in tea! And they definitely work in this tea. The flavour is piquant – intense, sweet, tangy and spicy. I called it a “potpourri for all the senses” and I still stand by that statement. From the intense aroma of cinnamon, chicory, cardamom and star anise to the warm and spicy notes that dance and play on the tongue, it’s probably the best apple cinnamon tea I’ve tasted.

It’s a caffeine-free fruit infusion with at least a 5 minute steeping time and requires a generous amount. Since it’s comprised of chunky pieces, it will swell and fill the infuser quickly. A word of advice, use an infuser that will allow the fruit to expand as it steeps in order to extract the most flavour!

Or you can follow the example of my little friend here and squat in the snow and eat it raw. I just hope he cleans up after himself!

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.

– Mother Theresa

Wilderness Wednesday: Hummingbird

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birds, nature, nature photography, photography, Wilderness Wednesday

Life’s not about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Vivian Greene

Wilderness Wednesday: Woody

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birds, nature, nature photography, photography, Wilderness Wednesday

Many critics are like woodpeckers, who, instead of enjoying the fruit and shadow of a tree, hop incessantly around the trunk, pecking holes in the bark to discover some little worm or other.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Wilderness Wednesday: Gold Finches

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birds, garden, nature, nature photography, Wilderness Wednesday

Sometimes goldfinches one by one will drop
From low hung branches; little space they stop;
But sip, and twitter, and their feathers sleek;
Then off at once, as in a wanton freak:
Or perhaps, to show their black and golden wings,
Pausing upon their yellow flutterings.

John Keats

Happy Wednesday!

CMMC: Apple Blossom Time

Tags

apple blossoms, bees, cmmc, flowers, nature, nature photography, Photo Challenge, photography, Spring, trees

Don’t sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me
I know the apple tree is reserved for you and me
And I’ll be true till you come marchin’ home

Glenn Miller

This is my post for Cee Neuner’s Mid-Week Madness Photo Challenge: Close Up/Macro.

In My Garden: Tulips 2022

Tags

flowers, garden, nature, nature photography, photography, tulips, Wilderness Wednesday

Here are the tulips, budded and full-blown,
their swoops and dips, their gloss and poses, the satin of their darks

Margaret Atwood, Dearly

A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there’s room in the garden for every flower. 

Marianne Williamson