Last night’s sunset was absolutely magical. It felt appropriate for a close to Remembrance Day:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Some shots from here and there. Still trying to learn how to work my camera.

The remnants of the tree limb they took down in February are still sitting under the ash and getting grown over; I think of it as the spot for a shady tea party.

I grew up in a family of birders. I learned all about what came to the feeder, and why, from a very young age. And I have missed having that in my life.

So when I ended up poking through the dollar store for mailing stuff, and finding hanging birdfeeders - well, I came home with more birdfeeders and less mailing stuff. I figured not only would I get to see more birds, it’d be like TV for my indoor cats.

A rousing success, all around. Pesky squirrels aside, we have perky sparrows and chickadees, goldfinches, the occasional blue jay, robins, and grackles - the usual sort of urban mix. I hope to see more as time goes on.

But the best part is the mourning doves. I tend to scatter seed on the ground as well, and it’s what attracts the grackle harems - but the doves have come, too. They’re a mated pair, and they sit on my fence or in the yard, calmly inhabiting, or singing out their soft sighing calls. I’m glad they’re here, because it makes me feel as if Aphrodite is happy to be here as well, and that I tend her shrine to her satisfaction.

While I was trying to get a picture of the doves (just the female was there when i had the camera out), a bold male grackle tried to photobomb me. So he’s there, too.

Some photos from the yard today; we had a little snow yesterday but the yard’s none the worse for it.

That ash tree went from 0 to OMGpollen in about a week. The pollen this year is insane. Benadryl seems to last about a whole two hours before my allergies reassert themselves. Hopefully the poplar-ash-birch population will be done soon, since they’re my worst.

The tree got a simplified tidying this year. No medicine wheel, but a nice garden stone and a ring of glass pebbles. The rest of the medicine wheel is in a blue-glazed bowl that’s too cracked to use in the kitchen, but fine for sitting on my step holding stuff.

My yard shinies this year are all rainbow-coloured. I love having things in my yard that catch the wind. I like the shot where they’re all lined up on the fence - you can just see them over top one another. The one reminds me of a DNA helix.