Northern Flicker

The Northern Flicker visits year-round here, but has been coming by regularly since the temperatures have dropped. This one is chowing down on snow! I had not had a chance to refill the frozen birdbath water so apparently he was taking matters into his own hands beak.

I loved watching the snow fly into the air as the bird took bites ;)

Besides a diet of snow, flickers seem to enjoy eating suet...

...as well as a variety of seed from our various feeders...

They can often be spotted on trees in my yard, listening and pecking away for a meal of bugs...

I love the yellow feathers on the tail...

This shot shows the bright yellow tail feathers and wing as the bird is preparing to fly from the feeder:

Here is a short movie I made by connecting still photos together. You can watch it chowing down on snow:

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Identifying Butterflies

None of these butterflies are exactly the same~can you tell them apart?

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly is the state insect of Virginia. The native tulip poplar tree is the main host to the larvae, as well as Sweetbay Magnolia and Black Cherry. Fortunately I have several huge tulip poplars in my backyard and they are all over the neighborhood. We also planted a Sweetbay Magnolia last fall.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, male (R) and female (L) nectaring on Joe Pye Weed

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (female) on Agastache- Black Form is always female.

Black Swallowtail
The Black Swallowtail butterfly larval host plant is native Golden Alexander, which I've planted several of. The caterpillars also feed on plants in the carrot family, including parsley, fennel, dill, queen anne's lace, and of course, carrots. This past summer I was able to raise a bunch of them from egg to butterfly...watching the cycle was amazing. I've posted about the process before and plan to blog about last summers experience, eventually.

Black Swallowtail  butterfly on Rudbeckia Laciniata leaf~top view

Black Swallowtail butterfly just emerged from cocoon~side view

Spicebush Swallowtail
The Spicebush Swallowtail larval host is the Spicebush (which I have two of) and the Sassafras tree. I posted photos of the adorable cats on my spicebush last summer. They are very different looking than the other swallowtail caterpillars.

Spicebush Swallowtail butterflyon phlox paniculata~top view

Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly on summer phlox~side view

Red-Spotted Purple (not a swallowtail at all, but can get confused with one!)
The Red-Spotted Purple butterfly looks a little like the Spicebush Swallowtail~minus the swallow tail. I don't often see them but the photo below from last summer shows one who had been through some rough times. In my yard the larvae feed on serviceberry, poplar and oak trees.

Red-Spotted Purple butterfly resting on hammock~top view

Red-Spotted Purple butterfly on agastache~top view

Red Spotted Purple~side view

As you can see, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (yellow form) is pretty easy to spot. But the black form of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (did you even know there was a black form?) and the Black Swallowtail can be difficult to tell apart, unless you know that there are two rows of white dots along the edge of the Black Swallowtail and only one row along the edge of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, black form. The Spicebush Swallowtail looks very similar, especially from the side view with wings closed. Even the Red Spotted Purple (which isn't a swallowtail at all) looks similar to the Spicebush Swallowtail, just without the 'swallow tail'. I find myself going to my friend Randy's webage Butterflies of the Carolinas and Virginias when I am trying to determine what butterfly I am looking at.

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Skink

Here's some info. on this interesting creature, since today I'm too lazy to actually write about it myself! http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/five-lined_skink.htm

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Azaleas in April

Azaleas in April

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

The Ocean: My Favorite Place

My favorite place to be is near the ocean. It can be any body of water, really...because I like lakes, and streams, and the coast of Maine. But if I could choose a place to live it would probably be off the coast of the Carolina's. We've rented ocean-front beach houses for the past couple of years, a different one each time. It's not the house that draws me in...it's the ocean. The crashing of the waves, the sandy beach to take long walks on every morning. And the water is warm enough to relax in  (not too warm) but not frigid, like further north.

The native plants growing along the dunes. How lovely to see these every day as we walked to the beach from the beach house.

Gaillardia

Yucca

Prickly Pear cactus

The sand crabs.

My husband and son throwing the football back and forth.

The colorful umbrellas,the tall grasses swaying in the breeze and the warmth of the sun. So inviting.

Enjoying a cold one.

My husband enjoying his boat on the ocean beyond the breakers. Some days were calm enough that he could drive right out in front of our beach house.

Video with sound of the wind and crashing waves.

This is one place I like to go to relax. Of course there are many other places and things that I enjoy, but this is a favorite. Especially now that it's the middle of January and I cannot garden, I am thinking of some place I'd really like to be right now.

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Ten Years Beyond Cancer

It has been 10 years since I totally finished treatment for oral, head & neck cancer. I am thankful it is gone!

We used this photo as our Christmas card in December, 2003.
I was still in the midst of radiation, but finished with the surgeries.
My daughter was deep into her equestrian days at that point.
We owned beautiful Kitti, a thoroughbred draft-cross, who was (and still is) quite the jumper...
although we no longer own horses. 

This is the last time I'm going to mention it (at least not for another 10 years!) because frankly, I don't think about it often, and I don't want to think about it again...but I think it's noteworthy that 10 years have gone by since those scary, uncertain, painful times.

My son was just starting 1st grade and my daughter just beginning high school when it was diagnosed.  I feel so fortunate to have had these past 10 years to watch them grow into the young adults that they are now.

The type of cancer was salivary gland cancer of the hard/soft palate...on the roof of my mouth. I was not prepared for the extent of surgeries and treatment but I had a lot of support as well as skilled surgeons. I think I became stronger in many ways because of it.

I don't even remember the exact dates of diagnoses and surgeries, only the months. I threw out the mask that went over my face and head that they bolted down daily to direct the radiation rays into specific points. I threw out the prosthesis I had to wear to cover the hole in order to eat, drink and talk. I threw out the calendars with dates of various procedures. I just don't want to be too connected to it. But I do want to remember, just in part, so I can always remain thankful.

*August, 2003: Diagnosis and 1st surgery to remove tumor (Partial Palatectomy).

*September, 2003: 2nd surgery to remove tumor, as margins were not clear and it had grown into my nasal passages (Partial Maxillectomy).

*October, 2003: 3rd surgery to repair large hole in palate (Forearm-Freeflap Transplant).

*November, 2003 - January, 2004: 35 Radiation sessions.

A few years ago I wrote a tiny bit more about it at this link.

I often put my foot in my mouth and say things I regret...but how many people can say they have their arm in their mouth?! Me...and I'm proud to have it :)

The only thing I regret is, after losing 35 pounds during treatment, I've gained all that back and more! But, life is good for me and I am thankful to be alive.

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Paperwhites

I enjoyed having paperwhites on my windowsill throughout the holiday season.

I added a small amount of vodka to the soil when I watered them. This helps them from becoming too tall and leggy and falling over.

Apparently, I didn't add quite enough, because they still got tall and fell over, eventually! There is a formula that is recommended, with a certain percentage of vodka per oz of water. I've read that it should be about 1 part vodka (or gin) to 7 parts water. I actually did just that, several times, but these plants just insisted on growing anyway! They were fine the whole time they were blooming, so it was ok. It was near the end of their bloom time that they decided to fall over onto the countertop. Next time maybe I'll have to try a higher proof--perhaps 190?!

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Butterfly Umbrella

After the snow, and the freezing rain, and ice...it's been raining non-stop! I'm so happy I found this beautiful butterfly umbrella and bought it for myself for Christmas! It has so many lovely pollinators on it, the pollinators I plant native plants for!

I see a monarch, a black swallowtail, a red admiral and an eastern tiger swallowtail, among others. Can you name any more?

It has the artist's copyright on it as well, his name is James Hautman. Nice job, James.

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Grape Eating Doxie

Harry got into a bag of grapes and I had to rush him to the emergency vet clinic this evening.The bag had been sitting on the end table next to my chair when I got up quickly and left the room to talk with my son. A few minutes later I re-entered the room and found Harry with the empty bag. I remembered leaving about 15-20 grapes in the bag. I immediately took him to the vets where they gave him an injection to make him produce the goods. Yep, he'd eaten them all.

Because he is a small dog, they wanted to be sure any that remained in his stomach won't get absorbed into his system, so they gave him charcoal. They have to keep him for 48 hours, hooked up to an IV and under observation. They say he will be fine, that it's just the proper protocol for this situation. Otherwise, he could have serious kidney damage, kidney failure or even death. So, I am thankful that Harry is going to be okay. I'm going to miss him during the next 2 days. I'm not happy with myself that I forgot to remove the bag of grapes from the table when I left the room. But I can't beat myself up over it. I've never made a mistake like this before. I guess that's why these things are called 'accidents'.

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.

Our Standard Poodle

This is James, our 9 year old standard poodle. This photo was taken a few Christmases ago.

James has been part of our family since July, 2004. We flew to Texas to get him when he was just 3 months old. I can't seem to locate older photos so I can't post any...but he was very cute when he was a baby. You can take my word for it.

Despite being a 'Texas' dog, James is quite a snow bunny!

We have photos of many Christmas mornings with James and the kids.

Of course, like our doxies (in this previous post), James has his own Christmas stocking:

He also has his own Santa hat (something I forgot to mention in the doxie post; they do, as well!).

My husband doesn't ever complain about James! He is very laid-back and well mannered, unlike those two other ones... ;)

One year, my daughter and I carved pumpkins in the shape of our dogs. I think I did this one, and she did the doxies, as shown in this post.

James is surprisingly good in the gardens. He has free reign to run as he pleases, and he has yet to ruin anything. My garden is pretty resilient, but he is a good dog. Yep, one of the best!

Sometimes we do silly things with our dogs, and take pictures. This is an example of just one of the (many) times we've done that! This one was when we were on vacation, renting a beach house.

I have a friend who paints portraits of pets. If I ever get one done of James, I will probably pick this one:

 

What gifts have you discovered today? Until next time,

Words and photos ©Thanks for today.™, by Jan Huston Doble @ http://www.thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/

Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without express permission of the author.