It seems as if all of nature has arrived on the Cutoff.
In between the weeding and pruning, my head bowed down to the soil, three flashes went by. Runner in sync, perhaps training for the Chicago Marathon. As they went past, headphones on, gait measured, I heard the clop, clop, clop of horse hoofs. My own Belmont Stakes on a sunny Saturday morn.
When it rains here, the ground sways with the movement of toads. We’ve had no rain here in quite a spell, so the hose was employed on Saturday morn and this little guy, as if prescient to my reading The Wind in the Willows, just missed my footfall as he hopped under a hosta leaf.
Several families of wrens have arrived: some just setting up housekeeping in a discarded bird house, others already tending a family in the bluebird house, and yet another couple working a hole in the overhang. They chatter about as they gather insects for their young or nesting material with their little tails up in the air and their singing so boisterous for such tiny little things. I just love the twig, squeezed into the box, a perch for Momma Wren.
The finch are also about, especially the goldfinch. They visit the feeder or stop for a drink, entertaining us with their beauty and song as we sit on the deck eating our evening meal. It is a joy to see them, and pure bliss when a cardinal swoops in and sits on the rail while a hummingbird finds nourishment in the potted Salvia.
I’ve taken to sitting for a spell on the arbor bench, reading a book, or just being; watching as Woodrow Woodchuck, ever-so-shy, scurries past, with meadowlark cruising the grassland while a hawk soars overhead. Sometimes, a friend stops by for a treat, we lock eyes for a minute, then life goes on as it is want to do, here on the Cutoff.
Tom and I sat for a bit, wondering where the bluejays were. Their population has been greatly diminished by the West Nile Virus, with many years going by without seeing them. As we chatted, a distinctive blue flashed by and rested on a branch, not far from the wrens’ abode. The bluejays came back, as if hearing our caw, all on a summer’s day!
I love it when nature comes out to play.
It is when magical things happen in a garden.
A beautiful post. I love it. It’s so cool that the bluejay responded. “All on a summer’s day,” is a great phrase.
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Thank you, Teresa. Isn’t it wonderful when nature cooperates that way?
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I love these posts which celebrate the life around the Cutoff, Penny. So much life: I envy you that little deer!
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Isn’t she sweet? Well, at least since she wasn’t eating my roses. Thank you, Kate.
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Dear Penny, as Kate says, this posting “celebrates the life around the Cutoff.” And oh, your other postings like this are part of the reason I’ve finally gone out on the patio for breakfast each morning and discovered the quiet there and the peace and the simply being-ness of being there. Thank you.
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I’m so pleased that you are both part of the celebration, if from afar. What a sweet thing to say, Dee. You made my day and I sincerely thank you. It is those simple pleasures that are so lovely.
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How very summery, and full of colour and life, this post is. It’s a delight to share in your sense of relaxation and expansion as the Cutoff displays its magic.
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It is amazing all the activity that goes on here that we observe when we take the time to be still, Juliet. Thank you.
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I am not surprised that your garden is an extension of your lovely home. And the wrought iron fairy in the last picture is the icing on the cake!
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You know, Marilyn, she just seemed to follow us from our other house to the Cutoff and planted herself right in garden where she could see all of the activity. Thank you for your kind words here.
By the way, I decided to take your advice on Maisie Dobbs, so, I backtracked and found the first of the series at one of the libraries in our interlibrary loan system and am eager to begin reading from the beginning.
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Lovely post. I’m reminded to go fill the bird bath. The titmouse and bluebirds are probably ready for their bath.
Enjoy you lovely surroundings.
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They dry out so quickly in the heat, don’t they Joyce? I have never seen a titmouse here, though I understand they frequent our area. I envy you that they come to your birdbath. Now, if we can only get a bluebird to nest in the box instead of the wren.
Thank you, Joyce, I am.
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The fairy is lovely as the rest of your photos and post are. I enjoy spending part of the day in your garden.
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I’m so glad that you enjoyed being in the garden, Janet. Isn’t she a very nice fairy? She followed us from our other house and we can see here from the arbor. I suspect she moves about at night, especially now that the lightening bugs are flickering.
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You have had a show on the Cutoff! How wonderful to have the time to take it in and not miss a thing, including the little toad! It’s restful even to read about your sightings, Penny. You made me wonder about our blue jays, too. We used to see them more often…we went through the West Nile Virus, too, and mostly noticed the crows quite literally dropping from the sky for a while. But I wonder if the Blue Jays were affected, too! I’m so glad your came to your call 🙂 So nice! Debra
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Thank you, Debra. It is sometimes tricky finding those restful times, but so rewarding when we do.
Wasn’t West Nile horrible? I remember one day realizing there were no crows or jays cawing about and six or more years of no blue jays at all. It is comforting to know that they are repopulating. I’m sure if you had West Nile there, it would have affected the jays as well.
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Deer!!!!!!!
I love to spot deer in everyday life, Penny. Birds too, but those deer are so cute and graceful, if that even goes together.
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Cute and graceful they are, Andra, especially the fawn, one of which has been romping around. I love them – and they frustrate me beyond measure as they eat my plants.
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Summer looks great at the cutoff — we’ve been spending some time watching backyard birds here in Colorado (at our son and dils)….I’m loving it. Be back to catch up on your older posts soon.
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Nice to hear from you, Sallie. I hope your son isn’t near where they fires have been. Nothing better than watching backyard birds – except watching them in Colorado.
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Isn’t it just SO true. Your words reminded me of this:
http://lettersfromahillfarm.blogspot.com/2007/06/todays-poem-by-james-russell-lowell.html
Btw, we don’t see bluejays in the summer. They are around the feeders in the fall, winter, and spring but when we take down the feeders, they go somewhere else to raise their families.
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Oh, thank you Nan. A perfect poem for a June day.
“Now the heart is so full that a drop overfills it” – that line caught my heart as well.
That’s interesting that you don’t see the bluejays in summer. I wonder where they go off to. They are such beautiful birds, though they can be bullies. I’m just glad they are starting to repopulate.
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Summer is such a great time in the garden, all of nature is waking up! I so enjoy your garden posts!
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Thank you, Sunday. It is a great gardening time. Each day here something new seems to be opening. Today, it was the lilies.
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This post was as enchanting as your previous excerpt from “The Wind in the Willows”!
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What a very sweet thing to say, Janet. Thank you. A fawn came close to the windows today to say hello to Tom. It is so cute – and it had better stay out of my plants.
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