Uploads from lightloverLori

goslings fluffed

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:40:38 -0700

they are too cute!!! I brought this mint to the pond years ago, and haven't been behind the restaurant since William left. It warmed my heart to see them napping in the mint. Dad didn't wing slap me today, progress!

first Iris open

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:50:19 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

foundation plantings are tricky to photograph, lol. First you have to make sure you aren't stepping on anybody, and then you have to push your head right up against the house to get the right angle. lolol.

first out!!!

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:55:54 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

Stopped to see William, Angel still brooding. Didn't feel like stopping at the restaurant pond on the way home, as i'd fallen in the swamp water and was totally gross but am SO glad i did! One gosling hatched, Dad wing slapped me, which was very frightening and the first time i've ever been attacked. He flew up into my face (it could have been worse) and slapped his wings around my head, also getting some knuckles on my bad hand. Shook me up but i didn't leave. I just kept sweet talking and he let me stay. Changed her water bowl and brought some grass for the goslings, while he gave me the eye. Yikes!

William in Winter collage

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:09:55 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

Going through some old pics, these are from 2009. He was so pristine. Angel's pond has no clearing for them to spend time out of the water, so they are getting stained and smeared and the invasive water weed is beginning to take over. If i had a boat, i would yank 85% of it out of the water. It's ugly, and makes movement almost impossible. (not happy about cutting William's tail off. I wish you could move one box independently. Oh, i have many wishes this morning don't i? I wish i didn't have to go back to the dentist next week. I wish i didn't grind my teeth so hard, even with a nightguard. My teeth are crumbling under the pressure of my powerful jaws, lololol.) Have a great day everyone!

little latti

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:19:22 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

no cygnets or goslings yet, but here's mini me (my Italian grandma used to call me Latti. She had trouble with r's, lol). The color version of this was lost, when my dad skipped town. My dress is pink.

Wisteria in Pine (more blooming in comments)

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:35:13 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

my neighbor across the street, also a gardener kept saying, "The Wisteria will kill that Pine you know." And i keep telling her, "Shhh. They're friends. Nobody's killing anybody." So far so good, fingers crossed. Where else is it going to find a 70 foot trellis? It's got a good deal, and best behave itself. I have a saw and i know how to use it.

Beautiful Bully

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Mon, 13 May 2013 08:16:46 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

He is the only swan on William's pond, and he is very nasty to all the other birds. He still hisses, but comes to meet me. It's rather fun, taming a wild swan, from the beginning. It's been a very long time. To my knowledge, William has never hissed at me, but all his partners have and Angel still does, now and then. Checked last night, still no cygnets, and it's very nippy today.

Fly Away Home

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Sun, 12 May 2013 08:52:57 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

Happy Mothering Day! (for my son, Scott Tyler. 21 now)

Fly Away Home

You, my son, will fly away from me.
Above, beyond, and over me. Away . . .

I watch you from a window in my soul
that only parents know.

Someday, when you have taken flight
and I no longer see your face, I pray
the gentle winds that brought you
here to me will guide you safely home.

LBM 10/7/99

Watercolor William

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Sun, 12 May 2013 08:04:28 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

Happy Mother's Day to my US friends! (still waiting on cygnets). Many thanks to my kind and talented friend John Corban, for removing a smudge from William's feathers for me. XOXO)

Cherry Dream

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:15:54 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

William, defending (Sepia in comments)

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:21:28 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

It was just starting to rain hard, and i almost left but am glad i didn't! A mute swan flew over the pond (oh, the whooshing of those great wings. So amazing) and William flew (lol) into defense mode, bless his heart. It's a good thing he was there, because mostly he's off somewhere else, not even taking care of Angel, not ever taking a turn on the nest. He's a scoundrel, but she loves him. I do too...

first goslings (plus four in comments)

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:50:55 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

Such a sweet surprise as i was leaving! (Angel is still brooding, and William wouldn't take his turn so she could come eat. He is a noodge).

blossoming so sweetly

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Mon, 06 May 2013 04:32:23 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

weeping

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Sun, 05 May 2013 05:12:04 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

No need to comment. I just wanted to show you how heavy the snow was, end of October, 2011. I should have gone out with a broom and knocked it off. As if I could reach high enough. Poor sweet thing.

Blossoming (plus 4 in comments)

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Sat, 04 May 2013 03:49:09 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

I love this tree so! And since the blossoms come and go so quickly, and only happen once a year, i'm overstocking photographs, lolol. Have a beautiful weekend everyone!

pansy max

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:38:17 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

Maxie is 5 years old today!

sweet hearts

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 10:37:47 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

My newly acquired birdbath? It's gone. It's just gone. I worked so hard to make it clean again, and it was full and beautiful and i was loving it to pieces. I see it laying down in the neighbors backyard. Where it will spend another useless 10 years. She didn't even want it. She just doesn't want me to have it either. I'm profoundly sad now. Remind me, why don't i like people??? But i still have my sweet cherubs (the basin was darling, but rotted away, sadly). (i wrote a note to the neighbor who said i could have the birdbath, to see if she will put that in writing. If i hate this woman, she wins, but i'm struggling mightily against it. She isn't a friend of Beauty, she cannot be a friend of mine).

first open Kwanzan Cherry blossom (plus two in comments)

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:49:09 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

Finding the first open blossoms is better than finding an Easter egg, or a Christmas present, or, or, or.
It's the best fun! This poor tree has been through so so much, yet still, she blossoms beautifully.

Spring Love (birdbath in comments)

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 11:45:16 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

A story from Lori: When our lovely neighbor moved away, about 10 years ago now? (i have a whacky time line and must ask Doug questions regarding chronology. He's working, so i'm on my own) she said i could have her beautiful birdbath. The new neighbors, who still have Halloween spiderwebs on their Arborvitae, lol, do not care much for the "great outdoors" and turned the basin over, so the poor birds used to come sit and wonder where the water went! I asked the husband if i could take it and he said sure. But his wife told me she was going to use it. Fast forward 10 years. What has she used it for? The occasional bike helmet stand. I have been agitated about this for years. Why won't she just give it to me? We have been so kind and helpful to the entire family, and she has been so. So. Unlikeable. (she yells at her 2 children on a daily basis. And i'm no saint, but i've never heard her say something in a nice voice. Ok, maybe a handful of times.) I let it go. The birds came to my house instead. Even on a grumpy day, watching them splash and bathe makes me deliriously happy. So Friday, i can't say what possessed me, after she got out of her car and i said good morning, i asked about the birdbath. I was told I could have it, and you told me you were going to use it but i don't see that you're using it and i'll even PAY you for it. She sort of rolled her eyes and sort of sighed, exasperated, as if i were one of her children. But she didn't say no. She said it was cracked, broken. So i lifted the basin (it's concrete. Did my surgery hand like this idea? Did i even consider this was a bad idea?) and came back with a jug of water. None leaked out. I rolled the basin home, before she changed her mind. I came back with Scotty's red wagon, for the base, as the sanitation truck was coming to her house and he stops the truck, jumps out yelling, "Don't You Dare!!!" grabs the basin, brings it to my house and sets it all up for me, God love him! He says, "You are my favorite person. Period." So i tell him he's mine, surely, and run into the house and bring him a photo of William, which he puts on the visor of his truck. What a great story, which just got greater! I couldn't believe it. Haven't seen any birds in it yet, but am loving that it's come home to roost under the Pine tree.

ballerina Pete

nobody@flickr.com (lightloverLori) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 13:37:09 -0700

lightloverLori posted a photo:

My sweetie Pete was born today. (Petey was a girl bunny, lol). She only lived 2 years, due to a horrible malocclusion, but she was, and is, a great light.