~sunshine and happiness

great day at the pond we began at deep basin

sunfish in this circular spot trying to lay eggs. the kids took the nets and pulled in some muck from the pond to see what living things they could find
searching for the living

releasing back to the pond
snapping turtle rescued crossing the road from laying her eggs
recently released
luna moth hiding in this beautiful fern
hiked from deep pond to


~sunshine and happiness

i've been away from blogging a bit trying to catch up with house projects and my family. i have so many things stored up and in process to share very soon. my hope today was to share a very exciting rescue story of our new friend thistle. we originally thought that thistle was a female goldfinch because we were having trouble finding any other information. my neighbor who seems to know all the birds in our region found this info on line and it is most definitely a magnolia warbler. thanks jill.

yesterday my husband and daughter were sitting in our kitchen and that heard a very disturbing knock at the window. a very sweet little yellow bird hit our kitchen window. they let it be for a bit and it did not get up so they found a box to put it in and left it on the porch with a plants around it to protect in from any predators (we have several outdoors cats in our neighborhood). our new little friend named b thistleb kept hopping out of the box and landing on his back and getting stuck there. we decided to put him in this bird cage that i picked up on the curb one day for my girl. we thought he would be safer in there.

thistle seemed to be better today. he was hopping around the cage and spending less and less time on his back. we were going to take him to wild wings a local wild bird sanctuary we were thinking that he maybe had a broken wing and/or a broken leg. when i picked my girl up from school wild wings was already closed so we planned to go out tomorrow. we came home and changed his water and went out to work in the yardb &when helen came back in she found thistle upside down in his tiny water dish. i think he must have fallen in there and couldnb t get out. the saddest thing is that she went up for her bath and when she was up there she asked me to check on thistle and that is when i found himb &i was so glad that she didnb t see him in the dish like that. my husband and i were so sad to have to tell her and we went up to let her know and she told us when she came in she found him in the dish and was afraid he was dead. so she already thought that he was dead but was afraid to ask. heart-breaking. itb s so amazing how quickly you can connect with an animal. we were all so sad. we had a little service for thistle and buried him in the backyard next to her fish starblaze that she buried last year. she requested that i take pictures of the service. i think that she wanted me to share them.

such a sad day here.

so yesterday right after thistleb s accident my husband and daughter made a silhouette of a hawk to put on the window so that we wouldn't have another bird accident, this was not the first bird we heard hit the window.

i love a spring thunderstorm and we really need the rain here. the poison ivy i planned to attack today shall live to grow another day.

raindrops and jumping puddles

Sent from my iPhone

we had a beautiful day here yesterday. our sweet made a basket for us giving up some of her candy and some of her things she thought we'd enjoy. love her so much!

her favorite gift she found in her basket was her "young naturalist's notebook" from hearth song. this is out of print but is really a wonderful tool to encourage exploration and participation with nature.

we were invited out for two easter dinners. it's so great to drive with the windows open again!

we had some leftover asparagus, unbelievable but true. so this morning i made a poached egg and warmed up the asparagus in a little melted butter and fresh lemon juice. it was so delicious that we had it again for dinner with a glass of vegetable juice. we ate out on the new porch. lovely evening before a week of rain expected.

The sun has been so enormous in the sky in the morning on my way to the gym. Too bad this photo doesn't really express it.

Sent from my iPhone

enchantedmama was looking for us to "think green" this week to celebrate the coming of spring. this was more challenging than you would think. we have had a beautiful winter here in western new york mostly because it has been relatively cold and the snow has remained on the ground so even on the overcast days there has been more reflected light then usual because of the snow. i am not typically a fan of winter, i have trouble without the light, this year i have felt much happier, i have just been embracing it and hoping that it continues. we still have snow even though it has been warmer here. we went ice skating today it was in the 40s and my little sweet pea has a pink little face, i feel so bad that i did not sunscreen today, so out of practice (she says it does not hurt but this was really unexpected in our area not so common as out west).

so here we go with many photos from the week. i never found a bud and i looked hard and long for the entire week. i did have some fun though, thanks kellen.

split peas and sunshine

on the day you were born by debra frasier

thoughts on being green

the creative family by amanda blake soule

made from scratch by jenna woginrich

animal, vegetable, miracle by barbara kingsolver

the backyard homestead by carleen madigan

the handmade home by amanda blake soule

sewing green by betz white

how to design your own clothes and make your own patters by claudia ein

living on earth by alicia bay laurel

the art of sewing-restyling your wardrobe by time-life books

ric rac love

green love

potential in green

my mama made this sweet cookie jar for my grandmother in 1971, my grandma loved roosters.

my grandmother gave this to my sweet girl when she gave up her house. so sweet.

she loved my girl and my girl loved her. missing her so much. so luck that she had the chance to know grandma.

green comes in all shapes...mostly man made these days.

looking for buds...

to the left too...

green on a tree...not what i was looking for!

feeling the joy...

nurture and wonder...

sunshine and happiness!

{this moment}

a photo~an extraordinary moment~no words~pause~savor~remember...

we've been having much warmer weather the last 2 days but we still have all of this snow. it's actually been really nice because it is so pretty and it is melting off the streets and sidewalks so it's a little easier to travel and it's nice to play outside because it's not so bitter cold and virtually no wind.

i won't be fooled to think that we are done with winter yet, we usually get at least one more storm in march, but w'e'll enjoy it for what it's.

sweet pea is not taking any chances she's going to get at least one more helping of snow.

this time she's not going to try some magical concoction. she went right for the hot maple syrup.

hope that you are enjoying the weather that you are experiencing.