Tag: Hummingbird

Where Friends Gather

“Gardens are not made by sitting in the shade.”- Rudyard Kipling

Maria lost no time today prepping the garden paths for our installation project, only a week away now. She removed buried rock, the few remaining weeds and leveled some hardened clay bumps and lumps.

Meanwhile, I set about expanding the Hummingbird Garden, giving the plants a little more breathing room, as the Russian Sage continues its skyward march.


Nothing gives us greater joy than seeing that the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden has become such a gathering place for friends – of all kinds. Today, in addition to walkers and trainers, we played host to frogs,

butterflies –

and our newest volunteer gardener; Pat’s newly adopted Penny.


If you’re a regular reader, you may remember her as Blossom. She’s a beauty – and great company in the garden.

The Hummingbirds returned,

this time displaying an amazing courtship ritual of aerial acrobatics. While the female sat on the wire playing hard-to-get;

the male rocketed high into the sky,

and then dive-bombed back to earth and to her…over and over and over again.

Some honored guests shared photos with us of the garden when it was nothing but a field of mud and weeds. We have come a long, long way.

The best friend visits of all, of course, are the dogs. Today’s line-up included Sanctuary pups Bebe and Veronica,


Hank Spoon…now Hank, The Spoon (more on that in another post),

Eastman,

Goldie,

Denver,

Susie and Hope,

Brittany,

and two extra-special friends. This little girl was found by one of our trainers on the side of a country road.

There’s not a stitch of Golden in her – except her obvious affection for people –

so we’ll have to craft a rescue plan for her. We call her Sanka – for her coffee-colored spots.

But the most heart-warming moment of the day belonged to Snuffy.

You saw him here a few weeks ago; shaved and obviously in need of adding a few pounds.

We watched him, hopefully, visiting the garden with a family considering fostering –

then saw them leaving together a short time later. That people can see beyond Snuffy’s missing coat and temporary rat-tail to see the adoring dog within, makes all efforts worthwhile.

Make a volunteer gardener’s day: adopt, foster, rescue. Who knows? We might even plant something in your honor.

Hummingbird Cloaking Device: Me

OK. I’m an idiot.
The elusive Hummingbird finally made an appearance at the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden this weekend, and I pretty much blew the photo opportunity.

Turns out he really does love the bed we planted for him, full of Russian Sage, Scarlet Bugler Penstemon and Blue Salvia. There are plenty of treasures in there for the butterflies as well.

I spotted him while taking a break under the shade of the pear trees. And that’s probably the problem…”under the shade”. The Hummingbird was drinking up the Russian Sage in full sun, and I was in full shade. Doh!

I set the camera to shutter-priority to catch his rapid movement, but did not adjust the ISO or Aperture to allow enough light. Amateur! Then I happily snapped a good 50 pictures in rapid-fire succession. Rule #1 ignored; check your shot. I ran to show Maria my prize – and saw only darkness in the viewfinder.

I could have set the camera to Auto. I could have walked out into the sunshine. But no.

Photoshop was created for pretend photographers like me.

In Photoshop I adjusted the levels and tone…and while the image is not what I intended, it is kind of ethereal and seems almost fitting given the bird’s iridescent feathers.


I swear this bird has magical cloaking powers, buzzing around – heard, but unseen all summer – and now this mishap.



He did make a quick return, allowing me to capture just a couple of quick shots…in the sun!

So there you have it. Lesson learned. At least I didn’t forget to put the memory card in.

End of September Update

The humans were a little sluggish this morning at Homeward Bound. I’m not sure if it was the late-into-the-evening fundraiser for the organization, or the weatherman’s promise of 100-degree temperatures…on September 30th. Enough already! While we pounded coffee, the dogs and creatures were up and at ’em. Bees…

butterflies…

frogs…

and even the Hummingbird made its appearance!

We created a garden bed just for this fellow, but he has eluded us all summer – until now. More in another blog about how I almost blew his photo, and the interesting Photoshop save and results.

The only thing not moving was this Crawdad that must have made its way from the draining rice fields. The yards have been full of them, but this one was strangely silent.

Not to be shown up, Maria, Pat and I got busy dead-heading and preparing for the paths that will be installed in two weeks. Here’s Pat hard at work!

With the weeds beaten back, we can’t wait to cover this uneven baked clay earth in three inches of walk-on mulch which will show off the beds beautifully.

Once the paths are in, the goal is to expand the beds. Ina will extend the Cottage Garden across the length of the front entrance,

we’ll create some needed space in the over-grown Hummingbird garden,

Sue and Jeff have planned beds of pansies under the trees (once the weather cools!), and Maria was so inspired by the removal of the blackberries, that she has already begun the task of doubling the size of the Herb Garden.


Across the way she dressed the St. Francis bed for fall.

Goldie gave it the once over, and her approval.

And with that, the parade was on! This is Hank Spoon.

A terrible name for a sweetheart of a boy. Maybe someone will adopt him and change it to something more befitting.

Brutus and Sierra came in search of refreshment. They are still looking for their ‘fur-ever’ home together.

Goldie, number two. A beauty with, what look like, Collie ears.

Scout and Huck are new arrivals. Scout is part Golden and part Corgi. One of our gardeners already has her eye on him. Occupational hazard? Or master plan? I’ll keep you posted.

Huck is a people-loving little thing, who will do well with someone dedicated to his training and who can match his obvious enthusiasm!

Bones helped himself to another apple from the tree. He can’t hear, but he can see and smell! (Remember not to let them eat the cores!)

Bo-Bo and Hershey are not available for adoption, so they can call the garden ‘home’.

And finally, Wedo. This sweet pup has led a ‘sheltered’ life and needs someone who will be devoted to helping him discover life beyond. In exchange, you will be the recipient of this adoring gaze!

There is a lot more to catch you up on, but it is late, and I promised to bake triple chocolate cranberry cookies for work tomorrow…so off I go! See you back here soon.