Today I am linking with-
Wild Bird Wednesday hosted by Stewart M.
Today's Flowers hosted by Denise
Saturday Critters hosted by Eileen
Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher
I Heart Macro hosted by Laura
For my wild blue birds, I again present some Steller's Jays- "Which is better, my right side-"
"Or perhaps my back side?"
"My breaking wave impersonation."
And now for a domestic bird, my Blue Maran hen, who lays chocolate eggs- "Cold? not me."
"I know it's here somewhere...."
"Back off!"
"La belle Cocoa"
This week in my continuing blooming houseplant series, another tough plant, and easy to propagate from cuttings- my Christmas Cactus bloomed late, it is the red variety. Better late than never-
Spring draws slowly closer, buds seem to be forming on the Hellebores. I am waiting for spring....
Hannah or cameras are macro
©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved. I enjoy visiting your blog and commenting but can't do so if google+ is the only option, so will comment here instead.
Wild Bird Wednesday hosted by Stewart M.
Today's Flowers hosted by Denise
Saturday Critters hosted by Eileen
Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher
I Heart Macro hosted by Laura
For my wild blue birds, I again present some Steller's Jays- "Which is better, my right side-"
"Or my left side?"
"Or perhaps my back side?"
"My breaking wave impersonation."
And now for a domestic bird, my Blue Maran hen, who lays chocolate eggs- "Cold? not me."
"Can you say 'pulchritude'?"
"I know it's here somewhere...."
"Back off!"
Cocoa's egg is on the left, apparently the "factory" ran out of paint partly down the chute. The egg is on the extra large/jumbo size, and the yolks are gloriously golden orange, especially compared to those store bought eggs, even organic, that don't eat fresh grass daily-
She makes me think about how God promises to hide me under the wings of His protection and love, when I abide in His secret place of worship and praise, and say to Him, "I am Yours."
Spring draws slowly closer, buds seem to be forming on the Hellebores. I am waiting for spring....
Hannah or cameras are macro
©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved. I enjoy visiting your blog and commenting but can't do so if google+ is the only option, so will comment here instead.
Hello Hannah, I love the Stellar Jays. I am sure they are fun to have around.. And Cocoa the chicken is pretty. Your cactus blooms are beautiful. Wonderful series of photos. Thank you so much for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos delightfully presented. Thanks especially for all the humour - great fun!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend
Thanks, Derek, I wrack my brain for some hopefully witty comments, some other bloggers have been my inspiration. I would love to have some of your lizards around to watch as well.
DeleteGive me your address and I'll pop a few in the post to you..... only kidding - even if I wanted to I couldn't, They run faster than the wind.
DeleteBy the way they're called Butterfly Lizards because (and I quote from my pocket reptile guide), ".... the boldly contrasting flank colours that are displayed to ward off intruders... ....with some imagination resemble a butterfly's wings when seen from above".
With quite a lot of imagination actually.
Butterfly Lizards are endemic to our area. They're super sweet and great fun.
Keep up the fun and witty posts please.
I'll be back.... as that big Austrian bloke says.
Thanks, Eileen, I finally got a movie to load on blogger. I had to pare it down a lot. Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteStellar jays are such a bright blue. Handsome birds.
ReplyDeleteThanks, it is funny to me that the chicken breeders call the Blue Maran "blue", when it is easy to see by comparison that she is not blue at all.:-)
DeleteThank you for sharing these Hannah. The photos of the Steller's Jay which is such a pretty blue are great. I love your chickens. They are adorable, especially the one with 'back off. Great commentary! The cactus blooms are beautiful! The color is such a vibrant red. Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Denise, she is a pretty hen. I wouldn't have picked out such an ornamental breed but I got her from my DIL who had trouble with predators and wanted me to take her. I actually like to raise ducks for eggs, they are better layers in general, but definitely not as beautiful.
DeleteThat is really interesting. I have never tried a duck egg before. There is a store that used to sell them but not sure if they do any more. I will have to take a look next time I go and will buy some.
DeleteThe Stellar's jays are wonderful! They sure didn't want to share in the video. :-) But, my favorite was your wonderful hen with her chocolate eggs! I too am always reminded of how God protects us under His wings, when I see chickens. They are one of my favorite birds and seeing them with little broodies under their wings is such a treat. She's a gorgeous hen!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marie, she has such big eyes and gentle expression, and is such a sweet chicken. I've never raised baby chicks with a mother hen though, that would be fun to watch.
DeleteThe Stellar's jays are beautiful and I like the vivid red color of your Christmas cactus.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Romi, it's great to have the flowers no matter when they bloom.
DeleteWow! that Jay is really blue - so pretty!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful fluffy chicken. I can imagine how warm she is under all those feathers - like living in Grandma's feather bed!
Lovely cactus!
Have a great week-end!
Lea
Lovely Jay and hen shots. I'll bet those huge brown eggs taste delicious!:)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sonjia, they are very good eggs.
DeleteGreat pictures of the jay and the chicken. My mother used to always have a Christmas cactus blooming. So pretty.
ReplyDeleteIt's tricky to get them to bloom at the right time, I guess if I knew what I was doing I could do better. The flowers always make me think of birds with their wings spread.
DeleteWhat beautiful eggs she lays!!!
ReplyDeleteI love your Christmas cactus, blooming just because, rather than at Christmas!!!
She's a very tame chicken raised by my 5 grandkids who played with her constantly. The cactus has its own idea when it wants to bloom.
DeleteBluebirds seem to like to hand around while their pictures are taken..My most recent post is of our eastern bluebirds..Love your hens!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Missy, my blue-colored birds are fun, and I like your actual bluebirds.
DeleteThe jays are lovely from all sides and the hens are so cute. I love the Christmas cactus too. I never remember to take photos of mine. Maybe because it's so dark in winter that the photos always turn out terrible. Enjoy your weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gunilla, I was happy to finally succeed loading a video I took. They are fun to watch. It was hard to find good lighting to take the cactus so it didn't look like a red blob.
Deletecute hen. love your jays! so pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks, she is amazingly fluffy. Her "blue" is such a contrast to a real blue bird, I have to laugh.
DeleteI love your birdies. Someday, I'm going to see a Stellar for meself.
ReplyDelete~
Thanks, I know how you feel, so many pretty birds out there. Those Australians really have me wanting to see their beautiful birds. Someday.....
DeleteFina bilder. Hos mig har kaktusarna blommat över
ReplyDeleteHa en fin Söndag
Meta
Tack, Meta, njuta av din kaktus blommor!
DeleteThe Steller's Jay is a very interesting and beautiful bird. I've never seen one before. i'm glad I stopped by.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ratty, I'm glad you found your way to my blog. I liked your hike, I don't get out enough, being busy with animals here.
DeleteWonderful photography as always, but my favorites are your shots of the Blue Maran hen. She reminds me of the Blue Andalusians that I had several years ago. Beautiful birds and very friendly, they were a joy to have in the backyard.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dorothy, she is a lovely bird, and so sweet. I'm glad she is laying eggs better than I anticipated.
ReplyDeleteThe Jay looks good from all angles! Nice bird.
ReplyDeleteCheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
PS: work has settled down, school and summer holidays just about over, normal device will now be resumed!
Thanks, Stewart, he is a good poser. The Jays haven't been around much lately though.
DeleteDearest Hannah; I wish I could see Jays here, very adorable yes from all angles :-) And
ReplyDeleteChristmas Cactus is very pretty, making me wish to visit you to enjoy your gorgeous plants, dear friend.
Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*
That's so sweet, Miyako, it would be fun to visit Japan and see all the sights there. The Christmas cactus blooms are rather fleeting, but that's why I like to have a wide variety of plants to hopefully have something blooming all the time.
DeleteFabulous series of photos. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret, have fun with your birding
DeleteI do love the tail feathers of the jays, and the beautiful cactus flower too. Thanks for sharing the love up-close with I Heart Macro Hannah.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laura, you do such great ice art. Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteUndoubtedly, great photos, it seems pretty bird catches!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Leovi, and Cocoa is such a tame bird that I don't even have to chase her to put her away.
DeleteBeautiful photos ! The bird in the first two pictures looks so funny !
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gattina, they are amusing.
DeleteHerlige fugler! Den blå er selvfølgelig veldig fin fra alle kanter :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Villrose, I agree, the Jays don't seem to have a bad side. Except they are rather raucous pushy birds, but cute.
ReplyDeleteHello Hannah, another beautiful and fun post! Love the Jay and all the poses!
ReplyDeleteYour hens are delightful... chuckled at the 'back off' photo. Nice eggs too.
A beautiful cactus flower. Yes, they are tough... I have a pink one and it puts up with a lot!
Thank you and cheers for now :D)
Thanks, Susan, I enjoy the birds and chickens, especially the fresh eggs. I just wish I knew how to get the Christmas cactus to bloom at Christmas, that would be nice! I enjoyed all your Aussie food and celebration.
Deletelove the birds first of all. :) Fine shots of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, aren't they adorable.
ReplyDeleteHi Hannah,thanks for your visit, so nicety meet you. My climate is like yours except that we often also miss out on the spring, autumn and winter rains. A lot of dragging hoses if we have enough rainwater to water with. We are totally reliant on our own rainwater storage, both in tanks and dams for cattle and sheep. I hate the hot weather since we have extremes of temperature that burn the garden and prostrate me, so I look forward to the cooler temps and the autumn rains to green up my paddocks.
ReplyDeleteLove your chocolate egg. I only have two bantams and one of them lays blue eggs, they have the run of the garden during the day. Cheers . . . Arija
Interesting to hear about your struggles with water, perhaps you use permaculture. I can see why you would like autumn there. Bantams are fun little chickens. Hugs from the PNW.
DeleteOh, those Christmas cactus! My Mother adored them. I have one that has never bloomed. But, I do love the green of the plant and I still have hope, :-)
ReplyDeleteMy experience with Christmas cactus is that if they are in a place where they are exposed to artificial light at night it keeps them from blooming. Mine have to be kept in the basement window where we don't spend time at night, behind other pots, so they don't get any night lighting, so then they develope buds there and I can bring them upstairs to watch them bloom.
DeleteThe Jay is gorgeous from any angle! And he knows it! Love your Christmas cactus. After babying them as house plants when we lived in Oregon, I was amazed and awed to find out they grew beautifully outdoors here in Florida. (I don't garden any more , but I love looking at other peoples beautiful ones ... And taking pictures!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sallie, you must have lots of lovely birds in Florida. It's great you could grow orchids outdoors there.
DeleteOh those lovely fresh eggs look and sound amazing.
ReplyDeleteYes, the chickens make chores every day and make it hard to get away, but the eggs are great.
DeleteYa a Jay talks.
ReplyDeleteBut it forgot the places above and below it.
Ya a Jay talks.
ReplyDeleteBut it forgot the places above and below it.
Thanks Rainfield, I might have a photo from above, but I don't know how to photograph the Jay from below, that would be tricky.
DeleteHannah you captured such beautiful photos of this Steller Jay! Your hen looks very content--her eggs are magnificent!
ReplyDeleteI like both the crest and the beautiful blue color on it´s back :)
ReplyDelete