Backyard squirrel antics and some birdwatching and listening

/ Roadtirementvintage / 28 Comments

What a great day to enjoy the outside. It was windy, but wow what a wonderful sunny day with temps in the upper 70’s. Our son has been working the past couple of days straightening up the backyard, getting ready for some gardening and taking care of some weeding.

Female Cardinal, left and Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Squirrel walking past bird bath, note rocks in bowl for birds to perch

Squirrel turned around, jumped on bird bath, cartwheeled off when he hit water. See him on right ready to land, note water flowing from bowl.

Today we sat out back on our swing and did some wildlife watching. We filled both bird feeders, mounted a suet cage, and even put a couple of ears of field corn on trees. All the critters should be happy. Our son also filled one of the bird baths and put a couple of rocks in it for some for the birds to stand on while drinking. See photos above when a squirrel was surprised.

Warm sunny day with flowers and whirligigs

/ Roadtirementvintage / 14 Comments

We finally had a wonderful day, suitable for enjoying the outdoors in our backyard. Even though it was rather breezy, the sunshine and temperatures near 80 made for a most comfortable session on our canopy covered swing.

 

 

 

Our son surprised us with another colorful and striking cut flower arrangement. This time we were treated with some multi-colored daffodils in addition to the beautiful yellow blooms. It was a treat to look upon them while we enjoyed some bird watching and squirrel watching too.

While looking at birds on the feeder, I felt something hit my arm. Looking down I saw a cluster of “whirligigs” or “helicopters”, in other words maple tree seeds. Our maple tree literally covers our yard each spring with these fun adaptions to Nature’s procreations. We’ve already noticed many new maple seedlings sprouting from last years crop of fliers.

Blues at the Indianapolis Jazz Kitchen

/ Roadtirementvintage / 19 Comments

Sher and I had a most enjoyable time last night at a small music and dining venue in Indianapolis. The Jazz Kitchen is noted for providing an intimate and cozy space for drinks, dining and being up close to the evening’s entertainers. We shared the evening with Sher’s best friend from High School and her husband. Fun conversation sharing travel experiences and activities were had by all during dinner.

The live music was played by a duo of Blues performers supported by drums and bass guitar. The artists were Gordan Bonham and Paul Holdman. Bonham is well known in the Blues community, and Holdman brings an eclectic flair to his guitar work.

The first video gives you a flavor of the quality and energy of these artists and Bonham’s vocals. The second video highlights the marvelous guitar work of Holdman. Enjoy!

We had a marvelous time at the Jazz Kitchen! You can’t beat  this kind of evening: good food, marvelous entertainment and of course a close and warm time shared with old friends. Doesn’t ever get much better than that…