Happy Halloween

Hello Everyone! We are hanging in here at Planet Nice Crafts. The weather has been quite nice this month so outside time was taken advantage of as much as possible with exercise and gardening. Though I had high hopes, the garden petered out soon after the last post during the first week of October. There was a chilly evening and almost everything (except the kale, of course) decided to pack it in for the growing season. The tomatillo was the first to give up followed by the string beans and the pumpkins. The tomatoes and peppers held in as best as they could until the last harvest was picked last weekend. Not everything was ripe so I am trying to ripen the pumpkins, tomatoes, and peppers indoors with mixed success. All at the plot is tidied up for the winter except for the kale, a couple of cabbages that refuse to grow, and delicate peas. We are supposed to get some nice weather next week here in the Chicago area but I think it will be a very lucky occurrence if the peas make it – they are covered with plastic, but gardening teaches you that life is quite fragile.

Sewing continues to be a little here, a little there. Nothing to report except I am hoping with the garden cleaned up and short and mid range planning for Planet Nice Crafts complete, that some time will become available to get the machine humming once again.

Because of the beautiful weather and the return of the fantastic Southern sun exposure, I spent some time during the day working near the birdbath with camera at the ready. It was nice to see some different birds this month besides the bullying robins and invasive house sparrows. When I remember, I play around with the BirdNET bird sound identification phone app, it is really fun and highly recommended.

The first bird I would like to share with you is this white-crowned sparrow, common, but exciting enough for me. And like any bird, a challenge to photograph because they move fast and hop all around.

One of reasons why the birds like the patio so much this time of year is that there are many bugs to eat which makes a tasty layover during migrating. When it gets too cold and bugs die-off, the birds have been long gone. The white-crowned sparrows nest in Alaska and northern Canada then migrate south for the winter.

The second bird was a lifetime photography opportunity. I only had two shots before she flew away – one is spectacular, the other no but still attractive.

This is a female red-bellied woodpecker, also common, but I have never seen one before. Or, if I have, I didn’t know what I was looking at. I love these photos with the extra bonus that the water in the birdbath has a ton of motion. It must have been a breezy day – it looks Photoshopped, but it isn’t. These birds don’t migrate per se but I am sure she’ll go south if she needs more plentiful food.

The last bird is a member of the migrating group, specifically a myrtle yellow-rumped warbler. I had at least one maybe more of these females reside near my home for a few weeks taking in all the bugs. They moved fast but actually were quite friendly. I had the most shots of these birds - these are the best two.

I think these are females rather than juveniles because the yellow patches are distinct as well as the stripes, but I could be wrong. These birds spent the summer in Canada, Alaska, and other Northern states and are on their way south for the winter. It is always fun to see them because they are very active besides just flying away from you.

This time of year, I usually make a big postage stamp purchase so I am pretty much set for the remainder of the year. This year’s artist stamp is Ruth Asawa, and the stamps of her wire sculpture are quite beautiful.

                                    Source: Ruth Asawa

The source link is definitely worth a visit if you hadn't heard of her before like me. I like this artist series for that very reason.

Stay Safe and see you next month!