Crane Family Photoshoot

 Hello Everyone!

Finally, some rain the past week which lead to a few free hours to write to you instead of setting up and watching sprinklers. I hope the summer has gone well for you so far. Funny that kids are going back to school next week but summer goes until September 21 technically.

The emphasis as of late has been the garden, not just watering, but feeble attempts to contain the weeds, harvesting, cooking, and taking photos. The longest duration harvests have been kale and poppy seeds. The green beans came in with a flourish but were finished and just not looking very good, so they were extracted and a few bean seeds planted in their place. The tomatoes have started ripening, the fruits are big and tend to be very juicy and messy. The peppers look great and just started too with the tomatillo and ground cherries not quite hitting their stride yet. The cucurbits - cucumbers, watermelon, and pumpkin - are growing and doing battle with the cucumber beetles. We are not winning the battle, but we are not completely losing either. I picked five cucumbers last night.

I am overwhelmed by the harvest even with the food pantry receiving the overflow. Cooking has so far included zucchini bread, roasted tomatoes, and tuna with potatoes and chick peas (I am being gifted much produce too). I hope to bake some pies and other pastry soon. What gets cooked next is determined by the condition of the harvested item (is it leaky? is it threatening to go soft?). The poppy seeds, requiring the highest amount of labor to harvest, have been stored in the refrigerator waiting. I need to research some recipes for them.

One of the biggest joys at the community garden this year has been watching a sandhill crane family. There was a period in July that I saw them almost every time I was out especially if it was earlier in the day, in the last week or so, not at all. The pair has one chick which is called a colt (yes, just like with horses - it must be the long legs). I brought the Canon Rebel twice to the garden so I could take high quality photos. Luckily I was able to catch the family when the colt was fluffy, yellow, and extra cute and during the more awkward and less cute tween phase. They are not afraid if you respect distance and don't make a lot of noise.

The colt is on the move with his or her little wings!

There were many photos taken, and it was tough to choose which ones to present here. I looked for ones that had more than one bird and that both birds were in focus. I need to learn more about photography because right now I just concentrate on getting the subject in frame.

Nap Time with Mom and Dad

The Tween

Hanging Out with Mom and Dad

(while they keep their eyes on wild human children)

On the Move

The earring box is finished and I am pleased with the result. 

I am so proud that I remembered that I had a beautifully embroidered letter A to add to the cover. I didn't have quite enough fabric for the inside of the cover so I added a piece of ribbon. 

After the top/cover was completed, it did fit to the bottom like a glove. For once, something turned out easier than anticipated - probably due to all of the measurements I had taken throughout.

Other tidbits include finally getting a photo of a catbird, a pandemic favorite.

My reading took a slight dip once I finished with the Game of Thrones' A Storm of Swords. I moved on to The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA by Doug Mack which gave summaries of: US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico - the good and the not so good. All places I would visit to experience. So until then, I definitely want to read more about each one. I then took a reading detour and a read a couple of books on women's health, not so fun, before returning to my plan with Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner. Ordinary Wolves is a satisfying fiction book looking at growing up in the Alaskan wilderness, on the outskirts of an indigenous community, so another look at the good and not so good.

Until next time, feel free to reach out with comments, questions, a chat on your gardening, sewing, reading, or anything else Nice! planetnicecrafts@gmail.com