Living In A Nature Area

Happy Fall. I know it's already been Fall for a while, but it has been a beautiful Fall. Some years we have so much rain that the leaves fall off of the trees so early, and it is bleak and damp all day. This Fall, however, we have had glorious days filled with sunshine and gorgeous color leaves. We have had some rain, but not to the extent where it ruined the fall leaves. I live in front of a nature area, and I am amazed at the wildlife around me. I took this picture of a small hawk with a blue head. I know he's a predator, but he is beautiful.

Cool September Update

I am so far behind in my posting. I am a teacher, and I went back to work on August 19. My job does so much consume me. I love teaching, so the lesson plans, grading, and preparation take up the majority of my life. I also love my Blog though, so I am going to get back to posting on a regular basis. My special cat Jessie Rose was relaxing in the sun the other day, and I couldn't resist taking her picture. I have a few more pictures that I took this weekend. I hope you enjoy them. I am going to get busy reading, commenting, and posting this week. Thank you to all my followers who have stayed with me through my inactivity.

Jessie Rose really likes to relax in the sunshine.

The purple wildflowers behind my house look so colorful this September.

I have these gorgeous wild Black-eyed Susans behind my house.

This hawk in the nature area behind my house comes to this tree quite often.

The hawk takes off flying across the nature area.

Small Hawk

Small hawk swaying in the wind atop a tree.

Birds and Other Critters

One of the greatest advantages about where I live is that I'm ten minutes from great shopping, Starbucks, and Ulta. The other great delight is that I can go outside or look out of one of my windows, and it appears as if I live in the country. There are blue and white herons, many varieties of birds, rabbits, ducks, geese, deer, and then there are the predators, coyotes and hawks. I hope you enjoy some of the pictures I took around my house this week.

Mr. Bunny was watching me as I took his picture, but he didn't run away. We have so many rabbits. I have to put a fence around my flower garden just so I have some flowers over the summer.

This pair of ducks decided to hang out in my raspberry patch. Hopefully, little ducklings will be around soon. After the ducklings hatch, the duck family lives in the nature area behind my house.

The bird in the feeder was an interesting bird with a yellow face and white on its wings. I have never seen a bird that looks like this around here. The red-winged blackbirds were not too happy and tried to chase him away.

This is another picture of the yellow-faced bird. He is really pretty. I believe he is a yellow-faced blackbird.

I took this picture of a hawk from my dining room window today. He was flying from fence to fence, but the red-winged blackbirds chased him out of the yards. He was quite magnificent. Maybe this is a sign that I should start stitching Autumn at Hawk Run Hollow.

Winter Wonderland

After waking up to a green lawn on Christmas Day, I think the beautiful snow today is like a winter wonderland. It's quiet and peaceful inside the house.  It's always so nice to be with family during the holidays. Today I'm considering what book to start reading and what stitching project to work on. My cats enjoyed their Christmas. They got a remote control mouse that they have been chasing around for two days.

Jessie Rose is taking a nap after Christmas.

Dasher is so elegant.

Snowball fades into the carpet because he is so white.

"O.K., I'm chilaxing. What of it?"

Jessie Rose is always ready to have her picture taken.

I took this picture of a hawk. He was in a tree behind my house. I took it from my upstairs window.

I love the ice on the redwood bushes. I took this picture on Christmas Eve.