Me and the birds

Give me a kiss, Harley.

His Holiness

the Darby Lama.

Harley supervising

She just wants to make sure everything goes in the right place.

Harley is packing too!

In preparation for our move, Harley has decided she wants to be in THIS box.

Darby with fuzz

Sometimes they look so silly when they think they are done preening.

Darby in profile

He is a handsome lad, isn't he?

A Derbyan closeup

What a fierce face!

Harley in profile

Just cause she looks so pretty.

Sometimes

Darby is just a little curmudgeon

Sharing a bowl of cereal

with her Daddy Bird.

Blow a kiss

Harley sometimes even gestures when she blows you a kiss, kissing her toe and "blowing" it towards you, just like we will with our hands.

My little buddy

He likes to go wherever I do, including into the bathroom while I put on makeup and do my hair.

A bird in the hand...

is sometimes just worth a bird in the hand, LOL.

Curious Darby

My little Derbyan Parakeet is very curious when I seem to be pointing this silver thing (camera phone) at him.

More curiosity

Harley gets curious about the camera.

Harley

Our beautiful Harlequin Macaw, Harley.

Beautiful

A great closeup of Darby.

Darby

My pretty boy.

Harley

the Cuddle Monster.

Cuddle closeup

A great closeup of Harley and Aaron cuddling.

The new nest

Harley has found a new place to nest in our new home, LOL.

Yep. Harley is a girl.

As she proved when she laid this egg (her first) on Sunday evening, November 11, 2007. (It wasn't fertile, just in case you are wondering.)

Sparrow

Ok, ok. Not "technically" one of our feathered kids, but I just love to feed and hang with these bold little birds

Aaron and Myrrhia

Aaron and his sister Myrrhia.

Myrrhia, Aaron, and Isaac

Aaron's sister and her new hubby Isaac.

Aaron, Dad and Helen

Our belated Christmas day

Aaron and his Mom

Christmas Day 2007.

Bob and Mom

Christmas Day 2007.

Bob cozy in his chair

Aaron's stepdad immediately dove into the book on classic American roads and highways, being a very enthusiastic driver.

The children

Bob and Mom's current kids.

Schmookie

King of all he surveys.

John Barchi and Lydia Fox

Best friends forever, well, for over 20 years anyway. I had the delightful honor of performing their wedding as reverend.

The Rader Family

Scott, Shelly and Grace

Grace

Almost always smiling or laughing

My friend Bill

I worked with him for years at Barnes & Noble. He made every work day with him a happy one.

Lenny

I just love this guy! He works at the B&N cafe now and absolutely spoils me.

Bagpiper at church

Yeah. I said that. We had a bagpiper at church as part of a memorial anniversary. I admit it. We UUs are weird.

Amber

Our friend Amber Vallette from church.

Spring Fountain

Spring has sprung around this gorgeous fountain.

Flowers around the fountain

Beautiful colors in the sun.

More flowers around the fountain

...

Yet more flowers around the fountain

...

Birds of paradise

Such a stunning flower.

A bird of paradise blossom

...

Another bird of paradise

...

A pair

of birds of paradise.

The Pond

A close up of the pond. If you look closely, you can see a sleeping Donald Duck on the log in the middle.

North End

The pond's north end. This is where the beaver is sighted most frequently. I have no idea why the light is so funky though, faery magic?

South End

The pond's northern end, where the ducks usually congegrate. More faery magic in the color, I think.

The Beaver

At long last, the beaver in our pond has been photographed.

On the move

The beaver moves through the pond.

The Branch

The beaver moves toward a branch. This is a great shot because you get an awesome glimpse of it's teeth.

The beaver begins

The beaver works it's way through the branch. See the white beginning to show on the left?

More work to be done

The beaver continues to work methodically down the branch.

Getting there

The beaver moves farther down the branch. I swear this is one of the coolest sites ever.

Daisy Duck

and two of her rapidly growing babies.

Another view

of Daisy and her babies.

Donald Duck

Daisy's oh so faithful mate and presumably the father of her chicks.

An uninvited guest

At our church picnic in May 2007.

Hey!

That's OUR potato salad!

On the trail

I decided to follow this admittedly cute little thief.

The grill

She dashes into an unused barbeque grill.

Under the grill

I see a bunch of scurrying. There is more than one squirrel under there...

Hey you!

There are babies under the grill!

Curious

A baby becomes more curious as to who is out there.

Taking a peek

A baby takes a peek from the "entrance".

A little closer

A baby comes a little farther out.

Looking

The little squirrel finally decides to come out and look me in the eye.

Others come out

After apparently deciding that I am not a threat, other babies come out to look.

Babies at play

They became comfortable enough to play as if I wasn't there.

On the grate

One sits on the grate gazing calmly at me.

A perfect day

Watching these baby squirrels and being able to get SO close made for a perfect day.

The baby ducks

foraging through the pond.

Resting in the sun

Daisy and her babies (including a slightly younger one she seems to have adopted somehow) take a rare break from feeding.

Intruder Alert!

After hearing an anxious Daisy quacking for all she was worth, I saw there was an intruder in the pond.

Keeping an eye out

The raccoon keeping an anxious eye on the infuriated Daisy.

Foraging

The racoon foraging in the pond.

Angry Daisy

An angry Daisy quacked at the raccoon the whole time he was in the pond (hidden by the rushes in this photo).

Baby ducks

The baby ducks weren't at all concerned at the raccoon, as you can see with this one just swimming around, completely uncocerned.

Unconcerned

This baby duck doesn't seem to be afraid of the raccoon either, as he continues his leisurely feeding.

Raccoon leaving

Having gotten whatever it is he came for, the raccoon makes a careful crossing of a log.

Bye bye!

The raccoon makes a swift exit from the pond.