Christmas Eve 2021

Today, in the wee hours of Christmas Eve morning in NYC we probably had the most snow we will get for this year's holiday.

Glad I got a glimpse of how it looked in my garden, which as you may know, is the setting for all my books that have Words In Our Beak in their title.

Pinecones and Cardinals Spend Time With my Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi)

 I have a couple of newcomers to my garden: Pinecones!

They are on my Larix Kaempferi! 

A partial view of this evergreen tree can be seen in the image atop this entry.

Close-ups of the pinecones who have made their home in her branches can be seen in the next two images. 

I was so intrigued by the presence of these pinecones that I researched on pinecones and found lots of interesting content.

Keeping up an outdoor Christmas tree is for the birds. Tuesday's Truths WK 206

We are still dealing with a lot of snow here  in NYC and as you can see in the set of four pictures atop this enty, House sparrows, visiting my snowy garden appear to have found solace within the branches of my Christmas tree which is still up outside.

I have taken off the lights as well as my tree topper (star) but I've left the tree up so my avian friends can find shelter and warmth during winter storms.

My Recent Articles

Once again I've been out of the loop re my blogging as I've been doing research and photo shoots for a few articles I was assigned to write.

Another 2020 Snow Day

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK SERIES

In my last posting here on Blogger, which was last Thursday, December 10th, 2020, I mentioned that we were having a snow day. That incident was a wet snowfall and the accumulation was not much, nor did snow stick on the ground. 

Yesterday, December 16th 2020, six days after the aforementioned event, we had another snowfall in NYC. According to news repors, including NY1, "This is the biggest December snowfall since 2009, when we [NYC] recieved 10.9 inches that year.  It also doubled New York's total winter snowfall from last year, with 10.5 inches at Central Park." 

Most of the snowfall has ended as of this blog post.

The atmosphere it created in my garden was truly magical as you might surmise from the photograph atop this entry which I took late last night. In the next image you can see how my garden looked in relation to the buildings in close proximity.

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK SERIES

Unfortunately, the weight of the snow caused a portion of my string lights to detatch from the pole which as evidenced in the follwing photo.

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR MY BOOK SERIES

Hopefully once things melt, Juan V can stop by and reattach them.

ADDENDUM:

On 12-23-2020, Juan V was able to stop by and fix the broken zip tie (as seen in the next image)....

JV MAKING A REPAIR IN MY GARDEN
(THE PLACE WHERE WIOB* IS SET)

...which had caused the lights to come down.

Once he fixed that, he added lights to my a portion of the branches of my kiwi vines (as seen on the lefthand side in the next picture).

MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR WIOB*

*WIOB is the abbreviation for the title of my book series, Words In Our Beak where the stories are set in y rooftop garden.

MY BOOK SERIES

Christmas is one week from today!

In one week's time, it will be Christmas Day and thanks to my gardening partner in crime (Juan V), unlike Snoopy, I didn't have to unplug anything to get my Christmas tree to be lit!

AND also thanks to David Denny (DD) for taking aerial shots of my garden!

It was very late at night (Saturday 12/14) or very early Sunday morning (12/15) when DD, his entourage and I did "The Drifters" thing and went "up on the roof..."

By the way, if you look closely at these images you will see that I was able to winterize my garden by wrapping every container.

"Whistler of the North"

I took the photo of a White-throated Sparrow atop that is atop this entry when I was giving a "tour" of the Hallett Nature Sanctuary (in Central Park) to JS, the woman who allowed me to exchange copies of my book series (Words In Our Beak)...

MY BOOK SERIES

... for a  Douglas Fir Christmas Tree from Canada, where she lives.

At the time I did not realize that the song this bird sings is associated with Canada, and is often called "Whistler of the North," but this past Saturday, I came upon a you Tube video featuring this creature and his/her Canadian ties.

The White-throated sparrow has visited my rooftop garden in bygone years and is featured in volume three of my book series. If you are interested in my books, here's the purchase info:


Volume One: ISBN: 9780996378529
Book Seller Info: http://bit.ly/2AFZDCz
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2zxVujM
Barnes & Noble On-Line: http://bit.ly/2AAnB26
book culture On Columbus (a bookstore on the UWS in NYC): http://bit.ly/2FsC1Uf

Volume Two: ISBN: 9780996378536
Book Seller Info: http://bit.ly/2q75g8e
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2DY0mz0
Barnes & Noble On-Line: http://bit.ly/2G65m6H

Volume Three: ISBN: 978099637853

Book Seller Info: http://bit.ly/2IzH2iu

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2IYkmpA
Barnes & Noble On-Line: http://bit.ly/2vedQot

EACH OF THESE BOOKS CAN BE ORDERED FROM ANY PLACE SELLING BOOKS BY GIVING THEM THE TITLE, OR ISBN, OR MY NAME, PATRICIA YOUNGQUIST.

Up on the Roof! (Another Friday Follow-Up)

While it's true that I'm beyond grateful to say — as this year winds down — to have completed volume three of my book series, Words In Our Beak, the year has been very hard finically and health wise. But last night, I heeded the wisdom found in the following first stanza of a James Taylor song...

(When this old world starts a getting me down

And people are just too much for me to face

I'll climb way up to the top of the stairs

And all my cares just drift right into space

On the roof, it's peaceful as can be)

... and went up on the roof of my building. For indeed it was peaceful "up on roof" the last night, which is something you might surmise from seeing the pictures atop this entry of yours truly dressed in many layers.

It's Christmas Time in The City...

In two weeks time, it will be Christmas Eve and NYC is ready.

Here are a few examples: The Met's tree, a 20-foot-high blue spruce is hung with ornate Neapolitan angels, and the base of the tree is the setting for an elaborate Italian Nativity scene; the tree in close proximity (Dante Park) to Lincoln Center was lit on the Monday after Thanksgiving, November twenty-sixth (the same night as my presentation at NYSEC aka New York Society for Ethical Culture); and the in the evening of the Wednesday after Thanksgiving the tree at Rockefeller Center was lit (more of NYC's Christmas decor can be found on a web page for trip savvy).

Inside the AMNH (The American Museum of Natural History) a nondenominational holiday tree decorated with origami animals (800-plus folded-paper critters) is up and outside, at the building's entrance across from Central Park, is a topiary of two dinosaurs, facing each other as they hold a wreath; prompting my caption, "With this wreath, I thee wed."

Friday Follow Up: "Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree ...."

The nearly one year old photo atop this entry features Christmas tree sellers from Gaspé, Quebec, Canada; and it is one I featured in my Christmas Day post for 2017.

I'm including it again within this entry because I've reconnected with JM, the woman in the middle of this image.

UPDATE on my "rescue tree."

It's the last day of 2017, and, as I stated in my early morning blog entry, I will be publishing a few postings today. This day marks seven days since I rescued an abandoned Christmas tree (which was in a stand) from the streets of NYC during the morning of Christmas Eve.

I "reported" this news here on Blogger, after I found the abandoned tree. I also published a follow up post about this. However, it was only yesterday, six days after my find, that I realized a "chunk" was missing from the bottom of my "find." This is indicated by the red arrow (right) which is affixed to the two images atop this post. Both pictures feature my tree (standing in my rooftop garden) after the snow "landed" on it yesterday, making the missing branches noticeable.

My rescue tree was fit to be tied (sort of). Wednesday's Wisdom

Yesterday was Boxing Day and a woman who lives in the building directly across the courtyard from me came over to my place with her friend who has traveled to NYC for the Christmas holidays. They helped me string lights on the Christmas tree which I have in my rooftop garden. (This tree is a rescue as I mentioned in a recent entry here on Blogger.)

The results of their welcome labor can be seen in the photo atop this entry. I've affixed a red arrow (left) to the image to indicate a plug (right) that leads to a power source which will accommodate the lights on my tree topper. I hope to put it up in the coming days, but first I need to find a way to secure it to the tree because it gets very windy in my garden.

My rescue tree rescued me.

THE STORIES IN MY BOOK SERIES ARE SET  MY GARDEN

Twas the night before the night before Christmas; and I found myself disappointed about having no tree. For the past several years, I've had one in my rooftop garden and in a number of cyber venues, (including posts here on Blogger), I have discussed how I've decorated it with white lights as well as  bird feeders.

I think my not having a tree when it was the night before the night before Christmas would have come as a surprise to Juan V, because the last time that he was here to help me do our winterizing ritual in my garden, he firmly predicted that I would get one. He even left a space for a Christmas tree with an easy to access a power cord to use for any lights that I might hang on it. All of this can be seen in the image atop this entry.

The thought of having no Christmas tree for the array of wild birds who visit here and who have used my various Christmas trees to keep warm over the years made me sad. And I dare say that members of the avian community have come to count on it.

Oh, Christmas Tree! Oh, Christmas Tree, how lovely are your needles! Wednesday's Wisdom: It's time (for Spike) to get out the ladder!

Since 2017's Christmas is now only five days away (as of this posting), I'm disappointed to say that it looks as if I will definitely not be able to put up a Christmas tree for the array of wild birds who visit my rooftop garden. At least I will not have to ask a tree to bend down so that I can put a star on top of it, which Spike (aka Snoopy) is having to do, as evidenced in the comic strip posted atop this entry.

However, I'm truly disappointed that medical circumstances have wiped me out for now; and getting a Christmas tree, as well as many other things (including many of them being essential necessities) is impossible at this time.

I'm having a BLUE Pre-Christmas Season.

THE STORIES ARE SET IN MY GARDEN

For the past five years I've had a Christmas tree in my rooftop garden. I've always decorated my Christmas tree with lights and have hung ornaments that are bird feeders filled with suet which I replenish on a frequent basis.

My standard has been to put up a Christmas tree anytime between December twelfth and December seventeenth, then leave it standing until mid February. This way the array of wild birds who visit my garden will have a place to keep warm during the coldest winter months as they nosh. The Christmas tree seen in the picture atop this entry is the one I had last year.

Tuesday's Truths WK 68: More Tree-Lined Streets in the UWS of NYC

Welcome to week sixty-fifth of my Tuesday's Truths series, dear reader! I wanted to let you know that this past Thursday, The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade had barely finished before NYC began to see more tree-lined streets, as evidenced in the images atop this blog post.

With the exception of the first image, the pictures feature Christmas trees that are brought down from by French-Canadians who dominate New York's Christmas tree market.

Thursday's Tale: "It's coming on Christmas. They're cutting down trees..."

"It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees...," is a lyric lines from the popular song River, written  by Joni Mitchell. I thought of her song this past Saturday, when the Rockefeller Christmas tree arrived in NYC. The You Tube video posted above features a slice of the event and I have posted more information on Facebook.

It seems a shame  to sacrifice such a health tree for this purpose. One small consolation: once the entire 2017-2018 Christmas holiday season has passed, and the tree is taken down, Habitat for Humanity will build houses from lumber derived from this Christmas tree.

Wednesday's Wisdom Perching Birds' Footwork

The images atop this blog post have to do with an exotic Canadian Palm tree that I've had in my rooftop garden since Christmas time. The first picture is one that you may recognize as I included it in a prior entry here on Blogger, and it was taken before any snow fell for the 2016-2017 winter season.

You might also recognize the second and third photographs as they are included in an entry here on Blogger that I published this past January. The "traditional" Christmas tree seen in the third image (towards the top in the center) was taken down in February, but my Canadian Palm Tree is still standing in the southwest corner of my rooftop garden.

I got both of the trees from Sébastien, who can be seen in the image below,

on the left side of the photo, and he proclaimed that the Canadian Palm tree along with all the (Christmas trees he sells) is Gluten Free.

The trees were delivered to me by way of his cart,

and I requested that he leave the tag (stating EXOTIC CANADIAN PALM TREE) intact. My request has proven to be good for my visiting birds, for a number of them have used the palm tree's tag as a place to perch while enjoying suet from a basket-like bird feeder that I've hung on that tree, as evidenced by the photos below.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Is some one going to be buying me a diamond ring?

During the month of January in the year 2015, a bird type that I'd never seen before, visited my rooftop garden, here NYC. 

He/she can be seen within the picture atop this entry (in an image taken at that time). And as you can see, he/she has a morsel of food in his/her beak. This happens to be suet which he/she availed him/herself from one of a dozen suet-basket feeders that I had hung on a Christmas tree in my garden. The bird type that I am speaking of is a Northern mockingbird; and, as I just stated, he/she began to visit my garden in January of 2015 (or at least that is when I first noticed him/her). I immediately named him/her Harper, in honor of the dearly departed author, Harper Lee, who was alive at the time, but has since died (one year ago today).

In any event, from January the 15th of 2015 through the present, Harper has been visiting my garden on a fairly regular basis. I've written about him/her in posts within my cyber venues of Blogger, Facebook, hometalk, as well as tumblr. Additionally, I have a vast number of photographs of him/her on Pinterest (and there are a few images of him/her on Instagram). 

Moreover, I "covered" his/her antics when I participated in The GBBC (Great Backyard Bird Count) in 2015, I "documented" my findings by putting together a mini video which can be viewed within my Vimeo Library.

I never tire of seeing this lovely bird in my midst! And I was particularly grateful that he/she was able to survive the recent snowstorm here in NYC, as evidenced by my entries re the subject here on Blogger (that you may refer to by clicking here and here). The following are additional images (not included in the aforementioned snowstorm posts) of "my" Northern mockingbird spending time in my garden's winter wonderland during that time.

 And he/she continues to dine here, as evidenced in the following image!

But, during all of my encounters with this awesome bird type, I've yet to hear him/her sing! So, I ask you, dear reader, does this mean, that since I have not heard him/her sing, is some one going to be buying me a diamond ring? (As the song in the You Tube video posted below suggests.....)