A stool finds another purpose in life.

A little over one month ago here on Blogger I published a post discussing how Juan V was able to help me turn a broken wooden top of a stool into a plant stand, which ultimately held a container that housed one of my Heuchera plants. In this aforementioned blog post, I included a copy of the photo which is atop this entry.

Unfortunately soon after this a woman who was visiting my garden knocked over the  stand and my Heuchera's pot shattered into several pieces.

Subsequently this plant was able  to be repotted  — but not into a container which fit the stool turned plant stand's constraints. 

In the interium I placed an empty claypot into the stand but have not been able to plant anything in that spot. Therfore during our recent tremendous heat wave, I placed a shallow bowl of water atop the empty claypot. 

My intention in doing this was to provide yet another place for visiting birds to take a drink and/or to bathe in my garden which is something they need to do more than ever during tremendous heat.

Blue jays continue to beat the heat in my garden! (Tuesday's Truths WK 220)

No, the  Blue jay seen in the picture atop this entry is probably not using his/her feathers as a means to hide from the camera.

Trying to keep cool!

Lyrics from a golden oldie say, "Hot time summer in the city...." but the official start of summer isn't until 6-21, which is still a couple of weeks away, and at this time I'm (along with many peoplwe) are really quite ill from this heat.

Birds also need to beat the heat as it's been hard for them to cool down too one of te ways they do thid is to "pant" (which is something I discussed in my 5-23-2021 post here on Blogger). 

Another ways birds can cool down is by sitting in a shallow bath of cold water.

A Bird's Form of Panting (to cool down) Tuesday's Truths WK 217

The “real feel” temperatures climbed into the 90's this past weekend and weather conditions like this are very hard on our avian community. I am very mindful of having fresh water for them but it is still very difficult for them to cool down in situations like this. One thing birds do to cool off is to open their beaks ever so slightly as the young European starling is doing in the picture atop this entry.

"A bird in the bath is the soul of enjoyment..."

AMERICAN ROBINS ARE FEATURED IN VOLUME 3

During our tremendous back to back heat waves in NYC which have come hot on the on the heels of lockdowns and gradual, partial re-openings (all due to the coronavirus pandemic), I'm most grateful to be able to provide relief for birds visiting my garden, including a young American robin, seen in the image atop this entry where he/she is taking refreshment from the brutal heat by spending time in one of my bird baths.

Seeing this sweet creature at my place has prompted me to do some research and one of the things I read, is, "Robins have hollow bones, so the are too light to submerge themselves. Instead, they bathe in shallow water and splash it up to wet their backs and heads," as one seems to be doing in the image atop this entry.

Helping Squirrels & Birds Helps Me (Wednesday's Wisdom)

A SQUIIRREL ENJOYS A SNACK AT MY PLAVE
(MY GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR WIOB)

It's been a rather difficult day for me on so many levels (health wise as well as daily living wise) and I've also received distressing news re those near and dear to me.

THEREFORE, I am MOST GRATEFUL to have been able to provide nourishment for "my" visiting squirrel (who seems to be a regular guest since I first saw him/her on 7-8-2020).

AND while I provided nourishment for this creature, he/she gave me SO MUCH MORE AND on an array of levels, as you might surmise from the image atop this entry.

Tuesday's Truths WK 190: Hot Temperatures May Not Be For the Birds (certain birds)

MY ROOFTOP GARDEN IS THE SETTING FOR WIOB

Welcome to my one hundred and ninety-ninth segment of Tuesday's Truths series; which I am offering on another day of a second July 2020 heat wave taking place in NYC.

Even in the the southwest corner of my garden where temperatures are at their most coolest it was stiflingly hot, the temps were nearly one hundred degrees, as evidenced in the photo posted directly above which features a thermometer that hangs in that area.

Time to cool off with Walt and Jack....

Time to cool off with Walt and Jack....



...as we (those of us living in NYC as well as other parts of the country) enter a heat wave upon a hear wave...

"... Another Day (Saturday) in the Park..."

As I have mentioned a number of times here on Blogger any time it is a Saturday and I'm in either Riverside Park or Central Park, I find myself thinking of the hit song Saturday in the Park by the rock band Chicago, and today was no exception.

Even though NYC (as well as much of the United States) is undergoing a dangerous heat wave, I took my weekly early morning walk with a friend (CF) and when we walked through Central Park and spent time in The Conservatory Gardens near the area where the Untermyer Fountain (seen in the images atop this entry) is located.

Tuesday's Truth's: The Ninetieth Segment: Another Day in the Life of Having NF-1

This is my ninetieth post within my Tuesday's Truths series here on Blogger and I'm using it as an opportunity to share a recent experience that I had when I was at a Starbucks on the the UWS of NYC, but first let me ask you a quick question:

Have you ever found yourself nonchalantly walking down the street, going about your every day business of living, when suddenly — from out of nowhere — a stranger calls out to you, points to a perceived “flaw” in your overall physical appearance and asks you, “What is that?”

A MOURNING DOVE'S FEEDER ESCAPADE!

Because I now have two pigeons visiting my garden (pictured above) and more than an occasional mouse (pictured below),

I have been trying to figure out another way to feed my wild song birds (eg a few blue jays; my cardinal couple; a lone chickadee as well as a lone downy wood pecker;  a number of dark-eyed juncoes, house finches, mourning doves, tuft titmouses, and white breasted sparrows) while deterring pigeons and mice who have been showing up to nosh on the crumbs my song birds spill on the "floor" when they eat from my feeders!

It would probably be prudent for me to simply stop putting bird seed in my feeders and changing the water in the bird bath for a few weeks to discourage the pigeons and mice.

However, in New York City where I live, we have been under a siege of oppressively hot temperatures since last Friday July 12th (with real feel temperatures reaching past "the century mark," according to Acu-Weather and the thermometer in my garden), and, therefore removing food and water sources during this stressful weather conditions for people as well as wild birds seems cruel.

Hence, I only removed my larger feeders and when putting seed in the smaller feeders (such as the one pictured below), 

was conservative with any amount I used in an effort to reduce spillage of seeds, and the smaller feeders which I have are designed for such purposes. But as you can see (in the images above and below), a lone (and very smart) mourning dove surveyed the situation by staring — shamelessly — at a lone house finch who was trying to nosh in peace!

And after making his/her observations of how the finch ate from the feeder, he/she switched his/her gaze to me, and then moved in to the finch's space taking over the feeder!

Moreover, as he/she moved around the feeder (as seen in the images below),

Much of the seed fell to my garden's floor, where, — you guessed it — was swooped up by my salivating pigeon couple!

Don't get me wrong, I know pigeons must eat too, but it is illegal to feed them in NYC;  and I don't want to see a mourning dove arrested!

I'm bacccccccccck . . .

Today is the eve of August the Eleventh, and I'm bacccccccck, as promised (on 7.30.12), from my mini "hiatus" from blogger, after spending time to be with my sister during her much welcomed annual visit.

Prior to my sister's arrival — as I was composing my entry on 7.30.12 (which discussed the loss I was feeling over my absent cardinal) — my intent was to have today's post be a return to another loss in my urban garden. This loss being the death of my very sweet mini Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi) who lived in a lovely bowl (pictured above) before succumbing to the awful heat wave and periods of drought we've had in NYC this summer.

"If it's Tuesday, it must be tumblr . . . " Week No. 26

In yesterday's entry here on Blogger, I promised that, even though today is is a Tuesday, which on TLLG's Blogger means it must be tumblr, I would start off with an update on the fate of my mini Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi), after Juan V came over to evaluate my sweet larch's fate. I was so devastated yesterday that I did not have the heart to publish a photograph of her revealing how she looks in a sad state because I respect my wonderful Larch, and I do not like to showcase her when she is feeling down. 

But it's important, I think, for people who are learning about gardening to know some of the back stories, and that even though one may be the most attentive of gardeners, there is no guarantee that the fate of what one grows will always be positive.

"Perfect love sometimes does not come until after the first grandchild." (Welsh Proverb)

According to a Welsh proverb, "perfect love sometimes does not come until after the first grandchild". Does this mean that perfect love comes immediately — or soon after — the birth of the first grandchild? Or, does this mean that after the first grandchild is born, perfect love does not come until after another grandchild is born?

Welcome Back, Welcome Back, Welcome Back! Another Cardinal Climber (aka Ipomoea sloteri) Has Returned!

The newcomer to my urban (NYC) terrace garden today is a vine which is currently "divided" into nine small planters that are sitting in a Mixed Nuts carton (given to me by the grower) on top of the marble table that I have in my terrace garden, as seen in the photograph posted above today's blog entry. 

They are waiting for Juan V to help me plant them into their new home. It is only 7:43:10 in the morning,  and already the temperature indicated on my little garden thermometer (a thermometer that I wrote about this past Tuesday) is quickly moving past the 80 degree mark , as seen in the photograph posted below.

The temperatures, in New York City, where I live and have my terrace garden, are predicted to pass the 100 degree mark, with a "real feel " of at least 105 degrees; and so at this point, in the summer of 2011, New York City officially joins the number of states in America, that are being plagued by prolonged periods of heat and humidity.

I realize my blog is not an NYC-Accu-Weather blog, nor am I a meteorologist, and instead I am a photo-artist, writer, as well as an urban gardener, but, the "connect" is this: gardening and weather conditions, as you are undoubtedly aware dear reader, are very much interrelated. If I didn't love the things which I grow in my terrace garden so much, I might spend a hot and humid day, like today, on the boardwalk at the Jersey shore standing under the watering can (such as the one pictured below)

and enjoy being watered; instead of hand watering my sixty plus beloved herbs, plants, flowers, vines, shrubs, and trees. For now, to cool off, instead of going to the beach, I will have to bring the beach to me, and picture myself being under the boardwalk's watering can's cool spray.

Baby, it's HOT outside . . .

On the southern wall of my urban terrace garden, I keep a thermometer (seen in the photographs posted above, taken over two consecutive days respectively, before seven o'clock in the morning). I initially got this outdoor thermometer to keep in a cold-frame which was built specifically to use in the winterizing of my garden. Winter and its freezing temperatures prompting songs like Baby, It's Cold Outside, seem a distant memory. For at 6:41:23 AM, EDT, this Tuesday morning, the thermometer registered a little over 80 degrees as it did yesterday, giving me a good indication that by late morning or very early afternoon New York City, where I live and have my lovely garden, will officially meet the heat wave criteria for the tri-state area on this summer day, July 19th 2011.