Friday Follow-Up

According to Snoopy, "We know that Spring is neat when it begins to get windy," as evidenced in the Peanuts Comic Strip posted atop of this blog entry. As of this posting, the official onset of spring is still twelve days away, but the tulips in my rooftop garden apparently having gotten the memo.

That Was the Week That Was

A couple of the mourning doves as well as a couple of house finches who visit my rooftop garden here in NYC, got together — at one of my feeders — late this afternoon to nosh, and after nearly emptying it, they wanted to discuss how they survived the hurricane ultimately named Super Storm Sandy, when it slammed the city and surrounding areas a week ago today!

I'm told that these birds' initial plan was to meet to discuss the events of this past week (for the memo re their meeting stated, "that was the week that was" — borrowing a title from an old sit-com).

However, instead of chirping about Sandy, three of the birds seemed to focus their gaze to the northwest, while the other eyed yours truly (through the "window" of my bird-house-style feeder), as seen in the photo-op at the top of today's blog entry.

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-I- (November 2012)

Today's entry here on Blogger is part two-J of a series of posts pertaining to a year-end review for special occurrences in my urban garden for the year 2012 (the schedule for this series is described in part one as well as part two-A of this topic), and this entry concerns itself with the special "events" which occurred in my garden in the month of November 2012.

According to Thomas Hood, the British poet and scholar, November is a month of "nos." I wrote about this in a previous post (November 2011) here on Blogger, and if you'd like to, you may refer to it by clicking here.

In any event, according to Wiki, Hood's abridged poem re November is as follows: 

No sun - no moon! No morn - no noon -

No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,

No comfortable feel in any member -

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,

No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds -

November

However, even though in bygone years in my garden, November did begin with a "bunch" of "no's;" this year the first of November, even though it immediately followed Hurricane Sandy, and major clean-up in my garden, did begin with a resounding "yes," and that "yes" was a visit by a male cardinal pictured here atop today's blog entry. He can be seen here "perched" on a container which is home to my Vaccinium macrocarpon (AKA Cranberry Vine) where he has one eye on a bird feeder and one eye on me.

Waiting for Spring

MALE HOUSE FINCH

This is the last "official" weekend of shorter daylight hours! Next Sunday, March the tenth, those of us who are living in the majority of the states in the U.S.A. will set our clocks forward one hour; and from that period on, we will experience longer hours of daylight until November the third of 2013, at which time we will set our clocks back by an hour: in either case proving Kermit to be right for "time is fun when you are having flies."

2021's Ground Hog Day + NYC's 1st Nor'easter for this Year (Tuesday's Truths WK 203)

Results are in! A couple of hours prior to this seemingly pensive Blue jay (seen in the picture directly above) alighting on the branches of the smoke bush that I have in my garden, NYC's spokes-groundhog predicted an early spring. However, Phil, the spokes-groundhog for nearby Pennsylvania predicts six more weeks of winter.

Strong, Strong Winds

I confess I decided to post this song by Heart, after hearing that we will be having some strong, strong winds (think the nor'easter variety) in NYC today!

Although I've seen this Heart's album cover countless times, I hadn't noticed it featured an image of a male cardinal! How cool is that? Especially since I helped this bird type, albeit, the female variety, write the book, Words In Our Beak Volume One, which among many things, raises awareness about the plight of wild birds!

P.S. Volume Two will include how nor'easter's impacted migration re NYC birds!

ADDENDUM FALL 2018: 

The non-hardcover version (or versions)  of Volume One within the Words In Our Beak book series that are mentioned in this entry may only remain available for a limited time, but hardcover versions of Volume One, Two and Three can now be found wherever books are sold. Please click here to go to my blog post that provides details as to where you can get these books.

MY BOOK SERIES

Additionally, I have rendered some images from these books into other formats and they are available via Fine Art America (FAA). Some of my other photographs (Black & White Collection, Kaleidoscopic Images and the famous Mandarin duck who visited NYC) can also be found on my FAA pages.

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO (For February 2013)

Hello and welcome to part two of my 2013 year-end garden review which I introduced in a prior post here on Blogger when I discussed certain "events" that occurred in my urban (NYC) terrace garden in January of 2013. 

Today's post will focus on a specific event that seemed to be the main focus re my garden in February 2013. That event was the unexpected and brutal "attack" of Nemo, a nor'easter causing a couple of my trees to topple over from the wind and weight of heavy snowfall; and not from the cocktails they may or may not have been drinking.

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART TWO-A (January — March 2012)

Happy first full week (ALMOST) of the 2013 year and with that salutation I welcome you to part two (portion A) of my post titled "another year over AND a new one just begun . . . "  

Since tomorrow is January the eighth, which means  the first week of the calendar new year will already be passing, it's high time I complete my garden's year-end review for 2012-2013, as promised in part one of this posting!

And, as I stated in part one, part two will be a quick look back pictorially over the "breaking news" of a given month in my garden from January 5, 2012 through January 5, 2013. However, part two will take place over thirten days, which will include today, where I will cover the events for the months of January-March of 2012; tomorrow, the eighth, where I will cover the events for the month of April 2012; Wednesday, the ninth when I'll cover the events of May 2012; Thursday the tenth when I will cover the events of June of 2012; Friday the eleventh, when I'll cover the events of July 2012; and, Saturday, the twelfth when I will cover the events of August 2012. 

Because the year 2012 brought with it a number of major garden upheavals, including a so-called renovation in September, Hurricane Sandy as well as a nor'easter in October, I will divide the review for those months and cover them over two — three days per month.

On Sunday, January the thirteenth, I will cover the events of September 2012 which occurred between September 1st and September 11th of 2012; then on Monday, January 14th, I'll cover the events from September 12th to September 19th of 2012; and I'll conclude September 2012' s coverage on Tuesday, January the sixteenth.

Then on Wednesday, January the sixteenth, I will cover October 1st 2012 through October 10th 2012; on Thursday the seventeenth, I'll cover October 11th through October 24th; and I'll conclude October of 2012 on Friday the eighteenth of January, when I will cover October 25th through October 31st.

I will cover the month of November 2012, on Saturday the nineteenth; and on Sunday the twentieth, I'll cover the month of December 2012 through January 5th of 2013. 

The numbers of photo-ops (in my Aperture Library) for this particular year in my garden are: 62 for January of 2012; 8 for February of 2012; 1,085 for March of 2012; 983 for April of 2012; 595 for May of 2012; 1,276 for June of 2012; 1,015 for July of 2012; 980 for August of 2012; 7,016 for September of 2012; 5,170 for October of 2012; 1,853 for November of 2012; 220 for December of 2012; and as of January 5th, 2013, there are already thirty-one images. Generally, when a given month has a larger amount of images  it is due to what has bloomed, which is still the case; however because an array of visiting birds came to my garden this year, my image-count for the particular months they spent time here is higher. 

Moreover a number of upheavals occurred in my garden during certain months, and this accounts for varying image quantities per month. And now — if you are not totally confused by my detailed schedule, without further ado, the highly anticipated year in pictures for The Last Leaf Gardener's garden!

Change of Heart?

(Note the "scratches" you may think you are seeing are strings supporting "Bob")

It seems Sponge Bob (pictured above) was as surprised to see me as I was to see him yesterday morning, a "mild" one (weather wise) for Thanksgiving! For on this particular holiday, in bygone years in New York City, where I live, weather conditions have often been either rainy or windy or both, not exactly a "comfortable" atmosphere for a parade — especially one so huge as the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Sponge Bob is one of the participants in the parade, and since I have not watched television since the 1980's, I don't know much about him. I'm more familiar with good ol' Charlie Brown, the beloved Charles Schulz character who is pictured below, where he can be seen "marching" in yesterday's parade.

(Note the "scratches" you may think you are seeing are strings supporting CB)

Although I now live very close to part of the route of the Macy's Parade, it is an event that I prefer not to make an effort to attend, as the crowds are often massive, as well as aggressive. 

Be that as it may, one of the first times I made an effort to go to the parade was when my grandmother's sister (and hence my great aunt) Ruth came to New York City to visit me. 

The time period was during one of my first few years of living in Manhattan, and during those years I was living in a rooming house (or SRO as "we" refer to them in the city). It was a miserable place to live, but I managed to procure a room for Ruth, and she insisted we navigate the crowds to travel and to see the parade — even though it was very windy and rain was pouring down.

Is Spring of 2013 FINALLY, FINALLY springing? (PART TWO of FIVE) ASK MY SIX TREES

Welcome to part two of my series (which I introduced in this past Friday's post here on Blogger) where the "things" I grow will answer the question: Is Spring of 2013 FINALLY, FINALLY springing?

Today my six trees and I will weigh in with their answers and we'll begin with the opinions of my Japanese Larch (Larix Kaempferi) followed by the thoughts of my 'Tamukeyama' (AKA Japanese Maple).

Then (in no particular order) my Lemon-Lime Cypress Twins, Acer palmatum ('Shisitatsu' Sawa) as well as my Acer shirasawanum (Autumn Moon) and my Fagus sylvatica (Beech Tree) will join the convo.

So without furthur ado, here's part two!

My surviving larch can be seen within the square imposed over a cropped aerial view of my garden (an image taken by Juan V) and I refer it to it as my surviving larch, for my other larch succumbed to a heat wave this past July, which is still a loss being mourned in my garden!

"another year over AND a new one just begun . . . " PART ONE (FOR January 2013)

On this tenth day of the new year, my champagne loving character (pictured above) and I offer you, dear reader, cheers and all good wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2014.

Usually by this time in a given January here on TLLG's Blogger pages, I have offered my salutations, spoken about resolutions, written reflections on The Feast of the Epiphany as well as reflections on Three Kings Day; and I have even been in the process of writing a year-end reflection of the comings and goings in my urban (NYC) terrace garden.

This year, 2014  salutations were posted on TLLG's FB Page, and mentions of Epiphany with salutations were discussed on hometalk. As for 2014's Three King's Day, I posted info about it on TLLG's FB Page as well as hometalk, where I offered new content re specifics of traditions to honor the day. 

Alas, I did not get the chance to post anything here on Blogger, but please don't feel slighted as I am even further behind in my "correspondence" with my tumblr community!

In any event, having just told you where I've been spending my blogging energies, I will tell you that in terms of my annual year-end reflections on comings and goings in my rooftop garden, I've "saved" the topic for the community I have here (but may refer others, especially those interested in gardening, to this content).

Last year's year-end review (for 2012) spanned a number of entries here on Blogger (fifteen) from January 5, 2013 through January 20, 2013. 

My year-end review for 2013 will be set up in a similar manner but will not span as many entries. For 2012's garden circumstances included coping with a few upheavals in my garden such a so-called building renovation, preparing for a hurricane that was ultimately named Super Storm Sandy which was followed by preparing for a nor' easter. 

Thankfully, the aforementioned events were not a part of my 2013 gardening endeavors!

The format for my 2013 garden year-end review will span twelve months as I'll use the first day of a given month to take a look back. 

And now without further ado, the 2013 year-end garden review!

"God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest."

The quote, "God gives every bird its food, but he does not throw it into the nest," which is attributed to Josiah Gilbert Holland (an American novelist and poet), is layered with meaning; but since this is not a dissertation, but rather it is a blog post (albeit a belated one as it was scheduled for yesterday) I am only focusing on one aspect of the quotation, and that is the literal translation.

Since God does not throw food into the birds' nests and since I can't see their nests, I provide food for birds that visit my rooftop garden in a variety of ways; and this blog entry is a pictorial account of some of the ways I do this as well as some of the ways my visiting birds respond to my efforts, and one of my visiting mourning doves is sitting atop my one of my urban hedges and staring at me through my window as I write this because he wants to make sure his brood is included in the photo-ops within this entry. Due to the fact this posting is about birds that eat in my garden it would be hard not to include him, as the mourning doves nosh here more than any other visiting bird and often I'm concerned that their overwhelming presence will deter other feathered creatures from enjoying a bite to eat on my roof extension garden!

Sunday Brunch in my Garden

This past Monday, here in NYC, we had a nor'easter (which I wrote about in a recent post here on Blogger). Now, six days later wet, heavy snow has been falling since early morning but this did not deter avian creatures from visiting my place, as evidenced in the photos atop this entry.

Wednesday's Wisdom: Robert Burns nailed it! ("The best laid schemes of mice and men...")

The picture atop this blog entry is a screenshot of an image that was included in my newsfeed for my Facebook Page for The Last Leaf Gardener.

It came from the FB Page for Gowanus Nursery in Brooklyn; a place where I have gotten a number of the trees (as well as other flora varieties) that grow in my rooftop garden, which is still in a state of winter-to-spring-limbo, as evidenced by the following image.

This photograph was taken by Kreshnik Vushaj. It is a picture which I included in yesterday's entry here on Blogger.

Like the folks at Gowanus nursery, who had scheduled a re-opening (after their winter hiatus) for March 18th 2017; I've been anticipating de-winterizing my rooftop garden; and I had planned to do so with Juan V, a few days before Gowanus's intended date.

However STELLA (the "bombogenesis" nor'easter), decided to visit our area causing all of us to rethink our gardening plans! Juan V and I have rescheduled the date to de-winterize, and Gowanus has rescheduled their season opener, which I saw in my newsfeed; and have posted below.

As you can see, they now hope to open one week later than planed. Juan V and I have also opted to reschedule one week later than planed! We hope to de-winterize a week from today, but from the looks of my garden, as seen in Kreshnik Vushaj's photo, I'm not sure if the weather will be in line with our plans. And last I heard, we are ruled by weather, it is not ruled by us!

So, while I'm hunkered down as far as gardening is concerned, let me take the opportunity to show you some aspects of my garden. I am thankful to Kreshnik Vushaj for my being able to do this, for he surprised me by emailing me a few more views of my wonderful garden.

Here are the copies of Kreshnik Vushaj's photographs, which I've marked up with arrows and numbers in order to tell you what's what.

The arrow marked with numeral one is referring to my Canadian Palm Tree, seen in a solo photo-op below.

The picture of my Canadian Palm Tree is an image I've included in a number of entries here on Blogger, but thanks to Vusha, you can now have a sense of where it stands in relation to the flora and objects which I have here. But getting back to the aforementioned image taken by Kreshnik Vushaj, the arrow indicated with the numeral two, is my bird bath. I have to really monitor the conditions of the water in that bath, for as you can surmise, frozen temps might crack the bird bath; as it is a ceramic piece.

Numbers three-five indicate where I have some of my bird-feeders, while number six indicates the location of much of my flora, huddled together near the building's wall, where they are somewhat protected from the high winds. The next  picture by Kreshnik Vushaj,

shows my place from a different angle. Once again, numeral one indicates the Canadian Palm Tree, the number two indicates my bird bath, and the number three indicates one of my bird feeders (the one which accommodates whole peanuts). However in this image, the number four indicates a small bowl holding water for my visiting birds. The water in both the bird bath and this bowl can easily freeze over in these conditions, so I have to monitor it carefully, which I do, as water is very important to a bird's survival. The number five in this image, as well as in Vushaj's other image, indicates my bird feeder that I call a Monopoly Feeder. I gave it that name because it looks like one of the trinkets from the infamous board game. And, again, as it did in Vushaj's previous image, the number six indicates the location of much of my flora, huddled together near the building's wall.

In Vushaj's next photo,

the ceramic bird bath is noted by the number one; and one of my whole peanut feeders is referenced by the number two. Number three is referencing the birds' water bowl; number four points to the Monopoly feeder; number five indicates my huddled plants; and, the number six is  pointing at my Canadian Palm Tree.

And with that, I'll leave you with an unmarked photograph by Kreshnik Vusha,

and a recommendation that should you ever need any painting done or interior construction contract related services, contact Kreshnik Vushaj's company Tani & Nick Painting Corp.

I live in a rental apartment, so I have not personally seen Kreshnik Vushaj's work close-up, but I've seen it from the distance of my rooftop to the building he has been working on. Moreover, if Kreshnik Vushaj can take such detailed photos, as evidenced in his pictures here, I imagine his attention to detail in assignments is unsurpassed.

Upon reflection, had Juan V and I  been able to do our de-winterizing when we had planned, I might not have had the opportunity to ask Kreshnik Vushaj to take some images for me. I did on a chance encounter, knowing he has access to interesting vantage points of my garden; as evidenced here.

Therefore I cannot be too disappointed re postponements for as Robert Burns knew, “The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.”

It's officially the 1st day of Spring in NYC but... (Tuesdays Truths WK 76)

This particular Tuesday marks the seventy-sixth week for my Tuesday's Truths series and it coincides with the first day of spring for 2018, but apparently NYC did not get the memo! Our fourth Nor' Easter is due in tonight. In any event, the silent video atop this entry (from Mutts) honors the season. I hope you enjoy it, dear reader, and that you have a happy spring!

Non-Social Distancing House Sparrows's Scenario Needs a Caption!

The picture seen directly above was taken in my garden during the 2-1-2021 nor-easter, the House sparrow at the right is one I'm asking you to ponder as you contemplate a caption for this photo-op.

Here are some ideas:

1. "Sorry I'm late!"

2. "Save some for me!"

3. "There is always room for one more."

Or perhaps you can think of a different caption? On another note: Sparrows are one of many bird types who are featured within my three volume hard-cover book series, Words In Our Beak.

MY BOOK SERIES

The goal of these books is to open readers to a simple understanding of the winged world and their environment. Set in a rooftop urban garden (mine) in New York City, my story is told in the voice of Cam, a female cardinal, who visits it. 

Words In Our Beak is directed to children and adults who are curious about birds, and want to learn about them from a unique perspective. 

These books are nice to give to someone who may be in quarantine or lockdown due to #COVID19 (cornavirus) as the stories in them can bring the outdoors into the homes of those who cannot go out and about. Moreover, they would make a great gift to give to love birds who love birds on Valentine's Day (which is tomorow).

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.

Tuesday's Truth, The Thirty-Second Week: STELLA, a "bombogenesis" is for the BIRDS!

We are currently having a Nor' Easter style winter storm that has been named Stella; and she has received the distinction of being called a "bombogenesis" storm!

According to weather.com, to be considered as a bombogenesis, a given storm must be known to have "rapidly intensifying area of low pressure."

And, weather.com also states that another criteria to be classified as a weather bomb, "is that the central pressure of a low-pressure system must drop at least 24 millibars within 24 hours." This source points out that, "at 8 p.m. EDT Monday (last night) the central pressure was 1007 millibars, and as of 3:30 p.m. EDT Tuesday (today when the storm took place) the pressure had dropped to around 976 millibars. This equates to a pressure drop of 31 millibars in only 19.5 hours, easily exceeding the requirements for bombogenesis." 

In NYC, where I live, schools were closed and certain forms of public transportation were suspended as a result of the storm. However, folks were given a few days warning and many of them heeded it, as evidenced by the long lines just to get into many a grocery store.

The mayor urged people to stay put once the storm began to take place. However, not everyone followed his plea, especially the birds that visit my rooftop garden. I'm not naming names re who failed to comply with the mayor's request, but I will say that they included a large number of European starlings (a few of them can be seen in the picture atop this entry) along with a lone mourning dove.

I'm not sure why the storm was given the name of Stella, but, as you may surmise, this sparked a lot of Marlon Brando clips being uploaded to various social media platforms.

After all, it's hard to not reference his famous yelling "Stella," to his wife (Stella Kowalski) in his role of Stanley Kowalski for productions of Tennessee Williams' play and movie, titled A Streetcar Named  Desire.

In any event, you can see that this Stella-Brando reference is not lost on my prolific birds! One of the starlings pictured above is reenacting Brando's Stanley Kowalski, and yelling "Stella." European starlings are known for their skill in mimicking, and I must say this starling nailed Brando!

The mourning dove is also quite well read and while the starling focused on Stanley Kowalski, she focused on Blanche Dubois (Stella Kowalski's sister); for as she munched on the suet that fell from the feeder, she quoted Blanche saying, “I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”

Oh, the weather outside's been frightful! (BUT....)

The image atop this entry was taken by Juan V when he was here eleven days ago on May 9th, on his third visit for the 2017 growing season. I featured it in an entry on TLLG's FB page at that time; and I discussed certain attributes of the H.F. Young Clematis vine. This particular vine climbs up a pole which in the northwest corner of my rooftop garden. It produces strikingly beautiful purple flowers which can be seen in Juan's image. Moreover, I have a number of close-ups of this vine's blooms within my May 9th entry here on Blogger. Unfortunately, only four days after Juan worked with me in my garden, and after my publishing posts re the flowers of my H.F. Young clematis, a Nor'Easter struck NYC and surrounding areas.

Last Saturday, May 13th 2016, "a moisture-packed coastal storm that hit the New Jersey region on Saturday dumped almost a month's worth of rain in just one day in parts of the area." I've been try to find out how much rain fell in the NYC area.

IF the dog hadn't STOPPED to SNEEZE . . . .

The anniversary of my father's death will be at the end of November, for he died on November 30, 1995; and indeed it is a fact you might recall, as I've referred to this event here on Blogger in prior posts, including one which you may refer to by clicking here. One of my father's favorite sayings was, "if the dog hadn't stopped to sneeze, he'd 've caught the rabbit!" The dog's itchy nose was the rabbit's fortune, as you probably can surmise; but, as you can also surmise, that has nothing to do with why my father reiterated this quote time and time again.

I confess I tend to be an "if only XX had happened, YY would be ok" type of person: playing scenarios that have come and gone, over and over in my mind, as if that would somehow change the outcome; but alas, there is no Edit/Undo or Ctrl/Z outside of life in cyber-space.

Most recently (this past Friday, November the 7th), I was caught up in what I had done wrong re plans I had made with my friend, Michael (pictured above). 

Michael is a longtime friend of mine who lives across the street —  a few doors west of me — and among other things, we share a love of gardening. Moreover, it was Michael who helped me prepare my urban (NYC) garden for a so-called renovation in September; and then again for Hurricane Sandy this past October. I've discussed both of these "scenarios" in previous entries here on Blogger, and you may refer to them by clicking here as well as here respectively.