Our backyard photo journal - a collection of pictures of Skippy and the plants and flowers in our backyard. Also pictures from Skippy's walks & stories of his therapy work. Skippy is working hard at learning to be a Therapy Dog.

Monday, April 30, 2007

freshly mowed

1 2
3 4
5 6
Don't you love a field of newly moved grass! Our grass has started to grow again (finally!) and this is the first mowing this spring at the big field by Fresh Pond. Beautiful lawn mower stripes and the fresh smell of spring! Great for rolling and running in. Too bad dogs are not allowed on the grass. (I don't see a dog out there - do you?!)

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Skippy's new haircut

cutie swings
walk moving
skip leaves
Skippy got a nice haircut last Friday. He very happy about this. I thought I'd post a bunch of pictures of him. I took them with my little camera on a dark day, so some are a bit fuzzy.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

cute little sparrow

cute little sparrow
Can anyone help me identify this little guy?

Thanks for the help. Maybe its a tan morph of the white-throated sparrow? "The White-throated Sparrow has two color morphs that are equally represented in the population--white-striped and tan-striped. Both varieties have a brown-striped back and a clear, grayish-brown rump and tail. Their wings are brown-streaked with two white wing-bars. White-striped birds have alternating black and white stripes on their head, with white at the crown and above each eye, and yellow patches in front of the eyes. They have bright white throat-patches, clear gray breasts, and white bellies. Tan-striped birds have a similar head pattern, but the white is replaced with tan and the black with brown (with darker streaks). The yellow patches are less distinctive. The throat is still white, but dark streaks descending from each side of the bill split the white into three sections. The breast is more streaked, with less distinction between the breast and belly colors. Most birds seen in Washington are juveniles, which are streaky overall. The juvenile plumage is less brightly colored and streakier than that of the adult, and lasts through the first winter." from BirdWeb.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

a sunny day at the park

Saturday at the park
blue creek tree buds
park path a wet water dog
This is Waverly Oaks park in Waltham. One of Skippy's favorite places to walk. It does have a lot of mud holes, which some dog owners object to. But Skippy and I don't mind a quick bath when we come home.

little tulips

little tulip 3 little tulip
I don't remember planting these. They look like maybe tulipa Ancilla? Maybe I planted them last year. Only 5 or 6 plants in my front yard mixed in with the pansies. The only tulips I have now in the early spring are these plus a single larger flower also of an unknown tulip that I must have planted in previous years.

backyardflowers

Monday, April 23, 2007

backyard work

backyard work
Skippy and I were hard at work today, raking out the back border. Our weather has gone from 40 to 80F in the span of a few days. All of a sudden everything is in bloom - everyone is wearing shorts and sandles - and Skippy is reallly HOT in his winter coat!!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

11th therapy visit

Skippy went to his 11th therapy dog visit today at Leland Nursing Home in Waltham, MA. Everyone there liked his soft fluffy fur!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

dinner out

blue plastic cup
bbq salmon and broccolini on the grill
Aahh - warm weather means dinner on the patio. Plastic wine cups and patio candles. A little salmon, a little mango salsa (a lot of salad greens). Skippy enjoys eating out. Tonight he ate nearly 2 lbs of grilled chicken (which he sorts out of the dog food we mix it with). Yummy! The picture shows him waiting patiently for a chicken snack - fresh off the grill.

fluffy puppy

fluffy fluff
fluff ball
Skippy has really long fur right now. After a good bath, he's a fluff ball.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

double blue campanula

campanula
campanula in white pot
I think I buy a pot of these every year. Its a blue campanula with lovely double blossoms. I can't find the name on-line, but its very common plant in the supermarkets near me in the early spring. One of those bargain plants that I can't resist. I plant them outside and, as I remember, they do very well.

I had some confusion with this plant, thinking it was related to the blue balloon flowers I have in my garden in the summer. However, after some research with my Dad, I now realize that campanula and platycodon are different plants.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

raindrops

drops
Its been raining all week. Its supposed to clear up today - at last. Yippeee!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

waterfall started up

waterfall started
Today I started up my backyard waterfall. All winter, we leave the pump running in the pond, but not connected to the waterfall. We have a new homemade filtration system that I will photograph soon. Nice to have the sound of running water once again. Soon the birds will be bathing and splashing on the rocks. The waterfall is always a good spot to see migrating spring warblers. None yet, but I'm watching for them.

Monday, April 16, 2007

chickadee at the feeder

chickadee chickadee - birds
chickadee chickadee

Sunday, April 15, 2007

new leaves

new leaves

pussy willows

tiny pussy willow green pussy willow
big pussy willows grey pussy willow
It's be pussy willow season. I think I found four different types.

(wildflower)

Saturday, April 14, 2007

white-crowned sparrows return

white-crowned sparrow white-crowned sparrow
I was glad to see the white-crowned sparrows in my backyard this morning. They leave every fall and return every the spring. One of those signs that better weather is one the way. (Not tomorrow, but maybe soon.)

Note: These birds are actually white-throated sparrows.

Callahan State Park

Skippy by field
April trees
Skippy and I went on a great walk today. Skippy played with many other dogs, did a lot of swimming and we walked for many miles. One of the things we enjoy at Callahan is the wide open spaces. There are several active corn fields whose progress I like to watch. No action yet in the corn fields, trees are just barely starting to leaf out. The weather is still quite cool and the sky was grey. It looks a lot like a November day.

Friday, April 13, 2007

portrait

skip
I have a new camera so I took a portrait of Skip. I don't think he understands this camera thing.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

GO RED SOX!!!

red sox fan Skippy is wearing his Boston Red Sox scarf in honor of opening day at Fenway Park. Our team is 3 and 3 so far (could be a bit better....). The pitchers are looking pretty good. The big game starts at 2:05. The start of a 3-game series against the Mariners. GO SOX!

Saturday, April 07, 2007

happy easter

lenten rose

tulips

tulipa kolpakowskiana tulip sprout
My first tulip to bloom this year is tulipa kolpakowskiana (can anyone say that name?) The beautiful red-edged sprouts are red impression darwin hybrids.

Added note: I have to correct this, because the pictured tulip is not tulipa kolpakowskiana (which is a bright yellow "sun tulip"). I don't really know what this one is. Maybe a waterlily tulip I planted years ago. I just checked my planting diagram and I didn't plant any tulips this year where this one is.

backyardflowers

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Skippy in the backyard

april backyard
Who knows what our yard will look like tomorrow. The photo is from this morning, and tonight is one of those stormy New England nights with mixed precipitation coming down. Its a chilly spring this year. The high today was only about 40F. Skippy has the right sort of coat for this weather.