Hi from France, much warmer than England even though less than two hours flying time. And Tabs (cat in my profile pic) was waiting at the front door when we arrived, even though it's more than a month since we were last here. How do they know?

We don't get bears either, Christine, not even racoons, and there wasn't an English badger badge (!) so I opted just for the 'critters allowed' badge, which seems to cover just about everything, even a few of our human friends. Margaret, how exciting (and also scary) that you do have bears! Do you get moose as well?

Great news that the hummingbirds are beginning to visit; I look forward to lots and lots of photos

Claudia said:Words I would love to say "Off to France this evening!"

Yes, France is wonderful, good weather (at least where we are), great food and drink, and a much more sane pace of life. But it's much easier for us than you, given that it's only a couple of hours' flight from London. My problem is that I want to live in almost every place we visit!

I too have been enjoying all the bird photos from you all! I haven't had a chance to take any pictures lately and probably won't until after we move and get settled. I've really made a huge dent in sorting and packing boxes but then comes the unpacking and putting away once we get into the new house. Really though, I look forward to the unpacking and getting things put away more than I did packing for the move. It will be fun to get our furniture in the new house and get all the decorating done ... and of course getting all of my container plants moved down there and finding a place for them! After getting settled a bit in the new house, we'll be coming back up here to do a final thorough cleaning here. We'll have the carpets steamed cleaned and do a bit of paint touch up, etc. before putting it on the market. We're going to list it for sale by owner for a couple of months to see what happens and if it doesn't sell during that time, we'll enlist the services of a realtor. Last year we did the For Sale By Owner and sold our home of 40 years; we found buyers within a couple of months and listing and selling it ourselves saved us a few thousand dollars in realtor fees!

LOL, I have the bear badge too ... we have black bears here in Florida although the only place I ever saw one in the wild was in Tennessee. We do hear about them being hit and killed by automobiles here on occasion and this year they had a regulated bear hunt. We have alligators here too but I wouldn't get that badge if it were available. We also have Coyotes and Panthers here in Florida but the Panthers are only found in one small section of the SW portion of the state.

Ann, sorry to hear about your root canal; I hope you are doing well. I know that sometimes teeth issues can be painful. Years ago I had a root canal performed by a dentist that I never went back to because that experience was so horrible. I've been a patient with my current dentist for almost 38 years now and when I needed another root canal @ 30 years ago I was panicked because I remembered the first experience and really dreaded the idea of another root canal but my dentist referred me to an Endodontist who does nothing but root canals and what a totally different experience; the procedure was a breeze and I swore if I ever needed another root canal that I'd try my best to get a referral to him.

I am so envious of those of you who are seeing hummingbirds! Our bottlebrush tree is finally blooming (about 1 1/2 months later than usual) and I'm watching in hopes the hummers find the blooms real soon! The tree picture is today but the hummingbird photos are from 2012 - 2014.

Mika, I love your "Tabs" ... beautiful feline! I'd love to visit France and England and Ireland, Scotland and a few other places in Europe but I just can't imagine being on an airplane for the length of time it takes to get from here to there.

Mika, there are moose in the area and sometimes they get hit by vehicles on the road, but thankfully none in town, I have enough problems with the deer trying to get in the back yard, and eating everything in the front.

Yikes, Philip, I forgot to wish you a happy St Patrick's Day!

Good call, Mika!

Here's a lucky clover from my garden ~

According to Ancestry DNA, I'm only 2% Irish. Mom and Dad are each 4% but we still ate corned beef and cabbage. I'm 91% British, so I think that means I need to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day instead. I also love tea (English Breakfast, of course), salt and vinegar chips, and my favorite author is Dickens. Americans are a funny thing. I've had my parents tested and grandma (Dad's mom), but I just sent off my brother's DNA. I'm kind of hoping it's very dissimilar to mine.

Well, I saw a lot of birds today, but didn't do too well with the pictures. Mostly, that was because I was driving. I was thinking I need one of those Google Map cars with the camera attached so I can take photos as I drive. I saw two Ospreys, each sitting on a nest which was cool. I saw so many White Ibises I can't count. I think I saw a Wood Stork, but it had its head down and I only got a little glimpse. I saw two Hawks of unknown species (one was probably Red-Shouldered). Lots of vultures, too. And crows. There was one eating a dead opossum in the middle of the road. Eww. Someone's got to clean up the mess, though.

I was stopped at a red light and briefly aimed the camera at the window and got a shot of this Sandhill Crane. So that's something!

plantladylin said:Mika, I love your "Tabs" ... beautiful feline!

Tabs (Tabitha/Tabbycat) isn't really ours - but she's determined to live here, even though we're not here all the time. She was abandoned by her previous owners when they moved, so we started feeding her. She also has a feline personality disorder - one minute all affection and rubbing against you, the next biting and scratching... But she's fun, enjoys 'helping' in the garden and has an uncanny way of knowing exactly when we're going to arrive. And she's bilingual and doesn't care whether you speak to her in English or in French.

Tabs making a quality inspection of a newly arrived delivery of daylilies:



I do make sure that she's fed when we're not here, and think she must be visiting a whole host of other houses because she gets plumper ever time we see her. So Tabs probably has a number of alternative, French names given to her by her other humans...

Wow, Lin, AMAZING hummingbird photos - what detail! You really bring out the personality of the little birds. Question: in the second to last photo - I think it's in the rain? - the feathers are strange: some look 'normal' in that they grow diagonally, but there are some that seem to run completely counter to that (three with white tips). Do you know what that's about? Is the bird a juvenile?
I adore hummingbirds, and am hugely grateful for your postings!
PS You're in the process of moving house, so if you're too busy to answer, please don't worry - I'll hassle you once you're settled in your new home

Mika, Thank you for those nice compliments! The Hummingbirds are very small but I zoom in with my camera as close as I can so they sometimes look larger in my photos than they actually are. The last two photos were taken on a rainy day and both pictures are the same bird, a female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. In the second to last photo, she was stretching; the females tail feathers are a rounded fan shape and the outer three tail feathers have white tips ... I think they are visible because of her position and the way she was stretching. The male Ruby-throated Hummingbird are pointed and dark with no white tips.

LOL, we aren't actually moving until the first of May but I've been packing for quite awhile in preparation. :greengrin:

Melanie, LOL, I love cabbage and corned beef & cabbage sounds so good! I don't make cabbage very often because my husband won't eat it. I love all types of tea but my favorite for a long time has been Earl Grey (love bergamot.) I've been thinking about doing that ancestry DNA test. My maternal great-grandparents were born in Ireland and immigrated to America sometime in the 1800's. My paternal great grandparents were from England but I'm not sure when they arrived in America. I was told that I also have some Native American ancestry somewhere down the line but have not confirmed that. My mom was a bit interested in tracing family history before she passed and I wish I'd been more interested in Genealogy when I was younger, I've always loved history and find it very interesting. LOL, I'm sure your brothers DNA will be quite similar to yours.

How cool that you are seeing so many birds!! I love the Sandhill Cranes ... we saw one a few days ago when we were in Sebastian but I didn't have my camera with me at the time. We've had a lot of crows around lately and boy are they loud! The Mockingbirds are back and singing their beautiful spring songs!

I have to admit that when I was working in the garden today, one of the birds had a very lovely song. I was trying to see what kind it was, but grayish bird on a gray sky left me stumped. I think it was a Mockingbird, but I won't swear to it. Usually, the birds kind of annoy me, but this tune was really nice. Then, the bird started singing a different tune and I yelled up at it, "Go back to the other tune! I liked that one!"

Oh Melanie, you sure make me smile! I bet it was the Northern Mockingbird, they are gray in color and they do have a vast repertoire of songs.

Lin,..fantastic Hummingbird Images,..first time i ever viewed wet Hummingbirds,..it makes them look unhappy

Mika,..i almost forgot it was St Patrick's Day,..thanks for the greeting enjoy the French Cuisine
Very cute Tabitha

Melanie,..a quick grab the camera at the traffic lights,..well done to capture that Sandhill Crane

Melanie and Lin,..Genealogy is so interesting and surprising and its nice to see both of you have delved into the past,..my own Genealogy is Native Irish,.. the roots go back to 400 AD which is over 1.616 years ago.

On the subject of Corned Beef and Cabbage,..its not a Native Irish Dish,..though it is recognized as an American Irish Dish as it was the substitute meat for the Irish who settled in the US,..when not able to get a Bacon Joint like they had at home settled for the Jewish Corned Beef which was similar in texture,..i have never eaten Corned Beef and Cabbage nor ever come across it here,..it is however produced for the Tourist Trade,..the nearest thing we have to Corned Beef and Cabbage is a Bacon Joint and Cabbage or Ham Joint and Cabbage

My dad was born exactly at midnight St Patrick's Day.

Yesterday we went shopping in Kamloops, on the drive to and from there, we saw lots of waterfowl in several small ponds along the way, migration must be well under way. I was so mad at myself for not taking the cameras as I normally do, there were at least a dozen swans in one of the ponds, Trumpeter I think, they were so beautiful with their long graceful necks.

mellielong said:
I just sent off my brother's DNA. I'm kind of hoping it's very dissimilar to mine.

Classic, Melanie - you really are hilariously funny!

Glad I could make you laugh, Mika!

Today we're supposed to get rain. I transplanted a Senna and planted some Pentas yesterday so I'm like, "Bring it on!" But that means it's probably going to be an inside day for me.

Margaret, the nearby city of Lakeland (like halfway between Tampa and Orlando) has a flock of swans. They have quite the story. And the sad part is, I've been to Lakeland so many times and I've never seen the swans. Here's their backstory:

"Swans in Lakeland are local celebrities whose pictures can be found on everything from brochures and storefronts to the city’s official logo. They are considered royalty to Lakeland residents, and for good reason. These feathered fowl and the lakes they call home are a popular attraction with an interesting history.

Swans made their first appearance in Lakeland in the 1920s as people’s pets, but by 1954 the first population of swans was completely wiped out by predators and disease. In 1957, Lakeland resident Mrs. Robert Pickhardt, who was residing in England at the time, reached out to the Queen of England to help restore the city’s swan population.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Why the Queen of England?” but according to British law, the queen owns all of the swans along the Thames River in England. Queen Elizabeth graciously donated a pair of mute swans from Richard the Lion-Hearted’s flock to Lakeland, provided the city would pay for the shipping and handling. The two swans adapted very well to their new home in Lakeland, where their offspring still thrive today.

Today, over 80 swans live in downtown Lakeland, spread out over Lakes Morton, Mirror and Wire. The swan population is made up of four species: Australian black swans, white mutes, South American black-necked swans and white Coscoroba swans. Lakeland is also home to many other bird species, which makes it a great attraction for bird enthusiasts.

The city of Lakeland takes good care of its feathered friends by performing an annual “swan round up” to administer wellness exams. During this comical event, city workers and volunteers travel the lakes by boat and capture the city’s swan population with giant nets. After the birds are caught, they are placed in holding pens where veterinarians check their health and give them vaccinations. "


Melanie here again. They show the swan roundup on the local news every year and it is pretty hilarious. Those birds do not look happy! I'd hate to have that job. But they are treated very humanely and it's important to keep them healthy. Now I just have to get over there and check them out! And thanks to our friends across the pond for donating them!

Cool story Melanie! As long as I've lived in FL I've never known about that. Neat!

That really is a neat story, thanks Melanie. I knew about the swans being in the lakes there, and about the round-up but never knew about the Queen donating the pair. We've never spent any time in Lakeland either, and we really should. DH is a big fan of Frank Lloyd Wright's architecture and the the FSC campus there has the largest collection of his buildings in the world.