Out and About - May

♫Here, There, and Everywhere♫

As I gathered my photos earlier this week in preparation for this post I discovered they were mostly about birds and babies.  Little did I realize I could add a third "b" before the end of the month....but I will tell you about that when I get there.  Meanwhile, I have to share this photo of a peacock on my drawing pad!  If you notice, hanging in the window is a stained-glass picture of a peacock.  It was as though it had jumped out of the frame onto the paper as the morning sun gave life to it....

I think my drawing pad is crying out to me that it needs to be fulfilled....

But I have other things on my mind just now like this baby....

We spent a delightful afternoon early in the month babysitting little Olivia while her Daddy was out of town and her Mommy was resting.

In order to find a place for the little sheep family I bought (see Ft. Frederick Market Fair post) I had to find another place for this birdhouse.  When I saw that it had a clean-out door in the back I thought it would probably be put to better use outside.  So I hung it up on the stub of a branch outside my desk window and in no time it had an occupant....

While I was watching Momma Bird building her nest I noticed this woodpecker on a nearby tree....

Then I noticed this Bluejay on top of the entrance to the Enchanted Woods....

But I wasn't done with birds of the feather.  I took a friend of mine and her guest from Sweden into town to stroll along our lovely flood-control creek that flows behind the library.  These ducks were nesting on one of the containers that hold the lily pads put in to help keep the algae down....

We continued our stroll up the main street where we had dessert and tea at this very British Tea Shop with the French name....

I had a scone with cream and jam and a pot of English tea served in the garden....

For Mother's Day we went to Baltimore.  After having a wonderful lunch on our middle son's and daughter-in-law's rooftop deck we strolled over to Fells Point.  I didn't know quite how to take this sign....

If you're having a hard time reading it, the sign is probably meant for you, too.

Once in Fells Point we stopped for gelato.  It seems sheep are another theme for the month because look what I saw being walked on a leash (and wearing a diaper)....

When we got home Olivia and her mommy and daddy stopped in after their visit to Olivia's other grandparents where this photo was taken....

The next weekend we went on the Beyond the Garden Gate tour in Frederick.  I still plan to do a separate post about that so I will show you, instead, a garden that was not on the tour.  I thought they did a charming entrance to their side door....

The next day we celebrated our oldest son's birthday, which was on the 20th.  Here is his sweet little daughter again, yawning, just as they were getting ready to leave....it will be a good ride home for all....

Gabriel shares my first born's birthday.  He, Gabriel that is, turned six this year.  Here he is by the fairy bell I bought in Fells Point on Mother's Day....

I spent the rest of the month working in my gardens.  Here are some of the many flowers in bloom....

Then this week we had an unexpected visitor in the night (notice the broken railing and pushed out post).... 

Because I was unable to get a photograph of our visitor I've decided to set it to words..... 

I'm going to tell you a story of intrigue.  It’s a bit scary, so be prepared.  It began one night this week just before 10:00.  The day had been very hot and thunderstorms had peppered the area.  The air had cooled considerably now.  It was a relief to open the window next to my desk to let some of it in.  My cat, Poetry, sometimes sits on the window sill when the window is open or other times just sits on the bed to look out the window, which is about a foot away.  This particular night, however, I looked over and saw that her front paws were on the sill while her back paws remained on the bed.  She was stretched to the maximum.  How odd.  What was she looking at?  I reached for my camera, but it wasn’t on my desk where I keep it.  When she stayed that way I decided to join her at the window to see what was so interesting outside.  AFter turning off the light to improve my view into the darkness, I bent down and put my head next to Poetry's.  I could see nothing, but I did hear the rapid galump-galump-galump along the wooden walkway that's situated about six feet from my window.  What in the world?!  I hurried out of the room to the door to the deck at the back of the house where the wooden walkway ends in a ramp up to the deck.  As I opened the door I turned on the outside lights and stepped out, fully expecting to see a very large deer trotting off into the yard.  Instead I saw a very large black bear.  About 10 feet away!  It must have looked comical because as we suddenly saw each other we both turned and retreated to where we had come from.  By the time he saw me he had made his way between the handrails.  As he turned to run back down the walkway his large body broke the thin strip of wood along the top, pushing one of the posts away from the railing.  I pulled the door closed, thankful my Westie, Gabriel, was still on the front porch and not out on the deck because I'm sure I would have had to retrieve him and the last place I wanted to be for very long was outside.  When my husband came to see what all the commotion was about I could barely find the words to tell him what I’d just seen.  I could not get the word bear out of my mouth.  It was as though the big gulp of air I'd taken in was stuck in my throat!  My mind was already running through all the what-ifs..... The gate to the deck is held in place by tension and could have easily been pushed over by the bear.   If I had not beat him to the back of the house, would he have crashed through the gate and been on my deck?  Would he have continued down the steps on the other side into my Arbor where he’d have the challenge of exiting over a picket fence?  Worse, would he have trampled my flowers?!  

The next morning I put Gabriel on the leash and let him follow the bear’s scent along the boardwalk.  He did not put his nose to the walk, but instead sniffed the Hostas on one side until they came to an end.  Nothing looked crushed so the bear must have kept to the middle of the path brushing the Hostas as he ran back the way he'd come.

♒ ♒ ♒ ♒ ♒

A few years ago we had a smaller black bear visit our garbage can so now keep the can in the garage.  We’ve seen evidence of another bear in our woods lately—bark stripped from a tree higher than a small animal could reach, spots cleared of wood chips in the pathways as though something large had been pawing about, and scat.  But I did not expect one to come to my back door!  I find myself now looking outside before I open the door....even in daylight….just in case.  As for my camera, after searching the house I remembered I’d been taking photos of the garden earlier in the day—before the rainstorm.  Oh, no!  There it was, sitting on the table in the Arbor….ruined.  I not only didn’t get a picture of the bear I no longer have a camera!  Waaaaaaa!  When I realized I needed to write down my story this title came to mind:  "A Bear Encounter of the Close Kind" and hope I never have to change it to the title of the original story of Goldilocks: The Story of the Three Bears.

Epilogue:  My very handy-man husband disassembled my camera and after a day of "drying out" it is working!  Yay!  There have been no new bear sightings....so far.