birds nesting

Last week we had a pair of mourning dove appear on our windowsill next to my desk where the promptly build a nest and began laying eggs!

first one egg appeared...

next afternoon a second egg...

I tried my best to keep the blinds closed and leave them in peace but it was an ill fated spot for many reasons. Not long after this photo the mate was devoured by a hawk which Keith saw as he was coming home one afternoon. That evening we listened as the survivor called but got no familiar reply... and eventually abandoned the nest and it's two white eggs. 

In the following days we watched for the lone dove out the windows. Out back I found that it found a new partner who was very attentive, they preened together in the cedar trees. 

Then they started a new nest in the tree about ten feet from the old nest still holding the eggs abandoned and undisturbed. 

It's close but not easy to photograph, the drama continues in that area each day. I took a short video of them early in the process of building that new nest. 

In the backyard I hung the usual house wren house for the wrens I heard singing it's mating call back in early April. Now that house is full of twigs and when I went out to sit in the garden I noticed a mate has joined the male bird who built the nest and began adding her own grassy bed on top of the twigs. 

Look closely you will see she has a fine sprig of grass in her beak and the big twigs hang out the bottom thru the air vents at the base of the house.

Behind me in the choke cherry tree which is beginning to flower another nest! This year, lets hope the cats or raccoons don't attack it, on a branch another dove is nesting and keeping a watchful eye on me in the garden. 

It was a great spot that some robins built in last spring and raised a brood of three orange breasted babies. 

Now all we need is a bunch of tent caterpillars to spin their nests in the native choke cherry tree to provide food to these babies that will soon arrive looking extremely hungry! 

spring weekend

Basket of viola pansy and the St. Patrick's day flag in Manassas

I spent time at home again this past week with my Mom where we planted a small red Japanese Maple in the front yard where she can see from her bay window all year round. She bought it after the same type of tree died in the back yard last fall. The soil was just right for digging due to recent rains. We also glued down the puzzle she completed of a Vincent Van Gogh sunflower painting. Mounted it on a board and slipped it into a black frame under glass. Now it hangs over her piano where my  Van Gogh sunflower woodcut used to hang. Feeling very proud that she finished this difficult puzzle on her own we decided to make it a badge of honor to admire and brighten up the walls. I also brought flowers home, hanging basket of violas and double red tulips from Keith. The perfume in the car driving out to Virginia was very floral. 

Mom helping measure how tall the new tree is today.

double red tulips and the old woodcut of Van Gogh sunflowers over piano 

Van Gogh puzzle framed it's new home

Then home in DC, last Sunday Keith was free, so we decided to take a special walk for exercise and fun. There is a huge cemetery about a mile up over the hill across North Capitol Street in NE called Rock Creek Park Cemetery. It is an old fashioned monument and mausoleum style cemetery built with trees and flowers like a urban park. It was a good chance to walk and photograph before the huge trees leaf out and cast dark shadows.  I really enjoyed the quiet and the sculpture and stained glass as well as the natural setting.   I hope in time I will be able to walk over there and enjoy it without driving the car up the big hill between home and the park. Perhaps I will pack a picnic lunch next time I go. Soon it will be time for a picnic at the Cherry Blossoms down by the Jefferson memorial! Spring is really here at last. 

 

tree sketches

white cedar tree trunks viewed from our 2nd floor studio

beech tree trunk Manassas

white pine tree trunk Manassas

Randolph St. dying Norway maple

Randolph St. maple tree

banana tree trunk peeling layers

banana tree sketch

My daily morning routine is almost set as a habit now. I have continued past the three month marker which I have read is how long it takes to get a habit embedded in ones life. After I did my morning pages and sketch I found myself with no Internet but access to Keith's computer/scanner where I figured it was a good time to scan my recent sketches. I discovered there was a nice group of tree sketches in the book. Lots of flower sketches but this tree group stood out as a quick edit for a blog post. I have 42 more sketches to edit and I am going to take time to do a few each day instead of all in one sweep. Seeing all these sketches gets me thinking it's time to start work on some more prints but getting some more time drawing trees is a priority too. The weather is milder and I want to go out and do some more sketches and studies of some of the great trees in our neighborhood. The big ones often don't stick around as long as one would think they will. The big tornado and thunder storms that went through NYC is a good example. Dozens of trees were toppled. NYT readers photos of the aftermath on their website here. Be good to your trees friends.

two sketch crawls

Old Willow Oak (Lafayette Sq. Park)

I enjoyed two steamy sketch crawls during July in Washington DC. Many of my usual pals were out of town this past weekend for the international #28 but I went ahead and lead a small group downtown to some shady spots and inside cool museums to draw. We met at Farragut Square where to my excellent surprise was a 60 member Brazilian drum corps practicing that made great subject matter to try to sketch. The sounds were so exciting and really captured my heart and soul. I took a couple short videos to bring back to share with you a taste of the exotic music we heard. I went on from there to draw in Lafayette Sq. across from the White House and ended up focused on some excellent old trees. I managed to channel a tiny bit of Van Gogh in my cross hatching on the old willow oak's bark. That was my favorite sketch of the whole bunch but if you want to see the rest and the photos that accompany them I offer you a link to the July 17th Sketch Crawl Set in my flickr. pages and the July 31st Sketch Crawl Set which includes the delightful drummers!

a walk in my neighorhood

oak tree gnarled branches bare

bright red holly berries

another red berry in the same yard

small creeping sedum are showing lots of color this time of year in boxes on our doorstep.

I went for a walk a few days back when the sun came out and took my camera along to see what I could see. These are a few of the sights that caught my eye and made me stop and look closer. Winter's dark days mean every bright spot in your day should be coveted and kept close to your heart to warm you through to spring. I collect pictures that pop up on my screen when I let my computer rest. These are some of my smile makers for today. I am happy to be part of Brookland a great garden community in upper northeast Washington DC.

the next day

the tree stump removal machine digs out a stump at the bus stop

stump removal machine attached to a pick up truck backed into place and dug the stump out in 5 minutes

See the new red bud tree here by the truck driver's door. 

 a mulch filled truck came next, they cleaned up the mess and filled the stump hole 

two guys are the fill team

The day after the dead tree was cut down and chipped into mulch, workers came back with a stump extractor. It was a sudden loud noise which alerted me to their arrival. I watched the crew digging out the stump and filling in the hole. I wish they had planted another red bud tree in that hole. I like our new red bud tree so far and I have been nursing it with attention and water to see that it survives. The first year is always the hardest for a tree to get roots established in a new planting. We have seen many trees down the street die the first year because during hot dry summers  no one watered them during that crucial period.  Maybe I can encourage them to come and plant a matching red bud tree in the fall near the one I am nursing on our curbside. 

We still have the large Linden tree that died last summer standing on our corner. I plan to call the mayor's hot line to see what can be done about this tree. As they say:"the squeaky wheel gets oiled" so I plan to start calling right after the holiday weekend. I see it as my duty to do my part to green the city. I can help the trees here on my corner get started in their first year or two with water. Down the street is more difficult for me to address. 

I dream about having a big water truck that I could drive around and water newly planted trees in our area. It is so sad to see them expire just for lack of attention. 

tree cutters came but.....

tree is down and the stump goes last

top part of tree is cut into 6 inch sections after they chipped the branches

first cut was a wedge then they toppled the upper part on to the sidewalk

view last week of the dead trees on my street:small leaf linden and the larger linden tree just beyond 

view from across the street two weeks ago with the new trees coming into full green spring leaves

This fine morning I got up to see some orange caution cones set up in 9th and Randolph street's intersection. The tree removal team was set up on 9th street to cut down dead trees. Not long after I heard them doing their work till they turned up on my street and began the work of cutting down a long dead little leaf linden tree. Four costumed workers made quick mulch of the tree branches and trunk in their big wood chipper while the fifth guy cut up the tree using a chainsaw. To my great disappointment  they removed only the little dead tree and they ignored the huge dead tree in front of our house. I guess as I said earlier they will have to wait to get a arborist from department of transportation to come mark this tree and put in work orders for it to be removed with assistance from the power company. I did get a great view of the work from my window and I made a record to show that at least some things get done and done well in Washington DC. for a quick action look see and hear you can watch a short video I am posting.

So there we have the video, fun to see them working.  I need to call the city to request they send a tree person over to condemn our larger dead tree. Then we can see about getting a few more new trees that do not grow into the wires. My pal in Holland tells me it is illegal to plant any tree under a power line in Holland and France. He spent two or three vacations at his country home cleaning up the mess the power company made when they cut and left where they fell a wide swath of wild forest trees near a power line running along his property. At least the government workers here who planted them also cuts them and cleans up the mess when they are done. 

winter storm

Brookland's dentist is winter pink

cobble stones make nice patterns 

my favorite oak tree against the gray sky

The last time we saw snow on the ground was last winter so this weeks snow was welcome but the ice that followed was a bit of a downer. I had to skip going home this week and doing laundry. Next week will be wash week abundantly full of washables.  I am excited by all the changes in tone coming from the white house this week and seeing changes I wasn't even expecting. One nice change during the afternoon broadcast of the white house's press conference the reporters get to ask follow up questions again at least two questions each! It is shocking how such a simple thing makes the news so much more meaningful and the white house more transparent. After 8 years of hyper controlled secret government things are opening up again here in Washington DC like they should be in a free society. I was delighted by the blast from President Obama of the Wall Street Executives who took $18 Billion dollars in bonus pay while their companies are failing. That is shameful and just wrong. Some things just went very wrong under the last administration and they made me sick. So sitting home and watching the changes on CNN and MSNBC were stimulating in a way they have never been before. The snow was a great reason to get out and walk to the store. We have a store for organic groceries in our neighborhood now for the last couple years and it has really improved life for Brookland residents to have YES market. Walking over there was fun with Keith and I took my camera to record and share it with you. I love to look for bold patterns in the bright white snow. Found a nice pink building with bricks that are just like my Aunt Alice's home that my father designed for her years ago. They are pink bricks with a few painted white and black in an effort to look "used". I wonder if there are orange things around in the snow. All I can remember seeing was a few orange caution cones. What did you see during the ice and snow storm?