The finches are finally here!

The nest is in a wreath and was discovered over spring break. The babies hatched on Friday.

More pictures on Flickr

Picture Shopping

My friend and I went 'picture shopping' today. We drove around S. Boulder Road in Louisville and Boulder, stopping to take pictures of barns. We gave in to cravings for pastries and cakes at Panera and indulged in more therapy at Kohl's. I finally have Martini glasses to enjoy the lychee-tini in! Yay!



Slideshow of Barns - some of today's pictures.

Flower Fest - P for Prairie Coneflower

Also known as the Mexican Hat, the prairie coneflower is a wildflower found almost all over the US. It is a perennial, native to the US, that grows to about 3 feet in height. It is often cultivated along the roadsides as it is drought tolerant and easy to grow. So it wasn't a surprise when I found it on one of my walks last fall. It blooms in summer and lingering blooms can be found through early fall in the foothills.


The flowers of the prairie coneflower, Ratibida columnifera, are long-lasting and are excellent as cut flowers.


Apparently, the Great Plains Indians brewed a tea from the leaves and flowers of this plant. They used a decoction of leaves and stems to treat poison ivy and rattlesnake bites and took an infusion of the plant tops to treat headaches and stomach aches.



This is my entry for the letter P in the Flower Fest - the A - Z of Flowers.

Flower Fest is the brainchild of Nature & Me and Sree. Every two weeks, the focus will be on a letter of the English alphabet. The current letter is P. I am submitting photographs of flowers as my entries.

Tags: Flower Fest, Prairie Coneflower, ratibida columnifera, mexican hat

Unfair, or is it?

It's so unfair. Shilpa goes on a walk and finds wild phlox or she steps out of her home and comes across these gorgeous oxalis. She shines her windows and she spies these cuties.

Me? I go for a walk and all I find are bare trees, dandelions and a purple weed.

I was lamenting on just how unfair it all was when I came across these white blossoms on a shrub
They are really really teeny. Each blossom must be under 1/2 inch. You can see the damage from the recent ice and snow.

Right next to this shrub was this budding tree:


Then a robin deigned to sit on the white fence of a horse ranch for a bit:


As if on cue, a white hawk circled over me and then perched on a tree:


So, feeling a little better, I wend my way to the car...