With the beginning of spring and all the exciting life and growth in the garden, I felt inspired to blog again. My mind races ahead and I want to share our backyard adventures, but practicality sets in and most of them remain just a memory or a story or photo for another time. I wanted to be true to this blog as I originally envisioned it with a focus on nature and photography, centered on my favorite place to photograph-our own backyard.

As my husband’s illness has progressed, I have prioritized  spending time with and caring  for him and writing on a more personal level on his lotsahelpinghands website. We are facing another transition as we are moving to a condo in  Pine Hills in Plymouth and selling our  home this month. Leaving our backyard sanctuary is very difficult for us and we will miss it dearly. We will have a courtyard in our new home and hopefully the landscaping will be complete this summer.

Dick and I have been delighted to enjoy another spring and summer together. When faced with a terminal illness, each season, month, week and day become more meaningful. We have two bird houses which are occupied  and discovered a  cardinal nest as well (unfortunately our cat discovered it a day later!). We’ve had two broods of black swallowtail caterpillars this year and lots of hummingbirds, butterflies and beautiful water lilies. I believe the flowers are putting on a special farewell show for us!

I do intend to continue blogging on this website so please be patient with my lack of consistency. I have a backlog of photos from previous summers and I am counting on the butterflies and the hummingbirds following us over to our new home and courtyard.  Pine Hills  covers a large area and they have kept much of it natural so, in effect, we will have an even bigger backyard!

Today I would like to share with you some pictures of this year’s chickadee family. Last year they occupied the same bird house which I covered in a blog on  5/27/12 “Empty Nesters Tending the Nests”.