Monday, February 4, 2019

Daffodils and Cedar Waxwings (And A Song)





For my header photo just now, I have a bright yellow sunflower from a summer from years ago...isn't it nice to see that sunny color?  If you want more yellow, I got you covered!


Daffodils!  These are blooming at the Monastery now, this photo was from yesterday, Feb. 3rd. Now, I have told you this before, but it does bear repeating...daffodils are not native to the USA.  They were planted by the early English settlers and we have had them in this country since that time. This is confusing because you will see them sometimes in the woods here...but that means that the bulbs were planted once around an old home. (The settlers must have been homesick a bit, they also called the bird with a bit of an orange breast, a "robin" and it looks nothing like the robin in England! That is why we have the "American" robin and the "European" robin, two very different birds.)

   Speaking of birds, we also saw a flock of cedar waxwings on the tall tulip poplars in front of the Monastery. (Looking very yellow in the sun!) They were fluttering in and out of the treetops, eating the seeds. Hardly anyone else looked up and admired them. Of course, we did! Cedar waxwings are only winter visitors to Georgia.  You know that birds fly south for the winter in this country but some don't fly very far to the south.  The cedar waxwing, for instance, must think that Georgia is far enough! How nice that we get to see this handsome bird!  If you want to see a great picture, you may see it just here!  There, if you popped over to look at that, didn't I tell you?  That is SUCH a gorgeous bird! Guess what, you almost always see these birds in a flock and they are very sociable.  They will line up on a branch and pass berries along to each other. Nice to think of that, isn't it?

(If you want to know more about the history of daffodils, I have a link for you here.  Even though the daffodil has been on the British Isles for centuries, it was originally brought there by the Roman army from Southern Europe. It was naturalized in Northern and western Europe.  We are told in this article that "Daffodil" comes from affo dyle which means "that which comes early".  That sounds interesting but reading further I wonder if that is true about that translation.  Look here.  Regardless, the original daffodil came from Southern Europe.  )

Oh dear, I always have so much I want to post about and very little time!  Here, I have a song for you..it was at the very end of the "Dickensian" show that I liked so much.  Did you see it? It was shown in December here, I think.  Richard recorded it for me.  I really liked it.  "I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls" is the name of the song.  Enya did this song on a record but her version is so sad.  I thought the actress, the one who played "Nancy" did a great job of singing this, not like a professional singer, but you know, like a real person, if you see what I mean. It is sung with such hope. And all those characters from the books by Charles Dickens, such an interesting idea to have their lives all intermingle...I loved watching this show, it was very well done.




43 comments:

  1. I like all the sunny yellow. Maybe the sun will return to this area. I'll have to listen to the song later. It seems that YouTube doesn't want to connect right now.

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    1. I hope you can hear the song. I really liked it.

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  2. That photo is gorgeous, Kay! Yes, I did pop over to see the cedar waxwing and he's gorgeous, too. I didn't see Dickensian but that song took me back more than forty years to when I began to learn to play the piano as it was one of the tunes in my book. I knew its name but I didn't know the words - or that it even had any words - and aren't they poignant? Wonderfully sung here, too, I agree. x

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    1. We had a piano growing up, it was my sister who was good at it, not me. Still, I enjoyed the songs very much and loved singing along with her as she played. I didn't know this song but Richard did and he told me to look up the one by Enya, that is the one that I mentioned that was so sad!! Yes, the words are amazing and the tune is memorable and haunting. xx

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  3. Daffodils won't show up here for months so I'll just enjoy yours! That looks like an interesting show...and the song was very well done and sad.

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    1. Our temp was 80 degrees yesterday, it broke a record from 1937, I think they told us. We had to have our AC on at work!! Of course, tonight it will go down to 32, so that is our crazy weather fo you!

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  4. February 3 daffodils. Just shaking my head in amazement! Some years we have a few cedar waxwings stop by to eat the honeysuckle berries. I did click, and yes, it is a beautiful bird. I love that about passing berries. We planted daffs last fall, and I so look forward to them coming up... in three months time!

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    1. I bet your daffodils will be bigger. In the South, our soil isn't the best or maybe it is the weather. In England, the daffs are huge! Must be the same where you are. Good to see your comment here, Nan!

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  5. So much beauty, the flowers and the birds -- signs that even if winter spends a few more weeks, spring is around the corner.

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    1. We will still have cold weather of course, but those daffodils and birds are very welcome sights.

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  6. Oh yes, yellow! I think I shall wear yellow today. It will be some time until we'll see daffodils here, but at least I have finally spotted the first cautious snowdrops last weekend in OK's parents' garden - I was worried I'd not see any this year!

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    1. Snowdrops, that sounds so pretty. And I hope that you did wear yellow! It looks so good on you. x

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  7. I love daffodils and can understand why early settlers wanted to see their cheerful display. learning about nature conservation as I am now doing, I understand the risks of introducing alien species but it seems like the daffodils didn't post much of a threat!!! I was looking at a very nice programme called "Winterwatch" about winter in the British countryside and it showed a huge flock of waxwings which had arrived in Britain, I think it is a bit off their normal route. I thought then what beautiful birds they were and your post has reminded me.

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    1. Yes, it can be a huge problem when alien species is introduced. We have Chinese privet in the South which I don't know if we can ever get rid of it. I understand how important it is to "go native", so to speak. From my hikes and observations that I have come to see the importance of native plants. Still, there are some flowers that I dearly love that are not native but they don't seem to harm anything...daffodils, begonias, Mexican sunflowers...most of our flowers are in pots anyway...Oh and geraniums! (Which are really pelargoniums!) Glad to remind you of the waxwings!

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  8. Hi Kay - the daffs are just coming out here ... like the snowdrops - love this time of year as the greening starts up - enjoy your daffs - cheers Hilary

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    1. I remember some of the prettiest bed of daffodils are in the middle of a roundabout...was it Stonecross? Or was it near the hospital in Eastbourne? If you see it, let me know! I am AMAZED at the size of the daffs in England!!

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  9. Both the cedar wax wings and the daffodils won't be here till sometime later, probably in April. So nice you are getting a chance to enjoy both.

    Love and hugs,
    'ma'

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    1. Notice that this post is LOOKING ON THE BRIGHT SIDE!! Love and hugs to you!

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  10. Another American bird new to me. Had to look it up. Very nice. Homesickness can be grim but it often caused huge changes to occur in various countries in the past. Landscapes completely altered from the original model over vast areas to resemble home, wherever that is. Rabbits introduced to Australia being one of the most dramatic, along with domestic cats. Love sunflowers.

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    1. Australia really suffered with all the introduced species, I know. You should look up Chinese privet in the south here, i just looked it up and it said is was on 1.1 million acres in 2015, can't think how much land it is on now. It chokes out our native plants.
      That sunflower! It is native to the USA!

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  11. we are months away from Daffodils and we planted some through out the woods here as they come up before the trees get their leaves.
    But it is still nice to see see.
    Cathy

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    1. As I told you in my post, you can very often see daffodils in the woods here but if you look carefully, you will see that there are remains of an old house near the flowers. Nice thing about daffodil bulbs, the squirrels don't like them. Tulip bulbs, that is another matter, the squirrels will dig them up and eat them!

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    1. I totally agree and I love both of them in England and in America. (Not that you don't have your robin in Scotland, but I have never been there!)

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  13. I love daffodils too, and how lovely to see some on your post. They are such a cheerful bloom, which is why in hot Australia I attempt to grow a bloom or two each year during our Winter. Fingers crossed they will pop up again this year. I will be looking out for the Dickensian show which I know I would enjoy too. Marble Halls is a song I really like and the young lady does an excellent performance. So fun to see the Dickens characters there too.

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    1. Please let me know if you are able to see "Dickensian"! I thought it was the best thing I saw on TV this year. Hope you are staying cool in your lovely country! x

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  14. Those daffodils are lovely! Hard to believe you have flowers blooming where you live - we have a snowstorm forecast for Saturday. Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. :)

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    1. Linda! Thank you for stopping by here! Your photos are lovely but I keep thinking of the one where the sun breaks through...and all those mountains with snow, just gorgeous.

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  15. I love daffodils! And I have a lot of them because we cannot grow tulips nor crocuses here because of the deer...Cedar Waxwings I never see here in northeast Ohio, but always see at Lake Chautauqua. I see them near the dock. They are lovely birds and I wish we had them in my part of Ohio, at least in summer.

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    1. Flowers and birds, two of my favorites! I hope that it has warmed up for you a bit in your part of the country, such a harsh winter this year for you!

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  16. Very interesting commentary about the origin of the daffodils and how some ended up in the forest.

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    1. It is funny because when I tell people that daffodils are not native they look at me like I am crazy. "Why Kay, I have seen them blooming out in the woods!" Don't know why people won't believe me, with the internet is it easy enough to look things up!! Besides, I knew they had to be native to Britain when I saw how many bloomed there in the Spring...and I first visited England in 1981!

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    2. Okay, I went back and edited this post. Turns out, the daffodil is not native to Britain either, although it has been there for many centuries! Wish that I had more time to research things myself!

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  17. I think daffodils are one of my favourite flowers. They come when everything else is looking drab and dreary bringing such freshness and beauty to a little patch of ground. They are starting to pop out all over here just lately. Winter is still a long way from being finished but there are signs that spring is just around the corner

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  18. LOVE yellow, and daffodils and sunflowers! Yellow was my Mother's favorite color. Don't think I've ever seen a Cedar Wax Wing. I'll have to see if they are in Ohio. Like Cherie above, I like when daffodils bloom because I'm always so tired of the blah ugly winter.

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    1. Cedar waxwings can be hard to see. Hardly anyone noticed the ones that we saw, they were very high in the treetops! Richard had to take a photo of one and zoom in to make sure it was a waxwing!
      I must get some good binoculars for better bird viewing!

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  19. That color! I start to miss color in winter, too many months of gray and now white in the landscape. Yellow is such a cheerful color and daffodils have just the slightest sweet scent. Thanks for a wonderful reminder of spring!

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    1. Just yesterday I saw a bouquet of daffodils in a vase and the fragrance! It was light but most pleasant! Hope you are doing well these days! x

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  20. Out blog walking again, hope you're having a good wkend and get your binoc's to enhance your bird watching.

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    1. Thanks, Sandy. I squint a lot into treetops!

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  21. I could not agree moore: that's a handsome bird !

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    1. Isn't is though? I was stunned when I saw it close up for the first time.

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