Odds and Ends Part 2 (the picture edition)

My attention has been on the insanity of writing a novel in 30 days so I haven’t blogged lately. Word count updates for the novel can be seen in the widgets on the left of the main page, Facebook and Twitter (follow small_pond). The story of the novel won’t be wrapped up in 50,000 words so here’s hoping I churn out over 5K a day or keep writing through December and into the future.

In the meantime, here are some pics of what else has been going on. Notice no pictures of books appear. Despite my growing pile of review copies, the time isn’t there this month to read and review. Besides, one of them may require me to buy a fiddle

On to the photos …

Snakes on a Porch

Is this what happened to my cardinal eggs?

I came home from grocery shopping and errands to find this face greeting me. Just to the left of the maple leaf is the step to my front door.

Cardinals

I think my cardinals are dead. At least the babies. Mrs. C hasn’t been near the nest in 2 or 3 days. A couple of days before that, she and Mr. C were hopping around the rhododendron but avoiding the nest itself. Yesterday, I noticed a chickadee on a branch near the nest. If it were my nest, I wouldn’t let another bird come near my eggs or my baby cardinals. Mrs. C didn’t show up to defend the place, and there were no loud chirps of warning.

Wild Kingdom Outside My Window

Outside my bedroom window is a large, overgrown rhododendron. Looking out my window, I have a clear view of the inside of the bush. Much like sitting in a blind. The rhododendron is in desperate need of pruning as it has taken over the front left of the house. I think of pruning it when it’s already formed the buds for the next flowering season. Or when I realize there’s a bird nest in it that I would destroy just to protect my gutters and let light in the windows.