Blue Heron research

Family
BLUE HERON.[Little Blue Heron.]
Genus
ARDEA COEPRULEA, Linn. [Egretta caerulea.] I found out that what I've always called cranes are Blue Herons. The blue ones are the mature birds older than 2 years, and who are of mating age. The white ones are the younger ones who haven't matured yet. They can get very large, with a wing span of around 41 inches.

The tale of two cranes

Two very large cranes hang out by what is left of our tank. They have taken to perching on the railing of the bridge. There is one white crane and one blue. They have also learned to ignore my dog Amos, who is about 1/3 of their size. They just look at him while he barks and they wait until he is about 10 feet away before they move. I, on the other hand, scare them as soon as I come out my front door. They fly off immediately, looking like miniature pterodactyls in the sky.

These pictures were taken by opening the front door just a tiny crack, and sneaking my hand up to the camera, quickly pointing and shooting.

My Daughter Sews

We gave her a sewing machine for Christmas when she was 11. I taught her how to thread it and sew a seam. She started out making little pillows that she would stuff and personalize. Now, at 19, she alters her own clothes, and makes garments with or without a pattern. This is a pretty creamy pink skirt with pink flowers on it that she made from a pattern.

This is a cute button down cotton blouse that she made by cutting apart an old blouse and using it as her pattern. It is a white background with red cherries on it and she used red buttons. She even made button holes.

She has turned her brother's room upstairs into a sewing room. She just came downstairs to show me what she had done to a light purple shirt that she used to wear in 8th grade. She made it into a tank top with a drawstring neckline that she wants to wear under a white sweater. Creative!

Remember This Fellow?

Ace was smaller than Amos in this picture. He was about 6 weeks old here.

Time went by. Three months later here he is-about 40 pounds.

He used to be scared of this bridge.

Nice sit! Good boy!

Good ideas!

Thanks for the ideas on how to display these carvings. Let me see what I can find at the craft store and maybe I can show you a picture soon, Thanks again~

How to display the tiny carvings

The carvings I featured yesterday were kept in a large glass jar in my in-law's house. There may be about 50 of them altogether. Each family member received one in their Christmas stocking a few years ago and recently we picked out another one from the jar. I don't know how to display these. Do you have any ideas? I thought about keeping a few of them on display and donating the rest to some museum or organization-maybe our Uncle's alma mater. I haven't talked about this to Mike, so he and his siblings can discuss it later. It would be a shame to keep them in a drawer, in a closet- never to be seen by anyone. If anyone has a suggestion, drop me a note, please.

Artistic heritage

I am fairly artistic and my daughter is very artistic. I think she got her real talent from Mike's side of the family. Mike's dad and Uncle were both accomplished architects and artists. Mike's uncle became a recluse before I married into the family, so I never got to meet him. I learned that after he retired, he spent his time alone, making knives or doing carvings. These are pictures of some of the carvings he did from peach (and other) seeds. Mike said that he would spend hours carving with tiny tools, and polishing the seed carvings. We now have inherited some of his knives and art.This is a tiny elephant who is fairly simple in designed compared to the other carvings.

An owl who has tiny talons curved in anticipation of perching on a limb.

This unknown creature is an example of one of the more intricate designs. I wish I were a better photographer so that you could clearly see all the detail. He has long fangs, long claws and a ridged back.

Each of these little creatures are perfect in symmetry. Amazing.