A New Face

We adore the animals and plants around us. Well, not the mice (Iris) or spiders (Piers)! Outside, there are two foxes who we've seen on a regular basis - Ferdinand has been visiting for three or four years, and this is Linden's first year. She likes to sun herself to sleep in the juniper bush by our driveway. Vladimir, our dog, barks and whines at her, but she knows he can't get off the deck to chase her (but would they make beautiful, fluffy babies? I know Piers wishes they could get to know each other better) and I think she likes having a "big brother" around while she snoozes to warn her of other animals approaching.

Piers kept three empty 5-gallon chinking buckets next to the house for a few weeks. Recently, he moved them to the back of the garage with the rest of the buckets. A tiny junko bird kept squawking at him, and he finally found her nest on the ground, sheltered by a dandelion leaf. This mama seemed really miffed at Piers, and we avoided her "territory" next to the driveway, beside the steps up to the deck (and the front door). She's so diminutive and angry that Piers has named her... (be warned, this is awful!) ....Flip. You know, Flip The Bird. Groan...

Yesterday evening, I was standing on the deck talking to Piers as he unloaded his car. Suddenly, Flip flew in. She looked all around, hopping this way and that, making sure "no one" was around to follow her to the nest, and quickly scuttled into the plants. Piers and I each stood only three feet from her. Apparently we no longer pose a threat.

It was particularly sunny yesterday, and she pushed away her dandelion roof. Here we have At Home with Flip. This morning, she pulled the leaf over her nest again, and it is nearly invisible. Piers reassures me that Linden will not discover the tasty eggs inside.

This afternoon, I'm going to patch up a naborigama kiln near Fairplay with some fellow clay folk. Chris is bringing adobe ingredients, and I'm supplying straw, water, a saw, and a wheelbarrow. The straw bale is really long, so the wheelbarrow had to be strapped to the top of my car. See the straw poking out the back?

The window in this picture looks into my studio. Flip's nest is just to the right of my back bumper, against the house. When I look out my studio window, I see an assortment of wood Piers keeps outside, behind the garage. I have a very small friend who hangs around there, and I named her Bernadette the Bunny. Piers is appalled at my choice - "What kind of name is Bernadette? What about Tiger, or Oprah, or Ellen Johnson Sirleaf?" Oh well, he'll name our next friend.