Adventures

The Art of Discovering New Smells of Spring

Shelley

Ah, I don’t know about you, but to me, discovering the smell of spring is a fun thing. I’m biased, but, watching the new things in our yard be discovered and enjoyed is mighty fun too.

What can I say, the long winter made me feel quite deprived of such things. 🤣

The smell of the sky as a double rainbow formed – which I was giddy to see. Duh, who wouldn’t be?

A day or so later, I was greeted with the smell of the sunrise on a day it was supposed to rain. What a job it would be to get the weather forecast wrong so often and still get paid. 🤔😉

Interestingly, I didn’t know that some birds smell and others do not. Did you know?

The smell of the grass sprinkled with bird seeds under the feeder attracts a lonely turkey.

She’s been a daily visitor and is friendless – no wait, the locals seem to have adopted her. She’s as tall as the fawn we saw leaping through the field as it followed its mama into the woods. Dang for the moments when my camera wasn’t at the ready.

When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest.

Ernest Hemingway

The Queen on her throne supervising the yard, (aka, the red squirrel), knows when the bird baths have been refilled. When the crow flies away, she knows it’s time for her to scamper off the fence and go over there to gather seeds from the ground too.

See her on her favorite pre-snacking perch on the corner of the fence?

She was the first to discover our newest addition to the yard. An oriole feeder.

She hasn’t tried to climb it, though. I’m guessing squirrels aren’t fans of oranges or grape jelly? Whew!

Mr. filled it and left it to hang there to draw attention to the birds curious about “What’s that smell?”

The Mourning Doves aren’t.

They’re more interested after I fill the birdbaths. I am too – it’s rewarding to clean the birdbaths and put in fresh water. See me and my wild hair admiring my handiwork?

The doves come in for delicate landings. Do you like the zoomed-in or zoomed-out view?

Did you notice any other new things on the fence too?

Spring is the time of plans and projects.

Leo Tolstoy

Mr. gave me some new garden clogs to wear while I inspected the dew-drenched yard.

Isn’t the pattern on them so stinking cute?

They go well with our new bird bath too.

It has a fun pattern too and is shallow for the smaller birds. It gets messy with bird seeds and poo so some birdy uses it in between cleanings and fresh water.

Walking in the dewy grass between birdbaths I like to pause to notice the dandelion fluff as it flies ever so delicately.

The first blooms of spring always make my heart sing.

S. Brown

The rain and dew have helped the bleeding hearts reach their moment to bloom.

I love it when they burst into their hanging heart mode.

The early morning smell of rain means the visitors to the yard shall soon appear.

We have a loan turkey who must have a good sniffer on that adorable beak of hers. She’s been here often.

She shares the space with the crows and doves.

It took just a few days for the house finches to find the newest bird feeder.

Just shy of a week for the female oriole to find it. She liked it better when we removed the oranges and less fresh grape jelly in the dishes.

Ditto for the male oriole. If only you could see how the feeder swings in the wind. Amazingly, the birds can land and eat before they retreat – I’d be seasick! 😆

Ah…what joy it is – the simple art of discovering the delicate smells of dew-drenched spring bringing humans, birds, and critters together to enjoy taking turns noticing what’s new.

Post Inspiration – Linda G. Hills’ Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “What’s that smell?” Write the first thing that comes to mind. Enjoy! Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills May 19 Water, Waterscapes, and/or Water Safety; and Anne-Christine for Lens-Artists #300 – Delicate

PS – Feel free to sprinkle your thoughts here! (Hint, Hint 😉😊)

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

32 thoughts on “The Art of Discovering New Smells of Spring”

  1. What a cheery post to read this morning, Shelley! I love your new bird feeder, so elegant! Is it copper? I didn’t know some birds’ sense of smell wasn’t that good. Sorry to read about the lone turkey. Is she wounded?

    Everything looks so green and lush in your yard and love the garden clogs! I think I need something waterproof too, to protect my feet from all the gravelly sand that surrounds our property.
    How interesting they like grape jelly, is that to deter the squirrels? Our birdbaths are concrete and I have to wash them out daily! I use vinegar to deep clean them every few days, it helps keep the algae from forming so quickly. Nice job on using this for the water theme. Have a great week and enjoy your backyard!

    1. Aw, thank you, Terri! My brother took me on a family adventure right after I posted so sorry for the delay in responding.
      The new feeder is just standard metal (whatever kind it is) and painted orange. The turkey doesn’t seem to be injured, but she does seem to be shunned from the group across the field.
      Yes, it’s greened up nicely, nice enough to have to mow a couple of times already! The clogs were a serendipity find one day at a local Fleet Farm store. I was SO happy to find them and they fit perfectly so don’t fall off while walking. They’d be perfect for your area too.
      The locals talk about the grape jelly often. This is the first year we’ve tried it. We bought the Smucker’s healthiest version without the high fructose corn syrup. I’ll have to try the vinegar to clean ours, so far I’ve just been able to spray the algae off and scrub it with a brush.
      I’m glad you enjoyed my take on the water theme. I was so impressed with your post – the WOW pictures and the safety lessons are a must see!
      Thank you – I hope you have a great week too 🤗🥰

      1. I’m jonesing over your shoes. My Oofos clogs allow too much gravel into them. I need some like yours and we have a couple of stores I can check out. I hope you have a good holiday weekend!

          2. You’re welcome! I’m the same way – I tried these on before buying. My normal size is 8 and the 7 fit better and they didn’t have 1/2 sizes. 🙄

    1. Thank you, Dan, I’m glad you enjoyed the post. I hope you have a great week – best wishes with all the fun stuff you have planned to do!

  3. Great pics and new shoes, Shelley! I can almost smell the fresh air. I have a big plastic cup called a Sugar Shaker that I mix the sugar and water in for my Hummingbird feeders. It also has fill lines for the Oriole too, they must have a long tongue too? The Bleeding Hearts are so cute! Have a great new week, guys! 😎😊

    1. Thanks, John! That’s a good idea for the sugar water. We keep seeing the hummingbirds come to the new feeder. We haven’t had one for them for two years now. The one we had leaked and attracted ants to the house. We haven’t found a replacement one that won’t leak. Hopefully they find the bleeding hearts and the other flowers for their nectar fixes. It is interesting that both the hummers and the orioles like the same nectar water. Yes, the Bleeding Hearts are so sweet!
      We hope you have a great week too! 🥰🤗

  6. Beautiful yard! We have a bird bath and a dripper that keeps the water coming. I LOVE to watch the birds at the bird bath! We don’t have to refill it, but we do need to clean it out now and then.

    1. Hi Lisa! Thank you for stopping by. I’d love a bird bath that keeps the water flowing. I think our birds would love it too. With all the crows we have, it’s a daily need to clean ours out. They are stinky and messy birds. But…fun to watch when they form a murder! 🤣

  8. I love the rainbow Shelley. I can’t remember the last rainbow I saw and a fellow blogger gave me an “assignment” to find and photograph a rainbow for my blog. The chalk one from a few weeks ago didn’t count. 🙂

    I didn’t know birds had a sense of smell. That cutie pie squirrel isn’t into jelly – what does it put on its toast? Just kidding. You have an orange too, so you should do well with your Orioles.

    Those are snazzy-looking garden clogs. Perfect to go around the yard on dewy mornings. I also like the feeders, the metal one especially. Between the feeders and the new birdbath, you will have a lot of feathered friends frequenting your backyard!

    1. Yay – I’m glad you enjoyed the rainbow too. I thought the chalk rainbow was a perfect compromise. 😉

      Yes, isn’t that interesting about their sense of smell. The squirrel has been going for the easy food under the bird feeder. I did see it try to figure out a way to get to the birdbath without success. Made me wonder what they do for water? The orioles have been back a lot now that they found the feeder. They take turns, the female comes first, then the male and then they fly off. I’m guessing they have little ones on a nest somewhere? 🤔

      I knew you’d like the clogs too. The feeder was the last one on the shelf, we’re so happy to have found it. The birdbath was too – garden items go FAST here once the weather warms up! It has been fun seeing all the feathered friends. We’ll see what flowers I plant that will survive now that the birds and the squirrel and the rabbits have claimed the yard! 🤣

      1. You’ll be trotting out to the garden in style Shelley. Nothing sogs up your feet more than walking in dewy grass and it takes forever for walking shoes to dry. I am hearing lots of ads for Lowe’s and their garden items sales. I have to prune everything and have weeds everywhere – today was the second day in this very hot weather and I came home from walking worn out, even though I left at 8:15 and got back before the heat of the day – we may have a storm after midnight, so I’m going back to Twitter to check – if not, I’m off to bed. We have storms tomorrow and severe ones on Wednesday – ugh, double ugh.

  9. Spring is there isn’t it, everything looks good, great photos.
    It’s a pity there isn’t a more natural product to feed the Oriels. You could start a Meal Worm farm, birds love them 😁

    1. Yes, Spring is finally here!
      I agree – unfortunately, what the Orioles want to eat isn’t producing the sweet fruit yet so they do love the grape jelly. Meal worms…oh, dear, their name kind of creeps me out, but with your encouragement, I’ll take a peek at seeing what that takes to do! 😉

  11. Beautiful photos. I like your Crocs and the birdbath. I know that the birds around here seem to be plump enough so I’m guessing that they’re liking whatever it is they smell.

    1. Thank you, Ally, I appreciate your feedback. I’m tickled that the clogs and the birdbath look so well together – gardening-serendipity moments are so fun to experience.
      Yay for happy and plump birds 🥰

  13. What gorgeous, wonderful photos, Shelley! Spring is magnificent in your yard. How delightful that a turkey wants to hang out there. I love turkeys! I have to say that I’m extremely jealous of your garden clogs!!!

    1. Hi Michelle! Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the photos and the stroll around my yard. We now have two turkeys frequenting the yard. They are fun to watch.
      Aw, the garden clogs are a delightful hit, I’m so glad I found them 🥰 (I shared the link on Terri’s comment if you want to shop for a pair for yourself, 😉)

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