Thursday, October 18, 2012

Catching My Attention

This has been a quiet week.  I like quiet weeks.  During quiet weeks, life slows enough that small and amusing things can catch my attention.

1. Although our time was limited, The Professor and I spent a pleasant half hour walking through the California natives garden and oak tree woodland at Descanso Gardens in LaCanada-Flintridge.  You can scroll down or click on this link to see photos of those magnificent oak trees.

2.  Descending the hill toward the exit, we noticed an unusual sight in the tall trees.  Do you see it?


A closer view...


A fearless tree trimmer


3.  One morning I heard the distinct calling of quail.  Regularly, coveys of quail trail through our garden hunting and pecking for seeds.  This covey was congregated in our driveway.  As I maneuvered quietly out the door to catch a photo of them, of course I spooked them, and they scattered.  Quail amuse me.


4.  The week wouldn't be complete for me unless I had knitted something.  This week, I made more hats. 


5.  Outside the building where I teach three classes on Thursdays, there is a butterfly garden.  Between classes, I walked outside and found several children clustered around one of the beds.  They had discovered dozens of caterpillars chewing and chomping on the plants provided for their enjoyment.  Next week, we can expect to see many chrysalises (chrysali?) dangling from the stems of the bushes and then the week after, there will be butterflies! 


Just five faves from my quiet week that make me happy.

Has any little thing caught your attention and made you smile?

12 comments:

Susanne said...

Now those are big fat caterpillars? I wonder what the butterfly's colors will be.

Those oak trees are huge. We don't have a whole lot of them around here though there is one in our neighborhood that provides nice leaves and acorns for the dayhome kids to make some fall crafts. That is one brave tree trimmer being that high up.

ellen b. said...

Fun and unusual things that caught your attention. Quail make me smile. Have a great weekend.

Jerralea said...

I never saw the tree trimmer in the first photo!

How productive you've been! Love the patterns of the knitted hats.

Faith said...

WOW! those caterpillars are BIG! I used to do a unit on caterpillars - butterflies for science when I taught the special needs preschoolers...always so fun to watch the changes! I did NOT see the tree trimmer guy in the 1st photo but oh my...he is a BRAVE man!! Enjoy your weekend.....

Barbara H. said...

Oh, that guy in the tree scares me. One year while at camp a young man was killed trimming trees when everything was as secure as regulations and policy called for. We didn't know him personally, but it shook up the whole camp. Then when we moved to TN, we discovered his family goes to our church here -- his mom was the first person who spoke to us and welcomed us.

I don't know if I have ever seen quail "in real life." Cute!

It will be so neat to see the progress with the caterpillars.

Laura@OutnumberedMom said...

Wow! That tree trimmer! I used to love to watch caterpillars turn into butterflies when I was a kid.

Hope you have a great week ahead.

Gracie Saylor said...

Thanks so much for sharing your fav fives of the week. I really enjoyed each one! When I lived a little north of San Francisco we had quail who would come visit our yard from time to time, and I always felt quite honored that they would :) xx from Gracie

Knitting Linguist said...

I love your comment about quail amusing you - I feel very much the same way. And these days, now that we have chickens, I get to be amused by them, too!

Gattina said...

I get dizzy when I see these tree trimmers !

Bethany said...

I start hearing Partridge Family songs in my head whenever I see the birds! I love them (I love birds in general!). I would also love to see the children's faces when they discovered something so wonderful in nature! It's how I feel whenever we're hiking somewhere new!

nikkipolani said...

So cool that you've got butterflies in the making! The tree trimmer up so high makes me terribly nervous, but I'm sure he knows what he's about. I love all the design variations you're coming up with as you knit your gazillionth hat :-)

Anonymous said...

Immediately noticed the tiny "plastic" man in the tree and marveled that the oaks are so huge.

Thanks for sharing wonderful sights from your quiet week!