Spring at Little Piney Spring flies by like a butterfly–beautiful, colorful, swiftly gone. I know it’s not over yet, but in the flurry of over-scheduled days away from Little Piney, I feel a sense of loss. I didn’t have enough days with the Bluebonnets which are already going to seed, or with the Cedar WaxwingsContinue reading
Author: Tammy Brown
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Spring Flies By Like a Butterfly
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March Promises and the Nature Cure for Primary Madness
March Promises Little Piney in March is a green and happy place. The landscape is tame and parklike after a late winter mowing, and full of promises of things to come–the first wildflowers, the first butterflies, mounds of dewberry blossoms, and tiny eggs that will hatch by Easter. Nature is a welcome antidote to the uglyContinue reading
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Fun Facts About Eastern Bluebirds from the Texas Bluebird Society Season Kickoff
Texas Bluebird Society Season Kick-off Bluebirders are friendly people as you might imagine! I felt very welcome at my first Texas Bluebird Society meeting Saturday at the Bastrop Convention Center. The meeting was impressively well-run, lots of fun, and packed with good information. I enjoyed meeting my Bluebird-hosting peers. We speak the same jargon of predatorContinue reading
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Bluebirds and Bluebonnets
Bluebirds, Blue Skies Blue skies Smiling at me Nothing but blue skies Do I see Bluebirds Singing a song Nothing but bluebirds All day long – Irving Berlin, Blue Skies, 1927 It’s nesting time at Little Piney with lots of activity on the nest box trail! In a courting ritual, Mr. Bluebird tries to persuadeContinue reading
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Thoughts About Loving a Place
I wrote this last week after a visit to my childhood home. These are my thoughts about “loving a place.” Loving a Place “A place belongs forever to whoever claims it hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, renders it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his ownContinue reading
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Frosty Morning at Little Piney
Frosty Morning at Little Piney Sunday morning I awoke to the sound of hundreds of Robins and the sight of a frosty earth. Flashing red in the sun, the Robins flew from the woods in groups of 20-25 and perched in bare elms among Cedar Waxwings, Chipping Sparrows, and Cardinals. Robins Mist on Dragonfly Pond I threwContinue reading
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Ten Things You Should Know Before Moving to the Country
Our First Anniversary A year has passed since we became country dwellers at Little Piney. We have learned quite a bit about living with nature, and I have shared much of my learning process here on Lost Pines Life. As I looked back over my website, I was surprised to see that I have publishedContinue reading
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“There is Only Light and Shadow”
Landscape painters learn to “paint the light, not the objects.” The light glancing off trees, fields, and water creates a beautiful and ever-changing scene in nature. Autumn light with its slant angle and long afternoons has been particularly beautiful at Little Piney this season. Here are some of the photo highlights of the fall/winter landscapeContinue reading
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Partially Leucistic Female Cardinal Joins Flock
She’s Still Here! I’m happy to say that this pale beauty appears to have made Little Piney her home. The partially leucistic female Northern Cardinal seems comfortable vying for feeder space with the Chipping Sparrows and her own kind today in the front yard oak. She first appeared at Little Piney last week, and itContinue reading
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Leucistic Northern Cardinal and More Winter Birds
Leucistic Northern Cardinal I saw a light-colored bird drop down into the woodpile in brush behind the Hummingbird garden–one I couldn’t immediately identify. I thought it might be a female Cardinal but it was unmistakably gray and white, not a hint of creamy buff. Maybe a pale Pyrrhuloxia? When the the shy bird ventured outContinue reading