Here is my garden, looking a little bit neglected as I spend more time copy-editing than I do gardening. I suppose you could say I’m weeding, but it’s words I’m weeding out, not “weed” weeds.
A western flycatcher flew over to the fence and gave me a condescending look.
Ooooooh! Anneli! That doesn’t look good. You’ve got to get out there and clean up that mess you call a garden.
So I asked if he’d like to help me weed.
“Tell me you’re joking!” he said.
“I don’t think so!” he said. “… Awww … don’t look like that. You should have gotten on top of the job right at the start!”
Call me when the work is done.
“Weeding words,” she calls her job,
Didn’t know she’s such a snob.
Doesn’t get her hands too dirty
Asks for help from this lil birdie.
I’m no weeder, I must say,
Must learn that another day,
Weeding plants is bad enough,
Weading books is way too tough.
July 16, 2020 at 8:14 pm
Ohhh I love this, Anneli! Your bird buddy is darling, your words so good. ❤️
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July 16, 2020 at 8:19 pm
Thank you, John. This little guy sure gave me the look when I asked for help!
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July 17, 2020 at 8:51 pm
Adorable little bird! I love the analogy of weeding words!
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July 17, 2020 at 11:26 pm
Thanks, Luanne. Writers, especially, would appreciate it.
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July 16, 2020 at 8:18 pm
Hahaha. 😀 That’s great! And your little friend is adorable.
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July 16, 2020 at 8:21 pm
It was good that he sat still for the camera so long. Then I got my bird book out and found out what kind he was – the kind that doesn’t want to help me weed the garden!
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July 16, 2020 at 10:32 pm
Yes, but he eats bugs, so he does his part. 😉
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July 16, 2020 at 10:58 pm
Good point! So glad he does, too.
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July 17, 2020 at 1:10 am
So sweet, Anneli!
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July 17, 2020 at 7:26 am
I love how the animals talk to me here. You just have to look at them and know what they’re saying. Very friendly, they are! Glad you enjoyed the conversation.
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July 17, 2020 at 1:52 am
If you think your garden needs help, I won’t show you mine! And I cannot use weeding words or anything else as an excuse either! My bad!
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July 17, 2020 at 7:25 am
I have a confession to make – I only showed you the better side of my garden.
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July 17, 2020 at 10:40 am
Oh, but I bet it still looks better. Mine,s a jungle!
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July 17, 2020 at 10:41 am
That means things are growing well. 😉
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July 18, 2020 at 1:20 am
But all the wrong things are growing far too well!
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July 18, 2020 at 9:47 am
I bet if I planted weeds next year, the veggies would take over.
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July 19, 2020 at 1:04 am
Wouldn’t that be lovely!
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July 17, 2020 at 2:48 am
Some plants are classified as weeds, they grow, have beautiful blossoms for butterflies, and we are programmed, in out genes maybe, to destroy them all. That is not right.
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July 17, 2020 at 7:24 am
That’s true, we are, but I only yank out the ones that crowd my veggies.
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July 17, 2020 at 7:02 am
I can relate. I’ve been weeding all summer and take breaks to weed my gardens. Love the flycatcher photos!
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July 17, 2020 at 7:23 am
It’s amazing how quickly the work we do is overtaken by new weeds. I think I’ll plant weeds next year and see if the veggies overtake them.;-)
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July 17, 2020 at 8:06 am
OK, I think I’m the cause of a handful of those weeds, Anneli!
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July 17, 2020 at 8:23 am
Yes, you are, Jacqui, but it was my pleasure to let them grow.
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July 17, 2020 at 8:40 am
You take some great bird photographs, Anneli – you have a good eye for it. And for wildlife generally from what I’ve seen of your posts. I’m not suggesting the quality of them is anything to do with the camera you’re using – and I mean that – but as a photographer myself who often takes bird photos – in London parks mostly – I’d be interested in what camera you’re using.
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July 17, 2020 at 9:10 am
Thanks, Jeff. I have a Nikon Coolpix P510. It’s a bridging camera (a step below one where I could put on a telescopic lens), but it has a pretty good magnification. The only thing is to hold still enough. I do like Nikon though. The zoom on this one is very nice. If birds would hold still enough, I could use a tripod but they just won’t co-operate. What I like about the zoom on the camera is that often when I can’t see well enough to make out what I’m looking at, I take the zoomed picture and then I zoom in on it again after I upload it and I see things that I hadn’t been able to see just with my eyes.
I would never have been able to I.D. this little brown bird without the zoom to show me the identifying details to then look up in my bird book.
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July 18, 2020 at 3:49 am
Thanks Anneli. That’s interesting – you do very well with that set up. And as you say, a tripod in those circumstances is simply no good. You’d make your life easier – I’m sure you know this anyway – if you had a variable lens camera and a zoom with Vibration Reduction on it. I have a Nikon D3500 camera and for photos of birds I use a Nikon 18-200mm lens. It’s a seriously brilliant lens and takes out all the normal vibration that comes with using it hand-held at maximum magnification. Nice to come across another avian photographer 🙂
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July 18, 2020 at 3:56 am
Actually, I’ve just looked up your camera on the Nikon site and it says you’ve got VR on that lens. And 24-1000mm is some magnification!
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July 18, 2020 at 9:44 am
One of these days I hope to get a better camera, although this one was such a big jump up from what I had, it almost seems ungrateful to upgrade. Someone told me there is a new feature out and I didn’t quite understand it – something about mirrors or no mirrors…. Anyway, I thought I should wait until the latest technology has done its thing and then get a new one. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying my “bird hunting.” I think your 3500 is a pretty good one!
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July 17, 2020 at 8:41 am
Very sweet bird talking again. But just let’s not talk about weeds, I gave up on them, I just started to mow them.
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July 17, 2020 at 9:13 am
I can do that in most of the yard but not in the veggie garden. But it’s at the stage where it’s going to do what it wants anyway.
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July 17, 2020 at 10:56 am
Very nice, Anneli. Maybe you’re weeding, oops, reading too much into his expression. 😏
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July 17, 2020 at 11:43 am
I think I must be!!
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July 18, 2020 at 4:47 am
Weeding never seems to get done, does it? Book ‘weeding’ and plant weeding are equally tough jobs. The bird could have helped, though…
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July 18, 2020 at 9:45 am
LOL I’d wather wead a book!
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July 19, 2020 at 4:09 pm
Haha!
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July 18, 2020 at 1:18 pm
So good!
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July 18, 2020 at 1:26 pm
Thank you, DK. So now you know where to go if you ever feel the need to yank out some weeds, … or do some extwa weading.
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July 19, 2020 at 11:01 am
Charming post! It was fun to read it and the comments from your readers.
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July 19, 2020 at 1:44 pm
Thank you, Lori. Something light suits me just fine these days. Glad you enjoyed it.
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July 20, 2020 at 8:38 am
I simply refuse to listen to the birds when they try to tell me about the neglected state of our garden! 😀
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July 20, 2020 at 11:52 am
Right! What do they know anyway?!
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July 23, 2020 at 12:50 pm
I think I will stick to weeding out the unnecessary words in my writing. You certainly have plenty of eyes to keep an eye out.
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July 23, 2020 at 3:19 pm
Good plan. 😉
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