Home...

New Jersey is still my physical home (although my heart is already in FL with my husband) ...and when I arrived "home" today, I was greeted by the cats the moment I walked in the door ...and then by the sounds of young cardinals the moment I walked out onto our deck.

It is a sound that is distinctive - it is a high-pitched chipping that rises in intensity when one of the parents is at the feeder and escalates even further when the parent flies to whatever tree the fledgling is hiding in. Very soon, the parents will chase these youngsters away so that they can start their second brood - I always feel sorry when I see the parents chasing the youngsters away. Once the second brood is fledged, sometimes one or more of the youngsters from the first brood will help feed the second, so it's not like they are completely disowned. Still...poor little things must be very confused when suddenly the beak that has been feeding them starts chasing them. Anyway, I liked this shot of the little gal peeking out of the branches of our cherry tree, waiting for dad to bring her treat to her. Here is a shot of Dad, after he'd fed his little girl!

And just for fun, here is a rather bedraggled looking flue jay, dropping his nut

And speaking of confusion, I apologize to everyone who commented on my back blip earlier today. It turns out that when I posted it from my iPad, it recorded the date as being today rather than yesterday and the only way I could fix it was to delete the photo and reload it. Thereby obliterating ALL of the comments! Argh. So sorry. At least I got to read the comments first.

I was very sad to say goodbye to Hubs this morning. I know that once we are together again, this will all fade into a distant memory, but right now, I am feeling the pain of separation. I hope that things start to move with the real estate market here as selling the house is key.