Gossip Garden: Lilly Bass

Lilly Bass, mother of Serena. Step mother of Chuck. Well, Serena and Chuck are usually telling Lilly what to do, not the other way around. So, our beautiful little Anna's female of Gossip Garden is named Lilly. I love this little bird. She will fly by me while I'm out there to check me out. She just has to be involved with everything going on. She is the only bird that drinks from all three feeders and she is always buzzing around the flowers. I can only guess that she's been around a few blocks. Maybe she dated Trent Reznor in the 90's. Garden Dan and her seem to be about equals, but Lilly always holds her own with the other birds. She just smart enough not to get into a lot of fights.

Lilly likes a drink from time to time. Don't we all?

Lilly was one of the first birds to show up. Thanks Lilly!

That's all for our Gossip Garden character development for now. As soon as I see another regular, I'll add it to the show. Stay tuned for more Gossip Garden updates!

Gossip Garden: Dan

Dan is sort of a tool. I don't have a lot of pictures of him, and the reason why is that he's a tool. He's always in the wrong place at the right time. He's not afraid of people, but it looks like someone kicked his ass. Maybe it was Chuck. I wouldn't blame him. In reality, I think he's molting, which gives him an awkward appearance. Dan was one of the first birds to show up, and he was definitely the first male Anna's. So, I have to give him some props for loyalty. Every time another bird kicks his ass, he's back again for more. It's paying off too, because the high society birds are starting to tolerate him a little more. Chuck hates him, but hasn't killed him yet, so that's good. Every time Dan and Serena date, they realize that two birds of different species just can't make it work. Stupid birds, they just keep trying. 

 

Dan's cute enough, but he's no Chuck Bass.

Next Blog: Lilly Bass

Gossip Garden: Serena

Ahhh Serena...  So beautiful, so misunderstood.  Serena is somewhat of a mystery.  Is she a good girl or bad girl???  Is our Serena a Rufus or an Allen's???  I don't think we'll every know, but she is pretty.  Chuck has decided that if she's around, she's sort of okay.  She doesn't have Chuck's bulk and tenacity, but she asserts herself well enough.  She's also pretty sneaky, and can sometimes get to a feeder without another bird seeing her.  

Serena is my favorite character of Gossip Garden. Blair is officially my favorite character on Gossip Girl, but I haven't seen the hummingbird version of her yet, so her name remains reserved. Garden Serena has learned to chase everyone else (but Chuck) away from the feeders. Being a smaller species than the larger Anna's hummingbirds (Chuck and Dan included), she has a size disadvantage. However, she makes up for it in speed and agility. She is by far the #2 in social hierarchy and can pull her Black AmEx out of her purse anytime she wants, and lay down the law.  But everytime she's sad or needs a snack, you can see her here at the bar.

Next Blog: Dan

Gossip Garden: Chuck

As I create my balcony garden, I try to select plants that will attract hummingbirds.  Several months ago I set out my first feeder.  It took about two weeks to attract the first, but once that first bird came, many more followed.  The best part of my balcony now is the birds that come and go all day long.  Inevitably, you end up recognizing regulars.  I like to think of it as the Gossip Girl of the balcony garden, and so I've named each bird accordingly.  

First, we have Chuck.  He comes and goes as he pleases and takes whatever he can get.  He's beautiful and poised.  His feathers are always perfect.  These are Chuck's feeders and he reminds everyone that they're his every chance he can get.  

Chuck showed up one day and raised hell.  We had a nice balance of 3 beautiful female Annas and one male (Dan), but chuck showed us who was who.  He deserves the feeders, because he is the king of the social hierarchy.  As it is with hummingbirds, he's completely antisocial, but has climbed and fought his way to the top.  So he sits on the trellis and keeps guard over his territory.  For a long while, he made sure that he was the ONLY bird that could access the three feeders I put out.  Now adays, he's a little more relaxed.  I think he wants to find a good female or 8 and have some baby Chucks.  

Chuck keeping guard...

He keeps guard rather well.  He's quite proud of himself.  

A shot of Chuck at the bottle.  He definitely has a drinking problem.  

Next Blog: Serena

Thank You Aunt Kathy!

My wonderful aunt Kathy in Scappoose, Oregon sent me some great books to help me with my garden and culinary inclinations. She sent the Food Lover's Companion from Barron's. I highly recommend it for all you foodies and people like me that are learning little by little. So... from time to time, I'm going to quote from the book. I will randomly select (close my eyes and open a page and point a finger) an entry for all of us to share and comment on. If you have a recipe or suggestions that we can all enjoy, please pipe in!

Here we go! (Eyes closed) And the winner is... Cherry

Cherry Said to date as far back as 300 B.C., cherries were named after the Turkish town of Cerasus. Throughout the centuries, cherry trees have been lauded for their deliciously succulent fruit as well as for their beauty. Tourists flock to Washington D.C., ever year to see the cherry blossoms on the ornamental cherry trees that were originally presented to America's capital in 1912 by Tokyo's governor. There are two main groups of cherries -- sweet and sour. The larger of the two are the firm, heart-shaped sweet cherries. They're delicious for eating out of hand and can also be cooked. The most popular varieties range from the dark red to purplish BING, LAMBERT and TARTARIAN to the golden, red-blushed ROYAL ANN. MARASCHINO CHERRIES are usually made from the Royal Ann cherries. Sour cherries are smaller, softer and more globular than the sweet varieties. Most are too tart to eat raw, but make excellent pies, preserves and the like. The bestselling sour cherry varieties are the bright red EARLY RICHMOND (the first cherry are available in the late spring) and MONTMORENCY, and the dark mahogany red MORELLO. Most fresh cherries are available from May (June for sour cherries) through August. Choose brightly colored, shiny, plump fruit. Sweet cherries should be quite firm, but not hard; sour varieties should be medium-firm. Stemmed cherries are a better buy, but those with stems last longer. Store unwashed cherries in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. Dried cherries-both sweet and sour-are available in many markets today. They can be eaten as a snack, or used in baked goods or desserts as one would use raisins. Cherries contain minor amounts of vitamins and minerals. See also CHOKECHERRY.

The New Food Lover's Companion: Fourth Edition

Now, I'm hungry for some cherries, specifically Chukar Cherries - a lovely chocolatier that resales out of Pike Place Market in Seattle, but also has a great website akin to Harry and David. They have wonderful chocolate covered cherries. For more information about Washington cherries, check out www.nwcherries.com. My favorite cherry is the Ranier - huge and luscious. Just one more reason to visit the Pacific Northwest! Does anyone have any cherry favorites (recipes or otherwise) that they want to share??????