Oh, that’s a nice idea. Let’s see what I can find around my house that’s blue in color.
Well, look at this, here’s a blue flower right outside my window. And here’s a Stellar’s Jay in a tree not even 15 feet from my house. The sky is blue (today anyway). I have blueberries in a package in my freezer. The lake nearby that I walk to is blue. I have a blue shirt in my closet.
There are lots of blue things around here today, but the best blues here are the blue flowers right outside my window and the blue Stellar’s Jay who is so close to the house, so let me show you those.
I wish I knew what this plant/shrub/flower is. I bet one of you readers will know and will enlighten me. 🙂 Photos of this plant were taken over a period of a few weeks.
Yes, it starts out yellow, but it sure turns into blue, just you wait and see!
Please do let me know if you know what the name of this plant/flower/shrub is. It is very pretty. The flowers are fascinating.
And now let me show you that Stellar’s Jay who was in a tree not even 15 feet from my house. I was outside doing a bit of yardwork when I heard some commotion in the tree above me. I looked up to find this Stellar’s Jay sitting on a limb about seven or eight feet above the ground, not very far up. This bird didn’t seem to give a hoot that I was so close. No pun intended since owls hoot, not Stellar’s Jays. 🙂
The Jay seemed awfully disheveled. I wondered if it was hurt. I went indoors, got my camera, and came back outside to find the bird still perched on the same tree branch.
Ah ha, another cleaning session! (Just like that Red-breasted Sapsucker Woodpecker a few weeks ago.)
Even it’s eyelid is blue!
“Oh yes, this spot right here, this spot is good.”
“Well, this spot over here needs work too.”
“Oh gosh, this spot is really hard to reach.”
“My wings certainly need attention too.”
“My goodness, this is a lot of work! And I’m not done yet!”
The Jay then hopped around on the limb, turned full circle, and was then facing me … still not caring at all that I was just a few feet away.
“There’s still something down in here … where is it?”
“Ah ha! Finally got that last offending loose feather out.”
“Now I am beautiful!”
This handsome Stellar’s Jay is now all tidied up and ready for action. It flew off shortly after I took this last photo (above).
How many things are there in your world that you too can find in the hue of blue?
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! I just realized that today, this very day, this exact day, four years ago today, the very first “Travels With Towhee” blog post was published. Happy birthday to this blog! All of you Readers have my very sincere, heartfelt, thank-you for your support and comments (including corrections to the blog, jokes, other camping ideas, etc). The number of Readers continues to grow. Friends of Towhee the Trailer (and Little Towhee too) continue to follow along on our journeys. Thank you … everyone!
Next blog post here … another camping trip!
Looks like a hydrangea to me!!
Thanks Laurie! Now it has a name. 🙂
Stunning stellar pictures!!!
marif
Oh, I am groaning out loud … that was a great pun … “stellar” pictures. You get a feather in your cap. 🙂
Love your plant. It looks like a hydrangea to me, and I might have misspelled that. For some reason spellcheck has abandoned me. Love your jay pictures too!!
Thanks for the plant ID, Dawn. I looked the spelling up online and you are absolutely correct. 🙂
Great pictures of the Stellar Jay.
Congrats on the Birthday.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It’s about time.
Thanks Richard. Best wishes to both of you.
Gorgeous photos! Felicidades por cuatro años. We love the blog!
Gracias! Eres el mejor. 🙂
The “bumps” around the bird’s eye are really amazing. Your photographs are superb. Congratulations on four years. Here’s to many more.
Aren’t those eyes fascinating? I wouldn’t have noticed them, even as close as I was standing, except I looked at the photo later. Thanks very much Ruth.
Congrats on the four years Ann. I would be blue without you …….. 🙂
Awww, isn’t that nice of you Tim. 🙂 Thank you.
Wonderful! We thought your blog would be about RVing only but we love haivng read back through most of it to find all sorts of great things. We are so glad we found you.
And four years, that’s terrific. Happy birthday blog! 🙂
The blog and I thank you for your birthday wishes, Wanda. I’m glad you enjoy the non-RVing stuff. There’s so much to see and do right around home, isn’t there?
Your plant is a lace cap hydrangea. congratulations on your fourth anniversary!
Oh “lace cap” … I didn’t know that term at all. Thank you! And thanks for the congratulations Ann M. 🙂
Happy Birthday Blog ! Happy to have found you.
And I can confirm that is hydrangea (mine is only about two foot tall) and a wonderful healthy one !
Oh my gosh, the hydrangea outside my window is about six feet tall. It was there when I purchased and then moved into this house last fall, so I can take no credit for its health, or its color. But knowing what all of you folks have told me, I promise to take very good care of this one. thanks Kathy.
Ann, I am feeling blue because you are no longer my neighbor. I miss you…..
Readers … several years ago, Bob’s boat and my boat were moored right next to each other in their full-time moorage in Seattle, WA. Bob lived on his boat … I was on my boat on weekends. I would wake up in the morning, open my curtains, and there was Bob opening his curtains as well. Not surprisingly we got to know each other pretty well and became fast friends. I can tell you that Bob plays a mean game of cribbage; we played cribbage on several of those weekend evenings. These days, I’ve sold my boat, and moved south, I haven’t been to Seattle in years, so Bob and I don’t see each other much … but we are still fast friends. Bob … you and Wendie need to buy an RV and come explore the land with me! 🙂
Ann, thanks so much for the invite for Wendie and me to come along with you on some of your trips. I have been working on getting Wendie to agree to getting an RV, but to no avail. Now that she knows that we could could go with someone she knows won’t take her to places where we shouldn’t go, she might agree. I can only hope!!!
I would not take you and Wendie anywhere you shouldn’t go, I promise! 🙂
As others have said, the plant is a healthy and lovely blue Hydrangea. I suspect your soil is relatively acidic (low PH level) since the color of the flowers runs from blue to very dark blue and almost purple. The color of the flowers might change to red/pink if you raised the PH. Too much water (lots of rain), sandy soil, and the lack of a healthy soil … can all contribute to the blue color. On the other hand, I think those flowers are just lovely the way they are and many growers strive for just that color. Very nice collection of photos during the flowering process, thank you.
Ruby, thank you. That is great information … again it’s information that I didn’t know anything about. I love this blue color, so I’m going to leave the soil exactly as is. And this gives me another reason to be grateful for Pacific Northwest rain … the rain helps make the Hydrangea flowers blue.
Blue list coming here … two shirts, one jacket, a few blue dishes, my guest room has a blue area rug and blue drapes and one art work that’s mostly blue, the sky here is blue, almost forgot that my car is blue! Huh, I’m surprised I don’t have more blue things around my home, its mostly browns and greens and a little red and orange .. not much blue. Ok, maybe a few book jackets are blue.
Great blog Ann, sure thank you for sharing so much with us, I always love getting a notice that another blog post is out.
When I started looking around for things that were blue, I was surprised that I didn’t have much around the house that was blue … just like you. My home and my clothes are mostly brown, green, black, tan, red, orange. Makes me wonder if that’s true for most people and, if so, why we don’t have more blue in our homes. Ah, another research question! 🙂
Glad you like the blog, Shawn. I’m really glad you’re here.
Sitting on my bed checking out this blog. Look around and see: blue floor with blue carpet; blue exercise mat and large blue exercise ball; blue pillows, blue blankets, blue print spread. In my closet (the door is open) are probably a dozen blue shirts, mostly Mariners. I’m wearing blue shorts with a white T sporting a 2010 winter Olympics print that is blue and green. Only two red items, both clothing. If I leave my room there won’t be much blue, though.
You also have a lithadora, which is a very pretty color of blue.
You have lots of blue! That puts to rest my thought that maybe in general we humans don’t have much blue around us. It must be just a personal preference. Ah, yes indeed, the Lithodora flowers are a lovely blue, I like them a lot. Thanks for the comment Fritzi, glad you’re here. 🙂
Oh, goodness, he is GORGEOUS! Excellent photos!
Hi Angie, thanks for reading the blog! Of course, that Stellar’s Jay may have been a female, equally gorgeous! Thanks for the compliment on the photos. 🙂