Monday, April 9, 2012

JERUSALEM SAGE, YELLOW BIRDS AND "VICTORIA"

     The very first time I ever saw an american goldfinch was on a very nice spring morning, many years ago. I had left my front door open, to feel the breeze and as I was passing by the door, I saw the most beautiful bright yellow and black bird sitting in my hedge. It just took my breath away to see it sitting there, right in front of my door. I felt it was an omen or blessing and  knew it was going to be a very good day!
     A little later that morning, as I was leaving my house to run some errands, I noticed one of my young neighbors, (who I didn't know), was having a garage sale, so I stopped to look. As I was walking from my car and as I was still a distance away, I spotted a figurine, a beautiful lady in a maroon dress. I walked straight to it, checked the price and it was 2.00, I turned it over and the stamp was Royal Doulton. "Victoria", Doulton & Co. Limited 1972. I didn't see any chips on it, but would have bought it anyway, because it was so beautiful to me. When I got home, I checked it over and it did not have a single imperfection. It was a collector's item. I kept feeling guilty about my young neighbor, thinking she didn't know what she was selling for 2.00. So, a few weeks later, I went by to introduce myself and told her about "Victoria". She said that she and two other friends were having that garage sale and it belonged to one of them and her elderly aunt had given her some things and she was getting rid of them, (OMg!). She told me to just keep it. If she had told me she didn't mean to sell it, I would have given it back to her. But that day, I was in a big hurry to get out of there with my find!!
     The american goldfinches are almost gone, now. They've been  here, since just before Thanksgiving.  For the last three weeks, they've been coloring out to a very bright yellow and black. They are as bright yellow as my jerusalem sage in this photo. All summer, when I see bright yellow, I'll think about how beautiful the finches were just before they left their winter home for their nesting grounds. Their numbers have been slowly dwindling and now I see only three or four at my feeders. I do wonder if these are late coming up from south Texas or if they're just lingering for a while longer. They're certainly in their bright spring colors.

     Do you feed goldfinches during the winter? And, have you ever experienced a garage sale, special find, like mine?

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