Our Friends

The back room of the house, our office/craft room is one gigantic wall of glass. The bottom portion is glass blocks, the top portion panes of windows. It is a bright room and wonderful see outback to watch the plants grow, weather change and birds fly by.

However, sadly, on occasion, a bird will go off his radar and fly into the window. I will be typing on my computer and hear a loud "THUMP", which sends me to the ceiling at first. Then I realize it was a bird and not a ball or bullet.

The past couple weeks, I have been bugged by all the bug muck on the window (bugged? HAH! I made a pun... get it?), so I wanted to get some of the windex cleaners out and get it cleaned up. But, I guess for the birds, it is clean enough, as today I had another one hit the window.

I'm typing away on the computer and SMACK! I knew right away, guess I am getting used to it. So went outside to check, and sure enough, a bird is sitting under the window looking dazed. Poor baby. So I got a little shovel and moved him to higher ground (safe from cats). I noticed it already has a growth on it's beak, so I wonder if it has flown into window's before. There are some blood spots on the growth, so he probably hurt it again. Poor thing. But of course, I think, "This is a BLOG POST!", so I run and grab my camera and add to it's humuliation and take a shot. To redeem myself, I grab a crust of bread and little cap of water and come back to leave for it, but it takes off in flight.

Guess all is well in the bird world again, as I notice about 10 other birds flying about the yard.

I come back in to share this on the blog, and I hear a lot of chirping out back. I will accept that as my...

THANK YOU!

Fruits of Our Efforts!

The Harvest has begun!

• First 2 cucumbers, taste GREAT!
• Tomato's (Celebrity and Early Girl) are finally starting to ripen. Have already enjoyed a pasta salad and a capri salad. YUM!
• Strawberries are still a bit small, but still worth tossing into a vanilla ice cream concoction.
• Basil is hanging in there. The leaves arent as big as Trader Joe basil, but enough to add flavor to my salads!
• Garlic was harvested on June 22 (2nd day of summer) as instructed. Very puny cloves, but have tried in salads and on homemade pizza and just as flavorful as the store bought big cloves. Not sure if we will harvest again, as it is not expensive to buy throughout the summer. They were a bit of a dissapointmnet when we pulled them out. Looked more like green onions than garlic.



The Reveal

Remember when we started?

I was the inspiration for this nifty gadget to hold the spa lid when spa is being used.

Our new new oasis!

Step inside and check it out...

Tonite we CELEBRATE!

Proud Mama

The babies are arriving! Arent they cute!

News Worthy?

The strawberries are ripening, but the pill bugs munch into them before I can pluck them. UGH!

So read about some different suggestions, one discussed using a weed barrier. So trying the old newspaper trick. I cut slices in the center of the paper, gathered the plant and brought it through the center. Now the berries are laying on the paper, not the ground.

 One theory mentioned in my many readings, was that the pill bugs will only eat them if they are laying directly on the ground, they wont climb up the plant to get to them, so a few other plants, I moved the unripened berries to lay on top of a leaf.

Experimenting to see what works best. Shall we start a wager?

Pond Guest 2011

Back in 2009 Rumplestillskin came to visit us. Remember him?

I hear that the lifespan of a dragonfly is not very long and of course we havent seen him since, but we have new visitors each year.

Today I ran across this guy.

He was actually sitting in the grass and didnt move when I came near. So I grabbed a stick and he crawled onto it, so I could show him to Scott. Then he flew off, sort of crooked into a plant on the other side of the yard. So I got him on the stick again, and took him over to the pond, as he flew off, swooping over the pond, I cheered, until he landed in the water, just below the water fall and began to just float. OH NO!! Do dragonfly's swim? I dont know, but he wasnt moving around. So I ran around to the other side, leaned over as far as I could (Am I REALLY doing this for a dragonfly?) and sent a stick to save him. He grabbed on, and I brought him up to a rock. I am guessing he is an old DF and maybe on the last of his flights.

I love my new camera, I can get in close so you can see him. There is a baby dragonfly on the other side of the rock. He keeps raising his tail, I assume, trying to fly, and hasnt gotten far. We have lots of these around the pond right now.

Did You Know...

I bet you didnt know that today is:

Yep, truly it is. Read how to celebrate it here!

And ironically, without knowing this, DH had already promised to start on the deck for the spa today. So, without further adu...

 The Beginning

Don't forget the BEFORE shot.