Ant Swarm in our Front Yard!

Two weeks ago we found hundreds of ants in our front yard. To see a better image click on the pictures. These ants were getting ready to swarm.

Two different birds, very different nests.




Our neighborhood is very mature with towering trees and mature shrubs and bushes. That of course attracts all kinds of birds. Here are two examples of what likes to nest in our garden.

This Robin's nest was abandoned by the parents. It was built by our deck under the eaves of the roof over our porch. This Mama thought we were too loud and abandoned the nest. Unlike the Robins who built a nest in a decorative wreath on a friend's front entrance door and didn't mind people coming in all day and night. After my children and I admired and studied the nest we donated it to another homeschooling family with the request that they pass it on to the next homeschooling family after they were done. The four young birds that never were still had plenty of admirers.

 


This is a Cardinal's nest slapped together in our honeysuckle shrub.  I removed it after the young were gone and the nest had been abandoned.


The difference in the construction of these two nests is remarkable. The Robin's nest is a tightly woven, sturdy structure, glued together with mud and lovingly padded with soft grasses inside. The Cardinal's nest is barely hanging on. Slapped together with twigs, some plastic and a few dry leaves the nest  looks as though it couldn't withstand much more than a gentle breeze. Yet, both birds successfully raise their young every year.

Garden Friends

A beautiful visitor to our garden a few days ago.

May I Share our Garden with You?

As much as I'd love to take credit for this beauty, I cannot. This is mostly the creation of my husband, who despite a busy schedule, and out of sheer stubborness, maintains this garden every year. Much of the plants are perennials and I mostly participate by watering and pulling weeds and dead heading. Oh, and collecting Japanese Beetles and drowning them in a diabolical frenzy. Enjoy!



The chainlink fence to the left will be replaced with a wooden privacy fence by our neighbors due to their aggressive dog.  Archie, our airedale will be heartbroken as he adores Gina, the noisy mutt.



Rabbits love this lilly. One year they ate it down to the stem, flowers, leaves and all.

We have a huge, old deck. While a great feature of the backyard, it takes a lot of maintenance. My pressure washer is my best friend! No, wait, that would be my dishwasher. Or is it my washing machine. Actually, it's my coffee maker.

Yup, my gardener husband has to have the dangerous variety of plants too. These cacti have formidable thorns.

Between our front, back and side yard we have approximately 20 different varieties of hostas.

This arrangement never fails to impress. The coleus is the filler and thriller. Potato vine is the spiller and will eventually reach all the way to the bottom. We over winter our many varieties of coleus in our family room.

Some African daisy sort of thing flanked by stingless nettles.

In the background are my tomatoes, jalapenos and green pepper plants. I wish there was space for more.

Watch an American Bald Eagle pair raise their kids!

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/index.html

Click on the above link. But be prepared, it's completely addictive. Watch the parents care for their youngsters.

Nature, I miss it so...

Here I sit in  my sealed home. The weather outside is fabulous at a sunny 75F. And we? We are sitting inside. In the days before I never closed a window and the chirps of birds and chattering of squirrels were my background noise.   When I grew up I mostly lived in the country. The hills, dales, forest and orchards of southern Germany were my playground as a child. And later on my parents had a small hobby farm with about 6 cows, sheep, goats, pigs, all kind of fowl and a dog. And through all of this I grew atuned to nature. I understood her. I could feel the changes in the wind, the angle of the sunlight streaming through the trees. I knew every tree and shrub in my surroundings.  Every summer my parents and I spent countless bugbitten hours plucking all manner of berries and in the fall we harvested mushrooms and apples. What wonderful times these were.  Now this has all changed in my life and I feel so sad for my children for this. A connection to nature is priceless indeed and it's one my children don't have. My daughter's allergies to countless trees, grasses etc confine her to a life spent indoors. She is getting better and we were able to spend some time outside this year compared to the previous years where her time outside was usually the amount of time it took her to get from a building to the car and again in reverse.  I firmly believe that her improvement is primarily due to the fact that she is homeschooled and the shots which she's been getting for a year now.  We know she'll always have allergies but she was able to go outside in the garden this year.
I love reading blogs like 'BuntBlume' formerly 'BuntGlass' and  'Untrodden Paths'. The connection to Nature which these mothers forge would have been similar to mine. Maybe I should simply take a leap of faith and try a bit more now that Sissy reacts less and recovers faster.  How can my children become good stewards of a world they have no connection to.

Molly the Owl Mama is raising her second clutch!

My darling husband, who knows I adore Molly, told me that Molly and Carlos (owner of the box) were on the NBC nightly news this evening. She is raising her second clutch for the year and Carlos (bless his heart) placed several more cameras. So here is the link again. One baby hatched on the 8th and there are 3 more eggs (I think).

http://www.sportsmansparadiseonline.com/Live_Owl_Nest_Box_Cam.html

Uh, I guess I should mention that Molly is a Barn Owl.

Kudos to my husband

I know I complained about not getting the space I'd like for my veggies but I failed to show why that was. So I went and took a few pic with my daughters' point and shoot. The pics were taken too late and the camera is what it is, a point and shoot. But I think the idea gets across. We need to deadhead some flowers but by and large this is it and it's not shabby. BTW, after having children and seeing the rabbits eat our flowers I told dh that this was it. I was out. But he jumped in with both feet and so this garden is primarily his hard work. I am very proud of him and it is lovely to be able to sit in our screened in porch (with the mosquitos whining hungrily outside) and enjoy the view.

My tomatoes are going out of control and it's only July!

Here are two pictures of my rectangular tomato box. My darling husband won't let me have garden space to grow my vegetables so I am relegated to a box of tomatoes on the deck and a tub for jalapenos. We have another space (an old kennel with the brick floor removed) where I am granted some precious space to grow the few things that will grow there. I grow an obscene amount of chives, summer savory and more tomatoes. Nothing else will really grow there. I would love to be able to grow more foods but despite having a big garden have nowhere to grow them.  A tip for those of you who grow your own parsley and chives. Harvest them throughout the growing season, wash and then chop. Place in airtight plastic containers and freeze. For goodness sakes DON'T put water in it. It's not needed. Trust me, I am German and in Germany you can buy chopped frozen herbs. The dried stuff tastes gross! We eat, fresh frozen chives and parsley all  winter long!