When Nature Calls

I adore being outdoors, I don't like the humidity some days, but I will sit out in it just to enjoy the birds and the wildlife scampering around in the yard.  I keep my solar water fountain/bird bath going all summer long and into fall so the birds can enjoy it, and everyone knows cats love watching the birds, I have five of them!  It keeps them entertained all day long.  The sound the fountain makes is also very soothing when I am sitting out there taking in all the nature that surrounds me.

 My little garden on the deck is growing, free from the groundhogs eating it.  Little tomatoes and peppers have finally appeared, it won't be long now until we can pick them off and eat them.  

 The tall grasses on both sides of the deck are coming in,  these are very hardy plants and come back bigger every year.  Praying Mantis love to hang out in these.  I also have them lining my creek that runs along the side of the house.

 I put this old rusty birdhouse out every year and a House Wren nests in it.  I watched him all day long build a nest, he comes out of the house, perches on the flag hanger (you can see him right on the end), sings a long song, then flies away to get another twig and repeats the whole process over and over again!  He was so cute trying to attract his mate.  I have all kinds of birds, bats (we hung a bat house in the woods this year), foxes, deer, racoons, chipmunks, squirrels, hawks and owls nesting all over the property.  It is interesting and also relaxing to watch them go about their daily routines.

This is the nest that took all day to build, there must be hundreds of twigs in there!

I put two more knockout roses in the garden behind my shed, the groundhogs ate everything I had there last year.  They won't eat these because of the thorns.  A lot of moss growns naturally back there because of the dampness.  I let it grow, I think it looks cool.  My fig tree sprouted again in the garage, and it has a new shoot.  I had it wrapped in plastic and kept it in the garage, because it goes dormat during the winter.  This year I am going to plant it in the ground.  It will soon produce figs and they are always sweet.  Last year I got 15 figs off this little tree! I use them in cooking and in salads.  If I get more this year I am going to make fig jam for the first time.  Fig jam is great on toasted crostini with ricotta cheese.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

I made up an Easter/Spring display across my dining room table, I need something to brighten my mood for the season, the temperature certainly isn't doing that.  I started with a twine runner, and these tall wood candlesticks and faux topiaries that I found at Gabriel Brothers, they are the center piece on my table.  I built the rest of my display from things I had in my Easter/Spring decorations.  You don't always have to buy new things, use what you have.  Although, I will have a lot of uses for those candlesticks!

Carved wood candlesticks- Small 18", Medium 22" and Large 24". with faux topiaries.

This is the front of my display.  Wrapped around the candlesticks are two garlands - Lilacs and a mixed Boxwood.

I started tucking little things into the garlands - A moss covered birdhouse and little bird, a bunny and speckled eggs.

 Sparkly bunny and a small pot of tulips.

Another sparkly bunny and a big bunny, more speckled eggs.

And a bird nest.

This is the other side of the display.

Glittered birdhouse and speckled eggs.

 

Sparkly peep and more eggs.

 Grape Hyacinth and Daffodils with moss in egg cups.

 Baby bunny.

 And another glittered birdhouse.

The Grass is Greener

We live on 2 1/2 acres of property, so grass cutting takes about 3 hours to do even though we have a 42 inch base Cub Cadet riding mower. It's alot of work but after trimming around all the trees and cleaning up it always looks great!

I bought 2 banana plants at an Amish nursery and they were only about 3 inches high.  A month after planting them they are now about 2 feet high. The fan like leaves are huge and the coloring on them is green and burgundy - so pretty.

We decided to build ourselves a fire pit in the backyard, so we went to Home Depot and found these landscaping bricks.  All you have to do is dig out a base and pour sand in the bottom of the base and level it.  Next, stack the bricks in a circle.   It was really easy and only took about 1 1/2 hours to construct. So, 2-3 bags of  paver sand and 48 bricks and you have your own little piece of heaven on a cool night to make s'mores!  Total cost of the project - $80.00

This little clay birdhouse has been in my front garden since we built our home 7 years ago.  It's tucked among bushy lilacs and rhododendrons.  Every year a titmouse (bird) builds a nest, lays eggs and tends to her babies.  My cats love to watch all the activity from the front window.