Fall

It has cooled off a lot, and it's looking like fall.  The main trees in my yard are Water Oaks and Yellow Poplars.  I knew the poplars turned yellow and they're one of the first trees to drop leaves.  They turn, and fall right away.  They're adding bright color to the ground in the backyard.  My last experience with oaks were the huge ones I had in Michigan.  They had big leaves that were a real chore to deal with in the fall.  I think I like Water Oaks.  Their leaves are small which means they'll decompose faster, and won't lay a thick carpet of suffocating leaf litter.  I don't plan to deal with them at all.  Since there's no lawn in back, they will contribute to the garden where they fall.

I was also pleased to see that the Water Oaks are colorful in the fall.  Most oaks turn shades of brown.  These are turning yellow first, then darken to an attractive shade of pinkish gold.  Very pretty while all the shades are on the tree at once.

Got all the big (as in EXPENSIVE) projects done outside.  At least for now.  There's a few other things I'd like to do, but they're not a priority, and can wait to see when the budget allows.  I'll be concentrating on the gardens from now on.  Well, except for the inside projects.  Still lots of those, but most are just a matter of getting it done, and not any more expense.

I spent some imaginary money at Home Depot the other day.  I just cruised in to see what they had for fall planting.  Yep, I want that.  And that.  And some of those.  I managed to walk out without buying anything, but I'll be back soon.

In Wildthings News:

I finally put out bird feeders over a month ago, but no one noticed.  The Carolina Wrens dropped in, but I think they were only interested in what they could find lurking in the deck flower garden in the same area.

This female cardinal was the first to notice this week.

Her mate was right behind her.

I'm sure I'll see more action now that birds are coming.  There was a House Finch the other day.  As migratory birds begin passing through or coming back, it should get quite busy.

I saw Pileated Woodpeckers for the first time when I moved to Tennessee 10 years ago.  The forest around me was full of them.  I was surprised and pleased to see them in my backyard here.  This neighborhood is surrounded by extensive forest land, and there's a lot of natural habitat all through the 'hood.  Apparently enough to attract the Pileateds.  I've been trying for 10 years to capture one on film, but they never came close enough.  

I finally got these this week!  Not the greatest shots due to full zoom through window screen, but I got him.  That was exciting.  The red spot in the chin stripe marks this one as male.

I'm enjoying the cooler weather.  The AC has been turned off for about a month, and I like that.  I'd rather have windows open, and the electric bill is happier.  I hope it will be a while before I need heat, but I might have to start running it at night.  Once it goes below 55, it's a bit too cool in the house for me.

The Wildthings list has been updated.

tnt

Natureschild

How to identify birds and other critters.

I identified a new bird today.  Not only new here, but new ever.  That's always exciting for a bird watcher.  I noticed a small gray bird flitting around in the edge of the woods.  My first thought was a warbler of some kind, but couldn't find anything like it in my book.  So I pulled out another book.  This one is older, and some of the birds have new names or ranges now based on more recent scientific info, but the illustrations are really good and comprehensive.  It wasn't under warblers in this book either, but I began to thumb through the sections to see if anything else came close.  There...Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  I cross-referenced in the newer book, and it can't be anything else.

The reason I never considered Gnatcatcher is that I've always thought of them (flycatchers) as bigger birds.  This one was very small...warbler small.  Here's where having a system to identify birds helps.  You have to notice specific things about it.  Not just size, color, and markings, but also behaviors.  Tail movement, feeding method, etc.  These can be very helpful.  And you have to remember what you saw because the bird is probably long gone by the time you get to your books or the internet.  As I'm going to my books, I repeat in my head over and over what I noted to keep the image fresh in my mind.

This is what I marked about this little bird.  Blue gray above, light below, no breast or body streaking.  Prominent white stripes on each side of dark tail, as well as a white stripe on outer flight feathers.  It flicked and wagged its tail which was held upright like a wren.  It also hovered briefly.

One book stated that no other gnatcatcher has the white edged tail.  The other said it wagged its tail like a mockingbird.  When I saw that, I thought to myself, yes, that's what I saw but being it was a small bird I immediately thought of the way wrens hold their tails.  It didn't really mention hovering, but most flycatchers do to some extent.

When you get to your resource, you also have to pay attention to range.  Highly unlikely to see a west coast bird in the southeast.  You might be seeing a breeding or migration range.  There's many birds I only see at certain times of the year.  Here in the southeast, you'll often see spring or fall visitors, and they don't stay for long because they're on their way somewhere else.

We got a lot of rain the last 2 days, and it's still dreary.  My gauge got 2".  The sun is trying to come out but I don't know if it will make it today.  At least it's cooled off.  A lot!  I was actually chilly this morning and needed long sleeves.  Nice to shut off the AC and open windows.  I really appreciate having central air, but I'd much rather have windows open, and do so whenever it's comfortable enough.  For me, I'm comfortable at 80 degrees and that's what the AC is set at.

tnt
Natureschild

Active morning in the garden

Ok, there's not really a garden here yet, but I've always liked how the British refer to a yard as a garden.  Even if it's just a lawn with some trees and shrubs, or a tiny patio space, they call it a garden.  So I will, too.  It will all be garden eventually.

There is a garden sorta.  I talked about the nursery bed in the last post.  The surviving daylilies and other perennials are recovering from their ordeal.  As I thought, they just needed more sun, water and actual ground.  That space is large enough to hold a lot of things until I'm ready to design the gardens.

I picked up 3 "Northwind" Switchgrasses the other day.  This was one of my favorite grasses, and I didn't bring any with me.  Probably would have gone the same way many of the other transplants did...dying of my procrastination.  Since I don't see them very often, I snapped them up.  I'll split them in two or three and set in the nursery bed to grow a bit bigger.  By then, I'll know where I want to use them.

I also set up a window box planter that wasn't doing anything as a seed bed.  I had a couple packs of Purple Coneflowers to start.  I know I'll want a lot of Coneflower for the butterfly garden so seed was the best way to go.  When they're big enough, I'll set in the nursery bed.  Or if they haven't outgrown the window box, I might just keep them there.  I'm starting to plan the butterfly garden so they might be ready when I am.  The other reason I like starting these with seed is that they'll be hardier.  Nowadays, the coneflowers in garden centers are all the fancy new cultivars...doubles, new colors, etc.  I haven't had a lot of luck with any of them, but I can count on the species to be vigorous, and it's just as beautiful.

It's my plan to acquire more perennial seeds to fill in the gardens.  Oh, I'll buy plants,  I can't resist, but as with the coneflowers, I've found seeds to give the best results for many things.  Just have to be patient as they usually won't bloom the first year.  If the window box works well, I might pick up a few more for that purpose.  I can usually find them at Big Lots at discount prices.

The 4 pines were cut down last week.  The crew did a great job.  Those trees were mature and tall.  They threw rope over the top with a slingshot (slick!) so they could control where they came down.  They dropped them right next to the deck which was a bit concerning, but they knew what they were doing, and the trees came down exactly where they wanted them.  Then they cut them up, took away the logs, and fed the rest into a big chipper shredder.  I got a big pile of wood chips.  Pine chips will be wonderful mulch!

Pine wood chips and a birdbath pedestal.

I asked for a level top on this stump, and it's about as perfect as a chainsaw can get it.  I've never been able to get a free standing bird bath this level!  That's a 16" saucer.  I haven't caught a bird using it yet.  When I got this dish, I also bought the smaller one you can see in the title image.  I've seen the wrens bathing in whatever was catching rain water on the deck so I set that one on the pot.

Next project is the fence.  Got that lined up yesterday, and it should be installed in about 2 weeks.  Can't wait to get Whipper off the tie-out.

Oh yeah.  Why it was active this morning.  Spotted a Red-bellied Woodpecker on one of the backyard trees.  While I was watching it, a pair of wrens fell out of a tree in a serious battle.  Wrens are very territorial.  They startled the woodpecker into going on the ground where they were scuffling to see what the fuss was about.  Then I saw a Pileated Woodpecker on another tree and whatever it was after really had its attention.  It poked around that tree for a quite a while.  Unfortunately not close enough or clear of branches to try to capture with the camera.  I've yet to get a Pileated on film.

And there's the baby bunny grazing in the lawn.  Saw it first last evening, but it was out there again this morning.  Couldn't be much more than 3 weeks old, it was that tiny.  Don't think I've noticed new litters this late in the season.  That's why it's important that people don't disturb a cottontail nest unless they are absolutely sure it's abandoned.  Baby cottontails are good to go shortly after their eyes open.

tnt

Naturechild

Operation Backyard

The backyard was cleaned out yesterday.  The ideas are starting to come.  First 2 photos are the before shots.

This mess was made up of Privet, Mimosa, Pink-Flowering Raspberry, Honeysuckle, and many things I didn't identify.  English Ivy, Virginia Creeper, and Poison Ivy (ugh!) on tree trunks.  The trees are Yellow Poplar, Water Oak, and Virginia Pine.  There's also a couple white Dogwoods back in that corner.

After.  You can just see the trunks of the Dogwoods behind the biggest tree at the top left.  I'll be tacking onto the existing fence on the sides.  

The open area in front of the trees gets pretty good sun all day.  The Salad Garden will go to the left near that side fence line.  The wide space in the middle will be a butterfly garden, and there should be room for a nice strawberry patch.

This is also the only good view from inside the house.  The windows in the other main parts of the house are partially obscured by deck railing.  I can see the whole thing from the kitchen window, so I'll plan the garden to be seen from the window as well as the deck.  A lot of ideas coming to me as I stand there gazing out the window.

I like Mimosa, so I had him save this one.  

Beautiful soil!  Years of neglect and leaf litter made some excellent topsoil.  The back property line is north and it's very shady back here.  I'll be creating a woodland garden in pretty much the whole shaded area.

I won't be able to do much for a little while.  I have to wait for it to dry out so I can see what's left alive that needs removal.  I'll be using a lot of brush killer until I get all that under control.  In the meantime, I'll be hitting the nurseries to see what's available.

Discovered this vine after the tall brush that hid it was removed.  Sure looks like Wisteria.  The darker one is English Ivy.  They're on a pine that I want to cut down.  The Virginia pines (the bare trunk and the ones behind it in the previous photo) in the space are dead or dying, and this one is too wimpy looking and too close to the house for my comfort.  If that is Wisteria, I'll have to figure a way to preserve it.

One of the residents looking to see what the land clearing turned up.  And again...look at that soil!  I also saw some chipmunks.  Didn't see them before because the brush hid them.

One thing I worried about a little, but couldn't help, was if there were any ground bird nests.  I'd have to look it up, but I think Towhees and Brown Thrashers nest on the ground.  At least it was late enough that they had already raised a brood before the habitat was gone.

Stay tuned as I get gardening.

tnt

Natureschild

May

Not much to report.  Got a guy coming this week to clear out the backyard.  Before and after photos when that's done.  As soon as that's under control, I'll be ordering fence.  Whipper will appreciate that.  Then I can begin to think about gardening back there.  Ok, I've been thinking about it all along, but until it's cleared out and fenced, I can't really visualize what I have to work with.

At the top of the left-hand menu, you'll find a couple new pages.  One for Garden Tips, the other for nature identifications.  I'll be updating those pages as needed.

Weather has been wonderful.  Been getting some daily gentle thunder-dunders, but not a lot of storm or rain from them.

tnt
Natureschild

Top O' The Morn

Spring has not sprung.  The unusually cold winter (for here) hasn't broken yet.  Not what I expected.  I have seen 70s so not a total bust, but mostly 30s or less mornings to 40s/50s for daytime.  At least it's mostly been sunny days.  I'm still working in the house so I don't mind the coolth that much.  Still have piles of stuff, but it's slowly getting squared away.

The weather forecasts on TV are interesting.  I've never seen a local forecast split into 2 distinct areas before.  It's "Upstate" (where I am) and "Mountains".  Mountains is NC, and obviously a bit cooler as a rule.

The existing shrubs around the foundation are azaleas and Chinese Fringe Flower.  I thought I recognized the Fringe Flower because I had tried one in TN.  The tag threw me off, the botanical name was different than I remembered.  It didn't do very well for whatever reason so I never saw what it would do.  Looked it up to see what these will do, and decided they were not a good choice for a foundation plant.  They'll get 10'-15' tall which might be too big for my taste or practicality.  They're pretty good sized so not sure if I want to move them.  They'd look best untouched as they have a natural spray shape, but it's either prune them or move them.  I'll probably prune.  In the meantime, they're getting ready to bloom so they'll be my first flowers here.

I've identified quite a few birds even though I don't yet have feeders up.  Some I didn't expect to see here.  Shouldn't have any problem attracting the usuals to the feeders.

Robin
Blue Jay
Cardinal
Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
Tufted Titmouse
Bluebird
Mourning Dove
Eastern Towhee
Brown Thrasher

I was surprised to see Bluebirds.  I didn't know they'd like this sort of "suburbia".  I was very pleased to see the Carolina Wren.  I loved this perky little bird in TN.  There's also a small woodpecker that I haven't got a good enough look to ID, but I think it's either a Downy or Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

2 Days Until Spring.  At least the forecast agrees as we are supposed to get 70s later this week.  I'm ready.

tnt
Natureschild

I am here!

I consider the official move-in date to be Feb. 25.  That's the day I handed over the keys to my old place, and the last day I needed drive back to TN.  Just had a few things left to pack into the car for the final drive home.  HOME.  I'm still adjusting to that.  It's just now starting to feel like home, even though everything is in piles all over the house.  Some needful things it's taken a while to find in the chaos.  I tried to pack essentials last so it'd be fresh in my memory where they went, but some things still went invisible.

Whipper has had a bit of a rough time adjusting to the move, but he's getting there.  When the delayed closing on this place and the really crappy snowy weather in both TN and SC set my time frames back, I was still running back and forth after the furniture came down on the moving van.  Whip takes up quite a bit of space in the car which meant less room for stuff.  Couldn't leave him in the house for 6-8 hours a day while I ran back and forth.  Couldn't leave him tied out either.  My good friend Alan saved the day by taking Whip in until I was done moving.  He raises show dogs, and often takes in houseguests of the 4-legged kind, and I knew Whipper would be a good houseguest.

The first night here, Whipper wasn't comfortable.  Long drive, strange place, paths between piles of stuff, tie-out instead of fence, and then a thunderstorm.  He stressed in a very messy way.  The good thing is that even though he's been an outside dog all his life, he tried to tell me he had to go, but I wasn't quick enough for a bout of diarrhea.  He also went off-feed which didn't help.  He drank a bit of water and that was it.

Alan had medication for the diarrhea, and got him eating.  He learned about potty times with Alan's schedule.  His stay ended up being a week instead of the 4 days I thought it would be, but Alan was the best about that.  I know his time there was much better for him than what he would have endured while I was still moving.  So now we are here, and he went off feed again the first day, but was eating normally by the 3rd day.  I tried to get him on a potty schedule but we aren't getting it.  Now I put him on the tether twice a day for a while.  Eventually, I'll just see if he tells me he has to go out.  Housebreaking has been no problem so far.  His fastidious nature, and apparently being able to hold it for a long time took care of that.  Can't wait to get the fence up.  I think part of the problem is the tie-out.  He's not used to it.  I have been crating him at night so he doesn't get the notion to wake me up in the middle of the night.  My own sleep habits are too iffy for that.  Happily, even though he's never been crated, he took right to it.  He goes in on his own whenever he wants, and actually spends quite a bit of time in it.  It's about the same size as the dog house he had in TN, so I guess it feels like his house.  I only latch it at night or when I leave the house.  Works for me.

The weather has been cool here (still warmer than TN!), which is good so I can do what I need in the house.  Gonna have to deal with the yard very soon.  I'll get some before pictures before I do anything else.  I'm going to hire someone to clean out the underbrush.  The back and one side are overgrown with privet and brambles (just can't get away from those damn brambles!).  They gotta go, there's currently very little usable backyard space.  This is also necessary before I can fence.  The brush has eaten up the property lines and then some where the fence will go.

I haven't got bird feeders up yet, but so far I've seen Blue Jays, Titmice, Robins, a woodpecker I haven't ID'd yet, and gray squirrels.  Lots of squirrels.  Guess I'll be chasing them off the feeders.  Haven't had to do that since MI.  The trees are oaks and pines.  Not sure what kind yet.  That's the kind of habitat squirrels and the birds I've seen like.  Many of the trees have ivy (it's evergreen) growing up their trunks.  I don't mind ivy, it looks cool.  I will want to control it to some extent.  Also some heavy vines on trees that are either Virginia creeper or poison ivy.  Please oh please be creeper.  Won't be able to tell until they leaf out.

There are some new landscape shrubs (still have tags) around the front of the house.  Haven't investigated what they all are.  Azaleas for sure, but I'll have to bend down and look at the others' tags.  Don't know if I'll leave that landscaping as it is, but I like azaleas, and they don't like to be moved, so I'll probably work with them.  A boring shrub would have to go.

Stay tuned as I transform the yard into the lawnless garden I envision.  I hope to hire a neighbor kid or somebody to cut the grass until that happens.  Don't even own a lawnmower and don't intend to.

tnt
Natureschild

November

After observing this scene several times since I posted it the last time, I've come to the conclusion that Bird just likes hanging with Whipper.  I wasn't quick enough with the camera yesterday.  Bird pecked the ground between Whipper's front and hind legs.  It was only when he pecked his body that Whipper reacted.  He swung his head at Bird with a show of teeth.  Don't blame him.  I've been pecked by chickens and it can really hurt.  That's as far as it went.  Bird left, and Whipper resumed his doze.

Bird is also warming up to me.  Especially since he learned I'm the keeper of the bird seed.  He forages under the bird feeder for dropped sunflower seeds.  I began giving some just to him, and now he's liking me a little better.  He's even coming up on the porch when I'm out there.  I picked up a bag of the cheap mixed/cracked corn bird seed I used to feed my flock of chickens.  Pickings are getting slimmer now that we've had a few good frosts, so I'll supplement his grazing with the bird seed.

The next shot is a rare capture.

This is an Eastern Towhee (previously called Rufus-Sided Towhee).  I see them now and then under feeders, and this is the first time I've caught it on film.  This was taken at full zoom through the window so not as clear as I'd wish.  They're secretive ground feeders, and prefer forest floor where they forage for seeds and insects.  They have a unique method that's very chicken-like.  They scratch and hop back to see what they uncovered.

Our first frost on 10/26 was actually first freeze.  It went down to 23F that night.  That and the lack of rain hurt the fall color show.  Usually a light frost or two gets leaves turning, but a freeze will kill them before that can happen.  The crape myrtles went immediately to dull brown dead leaves instead of the pretty pastels they usually give.  Then the first hard fall wind last weekend blew most of the leaves off everything.  So disappointing fall color around here this year.

tnt

Natureschild

Something new.

One of my greatest pleasures is seeing something new (to me) in the garden.  I run to my books or the internet to learn what it is.  This was the latest.

This is an Eastern Fence Lizard that appeared on the porch rail yesterday.  It was very patient as I tried to get close enough for a good shot.  This guy was very small so I had to get real close!  My guess is less than 3" (the rail is 1-1/4") nose to tail.  According to the source, they lay eggs in late summer, so this one is probably not very old.  It was so cute!

When I first moved down here, I began to see Five-lined Skinks.  That was fun.  We don't have lizards scurrying around in plain sight up north.  You have to search hard to even see one, and know where to look, and I had never seen a lizard anywhere.  The first skinks I saw down here were actually on the outside wall of the motel I stayed in while searching for my new home.  Once I got settled in here, they were everywhere, but I saw them most on the porch or old shed.

This is an especially pretty lizard.  The juveniles have a bright blue tail.  I once dug up a skink nest while weeding.  First the mother appeared, and then I saw I had dug up eggs.  That was startling, and I felt real bad.  I quickly covered them back up, and hoped they survived my clumsiness.

This next shot isn't something new, but the situation was.

This Tawny Emperor spent a lot of time walking around on the window glass.  So I spent a lot of time shooting it.  A different perspective, for sure.

I keep notebooks that list all the species I've identified, most since I've been here.  One for fauna, one for flora.  This new lizard brings the "Beasties" list (fur and scales) to 12.   I've ID'd over 50 birds, and 29 flutterbies.  Flutterbies include butterflies, moths, and a few other interesting insects like Praying Mantis and Cicadas.  Speaking of that, this is the time of year I usually see big Praying Mantis.  Haven't seen one yet, but fall garden cleanup usually shakes some out of hiding.

The weather has been beautiful!  Perfect!  Just right for garden work.  I've been working at getting perennials potted up for the eventual move.  Still no progress in that department, and I fear this latest government fiasco will impact the real estate market even more.  But I continue to plug along as though I will be moving soon.

Something that has slowed me down a little is spiders.  I really really hate spiders.  I can tolerate little ones, but not big ones.  I never realized this before, but apparently orb weavers are most active in late summer.  I don't remember seeing them earlier in the year.  Now there are way too many enormous orb webs where I want to go in the gardens.  You can see them best in early morning before the dew has dried.  The rising sun lights them up.  The biggest orb weaver is the Golden Garden Spider, which as spiders go, is not ugly, but it is BIG.  There's a couple of their webs in the gardens right now.  Then there's a smaller ugly brown one that likes to spin under the porch roof.  As long as it stays out of my way, I try to ignore it.  I'm going to have to figure out a way to remove the one Golden pretty soon.  I really need to get in that garden, and she's smack dab in the middle of it, and her web stretches about 3 feet.  No, not going to kill her.  Much as I hate spiders, I hate smashing big ones (gross!) almost as much, and this is not a dangerous spider.  I'll get her onto a stick or something (a long one!) and relocate her.

tnt

Natureschild

Flutterbies

The butterfly gardens are a huge success this year!  They're constantly animated.  The main one is the Porch View daylily garden (see previous posts), but the Bird Garden in front has some action, too.  The flowers they are hitting are Butterfly Bush (of course!), Tall Garden Phlox, Coneflower, and Joe Pye Weed.  A few seem to like the Altheas (Rose of Sharon) and Crape Myrtles as well.  The Joe Pye I have was a dwarf cultivar, but I think it's reverting to the species as they are now taller than me, and I couldn't reach to get good photos of the butterflies all over them.  I just enjoy that one from the window.

Pipevine Swallowtail warming its wings.

Male Eastern Tiger Swallowtails

Female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.  Yes, some of the black ones are the ladies.

Great Spangled Fritillary.  This was a rare capture.  Freshly emerged and still wrinkly.

Same Great Spangled Fritillary.

Silver-Spotted Skippers

I couldn't resist the pollen-covered Bumblebee butt in Althea flower.

Hummingbird Moth (old pic because I couldn't get a good one this year).

The daylilies are pretty much finished except for a few sporadic reblooms.  I was really impressed with Moonlight Sail (see previous post) for its first year.  Even though it's very immature, it shot out flowers over a long period.  About one per week, but I'm sure when I have more splits in a mass, it will put on a really good show.

The house is finally listed.  Now I wait, and continue packing non-essential stuff.  My realtor said there were some inquiries but so far, no one has scheduled a viewing.  I still have to finish getting the Goodwill stuff together and out of here, but I'm making progress.  I'm on Realtor.com almost daily, and have quite a few prospects.  It was my plan to start viewing houses, but I decided to wait until there's more action on my place before I go gallivanting long distances to see houses.  Can't make an offer until I have an offer unless sellers will accept a contingency contract.

tnt

Natureschild

A.C.

No, I'm not talking about air-conditioning.  In this case, A.C. stands for After Cat.

I told how I found a new home for Abby.  I've never been a cat person.  Until her, and her mother before her, my only experience with a cat was my mom's Siamese who was a real character.  I liked having yard cats, but Abby was such a good hunter, she was a serious threat to my beloved wildlife.  She was about 3 going on 4 years old, so I don't really remember what it was like B.C.  In those nearly 4 years, the landscape has matured a lot, and it attracts more wildthings.

Abby has been gone for about 2 weeks now, and I can really tell the difference.  The birds seem to know they are safe again, and there's more of them in the yard.  There's also bunnies.  Abby was known to snag young cottontails, but I'm seeing quite a few of them now.  I'm not completely deprived of the company of rabbits.

The Carolina Wrens are nesting somewhere I think.  Maybe in the bird house I hung on the porch a long time ago which was never used that I know of.  They investigated, but didn't seem to stay.  I love this chipper little bird.  I found some tiny blue eggs (sadly broken) on the ground under a crape myrtle but don't know what bird was nesting there.  Not a robin (the only bird I can think of right off hand that lays blue eggs), they don't nest here.  Robins only pass through here on their migration routes spring and fall.  I suppose I could do a search to figure it out, but I'd rather discover the nesters myself.  Maybe I'll catch them going into the tree if they use that nest again.

There is one other difference A.C.  I can hear mice (or rats) under the house again.  Ugh.  They can't get in, I stuffed wadded up chicken wire in all the cracks and holes under sinks.  Haven't had a mouse in house since.  The original tip was to stuff steel wool in such holes, but I figured a really determined rodent could figure out how to pull it out.  No way they can move chicken wire.  I had to resort to the old standby to cull the population a little...DeCon.  I shove a couple boxes under the house.  Nothing bigger than a rat can get under there so no other animals are in danger.  In that respect, I do miss Abby.

Still working at the dejunking and all.  Took another carload to the dump today.  The timeframe has slowed a bit.  The house I had fallen in love with was sold, and I don't have another at the top of the list yet.  There's still prospects but since there isn't one I'm afraid of missing out on, I'm back to a more organized approach to getting the place ready to list.  First get rid of all the junk, then declutter my stuff, and then the thorough cleaning.  I also have to put some money into a couple minor repairs to make it saleable, and that should be taken care of within 2 weeks.  I pled "need to sell ASAP" to the contractor so they'd put me on a priority list.  He came out this morning to scope the jobs, and will get the estimate to me next week, and said he should be able to do it the following week.  So I have that much time to continue what I'm doing inside.

The daylilies are hitting their stride.  Perfect timing.  I can tag the ones I want to dig up for the move.  I have a list of things to dig up, and I know where most of the daylilies are, but it helps to have confirmation when they bloom.

Speaking of house-hunting.  Mano, is broadband internet a big help!  My last move, I could only see a little remotely.  Now I can see almost everything I need to know before I decide to view the house in person.  Google Maps aerial views!   I punch in the address to see what's around a property.  Realtor.com and Zillow.com are my main sites, but I will visit individual realtors to see if they have more info on their website.  I eliminate a lot of houses using those tools.

Still don't know where I want to end up.  Could be SC, NC, or maybe even TN.  I don't really want to stay in this immediate area, but I'm open to possibilities in my state.  It would be easier to move within TN than going over the mountains, and it might be financially prudent to stay here.  I think TN has the lowest cost of living of the 3 states.  We'll see.

tnt
Naturechild

Currently showing

Iris are the stars of the gardens right now.  I don't have that many.  I had more, but over the years, they were lost or something.  It happens.  Here's the ones that are blooming right now.

Siberian Iris

Bearded Iris 'Stairway to Heaven'

"Heritage" and Siberian Iris.  I call this "heritage" because in a way, it is just that.  This was one of several iris that were already there when I bought my place in Michigan circa 1995.  I brought some with me when I moved down here, and this is the only one still in residence.  I don't know what the variety is called, but I assume it's an old-fashioned cultivar.  This photo doesn't really do it justice (cloudy day).  I'm not crazy about yellow and red combos, but here I like the gold and burgandy look.  I call it "Brandywine" for lack of a known name.

I captured some wildthings in the last few weeks.

Bumble Bee on Chive flower.  I think she was watching me as I snapped her closeup.  She became very still, and when she did move she faced me.  I'm sure the big black camera lens so close was off-putting.  After a few moments, she seemed to relax and went on about her business.

Brown Thrasher.  Taken through window screen.  Don't see these very often.

Male Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.  Yes, Virginia, hummingbirds have feet.  Someone asked me that once. This guy was very close to me.  The feeder is hanging from the porch roof so I have a great vantage point for captures.  I just sit in my chair with camera in hand and wait.  I just wish I could have caught him with the sun shining on his throat.  As you can see, without sunlight hitting it just right, he's actually black-throated.  That's the tip of his tongue sticking out the end of his beak.

I wonder how that unusual feature came about on the evolutionary plain.  I believe almost all hummingbirds have that ability to "turn it off and on".  How did the birds learn that facing a certain way made their colors shine?  Did they notice how their adversaries reacted to it?  Hummers are notoriously territorial so anything that gave them an advantage against usurpers would be an asset. Or was it attractive to the females?  That's usually the reason male birds are the more colorful sex.  I can't say I've seen a male sit and flash his intended.  They have an amazing mating dance flight which wouldn't show off that color.  At least I can't see how since it's such a fast dance.  They swing wide loops in front of the female.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.  I only see these for a short time in the spring.

Indigo Bunting.  I began to see these when I let more and more of the property revert to natural habitat.  They appear in spring and summer when those grassy weedy areas are well grown.

I doubt I'll have a vegetable garden this year.  I'm thinking about moving the garden boxes to where the old shed used to be.  Closer to the house and water tap.  So, until I make up my mind about that, I'm not doing anything there.  I might try some tomatoes in containers.  Got some plastic bins kicking around here that would be good for that.  Wonder if I could grow cukes that way.  Might try.

Nice days finally.  It could be like this all the time.  No hotter, no colder.  Dream on.

tnt

Natureschild

Spring 2013

Wow, it has REALLY been a long time (3 years!?!) since I touched this blog.  This post is just a quicky to update.

Out of sheer laziness, I began to do all the garden/nature blogging at the other blog, Spring Creek Gems.  It was laziness because there's 2 different logins.  I was usually logged in (or half logged in) at the other so I just stayed there.  I decided today that I should use this one for garden and nature stuff again.  So that's what will be happening here from now on.  In the meantime, you can read past posts about all that at the other one.  I'll probably begin transferring some of it from there to here as time permits.  I might create some pages as well.

tnt