Happy sights..

 After working in the morning I was sort of just meandering around in the afternoon, pull a few weeds here, adjust a rock on the pond, watch the hummingbird zooming around.  I saw something that made me very happy and had to run back to the house to get my camera.

I have not seen or heard a peep from these two bullfrogs since we cleaned the pond and to be honest I was afraid they had left.  So I was delighted to see them perched in the grass on the side of the pond.

Up next was this

Apparently the Cicadas have decided, or at least some not to wait and are baffling scientist by coming out early.  I know a lot of people don’t like them but I loved it when they were last here.  Well except I refused to mow the grass because they were everywhere and I didn’t want to run them over.   A few minutes after seeing several of these I made friends with this cute little bugger.

Personally I think they are adorable and very friendly!

I went to check the hummingbird feeder and saw this.

My American Wisteria is getting ready to bloom!  I’ve waited a long time to see this.  When I bought it, it was just a stick!

Finally as I was headed back to the house I noticed something that a lot of people probably would never even see.

The tiny delicate bloom of the sedum that is growing in the pond wall.  It’s an adorable little flower.

A Nighttime Visitor..

It’s not often, at least for me, that I get a really good chance to take a picture of a rare visitor.  For the most part, they usually disappear faster than I can either get my camera or get outside.  The other night though, I got lucky!

This beautiful Screech Owl was sitting in the Rhododendron outside my living room window.  How close is that, well that glow you see to the left is the welcome candle in my window.  I’ve long loved this tree like Rhodo, it stands right next to my front porch and despite the fact that it was butchered badly by a so called professional landscaper this past spring, it has continued to attract wildlife to it.  Randy wants to cut it down, but after this, it’s one more example of why I don’t!  I was able to go out through the garage and walk very close up to this beauty and take it’s picture.  It sat watching me with those big eyes and I was just over the moon to get such a great picture.  I’ve heard them for years screeching in the night but I’d never seen one this close up.  It stayed there for a little while even after I went back inside and then flew off into the night.
What a wonderful gift!

Beautiful July

What a beautiful blessing the last few days have been!  Normally in July, it’s blazing hot and the humidity hovers in the 85 and ups.  However the last few days have literally been a breath of fresh air, blue skies, temperatures in the mid 80’s and a lovely breeze.  I spent some time in the quiet cool of this morning surveying the gardens, staking plants and pulling weeds.  I had a surprise visitor try to sneak up on me while I was weeding.

That reminded me to refill my Haveaheart Deer Repellers and I’ve got to admit so far they’ve worked to protect everything but the hydrangeas, I guess those were just doomed to be eaten once they were ‘discovered.
Lucky for me (and the pollinators) there are still plenty of blooms around!

The black eyed Susan’s and bee balm make a cool color combination and the fringed loosestrife is putting on an amazing show of dainty yellow blossoms!

I have some parsley and oregano plants out front that I let flower and the bees are quite happy with that.

This is just one of the beautiful, cheery volunteer sunflowers that have grown up in the pollinator garden.  The best part is they all face my porch and bedroom window, so I see sunny sunflowers when I look out!

Isn’t that lovely!  My mom gave me a pot of Gerber daisies last year and I over wintered them.  This is one of the first blooms from those and isn’t it appropriate for me that it would be red! I mean I am a Caps fan after all!

Even the flower boxes that I planted in early spring are still prolific with blooms and little busy pollinators, I love that.


The spring and summer mason bees have been busy making homes in this nest box.  After the spring season there were 4 tubes filled, so I’m extremely excited to see that the summer bees are using it too!  I’m going to need another one of these for Christmas I think!

I adore spiders!  They work hard to keep the bug populations in control and orb weavers are always beautiful and just down right cool!  This is by far the best spider and web picture I’ve ever taken!  Isn’t she beautiful!
Till next time!

F is for Frogs, Fish and Flowers!!!!

I knew I had a few bullfrogs in my pond, but maybe my Prince Charming is among these guys!

I count at least six of these handsome guys (or girls lol) in any event I am one happy camper to have this many bullfrogs in my pond.

This past winter was harsh on my fish population, we lost all but two.  So we’ve been adding more goldfish and some minnows.  I also want to get some fresh water clams to help with the cleaning of the water. That’s a picture of the two large fish and one of the small new ones, they look tiny compared to what we use to have.
The rest of these are just some random shots of what’s blooming in my gardens right now.  Enjoy!

Pictures...

I've always loved taking pictures, I've never mastered the art of getting what I see with my eyes to match the image that comes out of the camera though. I got a new camera for my birthday and it makes taking really nice pictures pretty easy. I still haven't mastered the what I see is what I get, but I'm working on it!

So today I'm sharing some of my recent pictures!
Up first the bandit of my feeders! I bought hot pepper bird seed to stop the squirrels from eating it. Guess my squirrels didn't get the memo that they aren't supposed to like their food spicy!

These are my yellow Louisiana Iris blooming in the pond. In the background, my well trained fish that believe if I'm near it means food!

Here we have Ms. Zoe she looks like she's thinking about something really complicated to me.

Then there's Dakota who debates where to lay in the sun and when he gets to eat next...

Finally, one of my favorite birds a Cardinal. They are beautiful year round!