Mid-July at Robin's Nesting Place

I was so thankful yesterday for a break in the heat and humidity and I spent some time in the garden doing some much needed weeding. I also spent some time just sitting in the swing, relaxing and enjoying the breeze. Of course I also had my camera handy and took a few pictures while I was outside.

I have quite a bit of Queen Anne's Lace this year since I haven't been mulching. I'm not particularly fond of it since it tends to spread everywhere, yet I am hesitant to remove anything that attracts the pollinators to the garden. I have one with a little pink rosette right in the center of it. I think I'll use them for cut flowers and try to prevent them from going to seed this year.

The bee balm is doing its job of attracting all kinds of pollinators.



I was thrilled to see another hummingbird moth this year. I spent more time than I should have following it around the yard trying to get pictures of it.

They are so fast and so small that it is nearly impossible for me to get really good pictures of them. I had my little Sony DSC-H50 outside with me. It is a great point and shoot camera and I thought it did a pretty good job, considering the subject.

Its favorite flowers were the liatris and the bee balm. Usually they like lantana too but I didn't plant any this year.

The hibiscus is in bloom. I love the pink blush on this enormous white flower.

The chickadee waiting its turn for the bird feeder.

The goldfinch in no hurry at all. Both very brave to venture so close to the patio while I'm sitting on the swing.

This little piggy has been entertaining the cats for days now, driving them crazy as he runs back and forth across the patio to get to the sunflower seeds.

He stuffs his little cheeks so full of seeds until they are literally sticking out of his mouth. I've enjoyed watching him, but I sure hope he doesn't decide to start a family here.

When I saw this partially opened sunflower I couldn't help but think about this verse, "Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.
Psalm 141:2-4" and the "Speak no evil" phrase.

As you enjoy your summer, please be kind to your skin and yourself. My brother just got word that his melanoma cancer is back and it is now in his lymph nodes. Both he and my mother have had melanoma. Please pray for him as he fights this third cancer diagnosis in a year.

Thursday's Miscellany - Flora, Fauna and Free

So far this spring it has been quite rainy and cool. After hearing from my friends down south who haven't been getting much rain and after our drought conditions last summer, I'm not complaining about it. It has however had an affect on our bee and butterfly population. Last year was pretty hot and dry and I saw more butterflies than ever before. I have yet to see a butterfly in the garden.

The robins have been busy nesting, but they are not very prolific this spring. So far around the neighborhood, I've seen quite a few nests with missing baby birds, (hopefully they fledged the nest but they seemed too young for that), and I've seen a number of eggs that didn't hatch.

This nest was beside my house, in a small tree. Only one of the four eggs hatched.

The day after I took this picture, the baby robin was gone. I've seen the hawks flying around, I hope they aren't getting the babies.

I have daisies in bloom right now...

and black-eyed Susans.

I love this color of hollyhock, but for some reason the pests seem to always do a number on the leaves and they never look very attractive.

The downy woodpeckers have nested nearby.  From my kitchen window, I watched the father feeding peanuts to his son.

We have a new visitor here at Robin's Nesting Place. One that I'm not particularly excited about. I had a lot of these little guys at my home in Alabama and they are quite a nuisance. He sure is cute though!

He sat on the wall and watched me while I was reading on the patio.

Here is a dragonfly on the neighbor's fence. I haven't seen too many of those this spring either.

The chickadee's have nested in my birdhouse and have already fledged. I was able to see the little ones the day they fledged; they were so cute! Now there is a very loud wren building his nest in the box, singing his little heart out. I hope the female chooses to nest here.




I was so excited to have my potting bench featured on one of my favorite blogs, Better After! Thank you, Lindsey!

I am busy now working on a dining table and chairs that I got FREE on Craigslist! I can't wait to get it finished!

The Turtle

Sunday after church, I was in the kitchen preparing lunch when I glanced out the window and saw three children bent over looking at something beside the road. A car pulled over and a man got out, picked something up and moved whatever it was away from the street. Naturally my curiosity was piqued. When they left I walked over to the neighborhood park area where they had been and saw a large turtle.

I walked back home and we proceeded to eat lunch. Apparently the turtle must have followed me home because it traveled a pretty good distance and came right up to the patio door that I had entered.

It crawled around on the patio by the door the whole time we were eating. After we finished, I grabbed the camera and took a few pictures.


I was trying to figure out what to do with it when I noticed that there was a small galvanized bucket on the patio. I turned it over and the turtle went directly to it and crawled right in.

I couldn't believe how easy that was! I picked up the bucket and walked down the street to one of the neighborhood ponds. After I released the turtle, it made its way to the water and seemed very glad to be at the pond.

I just want to briefly thank everyone who voted for Robin's Nesting Place in the Blotanical awards, I'm very honored. I wasn't planning on participating this year and didn't enter my blog for any of the categories, (I did place my votes for others though), so I was quite surprised to win an award. I appreciate so much those of you who read my blog and faithfully comment. You are the best!

Dragonfly Pictures

Here are a few of the dragonfly pictures I took at White River Gardens yesterday!

They Finally Found Us

After living in our home for over eight years, I finally saw my first squirrel today! Our home was built on farm land and there were no mature trees around. We planted several large maple trees on our lot along with other trees and shrubs. With all of the rain we've had they are all growing so fast right now.

Whenever I pass by a window I always glance out toward the bird feeder to see what's there. Today I saw something that I didn't recognize and went to get a closer look. I was so surprised to see a little squirrel! I figured one day they would discover the bird feeders. I was excited to see it, but had dread at the same time. Hopefully he'll keep it a secret and not share the news with his family.

Welcome to Possum Holler

Our golden retriever, Lilly, has been restless and pacing around more than usual lately. She always wants to go out and is very slow in doing her business because she is too busy sniffing around the yard. Her behavior has been quite annoying, especially when it's freezing and we stand there with the door open trying to coax her back inside. A few nights ago we discovered the reason, and it isn't rabbits as I had assumed.



No, it's a possum!

I've been leaving peanuts for the blue jays in this and I guess he has been coming for the last several nights and eating the leftovers. I tried to get pictures Friday night, but it was too dark. Tonight I changed the patio light bulb to a higher wattage bulb and preset my camera to the night mode and practiced taking a few shots beforehand. Every few minutes I looked outside to see if he was there. Sure enough, he came back tonight.

Last night, before I got home from work, my husband tried to run him off and he hissed very loudly at him. I can't imagine what it would do if Lilly got too close. I think Lilly would probably tuck her tail and run if she actually got hissed at. The thought of an encounter makes me very uncomfortable.

I don't think I had ever seen a possum that was actually alive, and I knew very little about them. Concerned for our safety and Lilly's, I did some research to find out about these strange, ugly creatures.

They are North America's only marsupial. Thankfully they are loners, so hopefully there isn't a little family out there too. They will play dead when threatened and are usually harmless even though they hiss and growl.



They are nocturnal. They are not usually carriers of rabies, (I was very glad to find this out). They are actually beneficial because they eat insects and bugs. I think they will pretty much eat anything they can find, including birdseed, cracked corn and peanuts.

Since he is now making regular nightly trips to the bird feeders, I guess I need to remove them. He may be harmless, but I really don't like having him around. Anyway, I much prefer Robin's Nesting Place to Possum Holler.