He Acts Like He Owns the Place!

 What crazy winter weather we have in Indiana! Saturday was a beautiful sunny day with a high of 63°! What a glorious break for those of us who get a little weary of the grey winter skies!Yesterday the temperatures started dropping and we had torrential rains with flooding. This morning when I went out to fill the bird feeders it was snowing and 16°!

I am still enjoying my mockingbird visitor! Here he/she is eating chunky peanut butter! I thought I would put a few meal worms, seeds and peanuts in a yellow cup to see who my first brave visitor would be. The chickadee was first but too fast to capture and the mockingbird was next. He is beginning to act like he owns the place!

When Less is More

 This post is not very exciting and it's a little bit embarrassing to even blog about a garden that looks this terrible. As I said in my previous post, Indiana has been in a severe drought with water restrictions. We have also had record breaking temperatures with about 28 days straight in the 90° range. This hasn't happened since 1901!

It just so happened that the Lowe's challenge for July was , "Problem Solving – Tackling tough spots in your yard or garden.  From mulching ideas to decorative rocks, use your Lowe’s card to tackle your most troublesome gardening spots."

When I saw the July challenge I immediately zeroed in on the word "mulch" and decided to take this opportunity to pretty much start over. I removed most of my grasses, shrubs and perennials and even a few small trees. It was too depressing to look at all of the dead and struggling plants.


 I used all of the Lowe's card on mulch, (23, 3 cu. ft. bags of cypress mulch) . It looks so much better! Hopefully in the fall, if weather conditions are more normal,  I can add a few plants. It makes me feel better just having things prepped and ready! 

Here is a view from my landing window, (through the screen). We've had a few rain showers and some of the grass has perked up. Hopefully the rest will come back in the spring.

On a side note, the wrens have been using my nest box for months now, (since early spring). I'm not sure if they ever had a brood, or I guess it's possible that they have raised multiple broods, I haven't seen any baby wrens. A few weeks ago, the top of the nest box came detached from the tree and was leaning sideways, since I didn't want to disturb them I wrapped a bungee cord around the box and the tree. I may be from Alabama but I promise that is not my normal way to hang a birdhouse!

Since gardening is rather depressing these days, I have been working on my craft room, doing a lot of painting and fun projects! I'm not quite ready for a full reveal, but I will share a sneak peak in my next post!

http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/

Tuscaloosa Tornado

I have scarcely been able to tear myself away from the computer since the powerful tornado struck my beloved hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. My family was in the direct path of the tornado.

This is an aerial view of their neighborhood that I found on the Internet. My dad's house is on the lower left. After my mother died last year, he moved into the in-law apartment on the back of the house. My brother and his family moved into the main house. The apartment is completely gone, so my dad lost his home. The main house is also totaled and not structurally sound. He said the windows exploded and the doors were blown off.

My sister's house is on the lower right corner. While the house looks fairly sound, it isn't. She said that they could feel the tornado lift the house completely off the foundation. She said the walls are cracked and the house is not livable.

Their cars and their homes were totaled.

This is a picture my sister-in-law took of the back yard. My dad's beloved little dog is missing and he has been searching through the rubble trying to find her.

Here is another picture of my sister's house in the lower left. Her carport has significant damage. Notice that both neighbors on either side of her has their entire roof missing.

After the storm they immediately began helping their neighbors who were trapped in the rubble. My brother-in-law's aunt and uncle live right across the street from him, their home was completely destroyed and they were trapped in their bathroom. Another neighbor was trapped under a brick wall. They have quite a few stories to tell about their experience, especially since it was hours before emergency personnel was able to get to them. Their home was basically a triage center for those needing assistance. So many people were in shock and had injuries.

This is what it looks like just a few houses down at the end of the block.

Another view of the end of the block.

I am so thankful that my loved ones are all safe and without injury. Others were not as fortunate; there were several fatalities in their neighborhood and all across the city. So many people are homeless. I am thankful that my family has other family members to stay with. While we are counting our blessings, we grieve and are heart broken for the loss of life and the utter devastation of our beloved hometown.

Crazy Summer

This has been an unusually cool summer here in Indiana. We had the second coolest July since 1947. In fact, the Indianapolis July average temperature was 70.9 degrees.



One of my summer favorites, lantana, definitely didn't like the cooler temperatures and has hardly bloomed this summer. A few of the plants don't even have a single bloom! How sad is that? Nothing but the stinky leaves!

The salvia seeds that were sown in early summer are still tiny plants, (you can see a few of them by the lantana in the top picture), and only a few have bloomed.

The Knockout roses haven't bloomed much either.



I've wondered if the cooler weather is why the butterflies have been so scarce this year. I saw my first tiger swallowtail today. It wasn't a pretty sight at all. This poor butterfly was so battered that it could barely fly. I also finally spotted my first painted lady today! Usually they are all over the verbena and zinnias in August, but they have been absent from my garden this summer. By the time I grabbed the camera it was gone.



The rabbits are a different story altogether; they have indeed been prolific this year. This little guy seems to like it in my yard. It is rather tame and I can get within a few feet of it before it scampers away. I worked off and on all day in the yard and it stayed close by the whole time.

While the cooler summer temperatures haven't been great for some of the plants, it has been very nice for me! Today was another cool one. It was delightful to have the windows up and and a cool breeze blowing in the house in August. I spent most of the day out working in the yard. I actually got dressed up and ready to run a few errands but decided that I didn't want to leave the house today after all. I decided to stay outside and enjoy every minute of this wonderful weather and try to make up for the lost time in the garden! And that is exactly what I did!

Just too Distracting!

The kitty and I sit at the kitchen table, while I have my morning coffee and try to do some reading and studying. Between the cat, who likes to be right in the middle of everything, (literally), and the distracting blue jays, I have had a little difficulty concentrating.



After only a few days the blue jays are beginning to watch for their morning peanuts. Of course they think it should be a never ending supply.


This one was a dud and was promptly tossed to the ground.


These pictures were taken yesterday, while the weather was clear. They still had their peanuts today, but it was too rainy for pictures.


There were several terrible accidents here today just a few miles from my home. The temperatures were hovering right around freezing and it appeared to be just rain; very quickly the roads turned icy and caused eight accidents that took the lives of three people. It's just December and we still have several more months of this.

I fixed some homemade suet today. I used lard and peanut butter for the base and then just threw in whatever I had on hand. Let's see, there were raisins, peanuts, 10 grain flour, cornmeal, dried bread crumbs, cracked corn, sunflower seeds, and oatmeal.

Hopefully it won't attract the starlings like it did last year. They loved this stuff!


This might sound a little cheesy, but I like to think of the birds as flowers for my winter garden. If you provide for their basic needs during the winter months, you will have a beautiful bouquet of winter flowers to cheer you and brighten your days! It looks like we just might need that this year!

You Might Be a Redneck If...

While a friend and I were returning home from visiting another friend at Riley's Children's Hospital today, I spotted these dogs on the roof of this house.

I thought it was so funny and it reminded me of the redneck jokes I had heard. The weather was horrible! It was sleeting and we were seeing so many accidents along the way. I couldn't believe these dogs were even out in the elements. They may have been stuck on the roof because it was probably a solid sheet of ice.

I am so thankful that everyone in my family made it home safely this evening. We had to park on the street because there was no way we could make it up our driveway.

I'm wishing all of you safety in your travels during this Christmas Season.

Tracking Flights and Icy Limbs

We had beautiful blue skies today and warmer temperatures that caused winter to loosen its icy grip on the plants.
Our trees here at Robin's Nesting Place are pretty young and agile, so thankfully we didn't have limb damage from the ice storm.



Did you notice the buds encased in the ice.? I didn't notice the birch or maple buds until I downloaded the pictures from the computer. Spring is almost here!



I discovered this website, Flight Aware, several weeks ago and have been keeping track of my husband's many recent flights. This was his flight in to Indianapolis tonight. He has landed and is on his way home now! Isn't this technology amazing?

Winter's Icy Grip

This time of year you never know if the weather forecasters will be correct or not. Recently, they have been wrong more often than right. This particular system that moved through today was actually worse than expected. We've had a sleet and snow mix with thunder and lightening. Although it is beautiful I can't help but cringe when I hear the ice covered trees. They sound as if they are going to break into pieces.

You would think that in icy weather like this the birds would be scarce, but no, we've had a lot of bird activity at the feeders today. Again, I threw seeds on the patio to bring the birds up a little closer.

The Dark-eyed Juncos will come right up to the patio door and seem oblivious to me or my camera flash.

I was standing at the patio door, and happened to have it opened when this robin flew right on the patio. I wish the dog's chain hadn't been in the way. I was almost too excited to take the picture.

I saw two robins on Sunday, when we had our springlike temperatures. I was shocked when I saw several today in this weather; there were probably about five or six of them.

Even in the midst of winter's icy grip, we have the promise of spring.

The wind was blowing so hard that my bird feeder pole is leaning; the birds didn't seem to mind at all.

Even the tiny chickadee braved the wind and icy weather.

The doves, like the juncos, come right to the door even though I'm standing there usually with the cat and dog at my feet, and my camera flashing.



I'm very glad I didn't have to get out today. It was one of those days where I just wanted to drink coffee, look outside and enjoy the birds while watching the ice accumulate.

I'm really looking forward to attending the Indy Flower and Patio show this weekend, it will be my little spring vacation.

Nice While it Lasted

We had springlike weather yesterday and this morning. It was warm enough to melt all of the snow here at Robin's Nesting Place. I walked around the saturated yard and didn't find a single crocus peeking up through the ground. What a disappointment!

Lilly and I usually walk everyday when the weather is nice and we have really been missing our walks during the winter. We took a long walk yesterday and then again this morning. It was so nice to see our neighbors out and about. I miss the interaction during the winter months when everyone is in hibernation. Lilly was pretty tired after our long walk and she soon fell asleep with her little friend.


I sat outside on the patio this morning and watched the birds for a while. I was thrilled to see two frisky robins; a sure sign that spring is near. I can go weeks at a time without seeing goldfinches, but there were a few here today. It was warm enough to raise the windows for a short time this morning, I enjoyed listening to their sweet chatter. There were also a lot of noisy geese flying through.

Now for a seed update: I sowed these seeds on February 28, just a few days ago, and already quite a few are germinating. The Hare's Tail grass is doing well.

The Purple Wave petunias are beginning to germinate.

On a side note, I really dislike this brand of peat pellets. I usually buy the Jiffy pellets and thought these would be similar, they're not. SuzyQ had left a comment asking me where to purchase the Jiffy pellets, because she couldn't find them. I had mine left over from last year and now that I want to purchase more I can't find them either.

This isn't good. I wasn't as particular with the seed starting mix with this batch of seeds and I'm getting a bit of fungus. I cut a few slits in the plastic lid for ventilation, hopefully this will help. I have a few balloon flowers and Irish Eyes Rudbeckia that have germinated along with the fungus.


I finally pinched back some of the impatiens and it is amazing how quickly these are filling out.

The nice weather sure didn't last long. We are expecting ice and maybe a little bit of snow tomorrow and a few chances of snow during the week. Maybe, just maybe, this will be the last of the ice and snow.

Snowflakes the Size of Tissues

My daughter looked out the window tonight and was surprised at the large snowflakes, she said it looked like tissues were falling. They were the largest snowflakes I've ever seen.

Both of my children are beginning to groan and complain when it snows now. We are all so ready for spring, but according to the forecast we have several more days with snow this week.

Bird Brained Part 2

Here is part two of my bird post. I thought I'd show Lilly doing her Elvis lip curl first!

All winter I've had one cardinal couple that comes regularly to my feeders. Today I saw another male cardinal! The bright red against the snow is quite beautiful. One of the males lingered around until dark and it was a joy watching the flashes of red in my neighbors shrubs while I was busy in the kitchen.

Mary, once posted that she had twenty pairs of cardinals, they looked like red berries on her tree. I can't imagine having that many in my yard; I would be so thrilled.

I usually see the hawk fly through the backyard at least once everyday, it usually perches in the tree for a while and then flies away empty handed. One other time when we had several inches of snow I saw a Cooper swoop by my feeder and catch a bird. Some unfortunate bird met its demise today. It was probably a starling since the feathers looked short and black. And there were a lot of feathers!

I've also had a downy woodpecker couple that have been faithful visitors to my feeders all winter.


It's funny, I never really thought the females were that pretty until I started photographing them. They really are gorgeous birds.

While I was outside, (without a coat), trying to get pictures of the hawk, I heard the goldfinch in the tree above my head. I haven't seen them lately. In the beginning of the winter I had quite a few of them, one even came to the window during a snowstorm to drink water from the window.

A house finch on the frozen birdbath.

Several people have mentioned that they don't see as many house sparrows where they live. They are still plentiful here...

as are the starlings.

It will be very interesting to see how many of my seeds actually germinate. When spring comes I'm going to have so much to plant...I hope!