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.

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!

Where Did It Go?

This for me is the season of life that some call the "sandwich generation". Sandwiched between children and aging parents. I still have two children living at home and this year has been a year of sickness and poor health for our three remaining parents. Thankfully everyone is on the mend and I am finally able to spend more time at home. I've spent the majority of both spring and summer sitting in doctor offices, hospitals and the nursing home, and I'm wondering just where did the gardening season go.

The weather has been lovely the last few days and I've spent some much needed time in my very neglected yard. It has been a strange summer here in more ways than one. The butterfly sightings are few and far between. Usually by this time of year I have American Painted Ladies all over the place. They are completely absent. So are the black swallowtails. I have seen a buckeye, a few monarchs, a couple of pearl crescents and several cabbage whites; that's about it.


Another strange thing this year is that poison ivy has been growing all over the place. We've never had it here before. I am highly allergic to it and had to proceed with great caution to remove it. With skin completely covered, I shoveled this into a bag that my husband held open for me. As soon as we finished we trashed the gloves and changed clothes. I'm beginning to itch just looking at it again!

I am hoping that I will be able to make up for lost time in the garden now that the weather is cooling. I have so much to do!

Summer Flowers and an Update

There hasn't been much time these past few weeks for me to blog or for reading your blogs. My mother-in-law had her shoulder surgery and I've been sitting with her pretty much day and night since then. She was so frail at 86 pounds, we were not even sure she would make it through the surgery, but she did. We were also concerned that she might starve to death before she could recover, but that hasn't been a problem either. She is eating and drinking and doing very well. She is tiny, but she is one feisty lady. Three years ago she was put on hospice for failure to thrive and I was told that she was dying and would never come off hospice care. I didn't believe them. We started feeding her at meal time as often as we could and she started gaining weight. She gained to 101 pounds and was removed from hospice. It was a huge victory for us! We are once again feeding her for every meal and she is doing great. It is time consuming and for right now it is my life. Seeing her happy and laughing tonight makes it all worthwhile.



I've still been able to make it to my photography class but I've not had much time for taking pictures. Last week I didn't have time to do my assignment and so far I haven't had time this week either. I love the class and have learned so much about my camera. I've been using the time in the nursing home to read photography books and even read my camera manual!



The yard is a mess and I need to do some serious gardening, but there is no time or energy for that right now. I sometimes make it home right before it gets dark and I have just enough time to grab my camera and get a few pictures. Some of my favorite summer flowers are in bloom right now and every once in a while I catch the hummingbirds at the feeders.

I'll be very glad when things return to normal, I miss being home, and I miss visiting you all!

I spotted my first dragonfly in the garden today. I quietly stepped outside and snapped a few pictures. I wanted to get on the other side and get a better picture of it, but the movement startled it and it flew away. I've seen some really amazing pictures of dragonflies and damselflies on other blogs. They are such interesting creatures. Hopefully next time I'll be on the right side of the garden for picture taking.

The black-eyed Susans are in bloom. They are like little rays of sunshine in the garden. They instantly cheer me up.

The bee population has exploded and bees are all over the place right now. I don't mind the big ol' bumble bees or the honey bees, but there are also wasps and some kind of angry looking bee that keeps chasing away the bumble bees. I've wondered if killer bees are this far north!

I'm still on the lookout for butterflies. I've seen only a few of them so far. A monarch and black swallowtail quickly fluttered by but didn't land on anything. The butterfly weed and bee balm are passing their prime, I hope they show up soon.

Dog Days of Summer

It has been very hot and humid for the last few days. We finally received some much needed rain last evening, for that I am very thankful. There were just spotty showers in the area and we were the blessed recipients.

I was glad for the rain, but I was in the midst of a neighborhood project, and really wanted to finish it last night. I looked at the radar and it didn't look like much rain in the area. We had just started planting when the rain started back up. I thought it wouldn't last too long so we continued in spite of the downpour. My husband and I were completely soaked and our work came to a screeching halt when it began lightening.

I finished the project this morning in spite of the heat and humidity. I didn't think I would ever cool down when I came back inside. It has been a long time since I've overheated like that. I was just bound and determined to finish it today.

We did a complete overhaul of our neighborhood median. The three trees that were in the median had been dead for a while. Our entrance has lacked color and was never landscaped particularly well. It has been a fun project and so far the neighbors seem to be very pleased with the new look. Many have stopped on their way in or out of the neighborhood to express their gratitude, one neighbor even brought me a bottle of water on her way out today. It has taken a lot of my time and energy to do this project but it has been very rewarding.

Now I have just a few more things to do to the sides of the entrance and we will have more color and nicer look for a fraction of the cost to our homeowners. We had a bid for all three sections and the total was $5637.49. The median bid alone was $1800 and that didn't include the removal or replacement of the dead trees.

I've spent about $1000 on plants and soil amendments. I love buying plants and it was so much fun to shop the different nurseries in the area and spend someone else's money!

Once it's mulched I'll have to take some pictures of the project. I wish I had thought to get before and after shots.

Enough about the neighborhood project. Here at Robin's Nesting Place only the hardiest of plants are looking good. It has been so dry and hot that many of my plants are looking a little ragged. I have a lot of sunflower's blooming and the grasses look so pretty with their plumes.


We are so very thankful that New Orleans was spared the worst from Gustav. My husband's brother lives there and we feared that he might be displaced again. He lived with us for several months after Katrina. He has often talked about the stress of living around the aftermath of Katrina. It has taken so long to rebuild and a lot of people are just worn out and depressed. They sure don't need more to cope with. We hope he finds everything alright when he returns home.