Happy Days Are Here Again!!!

It has been a very good, (and busy), week here at Robin's Nesting Place. We had a week long visit from my parents and niece and we finally got the call we had been waiting for! Kerry was offered a position with a company that he has desired to work for for several years now! He starts work on Monday! Things definitely worked out for the better in this case. He enjoyed his other job, but he was considered self-employed and therefore had no company benefits. After having been with a great company for 15 years, a job with no benefits greatly bothered me. I really missed having the perks that a larger company afforded. I'm so thankful that he is now going to have those "perks" again. We are so thankful that the unemployment didn't drag out any longer than it did. We are also very thankful that we can stay right here in our beloved city of Noblesville. I think I'm finally beginning to breath normally again.

We have several friends close to us who are still unemployed. Some are in the same industry as Kerry and a few are not. It is very tough economic times for many people. Our prayers continue to be with those who are still waiting.

2008 Indiana State Fair

Yesterday I finally had the opportunity to visit the Indiana State Fair for the very first time. The State Fair is a big deal around here and I was the only person I knew who had never been. It was a beautiful day, right around 80 degrees with very little humidity.

I love the smell of cotton candy! It is one of those smells that immediately triggers childhood memories.







I spent the last hour of my time there just sitting and watching people eat.
Fair food doesn't really tempt me too much; deep fried Oreo or Snickers isn't very appetizing or appealing to me.

Deep fried Pepsi? I wonder how they do that.

I skipped the fried veggies too and had ice cream instead, that is always tempting to me. The chocolate milkshake from the Dairy Barn was delicious.

A mass planting of chili peppers.



A couple of young girls in Pioneer Village.




Getting ready for judging. They were gorgeous, especially exquisite decked out in their finery.

Well, now that I have finally been to the Indiana State Fair, I feel like a real Hoosier!

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth

I was in the kitchen this afternoon and thought I saw a hummingbird moth fly by the patio door. I grabbed my camera and went outside looking around the yard hoping to find it. I was delighted to see that it was indeed a hummingbird moth. My first one to see this year!

I was able to get a few pictures of them last summer and was hoping that I would see them again this year.

Usually I plant the lantana in pots on the patio, but this year I planted several in the ground. They are doing much better than the ones that are potted. This was the favorite of the clearwing moth.



I'll have to keep a closer eye on the lantana now that I know which plant it prefers.

Hummingbirds

I've never had large numbers of hummingbirds visit my feeders, usually just one or two at a time and the most I've ever seen at one time was four.There were three hummingbirds fighting over the feeders today.

I stood very still on the patio, ( in the drizzling rain), waiting for one to light on the post long enough for me to snap a picture. It always amazes me to witness their diverse flying maneuvers.

I took these pictures through the window, which was still wet from the over night rain.

We had a terrible thunder storm that terrified our golden retriever, Lilly, and alarmed us too, we needed the rain though and I'm very thankful to have received it. Now I need to do a little more weeding while the ground is wet.

Embracing Weeding

This morning was cloudy and cool, perfect for working in the yard. The weeds were beginning to take over the flowerbeds, so I decided to embrace weeding today. If you're curious about how to embrace weeding, click on the hyper-link and read Carol's post.

Under the right conditions, weeding is an enjoyable and very relaxing task for me. It had rained during the night and the weeds were easy to pull. Definitely the right conditions for weeding cool, cloudy, rain-soaked and quiet. Of course, before I began working, I had to check things out and take a few pictures.


The zinnias are beginning to bloom. This is one summer flower that I absolutely must have in my garden. So easy to grow from seed and the butterflies love them.

The 'Lady in Red' salvia is beginning to bloom as well. I saved the seed last year and sprinkled them on the ground in the spring. They are doing very well and before too long I should have plenty of these red flowers for the hummingbirds.

The hydrangeas are still pretty small and only one of them has blooms and this one only has two small clusters. I may try to move them in the fall to see if I can find a location where they might be happier.

The rain-soaked Japanese maple.

I think this is a wild geranium.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who regularly reads my blog, but I garden mainly to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. I love flowers and would grow some of them regardless, but the thrill of gardening for me is the sight of some little creature enjoying the fruits of my labor. I usually plant parsley to attract the black swallowtail butterfly to the garden. It is a host plant for the caterpillar. This year I added fennel for the black swallowtail butterflies, it too is a host plant.

I was delighted when I noticed the caterpillars munching away on the fennel today. The parsley is right beside the fennel, and I didn't notice any caterpillars on it. Maybe they prefer the fennel. I'll definitely be adding this for them from now on. Besides, I love the smell of fennel!

The small butterfly weed plant is blooming beside the fennel, hopefully soon I'll see the newly emerged black swallowtail butterflies enjoying these blooms.


I was standing at the kitchen sink last evening and noticed a cedar waxwing in the tree. I quietly slipped outside and took pictures. This was only my second time to see one of them here.