In the Garden

The weather for the past few days has been amazing, and most of my time has been spent outside.  Working in the garden puts me in my happy place ... hands in the soil is the best therapy EVER.

Here are some iPhone photos that I took yesterday evening as I finished up for the day.  

The Dogwood tree in our front yard is in full bloom.  I eagerly look forward to this every year.

This is a new Japanese Maple that I planted in front of our pavilion.  It replaces one that was killed by the cold winter two years ago.  Took me this long to find something that I like enough to put into this prominent spot.  (notice that there are no weeds, and fresh mulch, in the bed with the tree.)

This Bleeding Heart is called 'Valentine'.  I got it as a dormant pot last fall, and I'm thrilled to see its first flowers.

The Hellebores have been flowering since mid-winter, and they are still looking good.  This one is a seedling that I planted in this spot in my back yard border two years ago.  

I struggled for years to establish a colony of Lily of the Valley.  A few years ago, I must have hit the magic combination of conditions to make them happy, because now these little spring beauties are multiplying with abandon. 

Finally, let's check in on the Carolina Wrens that are nesting in a flowerpot in the greenhouse.  The eggs hatched late last week.  I still can't tell if there are four or five babies in there ... I need to remember to take a flashlight to get a good look into the shadows in the nest to count them.

The rest of the week is expected to be glorious ... temperatures in the high 70s or low 80s with bright sunshine.  Definitely sunblock-mandatory weather, and perfect for being outside.  Don't worry, this girl isn't all work and no play.  As you can see from the photos, I definitely take time to stay in touch the beauty that's around me. 

Weekend Snapshots

1.  Spring has truly arrived, and more and more flowers appear in the garden every day.  I am thankful to have my iPhone in my pocket most of the time to capture the images as I see them.

'Pink Perfection' is the only spring-flowering camellia that I have.  I prefer the fall/winter flowering sasanqua varieties ... they're a bit more predictable and less susceptible to unpredictable spring weather.  

Pink Perfection looked to be poised for a spectacular number of flowers, till Friday's gale-force winds knocked off most of the big, fat buds.  There they are, on the ground.  :(

 The Dogwood tree at the center of my Hybrid Tea Garden in the front yard is just beginning to open its flowers.  It's going to be spectacular by the middle of next week. 

I saw the single-flowered form of Kerria japonica at a garden on tour last spring.  Mentioned it to a friend, who happened to have a plant that she wasn't going to use.  It is now growing on the shady west end of one of my front yard rose borders.  (This flower is about the size of a quarter.)

As I was weeding and pruning last week, I noticed this tiny, perfect bud on 'Dr. E. M. Mills".  This bud, and many others that have also formed already throughout the garden, hold the promise of a spectacular rose season to come ... in about eight weeks!

2.  Mrs. Wren is now sitting on her eggs in the flowerpot nest in my greenhouse.  I think she has five eggs.  I noticed her camped on the nest, when I carefully peeked at it on Friday afternoon.  A quick Google search told me that wrens incubate their eggs for 12-16 days.  In two weeks, give or take a day or two, the babies should hatch.

3.  Winnie likes to think of herself as a guard dog.  She watches for 'intruders' and then she barks and growls to sound as fierce as she can.  In this case, it was our daughter coming home this morning from working an overnight shift.  As you can see, Ruby trusts that Winnie has the situation handled.

4.  Today is chilly and windy ... a stark contrast to the warm weather that we had here for the past few days.  My husband had planned to work outside today, and that's exactly what he did ... cutting and securing timbers between the fence posts to form the back border of the Rambler Fence.  He deals better with cold and wind than I do.

Ruby is in her window, watching the progress.

5.  I have been keeping myself occupied inside today, where it's warm, making big pots of soup for dinner tonight and to restock the freezer with quick, healthy weeknight dinners for the next few weeks.  

Cauliflower Potato soup, as seen before I whirled it smooth with the hand blender.

Recipe is HERE.

Black Bean and Pumpkin soup is ugly but incredibly yummy and LOADED with fiber and other good-for-you stuff!

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Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

32 ounces chicken broth

3 cans 15-1/2 ounce cans of black beans (rinsed and roughly pureed in blender with some of the chicken broth)

1 16-ounce can of pumpkin puree

1 can tomatoes w/ chilis (like Rotel original)

1-1/2 cup finely chopped onion

4 finely chopped cloves of garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 rounded tablespoon ground Cumin

6-8 strips cooked bacon, finely chopped.

I dump all the ingredients into my favorite soup pot, and simmer gently for about half an hour.  Serve as is, or add a sprinkling of grated cheese and/or a blob of sour cream.

The Wrens Are in the Greenhouse Again.

Yesterday, I spent a bit of the day by continuing my little-at-a-time approach to reglazing the windows of my greenhouse.  Instead of carrying my stuff back to the house when I was finished, I figured that it would be more efficient to store the tools IN the greenhouse near where I was using them.  As I opened the door and reached to put the stuff onto a shelf, I was startled by Mrs. Carolina Wren ... as she made a bee-line past me and out through the space of a missing window pane on the greenhouse's west wall.

Carolina Wrens often nest in the greenhouse.  This time, their nest is in a one-gallon pot on the shelf by the door (close to where I put my tools).

Grass, straw, twigs, moss, and a few feathers.  Looks comfy and cozy.

It looks like there are at least three eggs in there ... can't tell for sure till I go out with a flashlight to get a better look.

Fortunately, Mrs. Wren isn't too spooked by my comings and goings (which I'm trying to keep to a minimum now).  She leaves the nest when I get too close, but returns soon afterward.  I'm happy that this spring's nest is in such a convenient spot, so I can easily check on the progress of the eggs and the resulting baby birds.

Goes without saying that I will NOT be replacing that particular missing window pane anytime soon.

Bye Bye, Birdies

Day 13:  The Carolina Wren nest in the pot in my greenhouse is empty this morning.

I didn't check on the babies on Sunday afternoon or yesterday, so I don't know exactly when they left.

I really enjoyed them while they were here.

Sunday Snapshot ... Baby Wrens

Mr. and Mrs. Carolina Wren's five babies are ten days old.  Seems like it's been longer than that since they hatched.  I checked my calendar to confirm ... ten days.

This is a photo from Day 9.

The babies have grown so much!  They are beginning to look like their Wren parents, and not at all like the naked babies they were last week.  There is very little room in the nest now, and the babies don't move around much.  They sit with their chins on the edge of the nest (do birds have chins?), waiting for Mama or Papa to bring them something to eat.

Another Day 9 photo.

It will only be a few days till the babies leave the nest.  I've said this before ... I am amazed at how fast these little critters grow!

Day 10

Today will be a very good day!  We are heading to Maryland to attend a friend's birthday party.  Jim and Dan are two of our very favorite people and they throw the BEST parties ... and their home and garden are a place of wonder. 

Have a happy Sunday, Everybody!

Sunday Snapshot ... Random Sunday Stuff

Sunday Stuff #1 
Spend the morning at an auction. 

Auction online gallery showed a couple of items that I really wanted to have ... one for myself, and one for a gift.  I was outbid on a couple of things, but I did bring home this awesome box of random, mixed silverplate.  (not going to show you the gift I bought ... don't want to spoil the surprise for the lucky recipient.)

36 pieces of flatware, 3 small dishes, and 8 napkin rings.

Sunday Stuff #2
How are the baby Wrens doing?

So far, so good.  All five of Mr. and Mrs. Wren's babies are fine ... totally fuzzy and adorable.  You can see from the photo above that they are beginning to open their eyes.  I'm amazed at how fast these little critters grow!

I kept trying to get a photo with all of the beaks open at once, but this was the best I could do.

Sunday Stuff #3
Hummingbird maintenance.

We have had a LOT more hummingbirds this year than usual.  The little guys are sucking down the quart of nectar in my feeder every two days.  Sometimes, it feels like a full time job to make sugar water and keep the feeder filled.  We have had as many as three hummers at a time sitting and drinking at the feeder, and up to three more buzzing in and around trying to get a turn at the buffet.  (In theory, all six of them could drink at once, but they're WAY too territorial to every do that.)


Tonight, we are having dinner with our daughter and her family.  It's been a very nice, very relaxing day.

I hope all of you have had a good Sunday, too!

Happy Birthday, Baby Wrens!

Over the course of the day yesterday,  the eggs in the pot in my greenhouse all hatched, and Mr. and Mrs. Wren are now the proud parents of five babies!

As she spent the past couple of weeks sitting on her nest, Mrs. Wren has become accustomed to having me around, while I make trips into the greenhouse during the day.  I always say, "Hello, Mrs. Wren." to announce my presence.  Her nest is WAY back inside the pot, beside a large bag of perlite.  (Photographing the eggs, and now the babies, requires coordinated simultaneous use of both my camera AND a flashlight.)

The babies are so tiny, mostly naked with fuzzy down feathers on their heads and backs.  They grow so fast ... it seems like a miracle.  I hope to get out there multiple times per day to do the best I can to document the process.

A Week's Worth of Posts, All At Once

How can it be Saturday already?  Where did the week go?

I spent part of each day in my basement workshop.  Some of the rose cuttings in the north window are starting to show roots!  This is the roadside rose that I rustled last month ... I showed it to you in THIS post.

 

 

Most of my workshop time was spent painting the cabinet doors and drawer fronts from my brother's kitchen.  There are a lot of them, and the finish I want requires that each of them be painted multiple coats of two colors, both front and back, so it's going to take a while.  The top color is a custom mix of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, that I showed you in THIS post.  This kitchen is going to be so retro and happy!

 

 

 

Mrs. Wren is now sitting on five eggs in her nest in the pot in my greenhouse.   See her tucked WAY down inside there?  It's hard to get a decent photo because the white perlite bag is in the way in every angle but this one.

 

 

 

The new Romantic Homes magazine came out this week, and my friend Janet's shop is featured in a fantastic article, with photos taken by her son!  See that little greenhouse in the corner of her display window?  Yep, I built that.  No mention of this in the article, but that's okay ... I am thrilled that all of the hard work that Janet has put into her shop is being recognized on a national level.  Love you, Janet!

 

 

 

A strong line of storms passed through our area on Thursday.  Whenever things like this are predicted, I always worry about my trees.  Last time we had a big storm, we lost two of the large Oak trees in our front yard.  (See the damage in THIS post)  Fortunately, this storm passed just to our south.  We had rain, but little wind and no damage.

 

 

 

Thursday's sunset, after the storm was gone, was a beautiful one ... as seen from our deck, looking toward Hartwood Winery next door.

 

 

 

Friday dawned with a beautiful blue sky, puffy clouds, and cool, comfortable temperatures.  It was a great day to do something outside.

 

 

 

Normally, this means working in the garden.  This day, though, I decided that it was long past time to clean up my Mustang and get it ready for convertible season.  It was so dirty and dusty after sitting in the garage all winter.

 

 

 

With the car all washed and waxed and polished (and myself and The Husband cleaned up, too), we spent part of yesterday evening at the local Friday night classic car cruise in.  There was a fantastic selection of cars last night ... with the Mustangs making a respectable showing.  That's a 1970 427 Cobra Jet parked beside mine.

 

 

 

To end on a garden and rose related note ... yesterday morning, I saw my first Japanese Beetle of the year.  This seems to be a little bit later than usual ... beetles arrived on June 4 in 2011, and I didn't note the day of their appearance in 2012.  We have had very few beetles for the past three years ... I wonder what this year will be like?

 

 

 

There you have it, a whole week's worth of blog posts in one shot!  The weather today is almost a gorgeous as yesterday.  Am I going to work out in the garden like I should?  Nope ... I'm spending today with Deborah, and we are going to hang out and hunt junk all day.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Sextuplets, and More on the Way

Mr. and Mrs. Mockingbird have been tirelessly making trip after trip to their nest in 'Schoener's Nutkana' in my front rose garden, feeding their six babies ... who have grown so large that they now barely fit into the nest.

By next week, these babies should be big enough to fledge ... and Mama and Papa won't have to worry about guarding their nest and will let me work in my front yard in peace. 

In other news, there will soon be more baby birds here to coo and squeal about ... Carolina Wrens have made a nest in a pot in the greenhouse, and there are three eggs in it so far! 

 

I love wrens!!