Nesting Ball

For Christmas I received a nesting ball from my in laws that was filled with alpaca fur.  Is that correct?  Fur?  Wool?  Not sure...

My sister in law made me a nesting ball for a gift.  From the look of the yarns, it seems to have generated some interest from the birds.  I am watching for a local nest sporting some vividly colored yarns now.

 

Partial albino Robin

This Robin was in our backyard the other night.  He looks like a partial albino.
From what I have read online, most albino Robins are only partial albinos.

 

His markings are pretty symmetrical.

 

  

A picture of his backside to show some uneven coloring on his back as well.

They're back!

The Robins are back!  My husband had seen a couple about a week ago, but I had not.  That all changed this weekend.  We have LOTS of Robins now!
I have also noticed that the geese are pairing up.  Spring is just around the corner...

First Robin

My husband just came home and said that he saw two robins today.  It is always a bit of a challenge between us each year as to who sees the first one.  This year, he wins.  :)

Tufted Titmouse

I have been seeing this little guy at one of my feeders for a few weeks without success at capturing his picture.  Today I had a bit of success and was so excited.

Isn't he cute?  :)

Red Breasted Nuthatch

I was lucky enough to catch this Red Breasted Nuthatch out my dining room window today.  There were a couple of them.  They are sure hard to get a photo of.  They don't hold still for very long...much like a chickadee.

Veggie and flower progress

The veggie garden as of this past Sunday (Father's Day).  My husband strawed many of the beds for me.  :)

Baby tomatoes...Roma on the left and Viva Italia on the right.  It won't be long now...

Two of my raised beds of tomatoes on the left.  They seem to finally be growing.  This has been such an odd year for weather.  I have noticed that throughout the country, other garden bloggers are reporting the same conditions.  My okra is on the right.  They are bigger than they look in their bed of straw.  They really like the heat, and there just hasn't been a lot of that over a consistent period.  Today is overcast and in the 60's with highs in only the 60's and 70's for the rest of the week and lows in the 50's.  Great weather in my book, but not good for warm weather loving plants.

I am so proud of my yellow crookneck squash on the upper left.  This is seed from my aunt in Alabama again that I have had for a few years and wasn't sure if it would grow.  I am thrilled to see it sprout!  She says that it is the best yellow squash in her opinion.  I am so glad to have a start of another family heirloom.

Ah, the upper right picture.  This has to be the most pathetic stand of beets that I have ever seen.  The rabbits have been feasting on the leaves that are closest to the fence (the back of the picture).  I hope to harvest these soon and get a second crop in.

Lower left...my volunteer dill.  I love the feathery foliage.

Lower right...onions and a bit of my broccoli and peas.  The blue tubes were over the broccoli while they were still small to keep the rabbits from devouring them.

My broccoli and peas.  The peas are growing along with my carrots.

The wild black raspberry bush that I have been feasting on recently.

Also checked in on the red raspberries.  There are a few that are getting some size to them.  I was so happy to find that there was a red one.  Needless to say, I ate it right then and there.  Yum!

In keeping with my "old seed" theme this year, my hyacinth beans have sprouted.  My neighbor would be proud.  :)

I have torn out this wren nest so many times from the bluebird house.  One persistent Momma Wren.  Makes me always think of the book....

Peaches!  Growing nicely....

Hostas that I have growing around the trees on the north side of our yard in the front.  I have a flower bed in the backyard that is very shady.  I am thinking of converting it to a hosta bed.  I don't know why I haven't thought of that before.  That will have to be a next spring job.

On the left is a Glowing Embers hydrangea that has never seemed to look like a glowing ember to me.  It was supposed to be reddish in color.  I have always had pastel pink.  I don't think that this hydrangea is supposed to be influenced by the pH of the soil, but maybe??  My Oakleaf hydrangea is on the right.  It is looking very full this year.

My daylilies will be blooming soon.  Lots of buds.  They will likely need thinned out next year.  I really should think about having a plant sale.

On the right is one of my oriental lillies.  So beautiful!

Chameleon plant is on the left.  It can make a ground cover, but I never allow it that much room.  I really like when the leaves get tints of red to them.

My rouge Sweet Autumn Clematis is threatening to take over my suet feeder.  It hasn't hindered the birds from eating suet.

This is kind of a low key time for the flower gardens.  After such a burst of color in spring, everything just seems green now.  I plan to start more annuals from seed for some additional color next year.

Tomato planting and miscellaneous

Getting ready to plant Roma tomatoes.  This bed was originally placed here for strawberries that we were going to transplant from our garden.  Needless to say, a virus killed our strawberries, and we haven't gotten around to planting strawberries here yet.  This year it will house my Roma tomatoes.  I love that part of my gardening is encroaching on my husband's "Man Cave".  The attached patio was my addition to it also when he built it.  I make sure that it gets flowered up well in the summer.  :)

Getting ready to plant...One tomato plant raised from seed.  They were in need of another "potting up", but it was close to planting time, that I chose to let it be.  When planting tomatoes, I always plant them deeper than where they were before.  Tomatoes grow roots from their stems when they come in contact with the dirt.

Here is the same plant on the left that I have removed the lower leaves from and placed deep in the ground.

The end result....a shorter looking version of the same plant that will be stronger in the end.

This baby bird just about met the end of his life from my shoe....I saw him open his beak wide just before I stepped on him.  I haven't seen him since. 

The end result.  Our beagle decided to run through the bed as I was planting, so I brought out the cages. 

Now a bit of miscellaneous around the yard and garden....

Rescued volunteer Johnny Jump Ups.  I had started some of these from seed last year and they have reseeded themselves into the yard.  Bill started seeing them and transplanting them into a container for me to use this year.  The picture on the right is yet another sprout in the yard waiting to be rescued.  I am all about free flowers!  :)

We have two apple trees, a Wolf River and a Honeycrisp.  The last two years we have gotten one apple on the Wolf River only.  This year we had lots of blooms and a closer look shows apples coming!  Now to read up on how to control pests without having to use pesticides....

Our peach trees were also full of blooms and starting to produce mini peaches complete with fuzz.

Yet another first...I bought this pink peony plant from a friend's plant sale last year.  Very small and no blooms last year.  This year it looks fantastic and lots of buds.  I can't wait to see it in full bloom.  The blooms are complete with ants.  :)

One of the many iris groups that I have that is getting ready to bloom.

I have no idea what these flowers are.  I am thinking some sort of a Narcissus.  When my grandma in Alabama passed away, my husband dug up some of them that seemed to almost be growing wild on her property.  I now call them "Mama Tate flowers".  I think of her every time that I see them. 

Our dwarf cherry tree is also producing well this year.  Lots of baby cherries.  I'm sure that the birds are just waiting for them to turn red so they can feast on them.  I hope to beat them this year.

My husband's favorite flowers....Lily of the Valley.  They are growing wild in a hosta bed that I have around one of our trees.  I cannot pull them up.

And last but not least....my trusty gardening gloves.  I have had many garden gloves through the years, but not of them could hold a candle to these.  My daughter's gave them to me as a gift...I think they came from Wal Mart.  They are great!  I pruned raspberries with them without a single thorn poke or scratch.  My arms and legs did not fare as well.  I have thrown them in the wash, and they come out ready for more.

Happy Gardening!