Except for a brief period of lawn mowing, I pretty much stayed by my girl’s side most of the day. When I was outside, Don was with her. Because I don’t want her to have to deal with the den steps, I’ve been staying in the living room, sitting in the yellow chair, just like I did last summer when I was recovering from my surgeries. Brings back memories. Scout is hanging in there. She sleeps most of the day, but definitely wants us by her side during this scary time. I’m hoping that tomorrow will bring some easing of the eye movements. Cross your fingers. And thank you for your loving and supportive comments. I told Scoutie that she has a lot of friends out there who love her very much.

The bee balm has started blooming and I have to say it’s the tallest I’ve ever seen it!

Look at that! The tallest one is this photo has to be over 4 feet tall. I tried to take a picture of me standing next to it with my iPhone.

It looks like it just might attack me. But seriously, I’m 5’8″. That stalk has to be over 4 feet – maybe even 4 1/2 feet.

Bee balm has such an exotic look, doesn’t it? I love that shot of red in the garden.

My friend the catbird decided to rest for a bit on my thermometer/rain gauge.

Catbirds love a dip in the birdbath and I frequently see them there. Today I saw two little birds that I hadn’t seen before. I ran for the camera, but quick as a wink, they were gone. Finches, maybe? I’ve seen these two before. They landed for a brief moment on one of my hanging plants. I think they are a pair – male and female.

Today I saw a mom robin feeding her fledglings outside the kitchen window. I made myself turn away.  After last year’s worries over those robin fledglings and roaming cats, I can’t go there again. And my neighbors have outdoor cats. I wish they’d keep their darn cats indoors. I mean, they are their pets, right? When cats are let outside, birds, baby birds and baby bunnies become their prey – all of which live on my property. I’m sure I won’t make everyone happy with that statement, but I love all animals. Life is tough enough for baby animals and baby birds without being preyed upon by someone’s pet cat. I don’t let my dogs loose to roam around a neighbor’s property – if I did, I’d get complaints right and left. And I just get too caught up in the whole thing. I can’t help it. I want to save every creature. I want to protect fledgling birds and baby bunnies and the little chipmunks that are running here and there in my yard. This morning I looked out the window and there was a robin, a chipmunk and a bunny all doing their thing within a few feet of each other. That made me so happy. They were perfectly happy to be around each other – no one was threatened. All was peaceful.

Do you hear me cats? Those are the rules on my property, you little killers. Back off. Your owners are feeding you all sorts of nice cat food. You’re not being forced to survive in the wild. You don’t need to feast on anything living, thank you very much.

End of smallish rant.

Speaking of animal cuteness:

Checking out the shed area. My bunnies eat a lot of grass – I rarely see them in the garden – occasionally, but there’s a lot of grass to feast on here at the Cottage. We coexist rather nicely.

Happy Wednesday.