flowers — Page 291

Surprises, Birthdays, Scoutie & a Garland

June 23, 2012 at 9:09 am by Claudia

Good morning! I’m still on a bit of a high from seeing and spending time with my friend Jim on Thursday night. It’s sunny today and after a bit of rain last night, the oppressive heat and humidity have left, thank you very much. I’m not too happy when it’s so darn hot that I can’t do anything outside. The grass needs mowing, the weeds need whacking, the garden needs weeding.

In one of those little garden miracles that happen every day, a tall weed that I passed every day and ignored and which was nestled up against the chicken wire fence in the dog corral, turned out to be:

A purple coneflower! It’s just by sheer luck that I hadn’t yanked it. Thank you to who or whatever caused this flower to seed in this particular spot. Maybe a bird? Speaking of birds, there was a female cardinal in the birdbath yesterday, but I couldn’t snag my camera in time. So I simply enjoyed watching her.

The tiger lilies are blooming down by the road. I see them everywhere around here and they are one of my favorite summer sights.

Scout is getting better. Slowly. Her eyes have stopped darting back and forth. The problem has been getting her to eat. She obviously feels nauseous still and turns her nose up at most everything I offer her but peanut butter. But by the afternoon yesterday, I was worried enough to call the doctor who prescribed some medicine to jumpstart her appetite and a round of antibiotics as well. We also went back and bought some cans of A/D which I’ve used before when I’ve had a sick doggie.

We were so happy when she scarfed the A/D down. It’s hard to see my agile little girl stumble and feel fearful about jumping up on the sofa. But her balance is still off and will be for a while. Between Scout and Riley, my hands are full.

Don’s birthday is tomorrow. And on Monday he leaves for Connecticut where he will be part of a musical theater workshop that goes on over a 10 day period. (We have, between the two of us, worked in Connecticut 3 times this year.) Then he comes back for a couple of weeks and leaves again for the Berkshires, where he will be in another production. And in the fall, he’s booked a play down in Florida. His acting work is really taking off again and we are so grateful.

And finally, Sandra, a reader of MHC, bought one of my Crochet Flower Garlands and sent me this photo:

It looks great, Sandra! Don’t you love that shot of aqua? I love it. Thank you for sharing this with me.

(I am having the worst time with Blogger’s editor today. Wonky spacing, weird things in the html.)

Have a great Saturday.

Bee Balm, Birds, Bunnies and Scout

June 20, 2012 at 7:30 am by Claudia

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.

Sunday Bits

June 10, 2012 at 9:11 am by Claudia

A gorgeous morning. Rain may fall at some point in the day. It probably will. (It’s been like this for days.) I have to mow today…and clean…and organize. We have guests coming to stay for a couple of days mid-week. Nothing like the prospect of visitors to sharpen your ‘house and yard vision.’

I was looking for something yesterday and found something else. Didn’t I post about that sort of discovery earlier in the week? I found the door knocker I used in our little rental cottage. It’s such a pretty acorn and oak leaf design. Our doors, however, are metal and I don’t want to mess with all that. Since we have no doorbell, I thought I’d attach it to one of the porch posts – right by the porch entrance.