Five Little Orioles...

Five little orioles went swimming one day,
On the rock over the pond, not far away.
One had enough…
And off she went, flying away.
Four little orioles went swimming one day,
On the rock over the pond, not far away.
One had enough…
And she flew off and went to play.
Three little orioles went swimming one day,
On the rock over the pond, not far away.
One had enough…
And flew off to go rest on a pile of hay.
Two little orioles went swimming one day,
On the rock over the pond, not far away.
One had enough…
And wished the last one, a Good Day.
One little oriole went swimming one day,
On the rock over the pond, not far away.
The one that was left…
She had the rock to herself...Hip, Hip HOORAY!
Finally the kiddies were all done and mom & dad had time to cool off and play :) All of these are orchard orioles and as you can see the garden is full of them as well as the baltimore orioles.
They are smaller than the baltimores, so here is a photo of a female baltimore oriole joining the parents for a size comparsion.
Thank you everyone for the wonderful anniversary wishes yesterday - we both appreciated them ;) I can't believe it is the end of July already...tomorrow it's time for another garden walk already...seems like the older one gets the faster time flies!

a thing called "Love"...

Let me tell you 'bout the birds
and the beesAnd the flowers
and the trees
And the moon up aboveAnd a thing called "Love"...
(lyrics by Herb Newman)
33 years ago today, I married my best friend!

I think I love him more every year and all the good times and sad times we have experienced have just enhanced our marriage even more. I look forward to many more happy years together! He is always there to talk to...
and even though we manage to ruffle each other's feathers once in a while...
we always kiss and make up.
Heck, we like to kiss even when we don't need to make up ;)
Happy Anniversary Jeff...We are in this journey...till death do us part...
no ball and chain needed!

Outdoor Wednesday...garden birds

This morning's garden was "bird busy" including this shy bluejay...and this inquisitive mourning dove.
But, the most prolific bird in the garden right now are the orioles...
and I'm going through a 32 oz jar of jelly a week.
They usually land on the roof of the jelly feeder and do a "flying flip" down to the jelly cups. Someone asked where I got this feeder from and I have had it for years but it was purchased at Fleet Farm. It is pretty bright and unnatural looking but it sure attracts orioles!
Here I'm getting a scolding for taking photographs...
and I scolded this guy for posing with his mouth full ;)
Yes, that's better!

Head on over to our hostess, Susan, A Southern Daydreamer, to view the 100 plus other blogs participating in Outdoor Wednesday.

Mosaic Monday...Iowa

It's Monday so time for Mosaics...I really do enjoy creating them and viewing all the others shared at our wonderful hostess, Mary's blog, Little Red House. Please CLICK HERE to head over to her post and view all the other mosaics this week.
We spent our weekend cycling around the beautiful countryside in northwest IA. Since our states are neighbors, the views were not that much different than MN. I did notice many more roadside wildflowers, one of my favorites, queen anne's lace, was everywhere. I know cycling is not for everyone but it is such a great way to explore, I notice things I never notice from the car and all your senses including smell are used.

I've included a second mosaic from home...raindropped covered blossoms are one of my favorite photo subject but this summer we are really lacking in rainfall. After I watered the gardens...I took some faux raindrop shots courtesy of the sprinkler.
Have a wonderful Monday!

Tiny Treasures...

The garden is bursting with color these days but some of my current favorites are also the tiniest treasures...Clematis - viticella Kermesina is a dainty leafed vine with tiny ruby flowers just starting to bloom on the wooden arbor.
The next treasure is also a clematis...
Avant-Garde "evipoo33" is another small blossom that is very free flowering and I have it growing on the satellite arbor.
In the front planters is another tiny favorite. Do you see the tiny orange flowers on the right side of the planters?
They look just like little tiny mice...see the ears, the whiskers?
Caribbean Sunset cuphea cyanea is so fun to show all the little kids as they love spying the little mice faces.
My biggest little tiny treasure of the day was a few new blossoms on the Japanese lilac tree. I don't think I ever saw a lilac blossom in July before so it was a fun little surprise.

Outdoor Wednesday - It takes a Village

Once again I am joining many other bloggers in participating in Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan, A Southern Daydreamer. Please CLICK HERE to see the many other participating!

Often I am reminded what a wonderful community the blogging world is and then I think of the saying "It takes a village". The support from my commenters and other bloggers is awesome and is what keeps me wanting to blog. You encourage me and support me even on days my mind is blank on what should I show on the blogs :) On last week's Outdoor Wednesday post, I asked for help in naming the fairy garden and I was thrilled with the ideas you gave. I must thank jmatts for telling me this "Whatever name you pick should be "story book" sounding, it is all about a childlike imagination afterall. How about something with glen, knoll, hollow, cove, island...And don't forget fairies are also called pixies & sprites. Pixie Cove, Sprite Hollow, Pixiedust Island??" I really liked the suggestions and looked up all the meanings, I was leaning towards Pixie Hollow until I read that Pixies lured children and my magical fairies are children loving, bird attracting, secretive little smile inducers. Then I thought about their location and their home behind the red door on the trunk of the beautiful pine lady...
So the new name is Pine Hollow...
a wonderful place where birds, butterflies and fairies are welcome!


More on "it takes a village"...I'm illustrating the thought with my collection of vintage tin doll houses. This one is mine from my childhood...
and this one was purchased at an auction by my nephew & niece.
Here we have one belonging to my step sister who didn't want it...
and this one belonged to Jeff's older sisters who weren't sentimental either! It didn't take me long to scarf both of them up after finding out they didn't want them.
Grandma Mary saved everything so the Johnson family one was complete with furniture and a working doorbell. I love how the sunlight is streaming in the windows.
Interesting is that all four of them must be the same vintage as many have the same inside room decor. Whenever I see them in antique stores I always check them out...they aren't worth a lot, $25-$75, but I still love them. On sister day in June, we were looking at some and my little sister said she had "our" tin stove and refrigerator...I laughed and said what do you mean "our", I have the photos to show I got them when I was 5 years old. Of course, I was just kidding and didn't care but look what she brought me last week...
I got the stove and refridgerator for Christmas and two days later got the matching pink wringer washing machine for my birthday. That must have been lost over the years because no one seems to know what happened to it! I probably shouldn't have joked about the "our" either because I don't ever remember getting the house as a gift...maybe it is my older sisters?

On another Outdoor Wednesday update...remember when I counted the birdhouses and came up with 49? I am updating the count to 50 today, I can't believe I forgot this one as it is one of my favorites...currently it is in Jeff's shop waiting for him to outfit it with a new boot since this one got chewed through by a mouse!

Two more glimpses "outdoors" before I sign off today. There are lots of juvenille baltimore orioles in the garden these days...this morning our electricity was off for a time and this guy was very puzzled as to why the fountain wasn't running!
They are constantly squabbling over turns at the jelly feeder and I managed to catch 3 in this shot yesterday.
Thank you once again for my "village" of followers....I appreciate each and every one of you!