Outdoor Wednesday - a Princess....

in POO-ville!Alexis is here visiting today and one of her favorite things to do is play in the garden and see the fish. But since the grackles have turned the garden to poo-ville, the extra fertilizer has the pond in a full fledged algae bloom making it hard to see any fish and finding a clean place to walk is hazardous! The Princess looks disgusted with all the poo...
until she finds a stick and starts scraping some of it away...
while Hershey supervises.
With all that poo...the stick needed frequent washing.
These two friends had a great time!
Finally, she had enough of the pooey mess and we went to the much cleaner looking front yard...
where we took time to stop and smell the flowers...
and beautify the birdbath with petals.
Today's blossoms are still covered with this morning's raindrops...the iris...




the pink Tinkerbelle lilac...
the fern peony...
a giant allium...
and the last of the
tulips!
Thank you to the wonderful hostess, Susan, A Southern Daydreamer for hosting Outdoor Wednesdays. Click on the link to her blog to see the other's participating.

evening visitor

Tonight as I was working in the garden, I heard the "bark" of a heron. I went into the house to grab the camera and headed to the edge of the grove...there he was high in a dead branch on a cottonwood.
I am thinking this is a green heron but if someone has a better ID let me know.
Several years ago we had one clean out the pond of goldfish so I hope this guy is not here to stay. He was not afraid of me right underneath him clicking away...
and I even called out to him to make him look at the camera.

Jeff and the dogs came out and we all made noise and he still stayed.
He even "mooned" us to let us know he was not afraid...
Goldies...beware!

bath time...

I love to watch bath time on the rock. Today, a yellow warbler came in but was disgusted by all the fecal sacs that are EVERYWHERE from the common grackles and left without bathing. I hate this time of year...the rock is full, the pond is full, the bridge is full and our windows/siding are full. We love that our home is surrounded by evergreens but that also means it is a perfect grackle nesting place. Oops, I'm whining again...a chipping sparrow wasn't as turned off by the poo pool...
and was soon splashing up a storm.
Mr. Oriole was next on the scene and it didn't seem to faze him either...
he spent a good 5 minutes a splishing and a splashing!

Birds in the garden...

We finally got our patio set out this past weekend so now when I take a break from gardening I have a great view of the birds coming to drink. First one is a Tennessee warbler and in the second photo he is joined by a Yellow warbler.
Look who flew in to join the yellow warbler...
a Nashville warbler.

Soon there is a female American Restart and a...
pair of American Goldfinches.

Break time is over...time to get back to the garden.

Mosaic Monday

In reading my friend Debbie's blog this morning I saw she joined an event called Mosaic Monday. I clicked on the link to hostess, Mary and her blog, The Little Red House, and starting viewing the others. What a wonderful idea and what beautiful and creative mosaics. Click on the title of her blog for the link to see the other's participating. I have a busy Monday planned but took time to run out and grab a few photos of my current blossoms for a mosaic. While other areas of the country are past the blossom times of the tulips, daffodils and crab apple trees mine are still going strong. We also have wild plum trees blooming and I look forward to the lilacs in a week or two. The spring scent around here is so wonderful and lovely but allergy inducing!
News from the garden:
My first ever red-headed woodpecker visited last week. He spent a whole afternoon calling out and pecking loudly, I imagine to attract a mate. We usually only have downy and hairy woodpeckers with an occasional red-bellied so I think he went home lonely as we haven't seen him since.

I went nursery shopping last week to my favorite nursery (to visit Jerome, the giraffe) and lo and behold he was sold. The saleslady must have thought I wanted to buy him (rather than blog him) when I asked for his whereabouts and insisted I look at these to llamas which they will sell as a pair for a mere $350 ;)

I'll be busy planting this week so posts and visits might be infrequent. It will be hard to cut back the beautiful spider mum blossoms...but I know I must do it...

Have a wonderful week and thank you again to Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday's.

the piano man...

While his sister, Alexis, may be the Dancing Queen...Ben is definitely the Piano Man.
Last night, I had the privilege of watching Benjamin perform at his second recital and he did a fantastic job. Click HERE for a flashback of last year's performance, you are not going to believe how much he has grown in one year. Once again the recital was divided into categories and these were Ben's choices...
Lesson Favorite - Boogie Boarding
Duet (with teacher) - Bingo
Songs We've All Heard Before - I'm Popeye the Sailor Man
Parent's Picks - Carillon Bells
Hymn - Come Thou Almighty King
Classical Composers - William Tell Overture

My seat didn't let me get a very good photo of his face so afterwards I had him pose at the piano for me. He even graciously played a song from memory for me. I had to laugh this morning when I noticed how fast the boutonniere had come off ;)

Notice how I am using the names Benjamin & Ben? His given name is Benjamin but he is starting to like it shortened into Ben...making his full name the exact same as his namesake, my dad, and last night was the first time I saw it written as Ben in print in the program. Ben, I wish you could have met and known Grandpa Ben...he would be so proud of you as I am.

Blog readers: I know most of you are assuming that Ben & Alexis are my grandchildren but they are my brother's grandkids. I don't have any grandchildren of my own but these two have a very special place in my heart so thus they are frequent visitors on the "garden of life" part of my blog.

I spy...

something high in the cottonwoods...
the first blooms on the autumn brillance serviceberry tree I planted last fall...
wild plum blossoms...
busy bird feeders...
and little spots of color.

Dance...

"Dance like no one is watching. Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt and live like it's heaven on Earth."
— Mark Twain Jayme & I had the pleasure of watching Alexis in her dance recital this weekend. At 4 years old, she danced "like no one was watching" in a packed auditorium...a little pro at her first recital with no signs of nervousness. Her first routine was a tap dance to "Rhythm in my Nursery Rhyme".
She stole the show at the end of this dance when her high kick sent her shoe flying. Below you can see her surprised look when it flew off and her "how am I going to get that shoe while not screwing up the dance" expression. She just kept on dancing and didn't break arms as she grabbed the shoe and danced off the stage at the end of the performance. A fast thinker our little Alexis is...
She showed her ballet skills in her next performance to "Let's All Sing Like The Birdie's Sing".

How many of us can say we can blow kisses while jumping and circling? This girl has talent...

Alexis, we are proud of your dancing skills and you wowed us with your performance!

Blog readers, I told you today was a "happy" post...back to the garden tomorrow, the hummingbirds and orioles have arrived and I hope to find time to capture a photo today.

Gabi jo...

We fell in love with her the moment we laid eyes on her...such a loving puppy who grew up into the smartest dog we have ever had. Jeff's constant companion who loved nothing more than hunting and just being near us. My devoted garden buddy who always kept watch for rabbits and squirrels...


Next to hunting nothing compared to riding in the ranger...she could hear it start up from across the yard and was ready for any rides and would wait in the seat for the next ride...even after parking it in the garage. Her last few years were hard with surgery, more tumors and going blind. Her last weeks were pain filled...may she rest in peace...

Our Mother's Day weekend was bittersweet...losing Gabi was emotional and sad but we had many joyful times as well. Tomorrow's post will be a happy one...I promise.