Morning moments in the yard

I woke early today - I wanted to get to work early because I'm leaving around noon today to head to San Jose to visit with my aunt and take her to her radiation appointment and dinner. Consequently I was on my walk and watering my yard earlier then normal.

About a week ago I frightened our nesting dove away, so that I could water my plant. I got peered into the top of the plant expecting to see the egg - and instead found two little baby birds! Very very very little - I watered around the nest anyways, but was concerned that I had made a mistake and they were too small to not have her warmth atop them, even for a few minutes.

I've wondered this morning whether they were okay, since I hadn't even heard a peep yet. So I stood on a chair in side the window and pulled the curtain back. I guess I startled her, because she flew off and left the two little babies there - very much alive and staring at me. PHEW! I tried to take a picture, but it didn't come out well.

I ventured to the back for watering and found a hearty snail making it's way towards my sunflower seedlings. I think not little snail! I hucked him over the fence, prompting a stern admonishment from Noke, our neighbors blue nose pitbull pup. It's actually the first snail I've seen - there's been a few slugs after rain, but no snails! I don't even have any type of snail protection going on. I suppose now I'll sprinkle some sluggo and buy some copper tape for the top of my raised beds.

On to watering - I love standing out there watering in the brisk mornings! And today I had a little visitor. As I watered my tomatoes, a little hummingbird approached me. He was silvery with a nice ruby throat. I stood very still as he got closer...and yet closer! I raised the hose a little and watched with glee as he danced in his little shower. He then flew up to perch on the lilac tree and shook out his little wings - then returned for another spray! He must have been about 2 feet from me. It was soooo cool!

I think I'll buy a new hummingbird feeder this weekend. Mine is old and even hot wash didn't get all the clogs out. They don't even look at it.

Happy Friday everyone!

Hops and Apple Blossoms

OMG we're gonna have so many apples. The tree looks so pretty, just a week or so ago it was barely budding.

DH's hops are sprouting quickly. We can almost sit and watch them growing. There are two varieties - Cascade and Nugget. The above pic is of the Cascade...I think. Hmm. I know the Cascade Barrel is on the left....alphabetical order ya know ;). But I can't remember which picture was of which barrel. Ah well. Suffice it to say we love our wee little sprouts and though you can't tell from this - DAMN the little leaves look like weed.

I spent a little time out in the yard yesterday afternoon deadheading and examining the progress. I've had such a busy week that I hadn't had much time to be out there other then to water in the mornings. Things are coming along pretty well. The tomatoes have tripled in size already and the lettuce is much farther along then I thought. Also to my joy, the carrots that I had given up on are sprouting. I plan on ordering some late flowering bulbs and some more seeds to plant. Gypsy Junk cracked me up when she told me she put all 5000 love in a mist seeds in a single flower bed. And here I was following the directions on the seed packets! But she's definately having more success...wee little sprouts galore - so perhaps I'll be more liberal with my seed spreading - at least with the wildflowers! I figure on filling in the blanks in the border bed around the perennial shrubs I am planting with bulbs and self seeding perennial flowers and wild flowers, and maybe some nice grasses. I want some Jupiter's beard, Ox-eye daisies, Black-eyed Susans to start. Yum.

Okay - off to audit people's project files. That's my task this month and let me tell you I'm probably not the most popular person in the office right now.

Ciao.

Reasons I like my neighbor

I should carefully clarify and say that I like my back neighbor, and specifically his yard. Now most of my neighbor's are nice. The ones on the left are quite friendly and not bothersome at all, but their yard is quite boring, though well kept. The neighbor's on the right are very nice as well and have an adorable puppy. But their yard is quite ratty and they have a zillion people and cars parked all over the place, and let their kids throw trash on my lawn. But I digress. What I like about my back neighbor is his yard.

It's not really very fancy, but it adds interest to my own yard in many ways. The first and foremost being the array of mature fruit trees. There are lemon, orange, apple and persimmon, all providing a lovely backdrop (above) and all hanging over the fence enough to provide us with a ton of fruit. Let's just say y'all better want some apples come fall, because we'll have tons and when my dogs eat them, they get diarrhea, so I have extra special interest in picking them over letting them drop.


I also love this ratty old shed he has. It is so sad and decrepit, but it's very serviceable for him, and it's quite visually interesting to me. I especially am enjoying the juxtaposition of the chartreuse persimmon leaves against the shabbiness of it's rooftop.


Lastly I am thrilled that he has a rowdy patch of honeysuckle which spills profusely over my fence and frames this darling little outdoor fireplace, and grandma's clothesline pole (which we are keeping btw). As with the shed and persimmon tree, I just love the fresh new life of nature contrasting with the rustic old human elements.

In other news, of the to-do list variety:

• Dirt pile gone - check!
• Chamomile and Clover seed spread - check! (fingers crossed that it works out)
• Spare room patched and sanded - check!
• Gramp's tax extensions - check!
  

Yay! I love crossing things off the list. :)

I am busy studying the raindrip set up for the backyard....plotting it out and such. It seems pretty darned easy to set up. My one concern is that given how pathetic the water output in the back is with a simple sprinker - I'm not sure we have enough PSI to support a drip system. I'll have to figure out how we can check that. My hope is to be ready to install the drip system next weekend and do the gravel soon thereafter.

Happy Monday y'all!

Found it...

The flower I was looking for is "Sparaxis" aka Harlequin Flower. Yay! I knew they were out there somewhere! They are not related to daylilies. They are of the Iridaceae (Iris) family, and native to South Africa. I found a website that listed all spring flowering bulbs then I took the ones I didn't recognize and googled them until the right one came up. Here's some pics. Ima gonna order me some. We mostly had the variety in the second picture in our yard. I so enjoyed them as a kid. It might be nostalgic, but I kind of want to put some things in my garden that remind me of my beloved yard when I was a kid. Our yard was *rad* and was my favorite place, the catalyst for my imagination, my escape from everything, and by far the best part of my childhood.

What are these??

When I was a kid, we had some of these bulbs that poked up through our lawn every spring. They weren't exactly like these, but I can tell they are of the same family, just a slightly different color. Ours were redder with black mottling and we had some that were pink as well. They come up every year and their greenery is very sturdy. I just loved them as a kid and I want to plant some in my yard. My mother told me they were crocus, but don't think that they are, as every crocus I've ever seen or planted has been different then these, different shaped blooms, more delicate foilage and an earlier showing. But I don't know the name!