Birds, Bees and Barking

I recently posted a short video clip on Instagram of one of my favorite animals, my little Maltese, Emmi. She is such a funny little dog.  I do believe that she feels her main purpose in life is to keep all birds and squirrels out of our yard.  And she takes that responsibility very seriously!

This winter, she has been especially diligent about keeping all birds off of our deck, which is easier said than done most days. Although she gives it her best barking effort (much to my dismay), and patrols the perimeter of the area, some of the sparrows have found a way to outsmart her.

In the flowerbed next to the deck, there is a miniature rose bush that once lived at my mama's house many years ago.  While this time of year, there are no blooms, and sparse leaves, the sparrows have discovered that they are generally safe within the thorny branches of the bush.

Emmi, and even Joy, try their best to scare them away, but there are a few brave birds that know their bark is worse than their bite since they can't actually reach them.

In other news around the backyard, new little buds are popping out all over the yard with the spring-like weather we've been experiencing. There are tiny buds on the fig tree,

and the blueberry bush I planted last year has the prettiest little blossoms on it.

Even the bees are out, taking advantage of the record-setting temperatures.

Gardening 101, Continued

After a trip to Lowe's this morning in my grubby clothes and not-so-clean hair, I was ready to plant.  In addition to a few flowers to freshen up my front flower in the new veggie garden, brought home a few tomato plants to go with the vegetable seeds I already owned.

Did you know that plants have best friends?  I didn't, but it certainly makes sense.  This website has a list of lots of different plants and the best companions to plant nearby.  I'm hopeful that following a few of these rules will eliminate the need for pesticides or other chemicals.  I've started by planting marigolds throughout the bed, but will also have several different herbs (mainly basil, rosemary and thyme) nearby.

I made a few adjustments to my original planting grid once I realized that the area was not quite as long as I remembered----I guess it would have been helpful to measure it again first, but you know, that's not the way I usually roll.  Here's my new plot--I took out the broccoli since I haven't been able to find any seeds or plants yet.  Once the seeds begin to sprout, I will need to thin them out a bit and provide some sort of trellis along the fence for those beans and peas to climb.  (I will plant the green beans and asparagus tomorrow since the seeds have to soak overnight in warm water).

Emmi is used to running through this bed at will--particularly when trying to get away from Joy.

Therefore, I decided to put up some small fencing at each end (which is how she usually jumps in and runs).  I'm hopeful that this will deter both of them from messing with things, but I have more fencing I can put up along the front, if necessary.

I made a few adjustments to my original planting grid, once I realized that the area was not quite as long as I remembered----I guess it would have been helpful to measure it again first, but you know, that's not the way I usually roll.

The Great Squirrel Rescue

Shortly after I arrived home this afternoon, there was a knock at my door.  Anna, who sometimes checks on Joy and lets her out during the day, was there to tell me that she had rescued a baby squirrel that Emmi had cornered this morning.  She showed me a picture she'd taken on her phone and told me that she had moved the squirrel to front yard.

The weather was so nice, that after changing into my running clothes, I chose to sit out on the deck instead of running.  Just after Ron got home, I went around to the side of the house and found this tiny little guy.

He was back inside the gate and terrified!

And Emmi REALLY wanted to get that little furry thing!

I held Emmi at bay (Joy could have cared less) while Ron attempted to catch the squirrel and place him in a hanging pot I have, hoping that he would stay there out of the reach of the dogs, at least until they were indoors again.  (I have NO idea how Anna moved him as he tried to bite us any time we got very close).

He finally clung to a stick long enough to get him situated in the pot.

While he seemed content at first

. . . he soon tried to climb out and fell to the ground again.

After rescuing him from the ground several times, we added some more leaves to the pot along with a small cup of water----and he stayed.

One final check before we went to bed, and we found the baby curled up cozily in the pot, hanging from the fence.   Not sure what we'll do with him if he's still there tomorrow, but I guess we'll face that then.

My Ballerina

Today was officially the first day of my spring break! Hooray! Despite that, however, I woke up bright and early to get Emmi to her appointment at the groomer. After a day full of all those errands that are impossible to run during a regular work week, I finally arrived home tonight. As I got the mail out of the mailbox, brought the trashcan in from the street and put the key in the door, Emmi was going crazy, clawing at the door and barking her head off. I was getting really frustrated with her and as I worked to get the door open, I was prepared to fuss at her. However, my frustration quickly gave way to laughter as I watched her twirl around in excitement with a bow in her hair (that she was totally oblivious to).

Sparkle tulle, no less!

I mean, really. . . who can be mad at this face?

Welcome March!

Welcome March! While we are sure to get at least one more cold snap, it has felt like spring for weeks now. In honor of the new, warmer weather, I decided to do a little "spring cleaning" on my blog, too---new background, new header, etc. You can probably tell that I was inspired by the colors used in my last post (they've always been some of my favorites). It seems that the recent storms throughout the mid west are proving that March does indeed arrive like a lion. As our hearts are heavy for those dealing with such devastation, I can only hope that March goes out like a lamb.

Is It Spring Yet?

The calendar says there is a month to go, but Mother Nature seems to have other plans. As I backed my car out of the driveway this morning (my first day back at work), I noticed that one of my camelia bushes had some blooms on it for the first time! While I would have loved to have jumped out and snapped a few pictures, I knew that would take too much time. But, this afternoon when I came home, I pulled out my camera. Using my cast as a tripod of sorts (a shaky one, that is) I managed to get a few pictures that make me smile. (I don't know why my fonts are getting all wonky)

The bush is full of buds, so I look forward to seeing many more blossoms in the next few weeks.

I brought a couple inside to replace the daffodils my sweet friend, Vickie brought over.

Seeing those first few touches of spring and beautiful, blue skies makes me anxious for one of my favorite times of the year!

Pretty In Pink

Each spring, they return. First, the green stems peek through leaves and even snow. Then one day I awake to bright pink blooms in the back of my yard. I have never actually figured out what these flowers are, and while I know they are there, the day the blooms appear is always such a nice surprise.

These are the same bulbs that sprouted through the snow a couple of months ago, signaling that spring was indeed on its way. So, I'll enjoy the pretty pink blossoms perched atop the slender green stems while I can and look forward to them reappearing again next year.

Out With The Old

Outside, the streets around my neighborhood are closing down and crowds are gathering for the first Mardi Gras parade of the 2011 season. The weather is perfect---clear skies with lots of sunshine. It's sure to be a fun time for everyone involved. I won't be walking up there this year since the shingles are giving me a rough time (actually the medications have pretty annoying side effects). Instead I'll stay inside and watch the parade on TV, and perhaps do a little crafting.

First up, is replacing the old evergreen wreath with a new spring wreath for my kitchen door. I got the idea after seeing the spring wreath that Layla, over at The Lettered Cottage, made. I began with a styrofoam wreath form and a ball of twine that I already had at home. (I wanted my wreath to be a bit bigger, so I used the kind that has squared-off edges) It was really easy to wrap the twine around, but gee it took FOR.E.VER!!!! I ran out of twine about 3/4 of the way around and had to buy another spool--annoying, but it gave me a chance to rest from all that wrapping!

Next, I found a small branch out in the backyard and wrapped it with some green fuzzy yarn I already had on hand. Naturally, I broke one of the branches as soon as I finished and had to hot-glue it back on.


The fun part was adding the embellishments. I whipped up a little bird using Spool's free pattern (I decided to sew it with the raw, pinked edges showing) and
I didn't want to go buy anything else, so I dug through things I already had: big, pink daisies left from some decorations at church,

buttons (I've got plenty of those), and a few yoyo's I made from fabric scraps.
It's definitely beginning to feel like spring inside now.