All in a Garden Green

Righteous Horticultural Justice has been served. Mostly.

Yesterday was part 1 of the Battle of the Wintercreeper. Beautiful day, post-dentist, lovely motorcycle ride, and lunch, I descended upon the rock wall bed by the driveway. I vowed that the wintercreeper would meet its end. The poor white azalea that it is trying to eat, unfortunately, there is no saving... If I ever had my own nursery (noooo... not gonna happen...), there would be a short list of plants that no way, no how, don't care how many customers request them, that I simply would not carry. Wintercreeper is pretty high on that list.

I think I did OK. I went from this, a little over a year ago to the photo in this post. LOTS of cutting and pulling and I managed not to go tumbling backwards over the 4' wall into the driveway and landing on my head... Go me! More today, because we are currently out of space in the trailer. Today we will be hauling one load of brush (including the forsythia branches that I cut last year) to the yard waste pile at the dump, and returning to finish the job, I hope. The plan after things are mostly cleaned out is to get a 1/2 yard (or more) of some good loam, and bring the soil level up to something usable. Things settled in 15 years, I think, and if I don't add something, anything I put in that bed will just be buried. Also, hoping a good 8-12" of loam will slow the re-emergence of raspberries, sumac, and wintercreeper from the roots that I can't pull or dig.

Lots of leaves to rake too... I hurt now, a bit. Gonna be sore tomorrow, still. Lovely weather today, to hopefully finish (or at least make more progress on) this little Project.

Good things: My two 'Green Lotus' Peony, 'Time after Time' hydrangea and 'High Voltage' gorgeous yellow rose that I planted last year are alive and happy! As are the 2-for-$5 peonies that I bought at WalMart, which I had long given up for dead last year. They are tiny, but emerging.

We also have a screen door for the patio now! YAAAAY! I had finally had enough, and decided yesterday morning that I wanted to open the door to the roof, darnit. So I called Home Depot, the very helpful fellow assisted me in figuring out what kind of door we have, and kurlon arrived home yesterday evening with one lovely sliding patio screen door. Easiest installation I've ever seen, and we now have lovely, lovely airflow. Will probably have to get a plastic protector so kitty claws do not mar the bottom part, just in case... the boys are good, but who knows what happens when birdies or moths show up on the roof.

Sad things: I killed one of my phoebes yesterday. Not on purpose. But I had left the garage door open, because I was doing things... I think it must have flown in and run into the wall, or something, because I found it, neck broken, and still a little warm... poor little thing. I buried it in the front open woods, under the tiny little Serviceberry. It will have white flowers soon, and is a good resting place. I heard the mate (? another pheobe, at least) calling this morning, so all is not lost... I like to encourage the phoebe, though, because they eat bugs. Specifically flies. And my arms are kinda one big blackfly bite at the moment. Aieee!

...then it peed on me.

Poor little thing. Absolutely terrified. No idea how long it'd been trapped inside the store at work today, but he was banging against the upper windows when I walked in this morning. Very tired. Panting. A bird, panting, is interesting to see.

Approach from the right had the desired effect, and the bird flew down to the low windowsill, where I decided I could either shoo it out, or try to catch it and release. Catching soon proved to be the easier path, as it kept getting itself trapped between the pots of houseplants we had sitting on the sill.

I could get my hands over it, but the poor dear struggled so much, I could not neatly contain it. What ended up happening, I think, was I managed to get ahold of its tail, and then quickly pinned wings to sides before it panicked too much... once held, it started shrieking like a fire alarm, but flew away with no problems once I got it outside onto the porch. I somehow managed to not bend and wing feathers or hurt its little feeties...

A full week. Two days off, again, which was lovely. Didn't really relax, which is catching up with me now, but I will survive.

I went to work of my own volition on Friday (my day off), because I got to PLAY. I actually used my little iPod for its intended purpose. Loaded it up with good guitar/RockBand songs, headed to work, plugged in, and ignored just about anybody who tried to talk to me while I put in a big kitchen/vegetable garden. PLAY! Play at work! FUN! I'm crazy, I'm pretty sure... But the garden is wonderful. Scratches an itch for me, and there's hope that people will actually use what's out there. The landscapers seem excited, at least. They've been working on walls and patios for the last month, and the end is finally near... we're planting all kinds of perennial gardens around the patios/office. Should be just beautiful. And I don't need to buy lettuce for a while, because I can take it right off the plants in front of the office. This makes me happier than it should, I think.

Friday night saw 'Dance of War: Legends of King Arthur" put on by the local dance company... was good... though I think I just don't "get" dance... ah well. Had a free ticket, enjoyed myself. That's what counts.

Saturday was spent on the Piscassic River in Newmarket/Durham, NH with anna_mickel and Max. Hit a yard sale on the way, several coffee shops... Remembered sunscreen on arms, face, and neck, then promptly rolled up my jeans so I wouldn't soak them getting into the canoe, settled in for 4 hours of wonderful river cruising, and discovered later that I had fried my shins, because I never either rolled the cuffs back down, nor put sunscreen on my pasty white legs. Owowowowow... stupid... burn has gone down some, but still hurts.

A perfect day on the river. Saw all kinds of wildlife, snuck up on a couple Great Blue herons, found I got a pretty good accidental photograph of an as-of-yet unidentified bird, saw (heard first) a couple fox kits playing (missed a prizewinning photograph of mom fox by seconds... stupid lens cap), observed bunches of leaves swimming upriver, determined they were pulled by muskrats. OMG SO CUTE. Also discovered a wild native geranium (Geranium maculatum) and some other as-of-yet unidentified Little Pink Flower (I suspect some sort of Centaurea, very delicate, growing in the shade) at the tiny portage where we ate our lunch.

All in all a perfect day. Picked up a few neat books in Dover, had fabulous dinner 10 minutes from the house, and returned to kitteh snuggling, fire, and marshmallows. Exhausted and happy.

I swear this li'l lady was posing for me... I got several nice shots of her in flight, as well as just about every conceivable seated position. So nice to have the little birdies back, they're so cute. I've got at least two females and one male that I'm certain of, and I'm sure there are others in the area.

Had an opportunity to get a photo of two of the girls on the feeder together this morning, and missed it. My camera was downstairs, and by the time I got back up with it, #2 was gone... Before I ran off, though, I got to watch her a bit. She had a devil of a time trying to figure out how to drink and still hold onto the bit of fluff she had in her beak. Eventually she decided that the fluff had to go if the sweet, sweet sugar water was to be had.

Max and I spent nearly 6 hours in the Halcyon yesterday, paddling the Lamprey River in Newmarket, NH. A glorious day, perfect weather (we only got sprinkled on a little bit at lunchtime), water like glass, sunshine in the afternoon, wildlife, and wonderful, wonderful conversation. I felt a little guilty when, upon putting on the lifejacket and climbing into the kayak, I realized the footpegs and straps were still adjusted for me... which means... oh no... I'm the only one who's been in this seat all year, aren't I? Mickel hasn't gotten to paddle at all..? aw.. :\ That will hopefully be fixed today or tomorrow. There is good weather to use and foliage to look at!

We did not, in fact, dump the kayak at the place that he and anna_mickel did their canoe earlier this summer. No swimming was good, as the water was rather chill. We did not, in fact, get buried when the train came across the ancient rusty railroad trestle. It did not collapse on top of us, never to be seen or heard from again. ;) A good thing, too, as we still had birds to see and river to paddle! We saw dozens of scaredy-ducks, who showed no interest in the bread we had brought to fend off the swans (who had flown for the winter, apparently), a few kingfishers, an osprey, lots of circling turkey vultures, and a beautiful great blue heron. Herons look really silly sitting in trees...

Returning to Freegate, the three of us went out for dinner (I had a strawberry milkshake... I haven't had a milkshake in ages... mmmm...), and proceeded to boil ourselves in the hot tub for a few hours. Was lovely. Took about 200 photos over the course of the day, some blurry, some much better than others. The best will be in a gallery shortly.

Going to a friends' wedding this evening, should be a good time. I might even get to dance, a little bit. Just need to wrap the gifts and figure out what the heck we're going to wear... :)

Life is pretty good, at the moment.

An empty nest greeted me this morning when I came into work... The baby birdies are all grown up and gone. I suspect I'll see them hopping around here for a few days, maybe, but haven't yet.

Seeing the empty nest begs the question of where the eggshells went. Did they eat them? Toss them out? Crunch them into powder? There were no shells around the nest/on the table after hatching, and none in the bottom of the now empty nest, so where did they go? One of life's great mysteries, I suppose (as at the moment I'm too lazy to do any research...).

I miss my little birdies already... Empty Nest Syndrome, of a sort? :)

Birdies are bigger, feathers are bigger and less downy, appetites are huge, but the nest is still the same size... Poor little robin on the right is being sat upon by its more enthusiastic sibling. I catch them wriggling and shifting around more and more these days. They may even be used to me sticking my head and camera lens right into the rosebush, I wonder what will happen when they grow up. Will they know me? Would I be able to tell if they do or not? A curiosity... :)

Scroll is back in my possession after a brief visit for portraits. Faces are something I'm just not ready to tackle yet. Almost done. Maybe 5 more hours of work, and the masterpiece will be complete. A bit of ink, a bit of paint... Aieeeees...

Finally some sunshine for most of the day today, though our 3:00 thunderstorm was about a half hour late. I'm just amazed at the amount of rain we've been getting... half an inch in a half hour storm today. This is a bit silly. Need some more sun, though. My garden is happy, but everything is starting to be a bit stretchy and spindly due to lack of light, and beans really don't like having wet leaves. They're the only (edible) thing that's actually doing well so far this year, except for the lettuce. Tomato is growing, cukes are alive and nearly ready for trellis (we shall not speak of the peas again...), and only one row of carrots sprouted. Going to plant another row tomorrow morning or this weekend, maybe. They'll be late carrots...

In just a few more days, get ready for Birdiewatch: The Sequel, and experience the Thrills and Excitement of seeing if I manage to keep my job through all the random bird photography! ;)

So... something different today, a garden visit. :) Finally made it up to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay, and it was wonderful. frothgar, mom, and I met E and her mother there, had some lunch, and then spent the next 2 1/2 hours walking through garden after garden on the coast of Maine. A cloudy, misty day, so not too busy, or too hot, or too buggy. Actually perfect for garden viewing, as too bright sunlight will wash out some colors in photographs, but it was bright enough not to need a flash and still hold the camera steady. Many, many photographs were taken, and will be shown once I get them organized. Truly a treasure, wonderful to see it in its infancy, and I cannot wait to see it grow and change through the years. There are so many gardens and plantings planned...

The baby birds are looking like real birds now... all feathery and not much poof left. I do like the mohawk stylin' of the little fellow in the middle, though. Just a few more days, 4 or 5 at the most, and they'll be ready to fly... or at least be booted out of the nest.

In other news, the Great Big Sea album is also most excellent. Listened to it (kinda) on the way up to the garden this morning, and again tonight, and is good. Lots of music, and 'Walk on the Moon,' the one song from this album that they sang at the LL Bean concert last year is just as good as I remember it. Highly recommended. :)

Little birdies are one week old today! The first two cracked their way out of their little blue eggs last Thursday, and the change is just amazing... Little speckled feathers, big wide beaks, and little black beady eyes. Their eyes are still more often closed than open, but every now and then they decide to take a look at this big world they're in now... In another week, they'll all be grown and mom will have kicked them out of the nest. Pretty amazing.

In other news, I'm getting the proper jaw-drop reaction from folks on a nearly-finished scroll... danged proud of this one, I am. Eeee scroll! After GNEW, there will be photos. Don't want to risk the wrong people finding out ahead of time... ;) I also have much much fabric to wash and chop into bits and make the bits into garb before Pennsic. This will be fun... aieeees!

Mom and brother are coming up tomorrow afternoon, and then at least mom and I are headed to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens on Saturday with E and her mom. Should be fun, even if it does rain on us a little bit (which it will... it's been raining all week, why should it stop now?).

And rolls, and rolls, around and around the lake. Beautiful morning, beautiful afternoon, schizophrenic skies from about 3:00 onward. I am sitting here, at work, punched out, because I can't see more than 5 feet past the back glass doors of the office. I'm not leaving till it slows down a bit. Today, of all days, I forgot my raincoat at home, and didn't bother going back to get it at lunch. At least we don't have to water things, and the irrigation pond is refilling as I type... Love the thunder and lightning, though, when I can watch it from safe inside.

The baby birdies were awake more today, and begging for food at every opportunity. I am amazed at how huge they've gotten since Friday! Hopefully mama is sitting over them now, wings spread and streaming water away from her poor downy-feathered babies. Their eyes aren't open yet, but I can see the beginnings of real feathers starting to grow...

Edit, 6:38 PM: Oh, and now there's hail. That's just fantastic... /sarcasm