DECK SCENES

 I sat on the deck with the camera and snapped some of the activity around me while I painted shells yesterday. Gilding shells is not for wimps {I am a wimp when it comes to strong odors} as the paint is toxic. Shelley Boo was watching over me.

 We always have birds flying around the deck and hummers at the mini feeders every minute.

This is the basket I chased the snake out of and tried to save the baby birds from.

 For those of you who had never seen a Walking Iris this is what it looks like at dawn. Where it is touching the ground it will make another plant.

We continue to find toys buried on our property. It's exciting to dig them up.

Sweet potato vines are in my favorite pot.

Please follow Olive Out on Bloglovin

joy and peace

Olive

Saving Baby Birds!

Yesterday midmorning I was loading items into the Jeep walking back and forth from the deck and thus through the flower garden. After a few minutes I began to notice that the birds were fussing again. I immediately looked into the funeral basket on the deck, four feet from our back door, where the wrens have a nest of baby birds.

The thirty six inch long rat snake, I saw last week, was revolting coiled in the basket attempting to eat the baby birds. First, I screamed. Then I thought "What can I do?" Joe would have just picked him up out of there but I am a coward in that regard. CC handed me the broom and I tipped the basket over. The snake slithered off the hot tub and baby birds scattered all over the deck. It was pandemonium. We could no longer see the snake and the fluffy tiny birds who are incapable of flight were desperately trying to hide.

 I righted the basket and lo and behold about 100 second later the d@*% snake was back in the basket looking for the babies who were not there. He was searching with his repellent tongue.  CC and I were unsure what to do. We know that is the snakes nature. However we are for the underbird in this scenario.

Two of the baby birds went left hopping into the sunny yard aided by the parents. The others may have been under the deck and been taken by the snake. That snake is getting located to the Savannah River as soon as Joe finds him.

That same morning I saw two deer and a rabbit eating my roses. The flower garden is an exciting and happening place. Want to come over for tea in the garden?

Olive

Garden Blooms

Phlox, or I have always called it thrift, has finally made it in my garden. 

I have lost several in our heat.

Sweet William

This snapdragon has bloomed all winter and quadrupled in size.

A chickadee has built a nest in this old birdhouse. 

We can observe her from the kitchen window.

The Knockout Roses will be blooming next week.

Bridal Veil Spirea is one of my favorite bushes. 

It holds many childhood memories for me. 

This one is still small and difficult to photograph but I am overjoyed 

to see these mini white clouds of flowers.

The aloe vera in the twig wreath made it through the winter in the lawn mower shed. 

I have been outside for about three hours this morning combating weeds.

 It is a fine day. Today's high will be 80 degrees. 

Perfect weather to sit on the deck, read, and listen to bird song.

What's blooming in your garden?

You might be interested to read about The Rust Goddess and I

 finding an Opium Bed on Saturday while out junking.

Linking@Wow Us Wednesday's

Be Inspired

happy gardening

Olive

Robins

We had visitors this past weekend. 

A flock of Robin Red Breasts.

They are large birds.

It is hard to miss them especially 

when they arrive in a massive flock.

They were thirsty and emptied the birdbath of water. 

We turned a sprinkler on for them. 

They also flew back and forth from our dogwood trees eating the berries.

Every time I stepped outside to snap images of them they flew into the trees. 

These images are my tenth try. 

I nearly gave up.

They have flown further south now seeking warmth.

joy and peace

Olive

Seeing Red

We saw our first red day lily at our yellow house Sunday.

Miss Nola gave me more day lilies than I could count and I got all the colors mixed up so it was a surprise when this red one bloomed first.

You can read about Miss Nola's day lilies here.

We are wondering where the next red day lily will bloom as I planted them all over the property with the other four colors of day lilies she gave me. I am thrilled they bloomed this year as I did not think they would after being transplanted.

The hummingbirds are getting accustomed to us and I am attempting to photograph them which is not easy to do even with a better camera.

 

 ♣♣♣

Shelley Puppy keeps putting his giant paws on the lap top keys so any misspellings in this post are his. 

All earlier misspellings are mine of course. Joe is following up with our doctor today and then we are going to a favorite lunch spot. We pray Joe does not require neck surgery.

Linking with:

Wow Us Wednesday's 

joy and peace

Olive 

***NEST***

 An abandoned nest.

It was in our forsythia shrub late last summer.

The eggs are real and came from another nest belonging to a friend. 

The mother laid them in the top of a hanging basket in 100 degree weather and they cooked.

This nest is humongous and will not fit under any of my cloches. 

I am fascinated, charmed, and delighted by it's intricacy.

 Once again the birds catch my interest and hold it.

♣♣♣

These images were edited in PicMonkey and I am thrilled that it is so similar to Picnik.
 I understand it is being developed by the same folks. It has Cross Process effect which I used frequently in Picnik. PicMonkey has basic editing on it's first page such as resize, sharpen, exposure, and crop. It also has numerous fonts for watermarking. More on PicMonkey and Cross Process  in my next post

 It is Mac compatible.

Linking at Wow Us Wednesday's.

joy and peace

Olive

Birds in 2011

The bird images of 2011 were all taken in the garden of the yellow house. 

They bring us much joy.

The hummingbirds steal the show, I realize, but all the birds are beautiful, special, and welcomed by us. Taking photos of the hummers builds character by the way, so if you need some more character just wait out some hummers and start snapping.

may joy and peace surround you

Olive

A Fine Way To Start The Day

The hummingbirds are on a feeding frenzy.

They are getting ready for their epic journey south.

Joe and I are enjoying this new window feeder.

I opened the blinds one morning and had a hummer greeting me. 

That is a fine way to start the day.

This is the female that always perches in the crepe myrtle.

 They are feeding on the lantana as well as other flowers in the garden.

They must add some grams of weight for their eighteen hour non-stop flight south. 

They are predators also.

One quarter of their diet is protein in the form of insects, like mosquitoes.

Can you tell they fascinate me?

may joy and peace surround you

 Olive

~red bird, mantid, succulent~

Taking the camera outside.

I do not remember the brilliant blogger who told us about about safflower seed not being attractive to squirrels. But we thank you and so do our birds. Two days after we made the switch the squirrels were gone.

A praying mantis feeding in the White Indian Hawthorne.

A succulent trailing over the front steps rock. 

It actually rained this evening and it's going to be in the low 70's all day tomorrow.

Woohoo

How is the weather where you are?

 

 

 

may joy and peace surround you always

Olive 

Wild and Free and Humming Along

What's happening on our deck?

 

The hummingbirds are busy, busy.

I got a tremendous neck ache snapping these images but it was worth it.

Watching the hummies is a joyful business.

This female kept flying to the same crepe myrtle branch which was fabulous for me.

On the decorating front here are our new deck chairs. The little table is from a yard sale. It is almost a match.

Joe and I found wild passion flower vines growing in the woods near our house and transplanted two around a cast iron bird feeder. They struggled in the heat but now are thriving.

This may be a puny little bloom but it's our puny little bloom!

Wild and free sure is better than the $18.99 I saw the passion flower priced for at the big box store.

We are busy, busy  taking CC back to her dorm on Sunday morning. We have had a fun summer despite her many hours studying for summer online classes. Saying she will be missed does not cover it.

♥Happy Weekend♥

grace surrounds us

Olive