Happy Mother's day to all the Moms out there in cyberville. We had a wonderful time. After a wonderful breakfast burrito from Burrito Amigos, we all drove over to Lane Forestry Products and bought some really nice soil to fill the 3 raised garden beds Big Daddy built for me about a month ago. It was really fun to watch the look of sheer excitement on little Mister's face as the digger dumped each scoop of the beautiful black soil into the back of the truck!
What's a garden without plants? So it was off to Walmart and Fred Meyers for tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini and tons of strawberries! We filled up the beds and planted them with the plants we bought and also seeded corn, green onions, radishes, baby carrots, melons and baby bear pumpkins. We finished up just in time for dinner.
All in all, I had a wonderful Mother's Day with my four little blessings and my loving husband while we all played in the dirt. It was very rewarding.
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gardening. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Sparrow Update...
Well, as it turns out, I was wrong about our little birdie neighbors. While I haven't seen any activity from Chicky-babe's birdhouse in about a week, we discovered that one of the other original birdhouses by the garden is inhabited. We even think there might already be an egg or two inside. It could get pretty interesting here in about two weeks.
Doing a little research, we've discovered that our birds are called House Sparrows. Apparently, they are very common and can be slightly aggressive in their nesting pursuits and have been known to forcibly evict resident birds to take over their nesting sites. Sheesh. I haven't noticed that behavior around our yard, thank goodness. Well, more bird watching to do. (I will post more pics in a week or two when we get our camera back.)
Doing a little research, we've discovered that our birds are called House Sparrows. Apparently, they are very common and can be slightly aggressive in their nesting pursuits and have been known to forcibly evict resident birds to take over their nesting sites. Sheesh. I haven't noticed that behavior around our yard, thank goodness. Well, more bird watching to do. (I will post more pics in a week or two when we get our camera back.)
Friday, May 11, 2007
Sad News....
We were sad to discover that our lovely little birdie tenants have decided not to finish the nest they began in Chicky-babe's birdhouse. I think having it hanging off the playhouse might have made them feel too vulnerable in the end and they have decided to nest elsewhere. Fortunately, I think they are still among the throng that flocks to our yard daily to scratch and peck at the seed we spread around. There are always several about the patio and little Mister gets excited when he notices them.
I think one of the reasons the birds chose Chicky-babe's house over all the others was because the hole in her house was the only one they could fit through! I guess we didn't think about that very thoroughly when we were constructing our houses. Not to worry though. It's nothing a little jigsaw action won't fix. We will take care of it this weekend and maybe we will get another birdie family to move in.
I think one of the reasons the birds chose Chicky-babe's house over all the others was because the hole in her house was the only one they could fit through! I guess we didn't think about that very thoroughly when we were constructing our houses. Not to worry though. It's nothing a little jigsaw action won't fix. We will take care of it this weekend and maybe we will get another birdie family to move in.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Birdie Landlords
Hooray! We woke up this morning to discover a pair of sparrows had taken a liking to Chicky-babe's birdhouse and were busily gathering nesting materials and adding them to the box. After spending a long time online trying to figure out what type of birds they were, I finally gave up the hunt temporarily. It wasn't until Big Daddy and I were browsing through birding books in Borders on our date tonight that he found a picture of the exact bird. Here's what they look like:
top: male bottom: female
We are excited to observe this behavior right in our own backyard! I did a little more research about them and learned that they can lay 1-8 eggs which will hatch in as little as 10 days and the babies will fledge at about 14 days!!!! We'd better keep our eyes open for these little guys.
(I will post pics of our actual birds as soon as I get our digital camera repaired. For now, these are some Audubon pictures from the web. Our birdies look exactly like these ones though.)
Here is a pic of what their eggs will look like:
We will post about our progress often. This will be fun!
top: male bottom: female
We are excited to observe this behavior right in our own backyard! I did a little more research about them and learned that they can lay 1-8 eggs which will hatch in as little as 10 days and the babies will fledge at about 14 days!!!! We'd better keep our eyes open for these little guys.
(I will post pics of our actual birds as soon as I get our digital camera repaired. For now, these are some Audubon pictures from the web. Our birdies look exactly like these ones though.)
Here is a pic of what their eggs will look like:
We will post about our progress often. This will be fun!
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Home is for the Birds!
Big Daddy and I were up early today...I believe it was 6-ish. After a few minutes straightening the yard and enjoying the beautiful morning, he said to me, "I was thinking about building a bird house." My ears perked up immediately because we had been talking a day or two earlier about using the old fencing wood we got from a neighbor to make some and I have always wanted a bunch of birdhouses in my backyard. "Let's do it!" I said sleepily................or maybe that's what my mind said. I think it actually went something like, "Uuuummmmm......ok."
Next thing you know we've got boards and measuring tapes and drills and saws (the little miter box saw so we won't wake up the neighbors, of course!) out and we are sketching out plans. We worked away discussing which angles look best and what side of the wood to face out and generally having a fun little time. Meticulous Man poked his sleepy-eyed head out the back door to say "Good Morning" just as we finished up the little house. When he asked what we were doing we told him to "go get dressed and come see"!
We were so pleased with the first little house that we decided to broaden our horizons a bit and make a birdie 6 apartment complex. This one took a little more figuring and a bit more clear communication to create, but it was finished not long after two more sleepyheads showed up at the door.
Now, since Big Daddy had built me 3 raised beds for our garden this year we had decided that the big birdie apartments should be mounted on a post and attached to the center of the center box. Then we attached the first little house to a board and mounted that to one of the other boxes. Well, we can't have things being uneven in my garden, so we set out to build another house...this time fashioned after an old outhouse! After a few interruptions and the last sleepyhead waking up and joining us, we had each had a part in building the bird houses right down to the little moon-shaped cut out on our birdie outhouse house.
The kids had fun banging nails into any available piece of scrap wood and pulling them out again. Sweetpea and Chicky-babe both decided to make their own houses so Big Daddy helped out with the sawing and drilling and all that. Mr. Meticulous and little Mister were playing tool guy with the extra hammers (thank goodness we have 4) and tucking them into their belts every chance they got. At one point, little Mister had 3 hammers tucked in his pajama pants! It's a wonder they stayed up with all that weight. All in all, it was a wonderful morning that turned out quite industrious without even feeling so.
Best of all, I finally have a yard full of birdhouses like I've always wanted. Thanks, God!
Next thing you know we've got boards and measuring tapes and drills and saws (the little miter box saw so we won't wake up the neighbors, of course!) out and we are sketching out plans. We worked away discussing which angles look best and what side of the wood to face out and generally having a fun little time. Meticulous Man poked his sleepy-eyed head out the back door to say "Good Morning" just as we finished up the little house. When he asked what we were doing we told him to "go get dressed and come see"!
We were so pleased with the first little house that we decided to broaden our horizons a bit and make a birdie 6 apartment complex. This one took a little more figuring and a bit more clear communication to create, but it was finished not long after two more sleepyheads showed up at the door.
Now, since Big Daddy had built me 3 raised beds for our garden this year we had decided that the big birdie apartments should be mounted on a post and attached to the center of the center box. Then we attached the first little house to a board and mounted that to one of the other boxes. Well, we can't have things being uneven in my garden, so we set out to build another house...this time fashioned after an old outhouse! After a few interruptions and the last sleepyhead waking up and joining us, we had each had a part in building the bird houses right down to the little moon-shaped cut out on our birdie outhouse house.
The kids had fun banging nails into any available piece of scrap wood and pulling them out again. Sweetpea and Chicky-babe both decided to make their own houses so Big Daddy helped out with the sawing and drilling and all that. Mr. Meticulous and little Mister were playing tool guy with the extra hammers (thank goodness we have 4) and tucking them into their belts every chance they got. At one point, little Mister had 3 hammers tucked in his pajama pants! It's a wonder they stayed up with all that weight. All in all, it was a wonderful morning that turned out quite industrious without even feeling so.
Best of all, I finally have a yard full of birdhouses like I've always wanted. Thanks, God!
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