I might have new tenants in my garden!
Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow were checking out the bird houses yesterday. Look closely and you can see her tail feathers sticking out of the hole, while the mister stands guard.
They were in and out most of the day, but I didn't see any nest building activity. I was hoping for finches, but sparrows will do. Last year, a finch nested on our front porch and gave birth to about six baby finches. I'd rather she made the mess in the garden, instead of the porch!
One of the Arizona grown peppers is blooming now.
I tickle the blossoms with a soft paint brush every day. I have no idea if that will pollinate them or not, but it's worth a try. It's still not warm enough to set these large peppers outside, and they are doing beautifully in the plant window. That lilac tree outside the window is calling to me.....
It's cold and windy out today, so I brought some spring into the house. This is my first bouquet of lilacs this year, and the aroma is heavenly.
Granny,
ReplyDeleteDid you hand paint the birdhouse? It really is lovely.
Your last post "Looking Back" Just about made me cry it was so sweet. You've come a long way baby and just keep getting better! You should be very proud of yourself.
Liisa
I love lilacs. I have the old fashioned type which takes 7 years to bloom. I'm close to the 7th year now! I'm into doing floral still life photography. Today on my blog I posted a still life image of some blue morning glories. Come by and "smell the flowers" at http://photographyhints.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful lilac bouquet.
ReplyDeleteLiisa, yes I did paint the bird house(s). I built them, too.
ReplyDeletehttp://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/09/september-19-2008-its-for-birds.html
http://annieskitchengarden.blogspot.com/2008/09/september-22-2008-birdhouses-continued.html
And I have five more built that I haven't had time to paint!
Thank you for the compliments.
Floral Still Life...I'm on my way! I planted my first ever blue morning glories this spring. Thank you for visiting today.
ReplyDeleteDaisy, I think lilacs have to be my favorite flower. It broke my heart to watch Mr. H cut down the four large bushes behind the garden shed....but it was either that or no new shed, and Granny really needs that new shed!
ReplyDeleteGranny - I like to take a bb gun and shoot the legs out from under the birds. That way, they just fly themselves to death. Ha! Ok...just kidding....I really like most birds, as long as they don't mess with the garden. That Arizona pepper is really big, now!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing, what a beautiful birdhouse!!
ReplyDeleteEG, shame on you! Now, if you want to shoot those &%$#*^# crows that wake me up at dawn, be my guest!
ReplyDeleteMommyAmy, thank you. I had fun making them, but I wish I could get my rear in gear and finish painting the other five I built last winter! I need to be in the mood.
ReplyDeleteThe birds should be queuing to get a place, the nest box looks lovely. We have sparrows and blackbirds nesting in the hedges and bushes, we usually have a pied wagtail's nest too, but no sign of them this year, which is sad, they are lovely birds.
ReplyDeleteGranny, we currently have two sets of birds who have built nests on our front porch columns. I think they're having a competition to see how messy and noisy they can be!
ReplyDeleteWe still have a few weeks until the lilacs bloom...so a big THANK YOU for sharing a picture of yours. Oh, I can almost smell them. They look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteYour pepper plants are beautiful...and depressing! Why can't mine look nice like yours? :(
ReplyDeleteI love the birdhouse! My grandmother has to give up use of her front door for the spring since a sparrow built a nest in the decorative planter hanging right on the door and laid 6 eggs. I bet she wishes she had a birdhouse right about now.
Heskie; We usually have quail nesting in our bushes by the house, but I'm afraid our dogs scare them away now. I do see a lot of quail in my neighbor's yard though.
ReplyDeleteRibbit; We had such a sad occurrence with baby robins a couple years ago, now I try to keep them from nesting on our patio. Last year's finches got some protective fencing tacked to each side of the porch beam, so we didn't have any babies falling to their deaths. I swear, if that robin manages to get her nest built this year, I'm going to hang a hammock under it!
Sue; Thank you, I think they are beautiful. I wish they would bloom all summer!
Jen; Those pepper plants were started from seed in January. I wish the ones I started later looked that healthy, I don't know what I did differently. I hate to move them from the plant window, but I think they will soon overtake my laundry room!
Several times we have had to give up the use of our patio, so as not to disturb Mama Robin!
If you catch those birds they'd make a nice romantic dinner for two (Annie and Marvin). Not that I'm condoning killing birds, of course, but I'm sure the cats wouldn't have a problem with it. :)
ReplyDeleteNice paint job on the bird house Granny! Good to see the visitors as well.
ReplyDeleteDan, I haven't seen the birds today, but I see evidence of nest building. I'm tempted to open the lid and peek in, but I'm afraid the female might be in there and I sure wouldn't want to frighten her.
ReplyDeleteGumshoegardener:
ReplyDeleteAnnie and Marvin sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
Annie is hot for fat cats, and Marvin just loves fat girls!!
And nobody else who might be reading this knows what on earth we are talking about ;-)
Love the birdhouse! Nicely done BTW... and the lilacs are lovely. My Mom and I are headed off to the lilac festival this Friday. I'll be sure to take some pictures for you. =)
ReplyDeleteJenn, please do! I wish we had a lilac festival here. The nearest one I know of is in Spokane. Where is the one you'll be attending?
ReplyDeleteI'll have to take a glamor shot of Marvin and stick it on my blog so you can show it to Annie. It will be like kittymatch.com. :)
ReplyDeleteJen, make that kitty-puppymatch.com! Please do, we really need to see a photo of Annie's love object!
ReplyDelete