Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Backyard Edition


There's nothing really special about our little city lot; no pool, no big toys or forts, or patio, or lawn furniture (except for a camping chair I keep out back). But our yard has got to be one of mine and little Abe's favorite places to be.

Our garden is growing along nicely. It's been a bad year for the strawberries. Apparently it took the birds three years to discover them but they've been found and are regularly nibbled on now. Everything else is doing pretty great though. It stayed really cold here for a lot longer then normal but ever since the cold broke we've had the most lovely weather.


Thank the Lord that little Abe recovered from his bee phobia because our backyard is a bee paradise. First the giant 100 year old lilac bush blooms. Since it's so old the flowers don't stay long but as soon as they've fallen our six foot tall wild rose bush is covered in bright pink petals. Once the peek of rose petals passes the old honeysuckle vine starts to flower and fill half the yard with a vibrant old fragrance. It's lovely and it reminds me of a smell you'd happen upon at your grandmothers vanity. The aroma greets us as soon as we exit our backdoor and calls to the extremely elusive hummingbirds (the only time of year we'll ever see one around your yard is at honeysuckle time). The sweet peas that I'm in love with start to bloom shortly after the fragrant honeysuckle. Yep, a bees paradise and my own as well.


If you remember, I thought some of the sunflower seeds from last year's giant flower had wintered over. Nope. The little sprouts that looked identical were from wandering money plant seeds. I let one grow for such a long time, as the plant itself and the leaves looked so much like my sunflower. I have attempted to transplant that one money plant to the front yard and I've since placed a few sunflower seeds in its place. One seed sprouted about two days ago and as soon as it did a chipmunk found it, dug it out, ate the seed and then found the other not yet sprouted seeds. I planted six sprouts last year and ended up with ONE sunflower because that chipmunk kept digging up the plants to eat the seed.

I've now devised what I think is a brilliant chipmunk guard. I cut the top and bottom off of an apple juice bottle and stuck it over top of the newest little sunflower sprout. (I planted more seeds after the first chipmunk raid). Once the sprout is big enough the little furry fellow will leave it be and I'll pull the juice bottle off. This should work.


Now, if I can get this kid to stop whacking all the flowering bushes and vines in our yard with a huge stick the rest of our summer spent out back in our little simple paradise will be just perfect.

6 comments:

  1. Ok, first of all, that picture of Abe should be on the cover of a magazine - what a doll...or is it ham?? :)

    I'm having strawberry issues too - the sun is literally FRYING them - when it is 108, there is no way to avoid it, no matter where I put them. My green peppers on the other hand are growing like gangbusters. I got the plant last year and it produced pretty well and I thought I would just leave it to see what would happen and wouldn't you know it is filled with peppers again!!

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    1. In the first three photos I took he has a huge frown on his face. We had made grass and leaf crowns and I told him I wanted to take a photo and he was refusing to smile. This is the only one where he smiled. He is a ham for sure but the word goofball would be WAY more appropriate.

      Hooray for the green peppers! But, isn't is strange that we're both having a really bad strawberry year, despite living on like two different planets climate wise.

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    2. Yea, mine are getting fried, yours are freezing to death :)

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    3. RIGHT! Maybe we just need to pack up and meet in the middel :)

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  2. Good luck with the stick whacking! I raised 3 sons and someone was always whacking something with a stick, bat, golf club, fishing pole . . . you name it!

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    1. Oh my goodness! It's awful. I try and let him be impulsive and do lots of weird randomness. Like yesterday I cut down a weed bush that had just popped up. I gave him the one big branch and he sat in the driveway for about 15 minutes with a pair of scissors just decimating that thing but there have to be rules too. He cannot seem to keep from hitting the flowering bushes with a stick, and by hitting I mean decimating them. He keeps getting in trouble for it.

      I grew up with two brothers, was outside a lot, and was (am) such a tomboy so I do remember so well how boys will be boys. My brothers were positively wild at times.

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