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.