BEAUTIFUL ORANGE DAYLILIES AGAINST THIS STONE BACKGROUND

These daylilies were just too heavy for their thin stem, so they fell over on the patio.  I thought they looked so pretty on the stones.

"STARS IN THE GARDEN ~ ORANGE DELIGHT"  

(Lynda Bergman)

Usually, I stake them and forgot about this flower bed.

They're saying we have a chance for rain, several days this week.  I certainly hope so!

The daylilies and my whole yard will be very thankful!

SidewalkShoes,

A RAT SNAKE IN MY BIRDHOUSE

A RAT SNAKE IN MY BIRDHOUSE

Well now, I believe in live and let live.  

Even for snakes.

But, oh my goodness!!

A while back I was on the patio and saw some movement in that pyracantha bush in the background.  I kept watching and this rat or chicken (?) snake moved through the shrubbery, slithered through those cords and went directly to that pretty birdhouse like it had been there before.  I watched that (around) 4' snake slither and coil it's whole body into the birdhouse. 

 I was amazed!!! 

 I kept watching, then thought to go get my camera.  When I came back only it's head was peeking out of the portal.  I got a little bit closer to take this photo and it slithered out of the birdhouse and away it went.  Either that was a "den" or it was looking for eggs and baby birds.

Interesting, huh??

EMPTY NEST TODAY!!

EMPTY NEST TODAY!!

Look at these cuties!!  (photo taken two days ago)

Today was day 14 since the day they hatched.  Early this morning, I heard the parents chirping a lot and I'm guessing  they were encouraging the babies to leave the nest while the cats were busy eating on the front porch.  The nest is EMPTY!  I miss seeing all of that activity, but I bet the little wren family is soooo happy!!

STARTLED TOAD & STARTLED ME!

This morning, I went outside to turn on the sprinklers.  Because it's usually dark, I use a flashlight to see exactly what I'm stepping on.  As I pass the fish pond, I always shine it in the water because it's interesting to see the fish in the dark.

As I looked in the fish pond, I saw someting out of the corner of my eye.  It was large, flat, beige and swimming straight for the bottom to hide under some foliage.  I kept looking for it and finally saw a large toad frog.  I know I have one that lives under the rocks around the pond.  I must have startled it and it jumped in the water.  

Did you know that toad frogs can swim?  They mate in the water and lay their eggs in the water, thus tadpoles.

Nature is fascinating.

BABY WREN SLEEPING

The baby wren is sleeping and resting it's head in the portal.  See the yellow beak?  A sure sign of a baby.  They'll be leaving the nest very soon and I'll be watching for them.  I'm pretty sure it's been 10 days since they hatched.

MY FISH ARE "HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY" & THE WRENS ARE FUSSING AT PUNKIN

My goldfish are "happy, happy, happy"!  First thing this morning I changed the water in the fish pond, using my new, non-gassing of chemicals, water hose from Water Right, Inc.  It made me feel really good, too.

The wrens have been beside themselves, worrying about Punkin napping near their nest.  After Punkin gets down from my work bench, I'll spread things out so she can't get up there for a while.
And there's Charlie, always wanting Punkin to come down and play.

Today, I finally trimmed that very overgrown fern and, now I can walk past it without feeling crowded.  It looks so much better, too.  Because it didn't freeze back last winter, it had gotten just way too huge.

My friend, Gus, was raising my lawn mower so it wouldn't cut my grass so short.  As he was adjusting the wheels, one of the rusted bolts broke.  I have a Lowe's nearby and I took my bolt and wheel to show them and they had a "universal" bolt kit.  Thank goodness the whole wheel didn't break.  Just letting you know about the kit and it's only around three dollars.  

Now, I can go mow my yard.

MON:DearLittleRedHouse,SunnjySmpleLife,

THANK YOU WATER RIGHT, INC & THE DIRT DOCTOR, ORGANIC GARDENER

A couple of years ago, I purchased two new water hoses that were gray, a perfect color to blend with my grass.  And, they didn't kink and that was a good thing, too, I thought!!  But, when I ran the water, there was a chemical outgassing odor and I was so afraid it might hurt my fish.  And, it did hurt my fish.    The water coming from that hose killed several of my large, original fish.  I didn't figure that out for a while and kept adding water and making it worse.  Several of my very large goldfish were my original fish and were around 10 years old.  I love my fish pond and was so sad, watching my fish slowly die and I didn't know what was wrong.  A hose was a hose and I just didn't know!  Because of the smell coming out of the front yard hose, I wouldn't even freshen the outside cat water because I was afraid it would, somehow, poison my cats.  And, I did ask around and never really got a good answer about a better hose.

Every Sunday, I listen to THE DIRT DOCTOR , organic gardener, on the radio and he mentioned some hoses that he uses.  He talked about WATER RIGHT, INC , and I Googled their hoses.  They are polyurethane hoses and there is no outgassing.  Immediately, I ordered these hoses and finally got them today.  They are very lightweight and so easy to pull around the yard.  I'm thrilled to have discovered these hoses!!
(If you will click on The Dirt Doctor link and the Water Right, Inc link, they will take you to those wonderful sites.)

First thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to change out most of the water in my fish pond.
Thank you so much to Howard Garrett the Dirt Doctor for talking about Water Right, Inc, or I never would have known about the outgassing and  letting me know I had another choice.
                                                       I JUST DIDN'T KNOW!!

                                             FRI:TootsieTime,