I’ve always loved bugs and insects, the bigger and weirder the better. My father used to swear he found a new variety in the garden every year and I believe it’s true. Their diversity is amazing.
That being said, you know I was thrilled when I found this little beauty in my flower bed the other day.
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Now that’s a spider!
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Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this product’s Amazon pricing?
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I think we’re down to four woodchucks now.
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I haven’t seen six together for quite a while so I’m guessing momma finally booted some of their big butts out of the burrow.
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Damn.
I wish they’d had these when I was young and in love with dinosaurs.
The other day my husband went to the woodshed to pull out his garden cart and came back in the house shortly after.
“I think one of your woodchucks is hurt” he said.
That made me drop what I was doing and rush out back to find this:
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Junior, momma chuck’s full grown offspring from last year.. the one who never left the nest, was wedged in between the cart, some wood and a few landscaping bricks.
Or was he?
I knelt down, spoke softly and determined he wasn’t stuck… just scared.
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We backed off, hid around the corner and waited for 10 minutes but he wouldn’t move.
Wanting to get on with his chores the husband slowly pulled the cart out of the shed and bam!
Junior was off like a shot to hide under the deck.
We have two hummingbird nectar feeders on our back deck. (Sugar and water only please. Don’t buy that packet with the awful red dye. Use red glass feeders instead.)
2023 has been a banner year for hummers and I don’t think we’ve ever seen this many at one time. But with high numbers come battles, because while they’re beautiful … they’re also quite territorial.
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The minute one sits down to feed, another arrives to chase it off.
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Please appreciate the fact I had to take 20 photos to get these two of the little jewels in flight. Those little suckers are quick.
Here’s a short video of a male and a female. They drank together for a short while.
It’s been a long time coming, but things are finally starting to coalesce.
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I peeked out back at noon and saw almost half the deck boards had been laid.
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When the husband got home at 5:00pm, two thirds were done.
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Apparently with the help of a wooden mallet.
But because nothing ever goes smoothly here, it was then we learned the contractor had misjudged the width of the boards and would be two short at the end of the project. And since this is a special color no one keeps in stock, we’ll have to live with an unfinished deck for at least two weeks while we wait for the order to come in.
Sigh…
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But if I take a photo from this angle, I can pretend all is well.
At the end of day four, which turned out to be an 11 hour day – our contractor arrived at 7:15am and left at 6:15pm- this was the result.
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Five deck boards.
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Five.
Count ‘em… five.
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Three ‘picture frame’ and two others.
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After 11 hours… at $55 and hour.
Let me do the math for you… that’s $605. Which works out to $121 per board. Granted there was a lot of measuring and cutting around the existing railing posts, and at $96 per board we’re glad he’s precise and doesn’t waste material, but wow.
Sorry Mick, but in this instance… time is definitely not on our side.
Warning: disturbing avian photo to follow, but trust me… no birds were harmed in the making of this blog.
If you remember, our contractor had just laid rubber protective tape over the framing of our back deck.
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I can’t say I examined it too closely after he told us it would protect the boards from water damage. I figured he knew what he was doing…
Until yesterday when I heard something strange out back and went to investigate.
What I found was a small sparrow hanging on the board, with one wing stuck to the tape. It’s little bird companions were tweeting and pecking and trying in vain to free it. I didn’t take a picture, I didn’t have time. I just wanted to save the poor thing.
Which I did, and it flew away happily.
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Although with a few less feathers attached.
Feeling pleased with myself for saving the small fellow I went back in the house, until I heard something strange out back an hour later.
Another bird was caught in the tape.
I saved that one as well and hoped that was the end of it.
Nope.
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Bird number three… who I did take a quick picture of before I scooped him up and freed him. This one bit me for my trouble.
Not wanting to continue the sparrow torture sessions, I grabbed a knife and made small cuts in the tape so it would lay down flat around the upright posts.
Thankfully no more feathered friends were trapped after that.
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
