Birds and Beds

There are some days when I realize how blessed and lucky I am to have my life.   Those days make me grateful for all the good things I have, the friends I have, the wonderful husband I have, the nice home I have, just generally the comfortable life I have.  Today is one of those days.  I've been working in the yard, trying to bring things back to some semblance of order after several years of neglect.  It's physical labor of the kind I'm not accustomed to any more, and it makes me tired by the end of the day.  But this kind of tired is very pleasant.  I hope all of you can understand that statement and have had the wonderful opportunity to experience that state for yourself. 

These are the makings of work.  I needed to add organic matter to my poor flower bed and needed a jump start.  


After adding compost and peat moss (which has been in the shed for a long time), I transplanted twelve alliums which no longer bloomed because they were in too much shade. 

I then mulched them well with pine straw. I've also fertilized a lot of my plants and hope that we will get rain tonight and tomorrow as predicted so they will get off to a good start.  


I'm trying to clean out my garden house and use up the products that have been sitting in there for a while, like that peat moss which I'd never buy again, and several bags of manure and topsoil and sand.  


After my work was done, I showered and poured myself a glass of wine and took a long break on the patio.  The wildlife activity in the back yard is at fever pitch right now with all the mating activity taking place. 

I'm surprised this yellow rumped warbler is still hanging around.  

Here's Mr. Downey woodpecker at the suet feeder.    And here's Mrs. Downey a bit later. 

We also still have white-throated sparrows here too. 

We have a lot of cardinals in our yard.  They are here year round and I'm sure there will be several nests this year. 

And, of course, no afternoon in the yard would be complete without our resident pests, even if they are cute little suckers. 

We also have flocks of mourning doves that are here year round.  They're very busy too, with lots of chasing and dashing around.   This is just part of them. 

It really is no wonder there's so much activity.  After all, there are seven feeding stations out there including safflower seeds, three feeders of regular mix with added sunflower seeds and other goodies, thistle seeds, a suet feeder, and a platform feeder where I put peanuts and pecans.  Oh, I was about to forget the squirrels' corn feeder!   

Ah, the joys of spring!!!!!  


Y'all take care.