Hordes of Hummers

Well, maybe not hordes. But my hummingbird feeders are now well-established among the local Ruby-Throated hummingbird population, and they see a lot of activity. One feeder is about four feet from me as I sit here at my desk; it's just outside the window, hanging on the brace bar for the metal awning over the window. This feeder has perches - the one in the back at the end of the patio roof doesn't - so I get to see them not only hovering and flitting around, but resting on the perches while they eat. They know I'm here, they watch me between sips at the feeder, but seem not to be bothered by my presence.

On the other hand, the silly bird who made her nest just outside the sliding glass door between the den and the patio flies off every time I open the door. Because the dogs go outside through that door, it's opened many, many times a day. The nest is directly above the path the dogs take from the doorway to the yard. She seems not to mind the dogs coming and going (perhaps she knows they can't reach her), but she's afraid of me. I still haven't figured out what she is yet! She's maybe 6" long, has a white body and breast, slate- grey back, wings, and tail, and her head's a deeper charcoal grey. I can't see all of her when she's sitting on the nest, and when she flies off she doesn't perch close enough for me to get a good look at her, so I haven't seen her head/beak close enough to help in indentifying her. I'm thinking she's either a slate-grey junco, or maybe a titmouse. She's been sitting on the nest for a couple of weeks already, shouldn't be long before the eggs hatch. The nest is above the cement slab of the patio, once the eggs hatch I'm going to put up a table with towel-lined box lids on it, in case a baby falls out of the nest.

I got about 36 square feet of the sod in my vegetable-garden-to-be pulled up yesterday. A little less than a third of the space I'm planning on. I have to admit, I was grateful when it started to rain and I had to quit. I did a little weeding in the plants around the front yard trees after the rain stopped, and I planted some bush-type Morning Glory seeds in the little planter out front, but I wasn't going to mess with soaking wet sod after the rain. I just took 600mg of Ibuprofen, as soon as that kicks in and the muscles I abused yesterday don't ache quite so much, I'll get outside and remove another stretch of sod today. I need to get the front lawn cut, too. My mom doesn't need her lawnmower any more, she has someone come and cut her lawn every couple of weeks and he uses his own mower, so I brought her mower home last week. It hasn't been used in a couple of years, it's probably going to be a little tough to get started. I may just wait on that until the weekend, though, it's supposed to rain tonight, tomorrow, and into Friday morning then clear for 2-3 days. I want to get the garden ready for planting this weekend, the bean, lima bean, and watermelon seedlings need to get out of their pots and into the ground as quickly as possible.

While it was raining yesterday I made up a plan for both the raised herb bed and the vegetable garden. I've decided to plant several of the smaller perennial herbs in the raised bed - rosemary and tarragon in the center, hyssop in a border along each side. The German Chamomile, an annual, will go in front as a double border, the lavender will go along both sides and the front behind the smaller border plantings, and I'll put the dill and thyme in the back section. I've got four perennial herbs I'll be planting along the edge of the wooded areas, outside the fence - peppermint, catnip, lemon balm, and a couple of mulleins. I've got a tentative layout for the vegetables, too, with the vining plants (cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, and zucchini) and eggplant along the patio fence, the peppers across the back, the tomatoes on the side opposite the vining plants, and the carrots, lettuce, and watermelons in the middle. I'll probably plant the pumpkins outside the vegetable garden fence, in 3-4 mounds, and put down straw for them to grow on.

Along the wooded lot-line that separates me from my neighbor to the south, there's a very long patch of violets that goes from the corner of the fence back. They're beautiful. Behind the violets is a big patch of lily of the valley. There's nothing behind that, though, so that's where I'm going to scatter the Dutchman's Breeches seeds. Behind that, and across the back of the yard is where I'll plant the perennial herbs. I might plant some of those this afternoon, too.

OK, the sun is shining, I've finished the last cup of coffee in the pot, so I guess it's time to get outside and get working!