What's Going Down around Home?

Here it is Wednesday already and my blog posts at Midnight on Thursday and I got nothing!! So grab the camera and see what's at hand...

My laundry basket broke...so I ran right out and... 

Got some tape to fix it up...now you know me better than to think I would go purchase another one, this thing has loads of laundry left to do and I have plenty of tape...haha

Mom's Mimosa Tree 

WHAT AM I UP TO?

 I have been busy with chores around my homestead, grass cutting, stix pick up, some pruning of overgrown things and moving my suet feeder all over the place to try and stop squirrels from attacking.  

and drying some  home grown Oregano...this is  one of my favorite herbs to grow even the squirrels don't bother it! The deer neither...it's the perfect herb..

 I packed this jar with Jalapeno peppers fresh off the plant added vinegar and a sprinkle of sugar...in a couple weeks I will have a  hot vinegar splash which goes well with cooked greens of all kinds, 

WHAT'S GROWING and WHATS NOT?

More goodies from the garden pots, but tomato is so obviously missing! I have some small green ones but nothing to pick! One plant is way tall over my head and it has flowers and tiny pin head size tomato...I don't think it's going to produce much. 

                This cherry size has a few

Hmmmm Maybe this Katydid is eating my tomato?

"TOMATO, WHERE?"

The Japanese Eggplant is trying to give me more fruit this is #5 some critter ripped the last 4 up while they were still small...I put screen over the top an attempt to save this one...Wish me luck..

"Namaste"

The Zucchini plant has given me more veg to enjoy and the green beans and asparagus give one or two tidbits daily that I break up over a salad...

I keep them in some water till time to cook

IN OTHER HOMESTEAD NEWS:

The Carolina Wren built a nest in  the airplane plant, unfortunately when I try to water the plant she flies out...I saw the eggs this time..

3 new homesteaders on the way...

The Blue Whale Hosta is always gorgeous and the hummers and bees get happy for this...

Getting Happy

The young Brown-Headed Nuthatches are quick at the feeder while the Carolina Chickadee waits a turn in the Holly Tree..

Refill this asap

DANGER 

Meanwhile a drama of sorts was seen  on the handle of the  watering can..

 Inch Worm? Trying very hard to mimic a stick on the handle... being stalked by an Assassin Bug...don't worry I moved the  little worm to safety..

dragons at the heliport landing

the dinner bell

The Gladiola I stole from the roadside wilds in FL are now blooming...

MEANWHILE 

I skipped...down to the pasture for  plums just 2 days ago the tree was covered...

found one....good thing I didn't really want any jelly, hmmmm 

HOLY Webworms! The eggs are laid by a little white moth  in the family Erebidae, and around here its mostly in the Persimmon trees.  They spin this web and the caterpillars defoliate the entire branch it does not harm the tree but it is ugly looking...

                     the black specks, caterpillar dodoo...so don't let it hit your head! 

READY-SET-ACTION:

Here is a short video I put together of garden to table, its too hot to enjoy doing any DIY projects, birding, hiking or travel so I'm staying close to home and enjoying the simple things... 



...like a home grown and cooked meal!

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Please give a shout out to our blog friend Dave, of Everyone Likes Pictures, he is going through some medical issues at the moment. Dave I sure hope you're up and at it again soon will certainly be thinking of you....all the best my friend. 

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Half way to 2022

This week I did make a quick stop at Bramblewood, by the Wateree River, 

saw a few birds wading  and in the holding  ponds...

Sadly there was one goose that had died, but nature has that figured out...

 the fun thing was the pollinator plot, 

Lovely flowers, 

and the next fun thing was watching this Yellow Throated Warbler, feed a fledgling...

I wasn't fast enough to catch the actual feeding, but I enjoyed watching that part..

A quiet 4th was had around here I think I heard 4 firecrackers distantly and that was it.  Most of my original neighbors have either moved or died...sadly,  Im in that line. We had one of the coolest 4ths on record is what the tv weather man said it was amazing...I didn't even have my AC on if you can believe that.  It's back on today tho had to put it on about 1 pm. 

My Bee Balm had 2 blooms this year, I have been really treating it with Miracle Grow and spraying it with soapy water to keep the grasshoppers off it,  Only 2 blooms so far but sure is nice to see and the smell is amazing. 

The tiger lily is gonna have 4 flowers this year, 

and the tall phlox have been opened a long time already

The Wandering Jew is almost touching the ground...

This Camelia is outgrowing this space so it was either cut it down or cut it back so I chose to cut it back...I didn't take a before shot of course but now it has  a tall slender open weave look.  Should be pretty when it blooms in the late fall..

hard to get it to show up in a photo

The veggies are still producing Im on my 6th zukes now, the last batch I cooked was so fresh and delicious..

I have 2 big Butternut squash Im trying to keep the deer and squirrel off limits..wish me luck. 

And more peppers, I had one with my salad tonight...

I cooked 

But this is not for me, its for the Girls!

I now use Fresh Pet for their meat....I have tried to eliminate the dry and heavily processed food from their diets.  They're officially now 13 years old on the 4th! That's 91 in human years. 

so they do a lot of sleeping and taking things easy. 

All grey but still loving life..

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.

Whats in a Wetland?

After my fast trip to Huntington Beach State Park to see the Dovekie, I've been hanging close to the local spots around me. So hodge podge is what this one is, I've been combining some errand runs with local birding, and dodging more rainy days...but the end of last week was nice blue sky days...my daffodils 

the ones that didn't bloom are the paper whites and they bloomed this week.  I wish I had more paperwhites so I need to make a note to get more in the fall.   These below are the Tee'aTee 

Lettuce and Swiss Chard growing in the garden tub all fort
knoxxed up against deer and squirrel  

It mine all MINE...lol but it wont keep the slugs out.  

Still Pine Siskins in the yard.

They fool me when they start singing.  I think they will be heading out soon.  I reported 10 to ebird, ebird said that's a lot for this time of year...the next day I had 25 in the yard...lol 

And a few Purple Finch too...

On Sunday it was sunny,  I like to go to the racetrack on Sunday when the horses are not using the track that is a rest day for them...I check the pond and the trees there.  Pond had nothing..but in the trees I found

The Ruby Crowned Kinglet sizing up some very large berries...

The American Kestrel showing off all his brilliant colors. 

He was eyeing up a caterpillar and he swooped down and got it..

I stopped at Goodale Park on the way to a grocery run, and found a Red-breasted Merganser in the pond, first one I've reported there...it was unfortunate in silhouette, and he flew away fast I took these shots from the car window when I first rolled up. I tired to edit the photo but it was worse, so this is what I got....

Just needed some light on it...

Yellow Rump Warbler, Myrtle

Then I heard a drumming, when I got out of the van this Yellow Bellied Sapsucker was busy making  a nice straight lines of pretty big holes to fill with sap.  Nice strong light on him...

Meanwhile the Mallards were busy in the pond...

Sometimes you're better off with your butt in the air...

I think the females are on nests already they didn't come out until the males started to call them...

Had my FOY Brown headed Cowbirds, not a good bird to have but its natures way...

I checked on the Pitcher Plants, there's 3 clumps near the pond, 

A pair of Wood Duck seem to be getting ready to nest
 I saw them check out some nesting boxes. One fisherman who had canoed around told me that none of the nest boxes are in good shape.  So the park is not keeping them in good usable condition...sadly. Our parks service is doing us a disservice.  See our park has no campground and has no entrance fee, so it gets NO full time ranger.  We have a part time asst ranger who has no staff...he has to keep up the grounds and do the canoe rentals etc...HE is only in the office one hr per day.  And now he is getting a promotion and moving to Dreher Island State Park...so I have to wonder what we will have now.  It's not that the State doesn't have the money they just don't allocate it.  

The box they flew  on to inspect has not Top on it, I did see that. 

On my next errand day I stopped at the Riverside Park, and took a walk on the new "cement walkway"  it is better than walking in the soggy ground, but Im not a fan.

LOTS of American Robins that day...

I took one whole day to go to Lee County.  Finally got a shot of the
FOY Blue Grey Gnatcatcher...

The pollen has already to collect on the top of the ponds, and it looks nasty..

This is a new find,  may have a beaver, Im gonna keep a check on it.  AND I went to the old fav beaver pond where there is no beaver anymore it is changing there quickly... much drier than it should be...There is marsh, and there is swamp...A marsh provides food and habitat for many species, A swamp not so much...good for warblers tho because a swamp has more mosquitos, and biting flies! Wetland marsh is more beneficial than swamps imo.  So I asked google the difference and here is what I got:

The world's wetlands are ecosystems in themselves, and are defined by the flora and fauna they support. Marshes are nutrient-rich wetlands that support a variety of reeds and grasses, while swamps are defined by their ability to support woody plants and trees.

 I went to check out the Eagle nest, this immature one still had an adult with him... he is big enough to fledge, sometimes the adults just fly away from the nest and leave the young inside after he has fledged, he can hunt from his familiar post.

I compared this photo with ones from the past and this tree suffered damage, it used to have another big truck section behind the nest...this nest is very exposed now. 

3 months ago

March of 2019 

this is from a different vantage point also but you can see the large trunk section has fallen off...and it had to happen during this year's occupation too.  So this young eagle has had some hardships to over come Id say. 

And a pair of Canada Geese seem to be nesting here on the old beaver dam side....I keep hoping another beaver will come along to save this wetland from becoming a swamp. 

The ever watchful Belted Kingbird...

And before you know it another week is  over.... a stop at Goodale's on the way this time along with the Mallards who Im sure are nesting in the cove in the back,  was an American Widgeon another first for me to record there...

That was a good surprise

And this really BIG Gator was cruising at the back of the pond...pretty far away but I will share this grainy image with you anyways...

And I've been hearing them a week now and got a couple shots of the
Yellow Throated Warbler.  

Then a few days  of rainy, drizzly, and wind not so fun weather and I did chores at  home mostly and some more photo sorting to try and replace the lost Flickr hosting in my old posts...Im making such a small dent but it's a good way to spend the evenings...I found out if I combine a quick stop for birding along with grocery shopping and errand runs it does 2 things, it saves gas, and make the shopping bearable. 

             By permission RH

Now here is a little treat for you...a Great Find!!  My sis and her husband took a trip to Bosque del Apache and the surrounding area and they saw some awesome birds...My brother in law  spotted this Porcupine in a tree and took this photo...he has graciously allowed me to share it...I thought this little guy has the sweetest face no wonder he needs those quills to protect him....

See ya next week...

PEACE

Every day is a new Adventure.