This is my crepe myrtle bush / tree that I was late to trim back this year. So, when it should have been doing some serious leaf pushups, it was wiling away the time letting the lichen grow on it. I was so entranced with this display of colors, textures and dimension that I took several photos of it. I don’t know what I’ll do with it, but being the artist that I am, I am sure I will figure something out.
In addition to the daffodils, I also bought tulips, hyacinths and irises. All of the “up north” flowers that I miss in the springtime. These purple tulips were a wonderful and colorful addition to my back porch, and while they didn’t last, I did try to salvage all of the bulbs in hopes that I could recreate my little garden next spring.
You know we don’t have cold enough winters to plant perennials like daffodils, but I found some bulbs on sale down here that I couldn’t resist. I planted a dozen small daffodil bulbs around my magnolia tree. While they didn’t last long, for a short-time I was reminded of the spring I spent at the Tulipfest in Skagit County, Washington. It’s been a long time, but the flowers were just as colorful.
It was a foggy morning on my way to the office, and I took a shortcut due to traffic. I am glad that I did because the sun was rising on the other side of the bridge, and the fog made it glow.
A quick trip to Savannah, Georgia was in order for a holiday getaway. We were only there a day due to rain and a marathon, so we did not get to visit many of the places we had planned. Harry came along and was wowed by the fact he could eat at the sidewalk cafes while we had lunch. This is the fountain in the middle of Forsyth Park. There are so many pretty parks to see.
The parking lot was full when we went to Grandfather Mountain, so we parked down the mountain and hiked up. This fun little path was well worth the walk and gave me another view of the mountain that I had never seen before. It comes out under the bridge, so you can see just how low the bridge actually is to the bottom. Fun hike!
This guy has been hanging around lately looking for birdseed, birds or whatever he can find. We have chickens in the neighbor’s backyard, so I suppose he snacks on eggs now and again. He looks fairly healthy, so I will say he’s probably getting enough to fill his belly and keep his coat smooth and silky. Check out that tail.
The beginning of a beautiful Monarch butterfly is happily munching on my aphid filled milkweed plant. We did a number of milkweed plants – both red, yellow and the Florida pink milkweed – in an effort to increase the Monarchs that will find their way to our yard this winter. So far, my milkweeds have done well and we have planted more and more seedlings, so our garden is always filled with butterflies.
This guy was on my plumeria eating leaves. He is a caterpillar form of the giant leopard moth, and I hope get to see him in all of his glory.
Well, I don’t know when this happened, but we became home to two little Titmouses – Titmice – not sure what the plural of Titmouse is. We were surprised to see them sitting in the feeder one summer morning.
I got a cool app for my phone. Merlin bird identifier, so if you have sounds in the yard you don’t recognize, this little app will help you figure out what birds are using your yard for their social activities. I have discovered a worm eater warbler, a Cooper hawk and a hoot owl all have been chatting amongst themselves in the morning. The hardest part has been isolating the cicada noise, so morning is the best time to listen for birds.
Julie L. Cleveland 