River

This is not garden-related, but I've noticed many gardeners also love their dogs.  :-)  This is our princess, River, and I finally finished sewing a personalized cover for her bed. 

 She likes it as long as it is right beside our bed.  We're still trying to get her to sleep in the boys' room. 

Birdfeeder Guests

I was at Ace about a month ago with my big boy (5 years old), and he declared that I need a bird feeder.  Can't argue with that.  We got a long plastic tube design (cheap) and I giant back of seed that claimed to attract all types of desirable birds.  

 

My son wanted to hang it on a tree, but I wanted to be able to see it from the house, so we duct taped it on top of a fence post (so classy).  Sadly, we waited over a week for a bird to find it but nothing came.  I had a theory that it was just too exposed for them to feel comfortable, so I bought a hanging plant stand and hung it from that in the middle of my butterfly garden.  SUCCESS!!

 

Here is my buddy, who I have named Cardinal Ratzinger.  He visits me daily and calls out so I can come on the lanai and say "hello".  All of these photos are taken through the lanai screen, so some are fuzzier than others.

 I've also had red-winged blackbirds (no good photos of them) and I am quite sure I saw an oriole, but no photo evidence of that either.  There's also this gray guy.  Some type of finch?  Too small to be a sparrow, I think.

 I find it funny that I started my garden primarily to have cut flowers, since I LOVE having them inside.  I've gotten quite into the gardening process, though, and I definitely grow varieties now that I couln't cut.  I still do enjoy bringing them inside, though.  I like unorthodox mixes of whatever is blooming.