efprince's Blog

Gotta stop feeding the birds for a while
Aug 28, 2009 | 11:25 AM PST
Tags: gardening gloves , raccoon , birds , mums , fall , friends , hubby , hummingbirds

The other night there were EIGHT raccoons in the yard at around midnight or so. They were all over my bird feeders, climbing on my pots and plants and generally making a nuisance of themselves. I chased them off several times, but the little critters would just go into the shadows and wait til I went into the house and then they'd come right back.

So now I'm not feeding the birds for a while. And I guess that might work because my daytime visiting raccoon just showed up, he checked out the entire yard and then left cause there's nothing there for him. Yippee! But my poor birdies are confused. They will be fine though - it won't hurt them in the least for my feeders to be empty for a little while. Especially at this time of year - there's plenty of natural food sources for them.

Last night my sweet hubby filled all my hummingbird feeders for me - he is so sweet. Then when I went to put the extra nectar away in the refrigerator, I spilled it and it went all over the entire insie of the refrigerator. So then we had to clean the entire 'fridge at 10:00 o'clock at night. And he helped me even though it was entirely my fault. I truly love that man,he is so good to me.

I'm trying not to notice that the garden is winding down. But yesterday at Walmart they had all the fall mums on display. They were pretty, but I'm just not ready for fall yet. 

Last weekend, my friend, Sharon, who lives in Oklahoma City, came down for a visit with her husband. She brought me a gift: all the planters I gave her when we both lived in Washington State. So those planters traveled from me to her in Washington, then she took them with her when she moved to OKC and then she brought them back to me in Texas - those things have moved around. But I was really glad o get them. I want to plant some crape myrtles and I want really big pots for them as I don't want to plant them in the ground since this isn't my house.

Then my other friend, Ann, gave me some really nice gardening gloves. I told her I don't wear gloves when I garden, so I guess she thought I needed some. They are really pretty, but I just can't wear gloves to garden. I may start out wearing them, but pretty soon they come off and I'm digging in the dirt bare handed. There's just something about it. She told me I need to wear them to protect my nails and cuticles - it's a little late for that - I'm 59 years old and have never been able to wear gloves, so it's a little late to try to change now! I think the damage is already done!  

Hummers and Hibiscus
Apr 7, 2009 | 9:39 PM PST
Tags: Hummingbirds , hibiscus , weather , camera

Good thing I put up the hummer feeders - the hummer came three times today to my window feeder. I was so excited! I just love hummingbirds. I am used to having them around all year long because the Anna's back in the PNW do not migrate, but stick around all year. So I am very, very happy that the hummers are back in Texas! I tried to get a picture, but he was just too fast for me. I'm a lttle slow with this new camera.

But I'm very unhappy with this Texas weather. Up and down, up and down. They predicted very low temps, maybe freezing last night, so I brought in all my plants, EXCEPT I missed one - the hibiscus that I just bought. Doggone! It sustained a little damage, too. Not life threatening - it wasn't that cold, but definitely a little damage on the tips. I've never tried growing a hibiscus before,so I don't know how this will affect it. I think I will have to prune the damaged part off and it should be ok, but I'm not sure - why, oh why, didn't I bring it in (curses)!

 

Hummingbird feeders
Apr 6, 2009 | 10:29 AM PST
Tags: Hummingbirds , Purple Martins , Impatiens , American Goldfinch

My sister-in-law saw a hummingbird come to the location where she normally has a hummingbird feeder a couple of days ago, so today I put up my hummingbird feeders. I knew that it was time and the other day I made up a batch of hummingbird nectar (sugar water), but I just hadn't put up my feeders yet. Hopefully all this WIND we are having won't blow all the nectar out of them.

The weather has turned cold and windy and not nice again. It is supposed to be down to 31 degrees tonight. I brought in all my plants last night because I was worried about them. Especially the impatiens that I just planted in pots AND the hydrangea that got bit by the frost before. He's just starting to recover and I didn't want him harmed again.

A couple of Purple Martins checked out the purple martin house we put up last week. They didn't stick around. They only checked it out. First one side, then the other; then the top and then the bottom. They sat on it for a while, then they flew off. At first I thought they were swallows, but the male was all black and the female much lighter. The tails were not as forked as swallows. This is my first time with Purple Martins, but I'm pretty sure that's what they were. I hope they come back, but I know since it's a brand new site they may not.

I've been playing with my new camera today. The Goldfinches are just so pretty in their new mating colors, so bright and pretty. I just can't help taking pictures of them. My husband says they look like canaries and I guess they do. I love Goldfinches; they are the Washington State Bird.