last year vs this year

owen vs maddie

Owen got to finally meet his cousin Maddie (she's from Alabama!!) a couple weeks ago and boy was he unsure about her. Not only was this little thing about a third his size, but she had the most energy he had ever seen in another animal. After they sniffed each others butt, they started to play and things were going pretty well - just lots of running back and forth and constant chasing. But after the 100th circle Maddie ran around Owen, he decided that she just needed to chill out...so he took a swipe at her. And that about ended their meeting. Here are a few pics of their tryst.

Maddie

Owen - waiting for Maddie to jump on the bed, but it
was too high for her...so he just sat there like this

Watch out - RED EYES = DANGER!

Maddie chasing Owen...

i like rainbows

Yeah, it's true. I like rainbows. I think they are simply one of the coolest things God created, besides people of course (and Owen). And the best part is that I've seen 2 rainbows in 2 weeks. When was the last time you could say that?

The first four pictures are taken from my yard on Sunday - happened about 20 minutes after a thunderstorm passed over our house. Props to Jarrod for looking out the window and spotting it, thus causing me to make a mad dash through the house to find my camera and some flip flops so I could capture it.

Love this one b/c it looks like the plane passed right through the rainbow...

This is the rainbow that quickly appeared and disappeared over Lake Burton
during our visit 2 weeks ago

yard round up on 6/22

We got a little rain over the weekend - nothing to get excited about but I'll take what I can get! Most of the activity this week has been at my mailbox. My gladiolas are in full bloom and my daylilies are still going strong. I know it doesn't look like much in the pictures below, but you should've seen this mailbox area when we bought the house - it was pretty ugly and color was nonexistent!

Can you see the little yellow jacket chillin' in one of the blooms? It's a bit blurry...sorry

Poor purple gladiolas - too tall and top heavy to stand upright on
their own. Notice the string holding them up...

Red Canna Lily finally blooms and it's about twice the size this year as it was last year!

A close up of the bloom - kinda funky looking at this stage...

birds - what's not to love?!

Since I am fond of animals, I need to balance out a negative post on animals with a positive one. So, here's a round up of birds that have visited my yard and my feeders.

Here we have a Tufted Titmouse (on roof), Carolina Chickadee and two
female House Finches

a Blue Jay on my fence...
a Blue Jay at my feeder...
a Bluebird...first one I've ever seen in person!
a Blue Jay and a Brown Thrasher duking it out...
a baby House Sparrow sunning itself...

SQUIRRELS (hyuh), what are they good for?

Absolutely nothing. That's right - nothing other than to entertain my cat. Seriously folks! They eat the sunflower seeds I put out for the birds. They dig up the bulbs that I plant and either ruin them or move them to an undisclosed location. And, they dig in my flower pots. This is what I came home to today...

and the aerial shot

Screw you, you little squirrel with beady little eyes...

the balloon flower

The balloon flower, also known as the Chinese Bellflower, is a pretty cool perennial and new to my yard. I purchased it at Creative Enterprises about a month ago. They are a non-profit organization that specializes in vocational rehabilitation and employment training for adults with disabilities in Lawrenceville. CE is a really great place to purchase plants - reasonably priced and very knowledgeable staff. Plus, they have a stinky pig that hangs out at the greenhouse - I think her name is Lucy.

Anyways, it's been fun to watch the buds turn into blooms on this plant. The buds essentially swell up and get all puffy right before the petals burst out and form these star-like shapes. The photos below show the process...

the swelled bud

tah-dah!

more blooms...

a close-up shot....it's kinda blurry, sorry

yard round up on 6/6

I'm going to try and make this a weekly feature since plants peak at various times. It will help me to log growth and the "bloom window" for many of these plants.

the ubiquitous daylily - love the color of this one - it came from my grandmother's yard

my huge Annabelle hydrangea

close-up shot of one of the heads

purple gladiola - love this shot because it looks like it's peering around
the corner of the fence to see what I'm doing

close-up shot of my red gladiola

...look like butterfly

This is a Gulf Fritillary butterfly that visited my yellow Lantana last summer...

Editor's Note: The post headline is a quote from Short Circuit

farewell to chipmunk

So, this morning I was watering the plants on my front porch (with grey water, no less) and I noticed our neighbor's cat, Ciara, chilling out in my yard. Since I'm pretty confident in my cat-reading skills, I knew she was stalking something...I just didn't know WHAT until it leapt up in the air and fell back to the ground. Being such an immature animal lover, I realized it was a chipmunk and immediately ran back inside to get my camera - I had to get the picture for my new blog, duh. Anyways, I come back out and they're still in the same cat/chipmunk position so I snap away. After a couple of minutes I thought - "Am I just going to observe this cute, rarely-seen critter get mauled by this neighborhood cat or am I going to do what I've done since I was a kid and try to rescue it?" The answer was obvious. I put the camera down and hurried down my front steps to rescue the chipmunk (FYI - I'm already ready for work, so in work clothes and heels). Needless to say, Ciara was pissed! I tried to shoo her away but she was hell-bent on playing with that chipmunk. I finally got close enough to scoop up the chipmunk, but since I was being so careful (didn't want to get bitten) it was able to wiggle its way out of my hand. As soon as it hopped back to the ground, Ciara ran over and picked that thing up by the nape of its neck and carried it to my neighbor's yard and out of my reach. I was heartbroken. By the time Jarrod and I left for work, it was clear that Ciara was still trying to play with it, even though it was probably dead. I decided to post my pictures of this brave lil' chipmunk to pay tribute...RIP.

the shirt

and on another occasion...

ode to owen

I have a cat named Owen
He is the best thing goin'
He is terribly sweet
And he loves to eat treats
I have a cat named Owen

This is Owen's first picture. As soon as the breeder sent it to me I knew I had to get him...those eyes! that muzzlepowsche!


Loves those mice!

and the sunshine

oh, happy hydrangea

I've got the first post jitters. What can I say about my young and in-bloom blue hydrangea? It has made a strong comeback this year, despite last summer's drought (that definitely decreased its bloom window). This hydrangea is a descendant of a massive one in my grandmother's yard -- there's no telling how long it has been rooted. She gave me this section a couple years ago and it didn't take long before it had more blooms than leaves. Also posted are two pictures of its sister hydrangea that we planted in the backyard. It's quite a chameleon -- sported blue, pink and purple blooms last year and this year it seems to be a nice blend of the three colors. Guess I should experiment with more lime come fall...

And the multi-color one in the backyard this year...



and last year