Garden surprises can be special, sometimes annoying!

Rain again last night but luckily not the damaging storms with large hail

 other places in the southeast received.  

As you can see, the 'reborn' amaryllis is doing beautifully and weathered the storm,

opening even more since yesterday's photos below. An additional surprise

 is that it's not the salmon-colored one I expected, but perhaps 'Charming' from

 back in 2018 which I must have planted out. I think this one is delightful.

A garden surprise is never unexpected, after all a garden is always a magical place.

However bad things sometimes happen.

A plant doesn't grow or thrive in the spot you picked.

A weather happening burns, freezes or soaks it, and an early death occurs.

It is eaten by a hungry visitor - of which there are many - here's a list of wildlife 

that have been caught hanging out in my small garden over the years -

Grey Squirrel

Opossum

Raccoon

Coyote

Rabbit

Deer

Fox

Vole

Mole

Mice

Feral Cat

Black Rat Snake

Copperhead Snake

Most have not just been one time visitors either!

Some, such as fox, squirrel, deer, feral cat, rabbit - have even birthed their young,

in trees, under the shed and gazebo. . . . . .or brought them along from the woods to

 nibble, munch, crunch, trample and crush my lovely plants, shrubs, bulbs and flowers!

Do I get upset? Of course I do.

Do I give up on gardening?  No, and never will.

The underground marauders are almost impossible to deal with - they love roots, 

they need to eat.

The tree climbers escape to places we can't even see at such heights.

The burrowers will always hide out of sight goodness knows where.

The slithery ones are silent and move away effortlessly - and the poisonous

 copperhead is the only one to really be scared of. . . . . and I am!

The beautiful deer of all sizes, though quiet and gentle, can really do a job on a

night time garden raid. Over the past few years, as more and more construction

 has happened close to us and their natural habitat has been stolen from them, 

we've been visited by deer in families as large as six at one time.

I'm really enjoying taking photos with the new iPhone11 Pro.

In fact I'm taking far too many of the garden but what else is there

right now!

Have a beautiful Sunday - perhaps next week, although

still at home, we will hear better news from around the 

world.  Prayers still needed, regulations must be followed.

Let's get those numbers down and hope people will 

soon be able to go back to work.

Grace without glory ----------

  

The storm has passed. Hurricanes batter and damage for days and this one

 is no different as it crawls along the east coast.

We, further inland in North Carolina, were fortunate this time with nothing more

than torrential rain for many hours and wind gusts late last night. I admit, sleep

was a long time coming for me!

No power outages in our neighborhood but many are without south and east of us. 

This morning the sun is already shining. Small debris from trees will be cleaned up 

as they dry out - thank you Bob - and I will return all the possible flying projectiles,

now stored in the potting shed, back in position on the front porch, back deck and gazebo. 

Our thoughts and prayers are now with those still in Dorian's path along the coast, 

and those who have been damaged or injured. The latest news from the

Bahamas is heartbreaking with so many people missing and unbelievable damage

to the islands.

I walked into the back garden and was surprised by this beauty. 

Just one flower on the start of a white Rose of Sharon tree.  

In a pot, planted by a garden bird, not me!
Nature's beauty always phenomenal - but her wrath can be so cruel.

I immediately felt the connection. This is the book I've just finished reading. 

It too was a huge surprise. 

Picked up at the Dollar Store as the cover looked interesting.

What a story of a place I'd never heard of. . . . . in a country that has known terrible
times.  Who knew that massive ships must eventually die, or the horrendous 
story of their dangerous disposal which kills, maims, and impacts the health
of so many.

 A fabulous, but often gut-wrenching, read. 
Powerful writing. 
A history.
A love story like no other.

This one goes on the shelf with my special books, the ones I will read again

 when life is quiet and I have nowhere to go.

Scribble Picnic - Fox

Wildlife in the garden brings mixed feelings. Of course seeing beautiful animals

 and knowing they actually like coming to your residence is often exciting, BUT
 can also be annoying when they devour plants and perhaps put domestic pets
 in danger. . . . . . . .and downright scary when you suddenly have that feeling
 something is watching you from the bushes when you're on your knees weeding!

For several years we've had grey foxes come through the garden, more recently

 just passing through on the way from the wooded area across from the cottage

 to wherever they go in the neighborhood. However, for three years in a row they came

  to give birth and raise families! There were always five kits in each litter, born twice

 under my neighbor's shed which backs up to my potting shed, and once even

 under our gazebo which was such a surprise being a very shallow space.
How the mother got under and produced five babies who crawled out several times
a day (these are just two of them) to eat and play, will always remain a mystery to us.

Fox kits on my deck - May 2011
Photo edited via PicMonkey - colored with watercolor pencils.

Fox kits reach full size by six months so move on from a garden within a couple
 of months once the parents have taught them how to find their own food.

During that time in the garden the parents would visit, nurse, feed, and even
 have a noon playtime around my potting shed which was awesome to watch.

Although we've enjoyed watching the little foxes we are always cautious when

they're in the garden. Foxes can carry rabies here in North Carolina and people 

have been bitten in their back yards. . . . . . . needless to say we always keep our 

distance.

This is an excellent article if you're interested learning more about the fox.

Be sure to visit Michael's weekly Scribble Picnic HERE today - I'm looking forward

 to seeing what our creative participants come up with for his FOX theme today.

Winging it . . . . . . . . . .

As mentioned recently, there are still surprises hidden in the garden even when 

the flowers aren't blooming due to the weather conditions.

Yesterday I found two - a dragonfly wing and a huge toadstool which had popped up 

under the fig tree. The lumpy fungus cannot be mistaken for a mushroom by any means, 

but it definitely has an astonishing beauty all of its own.
I think this is the Black-staining polypore -  Meriplus sumstinel- which 
grows around the base or stumps of deciduous trees, July through September, and can
reach 32 inches across - this one was about 10 inches.

As for the ethereal and delicate beauty of a tiny wing, discarded on the front 
steps . . . . . one wonders what happened to the dragonfly. 
I so hope it had its days in the sun.

Here's hoping your weekend has a few lovely 

surprises in store for you.