Oh deer!

Just as we readied to leave for the airport early on Tuesday, this sweet Ms. Deer

 arrived in the garden. She was heading for the sunflowers!

"Please don't chew them" I yelled out - and then she moved toward the fig tree.  

Luckily Bob was able to clap his hands very loudly and she eventually ran off to

 the wooded area on the far side of the cul-de-sac!

Speaking of which. . . . . . .my neighbor just informed me that they are 
digging up the street in front of our houses and apparently resurfacing 
both our patch of street and the entire cul-de-sac!  
Hopefully it will look quite spiffy when we return and the low dip on the street,
 right behind Ms. Deer, which takes so long to thaw when we have ice
 and snow in winter, will no longer be a problem.

In Bangor, Maine tonight. Rain all day, driving somewhat rough, but hoping for a 
sunny day tomorrow as we plan to visit Acadia National Park on Mt. Desert Island,
and I hope to get some photos to share with you.

Here's looking at you. . . . . . . . .

"Leaving on a jet plane". . . . . . . . . . tomorrow!

A good sign in the garden. . . . . .bees!

Thankful to see at least some of the sunflowers in bloom before heading north

to New England, and perhaps a quick jaunt over the border to Canada.

These golden beauties seem to be thriving in the heatwave with a daily drink

 from the garden hose. Hopefully, despite many days without TLC, they will

 manage to keep going and growing, and there will be some rain now

 and then.

Sunflower friends!

Lovely Carolina Blue skies!  

Life is a balancing act. . . . . . .

I wasn't going to post today.  

It's unbearably HOT!  

Already heading toward 96F high by noon, and another whole week of the same.

Our a/c upstairs is on the blink - just throwing hot air around. I grabbed a

 small portable fan from the potting shed and am running that. Of course it's

 really just assisting by swirling the hot air, unless one sits with it blowing directly

 on the face, as I'm doing now! Thankfully downstairs is cool - I should go down there!

We'll be leaving town soon and there's no way our HVAC guy will come before

 then - too many 'real emergencies' to deal with in this sweltering weather.

So, heading north is in the plan - please let there be cooler weather in

 New England and Canada. I'll let you know when we get there!

Today I have a ton of stuff to get done. 

Have already changed and laundered bed linen. Trip packing is almost completed.

 Quick run around with vac and floor mop later - don't like to leave a messy house!

 Granddaughter Jasmin coming for supper - big salad, small pasta (easy, quick

 penne with Gorgonzola made in one pot). Far too hot to eat in the gazebo but the
 dining room is cool and comfy.

Have to cut basil - it's tall and beautiful - and make pesto today. Will freeze and enjoy

 in July.  Must organize potted plants, such as herbs, and place them together at side

 of house so kind neighbor will slosh some water on them now and then if no

 rain - which looks doubtful around here!

Last evening we kicked back, Bob with a cold beer, me with a very chilled glass of

 French rosé (well OK to be honest, two glasses!) and watched 'The Greatest Showman'

 with gorgeous, multi-talented Hugh Jackman (something about those Aussie men!). 

Loved it. Who doesn't love childhood memories of the circus - but are also glad they

 are mostly now history and the animals are saved. 

The music was wonderful and the performers magnificent, including the trapeze

 and aerial stars.

This morning I noticed my own aerial star performing circus feats as it gobbled up

 the birds' suet. It was so hot even at 7 AM I didn't even bother to open the door

 and shoo it away - so all these pix were taken through the windows.

This guy preferred ground feeding on dropped sunflower seeds from the feeder 

in front of the cottage. A couple of seeds have even germinated and have

 a chance of growing if left alone.

The blackbird has been visiting for several days, drinking from the birdbath and

 trying to hang on the feeder and steal a few seeds - looks like it's found a friend.

Enjoy a restful Sunday!

Anticipation. . . . . . . . .

My tomato flowers are really quite pretty - and hopefully will provide us with 

some tasty fruit in the next couple of months.

We have a small tomato plot this year - plus one red bell pepper plant and a few 

butternut squash tucked in (seeds from last Autumn's squash). 

As we have travels which will take us away we can't plant much in case there's no rain.  

Today I'm tying up the tomatoes which are now so tall. I'm also fertilizing before

  regular watering. Non-stop garden chores at this time of year.

Tonight's salad will be welcome - and will include these scallions I grew alongside

 chives in a big pot - as the temperature reaches 90F yet again.

Sunscreen, sun hats and water required!

Celebrating Summer with sunflowers -

OK, you know where I'm going with this!  

Another post on the sunflower 'procession' along the low brick wall
 between my neighbor Bob's front garden and ours. 

Yesterday the first BIG bloom opened - in celebration of 
the Summer Solstice.
I was out there with my camera to get this first photo - I waited until late
afternoon when the sun was not so blindingly bright - and it almost took my
 breath away looking at all those new seeds forming. Nature never ceases to 
surprise and thrill.
I'll definitely be collecting seeds again this year in late Summer for planting
 next Spring. These beautiful blooms last a long time and bring so much
interest to the garden due to their height and brilliant color. 
The bees love them and we must do what we can to help bees.
Also, I know the birds and squirrels will be feasting well once the seeds dry.

Looks like this sunflower patch will be an ongoing annual happening in the
 garden, and it all started with one small packet of seeds tossed along the wall
a few years ago!

This was the budding flower on Wednesday - didn't take long to
 open fully by the following day.

Hoping to have perhaps 15 large tall blooms this Summer, plus a few

 shorter ones - you can just see one of those on the far right.

The tallest have now reached about 7 feet, and I have to stand on the

 low wall to get my closeups of their sunny faces.

 No field of sunflowers as in Provençe, but this is is an ideal spot for my 

mini garden tucked at the base of the wall. Today I fertilized them with

 Miracle-Gro. There's been no rain to speak of for several days, so I also

 watered everything this morning as it's still in the 90's.

My own Bob, and my neighbor Bob, both know to stay far away from them

 when mowing and weed whacking!

Do you grow sunflowers?

Have a wonderful weekend - they seem to come around 

so quickly lately.

Hosta happenings -

Such special plants the hosta, grown mostly for their showy leaves. 

Sadly I've lost several over the years when voles have enjoyed 

their roots for breakfast!

My white flowering ones are over now, however this weekend the tall

 spires of blue ones seemed to open all together. . . . . . 

. . . . . . this morning the back garden is decorated with their lovely color.

These blue flowers may be the only cool touch in the garden 

all this week. Our temperatures will be the high 90's daily.

We are having to water now - a small storm was supposed to 

bring a little rain last night but it didn't happen!

Off early to drive neighbors to the airport this morning. 

A busy week ahead as we'll be "going on holiday" soon!

Garden birds on a June Morning. . . . . . .

The bird bath waits for morning visitors.

View from the dining room window.

A few showers now and then have left the garden looking green and healthy this week.

The fig tree is getting gigantic. I swear the pruning I did has made it grow even

 bigger this Spring. After the fruiting season (and it's loaded with tiny figs) it will

 require another pruning once the leaves fall.

 I'm heading out this morning to fertilize the veggies before rain arrives this afternoon.

The birds have been busy, many of the babies have fledged and are now 'learning the ropes' so to speak.  

Some I see being fed by their parents. 

Adult females - a Northern Cardinal and two House finches sharing the 'squirrel-proof' feeder.

 FYI - yes this  feeder really works by spinning the squirrels off without injuring

 them if they attempt to feed, and of course they do!  Expensive, but

very sturdy - we've had it at least two years, leave it up year-round, and have

 only had to recharge the battery a few times. It also holds a lot of seed so obviously

 doesn't require filling as often as smaller feeders, another plus.

Baby Northern cardinal.

No red bill yet but probably a female.

Baby House finch in the back garden - perhaps one of 'ours' recently fledged

 from the front porch!

Brown thrasher on suet in the fig tree. Both male and female continue to

 take food to the nest so there are still babies - I am guessing they will be 

fledging any day now.

Below, I managed to get a shot of it in the privet where the nest is located - a

very quiet, private and cautious bird when nesting.

Juvenile Mockingbird in the fig tree - note a couple of tiny figs just 
above its head.

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow?"

Well it's looking lush and green right now prior to the arrival of more really

 hot weather - all next week in the high 90's predicted, phew!

Fare thee well babes. . . . . . . . . . . .

Oh my, how quickly the lovely season of Spring disappears here in the southeast.

The sweet pansies and violas who brought color to the freezing days

 of Winter, then stood tall through springtime in both pots and flower beds,

 (mine actually self-seeded into the beds like magic this year), are just about over

now the days are hot and often very humid.

Carolina chickadee with spider.

Bird life in the garden has been extremely busy this Spring.

Amazing goings on in this hanging Boston fern where the pair of House finches

raised their offspring with the help of a Carolina chickadee, had us glued to the 

dining room window, and me on a step stool every day with a camera!

The three together - can't believe I actually caught a photo of this visit - parent

 finches and the chickadee.

Only two of the four eggs hatched - this was the last baby to leave the nest,

several hours after the first one fledged. The chickadee persuaded it to go,

enticing it out with juicy snacks while the parents were apparently minding the

 other one. The chickadee actually returned for several days afterward as if 

checking on the remaining unhatched eggs, very unusual. 

Finch nest in the hanging Boston fern on front porch.

Brown thrasher watching its nest.

The baby cardinals left their nest in the back garden last week, and I did see one

fly off with its mother but didn't have a camera handy.

We still have another nest with hatchlings in the garden - a Brown thrasher pair built

 a twiggy home in the large privet for their family. They are both busy now bringing

 tasty morsels but because it's just too high - and I don't want to disturb them by putting

 up a ladder - I can't see into the nest so don't know how many babes there are. 

Summer will be here all too soon for me. 

Hot now, much hotter then.

Baby birds will hopefully be sturdy and healthy to deal with the blazing sun.

We'll be traveling north soon where hopefully it will still be much cooler.