Wacky Weather

We've been having some wacky weather here in Georgia. Tornado watches and warnings, hail the size of softballs, and rain. Lots of rain. Considering we were in a drought situation, this has been a good thing.

Early Monday morning, we learned what a high wind warning means. It means winds will blow bunches of pine needles to embed themselves into your siding.

It means branches will snap from your trees and be sent spiraling downwards to stab their sharp pointy ends into your garden beds.

It means a debris filled driveway, just waiting to be cleaned up.

It means you will count your blessings when you hear (and feel!) the sound of a tree falling thisclose to your home.

It means you can tease Grammy about the fact that she wished way too hard for the demise of a particular tree/shrub which graced our front lawn.

Psssst...I don't think she planned for a big tree to take it out!

It means there is a chain saw in your future.



It means that you might lose more than one tree.



It means that your sweet, animal loving daughter will worry about the little birdies that once made their home in this nest.

Oh, and one last thing--it means that Grammy will definitely make Mark sweat a little about moving us to Georgia!

Free Ride

You just never know what you may find waiting for you around the corner at Epcot's Flower and Garden Festival.

I bet he didn't need a Fastpass...

Baby Birdies

Aren't they cute?

These are actually the cardinal babies from last Spring. The proud Mama and Papa built their nest in one of the shrubs that flank our front porch, and we learned so much watching them change day by day.

Then one afternoon, I was sitting by the window having lunch and I heard terrible chattering. Lo and behold, the terrible tomcat who roams through our yard (and who Renee calls the 'Mean and Ugly One') had found the nest. Mama and Papa were ticked off and letting him know about it!

Luckily, the babies were big enough at that point to make it away from the nest. Unbeknownst to us, they had started their flying lessons already. Thank goodness!

This spring we found a new nest, and inside are the most beautiful eggs you've ever seen.

Being very clever, Mom and Dad built it on the other side of the porch. I guess they figured it was time for an upgrade.

Oh, and they took that quite literally, as the nest was built much higher in the shrub. Good for the birds, bad for me. It really messed with my springtime pruning plans-LOL!

All that extra greenery also makes it hard to get a good photograph of the nest. Sometime soon, I'll see if I can manage one without disturbing them too much.