New Neighbors or Something Else?

The house across the street has been vacant for months. Then, this week he appeared. No "humans" have yet moved into the house. Humm...

I Blinked and Missed It.

I have been watching this cactus for weeks waiting for it to bloom. What I didn't know was that it was a night blooming cactus! I missed the bloom!

Now I may have to wait another whole year to see it again. Nature can be so cruel! How can such beauty be only seen for one night? Not fair Mother Nature, not fair!

Sunflower

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

Hedge Massacre

This is what happens when you let a menopausal mom loose with hedge trimmers. I had a "suddenly angry with the world " moment this week and took it out on the hedge. This was a twenty five foot long, three foot tall and four foot deep hedge!

I don't have a before photo, but this is the pile of cuttings I put out by the road. Yeah, I guess it really did need a trim anyway and I feel much better now!

Location, Location, Location

Some very unscrupulous real estate agents have given some very bad advice to a family of squirrels in our neighborhood. You see, they have built their nest in the top of a very spindly carrotwood tree in the middle of my back yard. Let me rephrase that- her back yard ( see photo below).

This is Spirit, my very active, determined and lethal Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Nothing and I mean nothing, lives for more that ten minutes if it walks, climbs, or falls in her yard. This also includes the first six feet of air space above ground as well.

I see the squirrels here fall out of trees and off power lines all the time when they are racing about and playing. I have this sick feeling that any baby squirrels way up in that tree that venture out to play, will not live to see puberty.

She already knows they are there. I can see her pacing the ground under the tree with her nose in the air. I suppose it's too late to talk them into moving to a safer neighborhood, they will probably loose their escrow deposit.

Orchids Are Still Blooming

At least the cold didn't kill the orchids,

we could bring them inside!

Spring Fever

I seem to be plagued with spring fever as of late. I can't get motivated to move outside and the weather here is not helping. The yard is so dry and yet the air is humid. We really need some rain. Only in Florida can you have a dead dry lawn and humidity that could choke you.

I used to love to garden, but honestly it wears my out. I plan to get the yard in shape so my son and I can enjoy it but there is a lot of work to be done. We have a problem with fire ants and wasps like everyone else here and I won't use a pest control service.

So I will be looking for natural ways to control them. I may have to hire someone to get it started and then I can just maintain it. I mean really, what good is living in Florida if you can't use your back yard?