Salad and Seeds

Sometimes the blips just arrange themselves. Our neighbor came by this morning to get some lemons and we gave her some seeds we got for her at the Seed Bank. We went up to the 'salad bowl' raised bed and picked spicy greens, lettuce and and some baby kale. There's something very satisfying about picking things for dinner out of the garden. There's also something very satisfying about having a visitor who appreciates the fruits of all OilMan's labor. The seed packets from the Seed Bank are particularly attractive and I liked the juxtaposition with the salad greens.

On the way back down I happened to notice some very alive, very disgusting looking grubs writhing around in the bird bath. OilMan put them there to see if the birds would eat them. Apparently the birds thought they were disgusting too...

The acorn woodpeckers are coming back. they look like crazed clowns with the white rings around their eyes, and despite the fact that they seem to be the bullies of the bird feeders, we have kind of missed them. We don't really miss them pecking holes in the house. The painters filled all the holes they made with Bondo which seems to have put them off for the time being. However, when OIlMan went out to investigate why the rain was pouring off the roof and drowning the plants beneath it in the garden, he removed the downspout and found it completely clogged with old acorns. I always wondered if the woodpeckers could remember where they have put their acorns when the time comes to retrieve them. Apparently the answer is no.

The rosemary, which we planted to soften the four foot tall retaining wall at the bottom of the hill behind our house, has now almost reached the ground and is loaded with flowers. The finches, as well as many other small birds, love the seeds and  can be seen sheltering within the branches of this rosemary hedge. The whole thing is alive with bird life as the arctic weather continues....

Mr Grey Squirrel has reappeared and was seen yesterday sitting on top of the bell on the bird feeder designed to keep him off the feeder. He lost his bearings as he made his way up the very thin hanger and found himself slung underneath it, like a trussed pig. He rescued himself by letting go and dropping to the ground, but seems to have lost interest for the time being in reaching the feeders.