Year of the Cardinals

When I got home from work yesterday, I was already in the throws of a very bad mood.  I was crabby for no apparent reason and didn't feel like doing a damn thing.

My hubby came in and we chatted about our day.  He always manages to make me chill out.  He told me that earlier he'd heard a bird chirping so he kind of wandered around until he found the window it was coming from.  He pulled back the curtain and startled a female Cardinal building her nest, right outside our bathroom window.  Like, not even a full twelve inches from his peering face, on the other side of the glass.  

They must have each been as surprised as the other, because they both froze and just stared at each other before she finally bolted and flew away.  He said that didn't know if they would see her again, he'd really startled her and his disappointment in that possibility was so adorable that I couldn't help but cheer up. 

I hoped she would come back, too, but wasn't holding my breath. 

This morning, as I did my girl thing in the bathroom and got ready for work, I heard her.  I knew right where she would be and I was not going to scare her away for good, so I peeked through the cracks of the curtain and saw her with a small twig in her beak.  I watched her until she placed it and flew off to get another one, then I grabbed my phone and snapped a picture. 

I did some reading on Cardinals this morning so I could familiarize myself with our new guests. I learned that there are four layers to a Cardinal's nest and that it can take anywhere from 3-9 days for the female to build it, depending on how helpful Mister Cardinal is in bringing her supplies. This is only the first layer according to what I've read, so I am excited to watch the progress!

I am picking up some Cardinal friendly feed today in hopes it helps them stick around. Stay tuned and I'll continue to post on behalf of Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal!

Flowers

Let me begin with an excuse for my absence.  There is no other way to explain except to tell you that sometimes, you have to choose between living life or blogging about living life.

But I'm here now, and I have a lot to share with you!

I really love flowers. I've always wanted to put time into improving our landscaping around the house, but my thumb is far from green.  Plus, if you are starting from scratch, it's expensive to do a lot of it. 

For my bridal shower, my little sister gave me this beautiful garden tool set.



I have been chomping at the bit to get these babies dirty! She also gave me a pair of gardening gloves, a bucket to store everything in, and a knee pad that I would have never thought of myself, but it has so saved my knees from many pains since I started digging.

Since our garage sits back behind our home, we tend to use the back door to come and go. The front is only used by visitors who haven't been yelled at to go to the back yet. (I'm only yelling because the dogs are barking, not because I'm mean... usually).

The front stoop has this little brick bed and I've been thinking about putting flowers there for many years now. But since I never see it, I always forget.  Well, I didn't forget this year.

Here is what it looked like after years of my neglect and ignorance

I can't even tell you what it is that was growing in there. I can tell you that I didn't put it there.

This poor front stoop has just not been given much attention. I'm working on fixing that finally. I grabbed some pretty pink perennials and nutrient filled dirt and got to work.

Please excuse all of the weeds and debris that are scattered everywhere. Jeez, and that puppy welcome mat has seen better days huh... Work in progress I said!

If I've learned anything from my past gardening failures, it's that you need to pay attention to the sun/shade requirements of the plants you are putting in the ground. I choose these particular flowers for two reasons: First, because they do not need to be replanted every year, I will get at least one more summer out of them. And secondly, because they met the sun requirements of the spot that I needed them for.

I did not get any in between shots because there was a swift, embarrassing battle with a nest of spiders that I would prefer not to relive. I might have screamed just once... 

So here is the end result.

I made sure to leave them some room to expand should they feel the need. Less is more and it gives it a 'groomed' appearance.

In The Backyard

Spring has most definitely arrived.

After waking up to this exactly one week ago...

...it's safe to say that Minnesota is ready for spring.

There is a shrub/tree/bush thing of some sort that lives in our backyard next to the patio. She's ragged and she's leaning, but folks in our small town tell us that she's been there since our house was built in the 1890's. That makes her more than 100 years old and Red and I have agreed that we will not tear her down. The only way that baby is coming out is if something weather-related finally gets her. She's been attacked by numerous storms in the past. Last week's snow storm, which took down big, sturdy trees left and right in several towns, dropped so much heavy snow on her that she was nearly touching the ground. Red and I thought it was the end. But by a few nights ago, she had righted herself and I sat down to take some photos.

This one is my favorite, of her base:

Strong and sturdy.

Emily