2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

Yes I do have a lot of toys,  

But I would rather hang out in a flower bed 

A Different Sort of Plant

Bill read about the tomato tree in some magazine and planned for it all Winter. He ordered seeds in February, germinated them, and then carefully nourished them through March and April. The two seeds cost $14.00 and he was expecting to have to change nursery containers every couple of days but they must have been saving themselves for later on because on May 8, they were about 2 inches tall, one had three leaves, and one had four. I planted them in the garden space two days ago, and one died as soon as I put it in the ground. The other (the small plant in the upper center of the following photo) lost two of it's three leaves and looks defeated. Maybe we'll be surprised any day now but I don't think so. The inexpensive plants, approximately the same age, are now 10-12 inches tall and have blooms. I hate it when a good experiment goes bad.

The mysterious and rarely seen Tomato Tree 

Mother's Day

An incredibly beautiful day. It was 80 degrees with very little wind and we got a good portion of the pond cleaned up. Bill mowed the top of the berm and the low areas approaching the pond while I put a new floor in his grandson's bedroom. I finished with that around 6 PM, then trimmed the berm with the weedeater until dark. This is the way it should work every time, but Bill doesn't generally feel well enough to mow and he won't let me use his riding mower. He thinks that I will speed around recklessly and tear it up. Well, I am almost his age, a much better driver, and so cautious that I won't even speed read, so he's wrong but that doesn't change his mind.

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

Red-winged Blackbirds: Another Generation

These little birds are fearlessly territorial and going around the pond in the late evening is just asking for a confrontation. This one saw me coming and waited to make me leave. I took the first picture from my yard over the fence, then went through the gate to the pond and walked back and forth trying to get a good view of his wings away from the glare of the setting sun. He walked back and forth with me and yelled the whole time. The photos aren't very good because the bird is beautiful, especially when he (the females are an unimpressive tan) displays the two bright red eyeball looking marks on his dark black wings. Sometimes one will come right up to us. We never bother them and by the end of the season when we are working in the area the most, they will bring the young birds around us with no problem. It's neat to watch them (always the males) train the young ones to hunt.

1 

2 

3 

4 

5