Baby Wrens On Garden Shelves

These wrens are harder to photograph because they're in such a dark place. I imagine they're into their second week of life from the looks of their feathers. Here they are getting a little closer to the edge of the nest. You can even see their eyes opening.

 

Baby Bird Nest #2

Franklin was right. He said I'd find another nest to photograph and I have. Well, he found it, actually. I don't yet know what these are but my bird expert friends are welcome to take a guess. They're on a shelf in my garden area if that's a clue. As for the "new house", we're about to put up the knock-down ceiling next week, then over the next week or so, we'll paint the walls, then put on the wood flooring.

 

Black Snake the Sequel:

Act II: Well, the snake decided to leave the egg and head up into the attic of the chicken house. I knew better, but wishfully hoped that would be the last of him and he'd just sit there and eat mice and we'd all be happy. An hour or so later, I came out to get the egg he'd left and as I reached for it, I jumped back when I saw him, at my feet, curled up in what he must have thought was a snakey lazy river - one of the chicken waterers. Several hours went by and he hadn't moved so after dinner I told Franklin that although the animals were NOT his responsibility, I'd be ever so grateful if he could do something or get someone to do something with that snake. Low and behold, he went out there with a postal sack, of all things, and threw it over the waterer then tried to flip the whole thing, snake and all, into the bag. It didn't work out exactly as he'd planned and the snake was on the loose and headed under the hen house. I thought all was lost when my brave husband grabbed Hoodini-Snake by the tail and swung him around and around trying to keep the snake's head away. I regret I don't have photos of this part. Guess he got him so dizzy that when he stopped spinning, the snake was stunned just enough to give Franklin time to pick up the bag and throw him in. As I write, he's headed up the mountain to let the reptile go Hansel and Grettle-like. I told him before he left that he'd gone up a whole bunch of notches in my book.

 

 

 

 

A Snake in the Chicken House

I reached in to collect the usual three eggs this afternoon but someone had beat me to it. Here's a black snake trying to get his head around his second egg. I deftly took the third egg out of the other nest thinking he was sufficiently preoccupied. Over a period of 20 minutes, I took a series of photos as he tried to stretch his mouth around his dinner. Eventually, he got tired of the size of the egg or of my camera's up close beeps and flashes (or both) and he backed off the egg to look me square in the eyes and hiss for the last photo. I'm headed back out there to see if he's moved on or if he's giving it another go-round. He probably felt fairly vulnerable with me in his face and his face on that egg. I wish Walker was here to take him away. Someone has to or he'll come back as a regular at the Henhouse Diner.

 

 

 

Drywall & New Windows

 

The drywall is almost finished and the windows we'd been waiting for are in. This view is looking east away from the road, towards the woods. We had to 'push out' the slanted walls in four places (thanks to Franklin's engineering) so we could have real windows in what used to be a dark cave of a barn/house.

 

Here's the same view but turned a little to the right so you can see the new bathroom -- a far cry from the one we used to have which was a camper unit about 2'X4' where the toilet was IN the shower!! and the whole bathroom had no windows and was about 4'X6'.

 

This was once our bedroom and the sliding doors which look out towards our house and the garden and Tater Knob are original to when we lived there but what a difference a little drywall makes. This rrom also has a little alcove/window looking out towards the west. Anyone hankering to move in yet??? Franklin and I are pretty sure it will be our "Old Age House". PS: The baby birds are doing fine!

Spearfisherman Jake Returns

 

Jake came and went before we could get him to write the captions for these photos. This first one is of a huge grouper that I think was snagged while trolling.

 

Here, Mark, Austin and Jake hold the tropies from one of their many spearfishing excursions.

 

"It was THIS big."

 

I think this Red Snapper was snagged while spearfishing. This year Jake said he saw about nine sharks within fifteen feet of him. One was a nine-footer, after which he promptly got out of the water and into the boat. Only 349 days till I have to fret again.

Baby Birds Day Two

 

Baby birds day two.

 

Baby Birds Hatch & Drywall & More Flowers

 

Franklin and Russ worked on drywall all last week and this is the kitchen with the large window that will overlook a little rock garden.

 

Close-up of one of the first sunflowers of the season. I think I'll make this my new desktop photo.

 

You've probably seen enough hollyhocks but these are gorgeous this year. They're an old-fashioned type with single blooms that I think are more attractive than the modern ones. When they die back, I take the seed pods and crush and sprinkle them wherever there's bare earth. That fall or the following spring, I have all the volunteers I want and just transplant them to where I have room. These volunteer plants are the reward for getting in there and cutting down the plants and distributing the seeds because the plants are hairy and those hairs tend to get into your clothes and make you itch.

 

THE BABY BIRDS HATCHED - it was either late on July 4th or early this morning because I'd checked them the morning of the 4th. I still have to identify them and hope snakes don't find them, road dust doesn't kill them or a myriad of other dangers doesn't befall them. I'll try to photo journal them daily and will publish some of that so stay tuned. Last night we went to get Jake from Waynesville - he's back from the Bahamas. We have some photos to blog but he ran off again a few minutes ago to visit Walker at Tuckasegee so it'll be Sunday night or Monday before he writes captions to the photos I'm sending. We were invited to the home of some friends who have hundreds of acres here in Fairview and an incredible view of the Asheville fireworks (not to mention their own contraban supply). There I picked up a little pun that I had to call Gabriel and report right away: "May the 'fourth' be with you."