Our days have been warm and humid lately, just what the dahlias love. They shot up in just about 2 weeks and put out 5 blooms in short order in gorgeous red. The contrast in the golden centers would make a wonderful fabric collage, don’t you think?

Some years ago, I dug up all the orange daylilies and gave them away. How is it now that I have a whole new patch of them? These are not my favorite color, but they are persistent!

The prettier day lily, this plum color with a yellow throat and ruffed edge, began blooming this week.

I used to have several, but now only one plant survives.

The tomatoes are coming along, and I hope they get big and juicy!

The little pots where the marigold seeds were planted are a complete failure. I guess the seeds were just not viable.

The verbena is still happy, and it continues to bloom well. The curious thing is that it usually attracts butterflies, but I have only seen a couple so far this year.

None have visited the puddler I made. I’ve kept the water level good, and added more salt just to be sure it has what the butterflies need.

The begonia is happy in its chicken planter that looks like a teacup

This year, I will not have any hydrangea blooms. They bloom on last year’s growth, and all those canes are dead. I think they may have been affected by a late freeze in the early spring.

One cool morning, we got out and trimmed all the dead canes out. The bush is smaller, but healthy. Hopefully it will bloom next year.

After having the feeder down for a couple of weeks, My Sweet Babboo put it up again. Within minutes, a pair of house finches were taking advantage of the bounty.

Then a couple of female goldfinches took their turn.

A chickadee and a titmouse came by to share the bounty.

I noticed a Carolina wren with nesting materials in his beak. This little guy is so small! He must have hatched this spring and recently fledged. But, already, the instinct to build nests is strong.

They love to build in the petunia baskets. I checked them but he didn’t choose this spot. The petunias are blooming nicely. The hummingbirds love these, but I haven’t seen a single hummingbird yet this year.

This young cardinal was singing his heart out on the top of the feeder pole. He still looks a bit motley, but has almost lost all his baby feathers.

The veranda looks pretty good, and is a pleasant place to linger in the early morning light. I found the Carolina wren nest in the white ivy pot on the left. There were no eggs in it on Wednesday, but the nest looked complete. I saw him looking over a second site under the veranda decking on the lower level outside the basement windows.

Yesterday, I got a better look at the nest tucked behind the begonia and ivy.

The interior is very dark, but by using the flash I can see two and maybe three eggs. I hope they survive this time. In the past, squirrels or snakes have gotten the eggs when the wrens built a nest on the veranda, so I have tried to discourage this as much as I could. Since the nest has eggs, I won’t disturb it. But, I’ll keep an eye on it.

I saw a deer recently, but she was alone. No fawn. I haven’t yet seen the doe who was pregnant, and I am sure she has delivered by now. I hope she will bring her fawn by soon.

Then, Friday, the bear was back. He took down the bird feeder before we saw him. I scared him away with an air horn, and he went around the house to the back. He was ambling along the fence, so I blasted the horn again to move him up the mountain. My Sweet Babboo cleaned up the feeder and took it back inside. We’ll have to start over now, waiting another 3 weeks before attempting to put it up again.

There was a seed pile left from where the feeder fell. A bit later, a white squirrel appeared to have a meal. We don’t see this one often, but I love it when he stops by. He is mostly white, with a grey streak down his back and on the top of his head.

Such a sweet face! I hope he’ll stick around.

We’ll scatter some seed on the ground here and there to keep the little critters and birds fed but not enough to attract the bear. I hope he moves north soon! I saw a coyote yesterday, but he was gone before I could take his picture. We love living with so much wildlife!

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Buy One Get One Sale at Sulky.com on Sulky Solvy stabilizer and Deco King thread! Sale ends 6/22. Plus, new kits have been added to the clearance section.

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