Distracted by nature's beauty . . . .

When the world seems to be going bat shit loco and the political bullshit gets too deep, a walk around the backyard with my camera always seems to flush the crap out:

Some strawberries are coming this summer!

 

Sweetpeas looking for a net to latch onto . . . .

The bees are active this year, though the hive we had in an old trash can on our property seems to have not survived the winter.

I worked at corralling this rose bush to keep the deer from decimating it . . .

. . . and here's one of it's new blossoms.

Our pond is full to capacity in contrast to last year's muddy bog.

The face of future blackberries.

 

The face of future blueberries.

I spied a spider . . .

I am really semi-phobic about spiders, but for some reason I look them as subjects for my photos. This is a specimen of a common breed around our yard who loves to hang out on a patch of calla lilies.

"What're you looking' at?"

Getting ready to grow sumpin'

The posts lately on my little piece of the blogosphere have been few and far between, but here's one that shows what happens when the beast come out of winter hibernation.

My wife and I constructed a new garden bed, using some scrap wood from our refurbished back deck. We are planning to expand our food growing this year, and this is the first stab at it. The black plastic is to slow the redwood and other roots from invading the bed, and the mesh underneath the box is to shut out the voles and gophers. We filled the bottom with some goat manure from one of our neighbors, then soil from a local nursery, then compost from our compost pile, and then more soil. My wife has already transferred scallions from a large pot into the new space, as you can see.

The endeavor took us most of the afternoon, but it is so satisfying to begin a project that will yield edible rewards. And my wife and I do make a pretty good team, if I do say so myself.

Close Encounter of the Deer Kind

Usually the deer around here don't linger too close to our house, so imagine my surprise when I entered our bedroom and found this one outside the bedroom's sliding glass doors

It seemed to want to avoid acknowledging me . . . .

. . . until I made a bit of noise . . .

  

. . . then it decided to mosey off.

The deer are a major source of poop which I scoop up with a shovel and put in our compost. It seems to decompose quicker than the horse or goat shit we have used. I don't know if that is merely anecdotal, or a scientific fact.

Repurposing an old trash can into a hive

A few days ago I noticed some activity around the handle of an old trash can we have in our yard. We use it for small items we will eventually take to the dump, but some bees had another idea:

The hole in the handle is big enough for them to get in, and apparently them are now calling this can home. We have a neighbor who keeps bees, and my theory is that these are refugees from her hive. Whatever the case, the are doing their thing now in our can. 

Don't fawn over them . . . .

I spotted some new additions to our backyard preserve.

Mother . . . .

 . . . . with child.

They were actually pretty tolerent of me and my nosiness, but they finally departed. The fawns looked very small, and at first I thought they were dogs. Now, if we can just keep them out of the garden.

A walk around the backyard:

I love to just stroll around our backyard to check out the sights, and no matter how many times I do, I am rewarded with surprises and treats:

I call this guy "Lily Spider", because he is uniquely adapted to hide in and on our lilies to catch his dinner.

"What're you looking' at?"

Our neighbor's tree is in the middle of the slowest escape from her backyard ever . . . .

This is the kind of shit I do for my wife---literally. One of our neighbors has goats, and I got a load of the end product of their digestive process for our compost pile, eventually to be added to our garden. Potent stuff!

Our salad bar, though I wouldn't eat the jade plant at the end---it's only for display.