can you dig it?

One major construction project nearly completed!  Driveway dug to the barn (gravel coming today)...

...and side of house trenched and graveled to prevent water incursion.

It looks pretty rough, but the dirt areas will be re-seeded and finer gravel added to the driveway once it has "settled."  I finished a little 'construction project' of my own last week, too.  Although we have very nice and very large mulched beds (10+ feet wide, all the way around the front and side of the house), the bed stops short mid-porch.  It looked pretty grim, I thought.  This is from March/April, so pre-mowing and pre-weeding, but still seemed like a big missed opportunity. 

First I laid out layers of wet newspaper...

Then covered with cardboard.

This will kill the grass as it decomposes, leaving a nice surface for me to build on.  The excavator piled fill dirt here to a depth of about 10 inches.  Once I get a free minute, I'll edge with pavers and start planning flowers!  :)

I also had him smooth out big loads of fill in the front field.  This is where I'll make a big veggie and annual flower cutting garden next year.  Hooray!

Some big drama with our local birds this week!  Fledgling birds are out and about, and parents are especially vigilant!

I watched this little guy struggle in a bush for a while before crying piteously for mom.

We have barn swallows nesting in our barn, and they were NOT happy about the construction noise! They vacated the nests and hovered nervously until the bulldozer was done.

Finally, I've noticed a very "tame" cowbird at our front feeders.  He stays when other birds fly away.  I took some close photos of him and realized that his eyes were swollen shut - that he wasn't flying away because he couldn't see me.

I believe this is a disease called mycoplasma gallisepticum, which seems to have started with house finches and spread to other birds.  It's conjunctivitis (pinkeye) and an upper respiratory infection.  We've found two dead cowbirds before noticing this sick one, who has been mysteriously absent from the feeders since this photo was taken.  I took all feeders down and cleaned them with bleach.  Hopefully that stops the infection from spreading to our other birds.  We get a lot of visitors here!

Our woodchucks have matured and left the den, but we've had some other visitors.  Some blink-and-you'll-miss-them wild rabbits...

...some sort of giant turtle (maybe snapping?) in our pond...

...and I've heard - but not seen - wild turkeys gobbling in our side field early mornings.  I can't wait to catch a glimpse! 

Our apple tree has little green apples, so small that you can still see the flower stamens (pic mislabeled) sticking out of one end.  Come fall, there will be pie!

The days have been a blur of enjoyable little surprises and pleasures like this.

We can't relax yet...June is riddled with construction appointments, and we don't even have the subfloor down upstairs yet.  But at least we've got some pretty views while we work.  :)

Have a great week!

snake double take

With the temperatures climbing into the mid-90s every day, I'm trying to do my prowling around the property in the mornings.  I haven't seen the little fawn, but evidence of its existence is evident in the daytime pacings of its mother.

It's rare to see a solitary deer in daytime, unless there's a baby about!  Meanwhile, our goz are playing coy.  Most of their time is spent at the far end of the pond.

But sometimes they'll come by for a visit.

Six is now five, but we still have three older goz in our other group.

Meanwhile, we have a lot of other activity.  A turtle traversed our driveway on his way to the pond...

...and an anole watched me from a fence post.

Another snake slithered by as I walked the pond edge.

It looked like a copperhead at first, but I then verified that copperhead markings, while similar, have an hourglass shape. 

This was a non-venomous banded water snake.  Harmless!

Someone didn't make it...

Of course, the outdoor cats that we feed are usually around, getting into some sort of mischief!

Our indoor cats are somewhat less active.

Borga, however, watches everything with taut-nerved attention.

Have a great week!