Mother's Day

 Vigilant Mrs Robin watching her babies and our back door.










So you can see how close the nest is to the deck. The metal pipe is the frame for the canvas awning.. She is sitting of the frame in the top picture.

Two weeks ago before the babies hatched two magpies came to near to the nest. She screamed and about three other robins came swooping in and attached the magpies. We do not have magpies in our back yard any more.

Three babies waiting for food. In a week or two they will be nosy. For now I just hear small peeps.

 She does not like me to take her picture are be near to her babies. One baby is straining out from beneath her with its mouth open. Mrs Robin has a worm in her beak and baby wants some. She is distracted by my camera. So I went back in the house and closed the door.

 

 It is hard to see her but Mrs Robin is sitting on the fence at the back of our yard. She is watching out siding glass door and the movement in the house.

  This has been really fun watching her build the nest, then waiting for the eggs to hatch, now watching her care for the babies.

Until next time,

Marcia

Last week my grandsons came over and did the yard work.

The boys need lots and lots of money for high school football. So I did my part and had lots of yard work for them to do.

I wished I had gotten my camera out while the other two boys were doing their part.  Dolten is a little bit slower only when he is doing chores. That might be because he is bigger and it takes more to get him going.




 It took him longer to get down here. They live just a 1/2 mile east. So they are really close.




BJ had to show him how to use the sprayer. Being the bright kid that he is he could have figured that spray bottle out all by himself. He reads instructions quite well without pictures. Then he had to find a mask so that he did not inhale the fumes.

Those two could stand out in the yard and talk forever. 
So when those two do something together it takes three times as long.

Maybe it is just because he is sixteen and BJ is Sixty-one. So there is a big gap that they must fill in with lots of taking.

I will get pictures of the other boys next week. Maybe.

Until I write next,
Marcia

Fair Weather Blogger

I have learned that I am a fair weather blogger. So it has been a long time since I have written anything. Apparently there is nothing to write if the sun is not shinning. Well the sun is still not shinning and I do have something to write about.

 

After 13 plus years living in this house. We have a bird that has built a nest in the rafters between the deck and the garage. I did not take this picture I got it from Google images. I tried to get a picture of the robin in his nest, or hers I guess. He flew off before I could get the picture. Then it was way to dark. Lots of shadows under that rafter. Actually it is raining now, however it is suppose to brighten this afternoon. I will wait and see.

So that's all for now.

Marcia

Our house got egged last night. That was not fun. What a mess. We were not targeted, it was random. BJ tried to power wash it off, however he will have to go up and scrub.


Last week I went with my daughter and her two sons to her doctor appointment in Salt Lake City. Then we went out to lunch at the new City Creek with my other two daughters. It was a fun afternoon. The new City Creek is beautiful and a lot larger then I thought it would be. Two of my daughters worked for the construction company that built City Creek. They were both at the opening ceremonies.

This is really a good link to see what City Creek is all about:

http://www.shopcitycreekcenter.com/cccnews

Home made Insectecide

I went out and sprayed all my plants, my flowers, vegetable beds and fruit trees. I used water with a little Ivory soap. This is a mix I have used for a long time. when I was younger with my first experience in gardening, my mother told me to throw out my dish water on my vegetable plants.

My mother always had the most beautiful roses. She told me that was because the soap in the water from the dish washing water killed the aphids. My mother was right 


4 cups of water 
2 Tablespoons of liquid Ivory dish soap

I am not sure if other dish soaps work, however Ivory is not harmful to the plant and works well to keep insects from destroying the plants. 


This all purpose pesticide disrupts the cell membranes of the insects and kills them by dehydration.