Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Birds we have seen at the Park

So far we have seen:
(I just keep adding to this list)

Blue Jays


Cardinals



House Finch


Eastern Bluebird


Red winged Blackbird


Robin


Tree Swallow


Doves


Brown - headed Cowbird
 

Yellow Warbler
(These fly around in flocks.)   :)


American Redstart





Plus lots of little birds that I don’t know the names of yet

Friday, April 26, 2024

Some Visitors (Or Maybe I Should Say, Some Residents)

A hummingbird moth on the phlox.

A fun frog

A bird enjoying her bath 










The Park has grown!

On Thursday we bought Lot 4 (we sit on lots 2&3 now).  We are bigger!  More trees! More to discover!





 

Sunday, April 21, 2024

Sunday at the Park


One of several tulip (yellow popular) trees.  They are beautiful trees!


Sweet Joe Pye - butterflies are going to be very happy when they are bigger!



I wish I could make this picture appear as it does in my eyes - the greens just pop!  And it's green upon green upon green.  Spring is my favorite green.


We close on Lot #4, the lot to our South, on Thursday.  Perhaps that enboldened us and we walked up the wagon trail to the majestic sycamores!  One reason I wanted this lot is so that no one ever cuts those beautiful trees!  They just tower over the lot, ruling in majesty.  (Of course another reason I wanted the lot is I don't want neighbors breathing down my neck!)



The view looking back toward the house - we love the knobs.  It's like being in the mountains, and living in a valley.







We have more than five of this tree, and today as a group project of Jason, Sandi, and I we figured it out!  It's a Black Cherry tree.
It has the loveliest flowers  (this picture is from the Morton Arborteum - thank you)



I love the shape of the sassafras leaf :)



I found another grape fern.  This brings us up to two!  The majority of our ferns are Christmas ferns.



My ladies are getting bigger.  I was afraid I had very unsmart birds.  They would ONLY eat their baby chick feed, nothing else.  Nothing from the kitchen, no treats, nada.  I thought maybe if I left them some special chicken grubs/worm things they would eat them when I was gone. Nope.  So I tried their itty bitty baby chick feeder (red in the middle). I filled it with tasty snacks.  They wouldn't go near it.  I left and when I returned it was empty.  Wahoo.  My birds can be taught!



Fun times are coming our way!








 

Saturday, April 20, 2024

Saturday around the Park

Worked really hard on the mulch today.  So much weeding, and then covering the bare dirt with mulch.  Almost finished, just a small section left now.  Hard to stop because this is HARD work for an old lady!

I've had this project sitting around waiting to be done.  I got 3/4 of the way done staining the railing on the front porch (front and back on the right section, back on the left section) - and ran out of wood stain.  More has been ordered.  Staining wood instead of painting it, like I had originally intended to, felt so fun - like being on a design show.  haha


Look at that beautiful cattle panel trellis!  I have waited and wanted this for so long!  Jason was able to go get two today (and some dirt for the other side of the trellis) !!  Peas on this side, cucumbers and beans on that side (these two will be planted as it warms up).  I so hope it works as well as I hope it does!



Columbine is about to open!



And the ants have found the peonies- which means that they are about to bloom!


I have two different trees that the phone keeps telling me are elm, but their branches are different.  I have to figure that out.


Update on the wildflower field: We have our same two, wallflower and flax, but I'm starting to see some others :)



and buds!




Last night Jason and I cut out an autumn olive that was growing under the cedars in the front.  We had tons of branches just laying there by the street.  Today while Joseph and I did mulch, Jason moved the branches to the back near the firepit.  It took four trips in a loaded down truck to get them back there.  We still have so much to do up front, but I love it!  Pulling down vines. Cutting out invasives.  Opening up the area for native trees.  It's almost like I can hear them sigh in relief when they are freed from everything.


Look at all of that open area!  I love and hate it!  I love that that horrible autumn olive is gone. I hate the privacy and shade are gone.  BUT - I am having faith in the process that by removing invasive species, natives will be able to thrive and they will fill the area.


I am so impressed with the gray dogwoods we got from the Kentucky Department of Forestry.  They already have little leaves!


I am trying to identify this tree.  (I know it's a terrible picture!). In the winter, the bark intrigued me.  Now Spring is here and it's leafing out, but it's so tall and the leaves are only at the ends of the branches.  It's not like anything I've seen here.  I will figure it out.



And this lovely tree. As much as I am a fan of natives, this guy is going!  Poison sumac is not wanted here.  Sorry.  Although from a purely artistic view, I LOVE the symmetry of this image!




Our beautiful creek.  Bella and I were down here for an hour today.  She loves to throw rocks and climb on her tree.  I keep thinking that this would have been a magical place to grow up.  I feel a little sadness that the girls didn't get the chance.  And sometimes I think we need more little people to have the opportunity.  Today as I watched Bell, I realized SHE is growing up here, and she never has to leave.  She'll be an adult here as well.  That was a good thought.



 

Thursday, April 18, 2024

New Trees





















 Today I planted:

two arrowwood viburnums

a bur oak

a Colorado blue spruce

a gray dogwood

a red oak

a river birch

a sergeant crabapple

a tulip tree

a Washington hawthorn


I know they are itty bitty baby trees, but they are trees and they are mine, and on my land!