Baby Opossum in the Compost Pile!

Yesterday, my girls were texting me throughout the afternoon. So, as I was gardening, I kept my phone in my sweatshirt pocket. As I took a wheelbarrow full of weeds back to the “dirty” compost pile, I noticed a movement in the “clean” compost pile right beside it. It was a baby opossum!

I watched him for way too long, wishing I had my camera. Then, I realized I had a phone! And people take pictures with phones!  So I took some pictures.

He was tiny – only about 6 inches of body. His face is next to a piece of celery for scale.  I took a lot of very bad pictures in a very slow manner. Then, I realized people take videos with their phones. So I took a video.  Baby Opossum Video

We’ll see if that link works. It was a windy day, so that’s the noise.  And he was eating the end of an onion! I went back after he had gone to be sure. Notice how he sees me inching closer, but doesn’t have the sense yet to be afraid of me. And look how his little ears move like a cat’s. It was a lovely experience. I never like to intrude too much on nature, so I backed away before I scared him off. He’s been back many times since. Michael put a little fence around the fresh veggies in the compost because Riley DOES like to intrude on nature.

Happy May, everyone. Be safe, be well. Hugs to you all.

Congratulations to Lauren – Part Two

Lauren is engaged! She’s my eldest and lives in Brooklyn with her (now fiance) Colin. They are wonderful together and we are all thrilled.

Their first date was leap year, February 29, 2016. And four years later, on the next February 29th, Colin popped the question.

So excited for these two cuties.

Congratulations to Lauren

After earning a five year Architecture degree and then working another five years while taking six very difficult licensing tests, my eldest is now a licensed architect. I am so proud of her and so happy for her. We celebrated last weekend with a backyard party.

Here’s some of the food and a sign with Lauren’s letters.

More food and my nephew, Collin, my brother, Dave, and my sister Margaret.

Lauren and her boyfriend, Colin, are walking past the Herb Garden on their way to the Party Garden.

Here’s a view of the food tent as shot from the Party Garden.

This is my son, Patrick, and his girlfriend, Lexie.

These are my brothers-in-law, Spike and Daniel. They made the sushi, which was amazing.

This is Michael and me behind  Lauren and Colin making a toast. There were tears.

This is the sound system. Michael is a recording engineer, so we always have a killer sound system. Don’t tell anyone, but, at one point, I grabbed that mic and started singing along to Miley Cyrus.

It was chilly, so we started the bonfire early.

Here’s my mom at the bonfire. This party came at the end of a wild month of work for me and I was horribly unprepared. Mom stepped up and made it all happen, and it was a great success. By the way, her admirer is my dad, her ex-husband.

Here’s Riley. She loves a backyard party, but I think she got too many treats from everyone.

This was Riley all the next day.

 

hummingbirds

We have one kind of hummingbird here in South Jersey – the Ruby-throated Hummingbird. They are so fun that I mark my calendar every year regarding their behavior. I know now to put out my hummingbird feeders when the cherry tree begins to bloom in the spring. And I know that even though it is now peak hummingbird mayhem in my backyard, they will soon be migrating and I won’t see them again until the cherry tree blooms.I photographed this female from my office window.

And here’s a video with a hint of the mayhem going on in my yard. Although there are only ever 3 hummingbirds in the shot at once, there were at least 6 buzzing about the 4 feeders I have in the area. I do love them  and am so happy to see them every year.

 

a cabin in maine

I am proud of my brother, Dave, for many reasons. Most recently, I am proud of him for this.This is his cabin in the Maine woods. It’s made of recycled materials, creativity, and guts.

This is the loft – and a view of the lovely roof work. See my mom up there? She scampered up that ladder like a teenager.

This is the room under the loft. That’s a large bunk bed under the mosquito netting.

You can see the quilt I made for the cabin in this view.  i am a quilter

(Here is the quilt, for those that requested a better view.) Thank you.

Here is the back porch with it’s reclaimed-from-an-old-dance-studio parquet floor.

And here is the kitchen. The cabin has electricity – and a refrigerator – but no running water.

So there is a composting toilet. That’s a bucket of sawdust to help the process along.

This is the shower room. You heat up some water (from the nearby spring) and go for it. The little plastic cup helps.

I was so awed to stand in this house and see the work and love and creativity that Dave and his family put into it. I hope you are as impressed as I am with this amazing creation.

a trip to maine

The highlight of my summer, so far, is a trip to Maine with my mom, Libby, and my husband, Michael. We went to see my brother’s family. They are building a cabin – which is a whole other blog post.

Here I am with my niece, Emily. If you ever have the chance to listen to a reggae concert while floating and drinking, I highly recommend that you do it.

This is Emily and her boyfriend Gaelen on the porch of the place we stayed. The lawn in the background was where the concert was. And the lake is directly below the porch. We spent a lot of time on the porch.

We saw (and heard) lots of loons. A trip to Maine isn’t complete without loons.

There was canoeing – this is husband Michael and niece Julia.

Coming in for a landing – note Julia’s helpful tongue.

Stuck it.

And there was dancing. On the porch. To loud music. At night.  Here, mom, Emily, sister-in-law Lisa, and Julia and her girlfriend, Emma, got caught. We were all guilty of said crimes.

It was a great trip.

birding

As per normal, my life contains way more than my blogging might suggest. Most of my posts remain in my head, but this event is worth sharing.

During the migration season, on my brother’s birthday, my mom and I met my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew for a day of birding near the Susquehanna River. It’s almost like cheating to go birding with my brother, Dave, and Collin. They know bird songs. So they say “Oh, that’s a yellow-billed-cuckoo singing, look over there.” And we see a yellow -billed -cuckoo.

This is also how we spotted the black and white warbler

And the orchard oriole

This is nephew Collin, my mom, and Dave on the hunt.

And this is Lisa.  Did I mention it rained much of the day?

I spotted this Canada goose family on my own. Love that row of fluffy babes.

Then we went to the nearby Conowingo Dam.

As we looked through binoculars, we realized that at the basin of the dam, there were hundreds of cormorants and bald eagles. I have never seen so many bald eagles at one time. There are at least seven bald eagles in this one zoomed in picture. Everywhere I looked, there was a similar count. It was awesome.

It was a good day.

purple reign

After the daffodils ended (and everyone here in South Jersey agrees it was a great year for daffodils), our yard started blooming purple.

First to arrive were the Johnny Jump Ups.  That’s what I have always called them, but I’d like confirmation. When I look them up I’m not sure. Are they Violets? Violas?

This stunner is getting everyone’s attention this year. I think it is phlox.

I call these Star of David. I’m sure they have another name. They look white in the  photo, but are a pale purple. (I am realizing that my “knowledge” of my plants is mostly lure passed down. I actually have no idea what is going on out there.)

My youngest daughter helped me by weeding and planting pansies. If you can think of a better way to spend the day than gardening with your daughter, you’ll have to tell me about it. Loving this spring!

happy birthday to lauren

On March 30th,  my eldest turned 28. She and her boyfriend came down from Brooklyn to celebrate last weekend.Here’s birthday girl, Lauren, with our formerly feral cat, Brippy. This picture was taken in the middle of a party. Brippy has adapted.This is my youngest daughter, Laney, and Brippy. Laney is the one who tamed her with love and attention and time and treats. When Laney comes home from college, Brippy will often play hard to get – punishing her for her absence. But Laney is the only one who gets this melt down head-on-the-shoulder hug.  This is my son, and Laney’s twin, Patrick. Oh, and Riley. Riley knows how to seek out the best sofa/pillow experience.Here is a quick shot of some family members at the party. I don’t usually include family photos; we’ll see if I get the business.My brothers in law made this amazing onion bread for the party. Spike and Daniel recently moved up from Florida and we are so happy to have them so close!Here’s my new favorite thing – the cutting board Spike and Daniel gave me. It’s a cut from a tree of theirs. Pretty awesome. Oh, and those rosemary bar nuts? Amazing!

spring?

It still goes well below freezing every night – so I can’t put out my bird baths or hummingbird feeders (they’ll freeze and break.) But the sun has been shining bright. And that’s enough to get me out in the yard for spring clean up.

And this happened!

snow day

It snowed again last night. We haven’t had any huge snowstorms this year, but we have had plenty of snowy days.

This chickadee found the one feeder with seeds not covered in snow.

Riley and I went out to investigate the back yard and see who had paid an overnight visit. Riley can tell by her nose, but I need the snow to see who’s been around.

I think these are bunny tracks. * sigh *  I hope to NOT have a repeat of last year’s adventures.   backyard nature

I got sidetracked with plans for the spring.

And Riley had to wait for me to catch up.

Then it was time for breakfast.

gifting

It’s the gifting time of year, and no matter how many items I check off the gift list, I never feel right until I include something home-made in the mix.

Over the years, I have made and given:

Ginger Lime Syrup for making home made Ginger Ale – also delicious in tea and apple dishes

A beach bag with a hand made pouch

 

Home made bird suet

A refillable burlap bird feeder

It was popular with the recipients as well as with the birds.

Regifting wine bags

And various gifts for my chicken lover friends –

And my cat lover friends

I hope someone will get some ideas for making some hand made gifts of their own. Let me know if you have any questions about any of these. Happy Gifting!

 

managing the produce

My vegetable garden is in full production this time of year, and I’ve come up with some strategies to not waste a bit of it.Tomato pie is a favorite. It gets a layer of goo over it before I cook it, but that wasn’t a pretty picture.Green beans, daikon, and cucumbers all get thrown into the same brine. I don’t trust my canning skills, so I just put them into the fridge. I also toss hot peppers into an empty jar of pepperoncini (save the brine). This preserves them until we get around to eating them.I make pesto out of the basil and freeze what I don’t use.

I keep a big bowl of salsa in the fridge all season long. We eat it with pizza, eggs, pasta AND Mexican food.Lastly, I just chop it all up to add to salads, sandwiches & cooking. Whatever’s left over gets frozen and added to soup in the fall. What do you do to manage the produce?

empty nest

I wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember, and I have been blessed to be a mom for more than 27 years. I desperately wanted to be the best mom in the world, but I didn’t know how. So, like every mom, I did the best that I could.Luckily, my best was good enough. These three people are all stellar human beings.This week, my youngest moved out.Our spice jars sent him on his way.

 

 

EDIT – FOR DERRICK

 

Tiger Lilies

Every year I look forward to lily time, and these are my favorite. I don’t know their real name. In our family, these are Grandma’s Tiger Lilies.

Grandma’s Tiger Lily

 

This is Grandma in 1930 at age 18. I see my mom in her.

Anna Burger Age 18

 

This is Grandma and Grandpa holding a baby me in 1963.

And this is Grandma with her siblings in 1978. They are all gone now.This picture was taken on Grandma’s farm in Fawn Grove, PA. This is where the tiger lilies came from. My mom took some (as she is wont to do) and made them a part of her yard. When I moved here 22 years ago, she shared, as she is also wont to do.

 

They are tall; many of them are well over my 5 feet 7 inches.

I’ve planted them everywhere.

I want to have plenty to share with my children.  And grandchildren . . .

epilogue : bunnies

So far, so good with our baby bunnies.

They are still little, as you can tell by this photo by a coneflower. (Gee, Riley, how did that lovely coneflower get trampled on to the ground?)

About a week after the bunnies left the nest I got up at 5:30, which is earlier than usual. I saw an adult rabbit and a baby together. They were grazing near the herb garden and when the adult hopped into the herb garden the baby immediately followed. I like to think it was the mom hanging around with her kids.I’m not seeing them as much; I think they are making their way to greener pastures. It’s been an interesting experience, but with a bunny-hunting dog in the family, I won’t be happy if I find another nest.

bunnies

Remember the little bunny from my last post? BUPDATE bunny update   I kept an eye on him and he didn’t move from that spot all day. When his mom showed up that evening, she didn’t sit around eating for hours as was her habit. She hopped right up to where the baby was, hopped inside the fence and started nursing him. I had never seen her even near the nest in the daylight.

I am now thinking that he was the LAST to leave the nest, not the first, because there are baby bunnies everywhere and they are all bigger than he. They all have claimed a garden, and when Riley gets too close they shoot out the other side.

The bunny from the herb garden

The bunny from the party garden

And here’s the most interesting one:This bunny chose as his special spot the area under our upside down kayak. He’s been there for two days and never runs away, even we walk within 6 feet of his hiding spot. Riley has yet to notice him.

The kayak bunny

BUPDATE ***bunny update***

My daughter, Laney, was the first to see him. This little cutie is the first to emerge from the nest.  In backyard nature , I explained that I was afraid the mother had been killed. But, as you can see, all is well. This little guy is only a foot away from his nest. He likely got impatient waiting for mom to come and feed him at dark.

We’ll have to keep the dog on a leash for a while – at this point the little fellas could be anywhere.

Do you see the white mark on the top of his head? I hope he keeps it forever.

backyard nature

My policy concerning nature is to never interfere unless I must. Often I must. When our first nest of bunnies this year was found by our dog, my husband yelled at her to drop the (unharmed) bunny. I searched for an hour to find the nest and put the baby back where he belonged. I checked for a few days to be sure the mom was coming and going. Now there are tiny bunnies in every garden

The first bunny nest was behind the chairs in the jungle of plants.

The most recent bunny nest is out in the middle of the yard.

I found this nest before the dog did, and put a few layers of fence around it. Again, I checked for a few days so I knew the mother was visiting and feeding her babies, and I hadn’t scared her off with the fencing.

But this afternoon, we saw an adult bunny that had been killed by a car. We’re really hoping it’s not the mom of any babies.I put this marking over the nest, so I can tell tomorrow if mom has been by.  I’m really hoping she has, because I don’t want to be faced with a nest full of hungry babies.

THE NEXT DAY:  When I first checked the nest this morning, the X of straw was still there and I was crushed.  I assumed that the mom hadn’t been there. But then I checked the picture I had taken last night, and nothing was the same. The X wasn’t at right angles, as it is in the first picture. There was no visible fur, and that brown and green leaf was nearly buried. So if anyone ever is faced with a similar situation, taking a picture is a great idea. The changes are subtle.

 

a ruckus and a fracas

We have a bird house full of baby house wrens, and they are the noisiest baby birds I have ever heard. As they have gotten bigger, their noise is nearly constant and is audible from all over the yard. I Googled “noisiest baby birds,” and house wrens were often listed. So it’s a thing.

I took a video so you could hear them:  Our noisy baby house wrens

There was one baby who clogged up the exit hole. His is the voice most often heard.

 

Does he look a little grumpy to you?