The Baby Pheasants are "babies" no more

They've grown so big! I got unexpectedly awoken early this morning, but got a nice reward, seeing the babies sitting under our backyard maple, shaking out the dew from their feathers. What a cute bunch! You can definitely see the second one from the left is going to be a boy - he's getting his pretty red feathers in around his neck (and some on his chest too, which I've seen on earlier occasions).

It's funny when their bodies are all puffed out like that, it makes their heads look ridiculously scrawny and small! (Like, check out the one on the far right - she's looking like a Skesis or something!) Okay, cuter than that, but you get my drift. :)

I really can't get over how fast they've grown. I guess they have to, with the cooler weather coming on. :) What sweet little dears...

BeanDreams: the previous generation

I mean seriously - anyone can grow cucumber - but it takes a special kind of gardener to grow cukes like this! My mother's plants are as tall as we are!

It's actually kinda scary standing next to them, it's like a jungle, pressing in on you...thank goodness it's behind a fence! ;)

So, as far as gardening: like father, like daughter.

(Of course, my Dad helps with the garden too! :D)

Busy Bees

Caught this sweet little bee, working hard in my parent's garden earlier this lovely summer (but feeling fall-ish) evening...

From Blossom to Fruit

Remember these?

Well, they've turned into these:


The turning of the seasons is a beautiful thing. :) Lovely apples just after a rainfall...

Baby Junco

Awwww....what a little cutie.


You can hear his shrill trills in the backyard, since he hasn't learned his species call yet - but he's finally making the trip to the feeder with mama. He's come along quite well, I see him pecking on the ground and getting some of his own seeds - of course, he prefers if mama feeds him the seeds still... :)

Molly Has A Problem

Heard a noise amongst our collection of empty boxes (kept around in prep for our eventual move). Peeked inside a box tucked inside another box, and found Molly cat.



As has been sadly seen many, many times on CuteOverload.com, Molly definitely needs boxhab.

She's addicted to boxes.

Oh, she thinks she's okay - note the defiant look on her face...but we all can see she has a problem.

Poor Molly...

Garden Gnome Globetrotter

Garden Gnomes. Some people love 'em, some hate 'em. Some people hate them enough to steal them from other people's gardens, just so they don't have to look at them. I'm sure that Eve Stuart-Kelso thought that's what had happened to her gnome when he went missing. But a few months later, he re-appeared on her doorstep, complete with a photo album detailing his world tour! Seriously! BBC did a great report on it, check it out here.

Hilarious!

Moments Ago, the Pheasants Return

Momma and babies checking out the front lawn. So exciting!

Mom Pheasant lies down flat quickly when she senses I'm at the door taking pictures. Other birds were in the yard, too, including a couple of grackles (one shown here) and blue jays.


Two babies peckin' around...so cute! They're about the size of pigeons now, maybe a touch bigger.


Mom and kids. So happy to see them out and about! Hope they all grow big and strong. I wonder how many are boys and how many are girls? Only time will tell!

So wrong... (BeanDreams)

No. Don't do that.



My kohlrabi doesn't even have a bulb, and now you're eating the leaves??!!

*sigh*

Note: after looking around for a while, I believe that (once again, found on that awesome pest-identification page from Pest-Control Canada, photo #395) it is the caterpillar of the White-Marked Tussock Moth (a big name for a rather plain-looking moth, if you ask me). :)

Beloved Bachelor's Buttons

I just love these flowers...can't get enough! So happy to be growing them again.

BeanDreams

Meant to post this last week, but I've been quite under the weather lately. Here's a little update on how all that BeanDreaming is going...

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Ah, time to let nature take its course...after eating and enjoying a crop, you've got to let some of it go to seed, so you can plant again next year. Here, you can see the daikon radish setting a seed blossom. My radish, this year as last, grew very slow and not very big. Still, a nice addition to stir fries.


And my bok choi is all finished too, and has started to set some lovely yellow flowers. Although I planted several, now that I've grown it for a couple years, I think that the variety I chose (Joi Choi) is just too petite for the way I want to use it. I love those thick white stalks, but these plants are very small - at least the way I'm growing them. :) I think if I grow bok choi again, I would pick a larger variety.


I'm not the only one enjoying the flowers:


The catnip and oregano are growing like gangbusters, truly a resounding success! I'm really, really pleased with how this crop turned out, I'll have lots to dry and use throughout the winter.


But the parsley??!! What's going wrong with them? I have no idea. I looked around online and it says that parsley doesn't like the mid-summer heat. Maybe I should move it into the shade for a while. It's funny too, because one of them is growing nicely, but the others just stopped after putting out one true leaf. Pretty disappointing, I wanted to use some fresh in cooking...


My bachelor's buttons are just starting to open - I love them so! I'm very excited. But the kohlrabi??? Some of the leaves were looking a little "blighty" - I though there might be a lack of airflow, so I made some spaces between the plants to get more air in there, it seems to have helped. But no bulb!! What's going on?


I looked around and found a site that said the long roots of kohlrabi don't lend themselves well to container planting. WHAAA??? NOW you tell me! Crap. I looked all over the place to try and find what might be causing the lack of bulb. I finally found one mention of it on the FarmGirl Fare auxiliary site. She had the same problem I did, and was also unable to find any info online about exactly "why" this lack of bulb occurs. I think perhaps the planter is too small, and they don't like the crowding? I dunno. All I know is, I have a nice crop of leaves, but no bulb. Oh well, the leaves will be nice in a stir fry. :) At least they're edible, otherwise I'd have nothing to show for it! Bleargh.

Oh well, that's just part of the job when it comes to home gardening. You have to learn by trial and error - sometimes you get fantastic results, and other times...well, it's all a growing experience! (Ouch, just realized what a bad pun that was)... :)

Baby Pheasants

Finally saw them crossing our lawn, very cautiously, a few minutes ago!




And now...getting ready to cross the dangerously-lacking-in-cover driveway...



Wait for me!!!


Phew! We all made it!


Sorry the pictures aren't clearer, but they were the best I could do under the circumstances (poor weather, fast moving birds at a distance, etc. etc. etc.) :D I'm just so thrilled to have seen them finally, AND to have gotten some pics to share these babies with you!