Eyewitness Report

The baby bunny lives! And his flight instincts seem to have kicked in, as he tried to flee by crawling through the chicken wire around the pea fence. His head fit, but not the rest of him, so he had to use his back legs to pry his head out of the chicken wire. Then he would see me again, and repeat the same escape attempt. It was like a cartoon! I moved to the front, and he took the hint and advanced to the rear, into a pile of brush. Of course, no pix, but I caught mama taking a rest under the arborvitae.



In other backyard news, I can confirm that the bluebird house is occupied but not by a bluebird. A pair of sparrows have claimed it. When I purchased the bluebird box, the saleswoman advised that if "stinky sparrows" built a nest in the box, I should shake the eggs to scramble the contents. Having witnessed a pair of Canada geese outside the building where I work try to hatch their oiled eggs, I just could not do something similar. It is too heartbreaking.

I just can't get enough of the rhododendron this year, although I think they may have finally peaked.



Yesterday started cold and gray and windy, and even after the sun appeared, outdoor work was still a bit daunting. I'm glad I waited until today, as it was just about perfect. The entire yard is mowed, the backyard cleaned up, and the bird feeders stowed.

I even got the chance to use my latest Lee Valley purchases:



I also dug in the garden a bit. Last year (or the year before?) I disposed of some sand in my garden, in the hopes it would lighten the heavy clay soil a bit, but all it seemed to do was deflect the worms. Today, the only ones happier than me to discover a healthy worm population in the garden were the robins. I chose to dig by hand, which was interesting because the top layer of soil was dark like compost while the next layer was yellow clay.

And now I am going to go soak my weary bones.