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I spent most of my day yesterday and the day before outdoors.  The sun was shining and it was HOT! It’s only mid-June and man-oh-man is it hot already. May not bode well for the rest of the summer for those who can’t take the heat LOL

Yesterday was spent finishing up the deck space. Since we won’t be hiring the renovations to be done right away, we decided we still wanted to enjoy the space as much as possible. Shade sails are up to provide some relief from the southern facing heat, the old grill is gone and the new-ish one has taken its place and already been used to grill steaks last night. Swept, straightened, chair straps repaired and cushions brought out from storage for use, as many plants as I could muster from the sparse collection I chose thinking we wouldn’t do much because of the construction I hoped would be happening... bird feeders and decor. Good to go. It’s not perfect, it’s not entirely safe (splinters are a threat to bare feet, and the stairs are off limits to small people (and large ones for that matter).

I left some of the feeders up during the winter, mostly out of laziness or lack of time to fully winterize. While working yesterday, I discovered that birds had taken up residency in one of them and that made me smile. Until I realized that one bird had fallen on the floor of the deck and was near death, one had fallen on the top rail of the deck and was dead, and yet another had fallen into the flower container below and was also dead. :-( I gently took the two dead birds to the back and placed the under the shade of horseradish plants. The other we attempted to put back in the house. I tried the first time and within minutes he was back out in the container I moved closer so they would have a softer place to land than the wood of the deck. John tried again later and although it stayed a while longer, it also ended up back in the container. Shortly after that another joined him. He seemed much stronger and like he might survive. The mama and papa stayed nearby and raised hell until we left the vicinity so they could bring food to these left in the bird house. I don’t know yet what kind of birds they are but I’ll find out. They are loud for such little bitty birds.

This morning I discovered that the rail flower container that I placed under the house for additional safety was upside-down on the other container. My herbs were quickly rescued to the best of my ability but I doubt that any birds who might have been taking safe-harbor in the shade of them survived. And the mama and papa were truly pissed. I almost feared for attack of the birds. Seriously. Very loud, protective parents. I am thinking probably a raccoon was the perpetrator who dumped the container. The birds, no matter how loud they may be, could never dump the container LOL. It wouldn’t be the first time raccoons managed to get on our deck and tear up my plants and get in the trash. I’ll have to leave the lights on at night to discourage their visits. I planted two climbing Black-eyed-Susan vines and they are doing really well already. I want to protect them from the little turds.

New development! There are two birds still toughing  it out in the big container! I braved the mama and papa to repot the Globe Basil plants and I gently moved the dirt around in the big pot to see if maybe... and there they were! Two equally loud squawkers for their size letting me know to leave them alone. :-) And so I will. The basil is repotted and upon a second look, the birds had buried themselves back into the dirt a bit. So I’ll leave them be and hope that both the birds and my basil will survive and thrive!!

Birds and basil. Perfect way to start a beautiful Sunday morning and Father’s Day.
Peace,

Susan

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