Little-Bit

One of the wonderful things about being out in nature is that you never know what you will find.

Friday, after the afternoon storm, I was outside letting my dogs do their business. Maggie-Grace, my white long-hair Chihuahua, spotted something hopping in the yard. Luckily, her lead would only go so far. It was a baby bird that couldn't fly yet. Its little wings had not filled out yet nor was it's tail feathers. Mama bird was watching from the Crepe Myrtle tree at one corner of the house and daddy bird was in the birch tree at the other corner of the house. I couldn't bare to see him out in the middle of the yard and can't get to the shelter of a tree. So, my husband and I "shooed" it to the bush right beside the crepe myrtle that mommy was in. There was another storm brewing, so I was worried about "Little Bit".

On Saturday morning, as I was letting my dogs out, I walked around to the bush to see if Littel-Bit was still there. He WAS there,... safe, and alive. So, I called my daughter to come outside with me to get him to our big oak tree in the front yard where the mama and daddy always fly to. She takes her shirt and covers over Little-Bit. She carries the baby bird and I carry a ladder to the oak tree. She carefully climbs the ladder to place Little-Bit on one of the biggest branches which also has shelter from the canopy of the tree leaves. Little-Bit hops out of the shirt and settles-in on the branch. My worry s that mama and daddy won't take care of it now.

Later in the evening on Saturday, I watched mama and daddy flying back and forth to the tree. When they left the tree, I could hear a little chirp-chirp. When they flew back in the tree, the chirp was stop....so, I knew they were feeding it for sure.

This morning, I walked out to check on Little-Bit. It had moved to a smaller branch a little closer to the nest.....see picture. My heart felt warm to see him!!!!

Promises

Today was a good day for ducks! All the rivers are out of their banks, the creeks are overflowing, and the low spots in my yard are miniature lakes. Driving home from work today, Interstate 85 was gridlock with accidents caused by hydroplaining cars and semi-trucks.

As I drove through the country down Hwy 601 then to 801, there are occasional spots that were dry as bones. Then I would hit a spot where you needed your wipers on turbo speed to just see the hood of your car. All I could think was, "Lord, just get me home!".

I carefully approached the secondary road that's in front of our house. As I turned in our driveway, the sky spoke to me....

 

Joshua 23:14 NIV

 

"You know with all your heart and soul

 that not one of all the good promises

 the LORD your God gave you has failed.

Every promise has been fulfilled;

not one has failed.

 

New International Version

Hi, I'm not Tammy. Guest Post by Amber

Hi, T. Taylor is taking the evening off so I'm here to tell you a story.  Once upon a time...  no, just kidding. 

Let me start by saying, I did not make this mess…  I just happen to be the lucky person to move into this house and had to fix it. 

My name is Amber and I live in Oak Ridge with my family.  We are on a well and septic tank.  Yes, I understand no one wants to talk about ugly, smelly septic tanks but they are a fact of life.  We have one and we needed some work done on it.  We called them out, ‘they’ started to look and finally found the lid under my 16 foot tall crape myrtle plant that offers the only shade to my under insulated sunroom that gets very hot.  They followed the lines to find 2 other plants (that I love) right near them and 3 more trees nearby that they just said, “we are unsure of what we will find till we get into it”. 

The big day came, the big truck came, you know the one you hope the neighbors don't see, you hope they went to work early and come home late because you just cannot admit to yourself that the “shitter was full” (have to love Christmas Vacation, if you have not seen it, please take time from your busy schedule this winter when it is not dirt digging season to enjoy one of the best X-mas movies ever).  After they unload a tractor and made quick work of my beloved myrtle and drag it back out of the way they start to work.   I’ll skip the (ugly, smelly) details, once the tank was empty the work on the lines started.  Only to find that tree roots had gotten into the lines and that it had caused the blockage.  The roots turned out to be from a tree that we had to remove about 5 years ago due to placement of it and the drive in/out of the back yard at the fence gate.  My husband was not happy over any of this but I was really glad because this meant that I my flowering magnolia, very near this spot, was safe (for now).  After a few more hours of work and a few more issues they load up the tractor and tools. 

I felt like I got lucky, only lost the one myrtle and when they started I was looking at them taking up as much as 5 tree/plants in the backyard.  BUT before the man got away he made sure to tell my husband that the magnolia was near the line, some other random plant is in a bad location, and my-my dream tree- that he would never let me plant (I got lucky, it was already here!) has to go – that would be my weeping willow.  Yes, I have a weeping willow and yes I know they are a mess and I know they are hell on a septic tank BUT I don’t care (remember I did not plant it!), I just love it, it is such a fun tree.  They made sure to tell my husband how aggressive the roots of that willow is and that it is way to near the lines, within a very short time they will be back out if we do not have the tree removed.   OK so hubby hates the tree anyway, what is it with men and weeping willows, and I already knew that the roots are bad for septic tank lines so I could only look sad when this big news was delivered to him.  

So the plan for the backyard at this point, for the summer I will enjoy my willow tree, I will enjoy watching my daughter run and play under the tree and smile every time my husband has to mow under it.  I will watch from my kitchen window and in the back of my mind I will plan on how to get another one planted at the far back of my yard, safely out of the way of the septic tank lines, this part of the plan may require my daughter and some shameless begging on her part to her dad.  Phase 2 of the summer will be to enjoy the new dirt spots in my yard and  my nice clean septic tank that we spent so much money on having repaired. 

Free advice time: If you own a house and you have a septic tank then DO NOT put a crape myrtle on top of the lid (how crazy is that).  More advice, don’t plant anything in the path of the lines.  But if you do… start saving because it will require work and a few extra dollars down the road.  The last piece of advice, if you sale this house that you planted stuff with your heart and not with your head, please tell the new owners what you did so they can save for the future repair bill.

There's Something About Rosemary

ROSEMARY

Rosemary is the greatest plant, herb, shrub, EVER !!!!

This is the first year that I am growing it in a container. I have always had a plant in my landscaping around my deck. It not kept trimmed, it will grow rather large and leggy. One word of advice...if you have it planted in your landscaping, you cannot aggressively trim it back...it will die. 

Rosemary is the "Iron Man" of plants. The following are examples of how I use this versatile plant:

• cut a branch and use it as a skewer for grilled shrimp
• cut a branch and infuse a container of olive oil to enhance cooking flavors
• take the needles and chop them up finely and sprinkle over a baked potato, tomato salad, over your Thanksgiving turkey, or an additive in ranch dressing.
• cut a branch to place over meat while it is being grilled.
• It is perfect as a filler for floral arrangements
• You can use it as a base for holiday decorations
• You can trim the plant to look like a Christmas tree and use as a topiary at the front door, just add lights.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most maintenance)...I would give Rosemary a 1.

My Container Gardens

Cilantro & Basil

Cilantro is great for making fresh salsa and any other mexican dishes.

Basil, of course, if great for Italian recipes.

Grapefruit Mint & Oregano

Grapefruit Mint is great in some fresh green tea or even a Mojito.

Oregano is wonderful in Italian food also.

Onion Chive & Sage

Onion Chive works on almost anything.

You can top your baked potatoes, grilled seafood, or even on a salad.

Sage, there is nothing like fresh sage added to fresh ground pork sausage.

 

Container gardens are wonderful if you love fresh herbs or have limited space.

These containers are on metal baskets mounted on the outside of my deck railings. 

 The only draw-back to having a container garden is

that they do require watering & fertilizer more frequently.

However, the ability to go out an cut fresh herbs for your recipes is priceless.

 

Fresh Marinade for Any White Meat 

Equal Parts of Finely Chopped Onion Chive, Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, and Cilantro

1 shot glass of Lemon Juice

1 shot glass of Lime Juice

1 shot glass of Worchestershire Sauce

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

 

Marinade Overnight

 

Throw it on a charcoal Grill

 

Mmm-Mmm Good !!!!!

 

 

 

Rhododendron & Azalea

Rhododendron is a good plant to fill in a large space. It is very hearty and beautiful. The dark green sturdy leaves are a sharp contrast to the paper-like blooms. As it is budding, one would think it was a Magnolia bud, but once it starts errupting with its vibrant color, you soon realize its majesty. There is not much fragrance to the blossom, but the show it gives is worth the loss. The shrub we have blooms twice a year, early spring and early fall. If it is planted in an ideal spot, it could bloom periodically during the entire season.

Azalea is what I call a smaller version of the Rhododendron. It is more compact for landscaping to use as an accent below windows. One draw-back to an Azalea is that here in North Carolina, they bud and bloom out usually the same time of the last frost or freeze. This will make the blooms turn brown and shrivel up before it is able to show its true potential.

Both shrubs are resilient to pruning but are absolutely majestic if left alone and natural. One of my best friends have a Southern Living style house where she has both azalea and rhododendron under the front windows. They are the icing on the cake of a true southern estate.

The University of Missouri Extension department has an excellent webpage regarding these wonderful plants....http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G6825

Landscaping Duty For The Day

Here is my 2012 Scion xB - Release Series 9.0. Due to the fact that it sits out in the weather on the side of our house, it was time that it needed a bath and detail job. It was making my house and the landscaping look crappy. After this years overwhelming pollen content in the atmosphere, it was time to wash away the gunk. It should get about 10 more miles to gallon as slick as it is. We had to first cleaner wax it to get the sap deposits that had baked in the paint and then we used a polymer wax to make it shine like its wet. My arm is absolutely a noodle right now from all of the "wax on" and "wax off" (twice I should reiterate).

Cars used as landscaping can be a challenging thing. For example...the picture below...

 

You have to choose your landscaping carefully so that it will not contrast or overpower your home. Look at the lines of your home...see if it is traditional, colonial, Spanish, Mediterrainian, or even Mid-Century Modern. Your landscaping should accent your home, not take over. A little whimsy in the garden is good, but some people just take it to extremes.

 

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most maintenance) I would give having to wash, wax, and re-wax a car an 11 !!!! .......LOLOLOLOL