Todays News

Good morning everyone. The Beautiful Summer Morning Quote is ready in the sidebar area.

To day I will be posting another Dialogue once I go for a walk with the dogs, since it truly is a beautiful summer morning here.

I also have a book selection to tell you about. I can’t wait.

In the meantime I give you over to the good care of my sister, Susan Heydon and a new article on gardening that I think you will enjoy.

Nick

All Creatures Great and Small

By Susan Heydon

Have you ever thought about what really lives in your garden???
No I don’t mean your plants; hopefully they are living, but all the little creatures that inhabit your yard. Take worms for instance. Okay so worms aren’t for everyone but a true gardener can’t do without them. They work “dirt” cheap, you don’t have to feed them and they basically keep to themselves happily digging away year after year.
 
Then you have your resident toads. Okay again not so cute but so beneficial! They eat all those slugs that destroy the hosta and dahlias. With all this rain my toad house will soon have to expand to a condo. The population seems to have exploded. Mowing has now become an exercise in dodging the toads. Sounds like a new game doesn’t it !!
 
Unfortunately I didn’t play very well and found mowing over a toad is far from a delightful experience. First I felt soooo guilty and second I know they all knew it was me!! I felt like I should beg for forgiveness.
 
The birdhouses are full and the feeders never stay full. The appetite of some of these birds is ferocious Thank goodness Maggie keeps the cats away from the young ones. She takes patrolling her yard very seriously. Even the squirrels give her respect. Mind you she takes a lot of chattering abuse from them ,but mostly from the safety of their trees.
 
We’ve had a family of skunks wander through and have a look around. Thankfully we weren’t in their house hunting range and they moved on.
 
The maple trees have been the scenes of raccoon fights. Now that’s a racket you would rather not hear at two in the morning. No regard for noise by-laws with those two and a totally mess on the ground from leaf litter. I swear they tear the leaves off the limbs in a snit and throw it all over the yard.
 
Our favorites were the resident chipmunks. They moved into John’s shed and raised a nice little family. They liked to sit and watch him working. Maybe they were hoping he would build them something nifty.
They work for peanuts so room and board was pretty cheap.
 
Spiders, bees, butterflies etc the list goes on and on. You would think I was talking about acres and acres in the country, but this little menagerie exists in my little piece of garden in town. I think they are all becoming very urban. The balance of nature truly is amazing. Let’s hope it stays that way.

Gardening Motto:

Remember: You never garden alone. Some say you’re judged by the company you keep. With this crowd always around you can’t go wrong.