The Sparrow Family...

K made a birdhouse a few years ago and has had it hanging on the pine tree ever since. We've had a couple of sparrow families move in and move out over the seasons, but I guess I never really took the time to just watch them.

This year, I made time. Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow work as a team. They built their nest together, took turns sitting on eggs, and now they are busy feeding the babies. I sat outside on the patio and watched them for about 15 minutes and discovered something. I thought having to feed newborn son #1 every two hours around the clock was rough. Well, these poor parents have to be near collapse due to complete and utter exhaustion. Well, unless they are wired differently then we are...and of course, I suspect they are.

Here's a glimpse of 15 minutes.....
(remember you can click on the photos to enlarge them...and some are worth it)

Here's momma sparrow.

She's giving the little whippersnappers something yummy to eat.



Daddy's turn to feed them.


Ah, momma is back with some tasty tidbit.


Here's Daddy again. I kid you not!! These are taken in order.
Look at those two hungry mouths.


Here he's telling me that very same thing. "Will you just look at these greedy little piggies, I mean birdies?"

Momma to the rescue with yet more food.

Then they left for a few minutes and I took the opportunity to change my angle...

"Hello out there? Are you my mother? Have any food?"

"Where did they go? Don't they know we're starving?"

"Help! We haven't eaten in like 3 minutes."

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Sparrow seem to be doing a terrific job and they certainly know how to work as a team. However, they make me tired just watching them.

I wonder if they even know how awesome they are.

Bounty

Yea, harvesting has begun!! We've been eating squash and cucumbers for a good week now.

The cukes are coming in like crazy. Tomorrow, I plan to try a freezer pickle recipe I found online. I wish I grew up on a farm and this kind of stuff didn't scare me....but it does!!

There are bushels of peppers ready to pick, so I'm hunting for pickled pepper ring recipes, too. Yet again, scaring myself silly. I figure I might as well jump right in and send myself right over the edge.

Oh, and to make it even more frightening, I'm venturing into gluten free baking. Oh, yes I am! This week I will be attempting chocolate zucchini muffins. Who knows, by the end of the summer I may no longer shake (and sweat!) when the mere thought of canning, preserving or gluten free baking enters my mind. It could happen!

You may notice there is a lot of green and yellow in the picture. One color is missing....RED! I have a pesky bird (or two or twenty) that is delighting in ripe tomatoes. MY ripe tomatoes!! The very ones that I have been watching and drooling over for weeks. I've gotten lots of good suggestions and I've declared war. I will win! My plan of making homemade spaghetti sauce and salsa hinges on my victory.

I can almost taste it...

garden time...

This year our garden has taken off with a bang. It's amazing to go out there each day to see the changes. Last year the garden was lame and that was sad. This year, we just keep on smiling.

I find it hard to believe the squash has only been in the ground for 3 weeks. We'll be eating fresh by the end of this week.

Just thought I'd share a few (hundred) photos of our vegetable garden.

I didn't get any close up of the bush beans over there on the right, but they are doing well and are covered with blossoms.

Patty Pan Squash


Our Squash bed

Summer Squash

Zucchini

Cucumbers

Anyone have a good pickle recipe?

We just added some bamboo poles for the cukes to keep growing.

Hungarian Wax Peppers

Jalapenos

Pole Beans
These beans will be purple, but they turn green when cooked.

Tomato Berry plant
Don't they look like little green strawberries?

We have 16 tomato plants this summer.

I'm hoping for bunches and bunches of tomatoes.
Remind me I said that come August....

How is your garden growing?

Saying goodbye.....

Saying goodbye to a Faithful, Furry, Friend is never easy.

K has been drawing to express her feelings.

And she designed this stone for his memorial.


We will miss you!