Bird Bath Planter

 The bird bath did not fare well over the winter and the cracks in the pottery caused by freezing weather were too numerous to repair . I took a slightly smaller ( than the bird bath ) resin basin and placed it inside the bird bath so it could still hold water for the birds. Then I planted primroses all around in basin.

 Cheerful, don't you think ?

 Speaking of cheerful , how about my frizzled hen ? She's fluffy AND cheerful.

 

Blue-Bottle Herb Garden

 The dovecote my husband built me for my herb garden makes me happy . I especially love the detailing in the roof ridge that mirrors the roof ridges he put into our larger dovecote , the goat house, and also the grape & kiwi arbors.

 I keep only 2 doves in my herb garden, my Blue Bottle Herb Garden. You can see how we decided on the name...

 ...there are blue bottles everywhere in this garden.

 These blue bottles are holding the prongs of upside down tomato cages together to form supports for my comfrey . Comfrey loves to get big and floppy , and does so very quickly, often taking over this shady corner of my herb garden if left unattended too long. I use a lot of comfrey for my livestock, poultry, and also make poultices out of it for my feet which have a tendency to get very dry and crack & bleed. Comfrey poultices are great for this. ( I will do another post on this later.)

 Our dog Hawk keeps me company as I weed the garden.

 This old bike holds an old milk crate stuffed with blue bottles and flowers. It is leaning up against a picture window we had to replace after a big earthquake here a few years ago caused the window to split & crack. I like the window in this garden and it helps  keep the woods on the other side of the garden fence at bay.

 Fennel has a lovely licorice scent and thrives in my garden. The fennel has seeded itself in other parts of the herb garden too. It is like growing feathers ! You can see some of the sage and Lady's Mantle growing at the foot of the fennel.

 Lovage also thrives here. I have metal cages and stakes around and through the lovage to keep it from bending and breaking. I love this herb. It tastes like celery, the leaves are yummy chopped up and used in salads, eggs, soups. Anything celery adds flavor to would benefit from lovage. It has a little stronger celery taste, so not too much is needed. The stems grow up to 6 feet in my garden and are hollow so if you strip them of leaves ( or not ) you can use the stems as straws in any drink you might garnish with celery such as tomato juice, delicious!

 My rosemary grows quickly in this garden, and thrives all year, even in the coldest winters. Since my older rosemary plants are now unruly bushes I decided to start 2 new rosemary bushes and encourage them to be more orderly and well-behaved. I placed a large tomato cage upside down over rosemary planted in a large pot. The blue bottle holds the prongs of the cage together. I like the touch of blue it adds.

My blue bird bath sits in the thyme portion of the garden, along with a sun-dial ( not shown here). There are several varieties of thyme in this garden and when they bloom it looks like the bird-bath is perched on a beautiful carpet of color. Our honeybees love the thyme garden especially. My Blue Bottle Garden is a source of herbs my husband and I use for cooking . Some of the herbs are especially beneficial to our health. The garden is also a place of delight on sunny days to soak up the sights, sounds, and scents of Cedar Pond . God is so good and we are truly blessed !

I am joining the Thursday Farm Blog-Hop*. Please check out all the blogs offering useful and inspirational information regarding all things farm,gardening, crops, food preservation keeping poultry & livestock...decorating too. You don't need to have a farm to appreciate all you can learn as you visit these blogs !*

Gardening Around The Dovecote

 This flower container is along the picket fence leading to our dovecote. The pansies surprised me by coming up again this year along with the pink phlox behind them. The phlox won't bloom until mid-summer, but they'll be more than 2 feet tall and fill the air with their sweet scent.

 This is the view from the other side of our front porch. The front porch wraps around two sides of our home. The grape arbor has 2 seats under it and provides a very cool shady spot to sit in on hot summer days. At the end of the fence, upper left of the photo, is the dovecote my husband built me.

 I have 2 chickens in the dovecote too. They clean up the dropped seed and keep things interesting.

 I just finished cleaning up the flower beds around the doves. This year I set aside a week on my calendar to catch up on spring cleaning in the garden. The past few years have been hit & miss and our gardens have suffered. My husband has worked so hard to make the flower beds and herb garden for me and I want him to know I do appreciate his hard work. Tending the gardens is the best way to show that.

 I love the way this bird bath seems to emulate the scallops of the Lady's Mantle growing around its base. Lady's Mantle is named after the Virgin Mary. Dew and raindrops in the leaves look like pearls, and on very misty mornings each leaf looks like it has jewels all around it. The drops often reflect eye-piercing rainbow colors when rays of sunshine hit them.

 Hostas & blue Lithodora.

The weather is so beautiful, especially now that it has warmed up. There are new blossoms and baby birds everywhere. Hummingbirds & butterflies too. Spring has finally arrived around here !

Thankful Thursday ~ My View From The Porch

 This is a well-traveled and used area of our property. The lattice hides the wood shed where we also keep our garbage cans. This area is in full view of our front porch too, so it is nice for it to be somewhat visually appealing.

 The mirror was a Goodwill find for under $5.00 and has endured quite a few winters here. The ceramic planters are re-planted every spring. The bird-bath is new. We have 3 bird-feeders hung in the trees surrounding the wood shed.

 Every morning and in the early evenings we sit on the porch and watch the birds fly in for sunflower seeds. We see chickadees, nuthatches, Oregon Juncos, Stellar Jays, Grosbeaks, finches, Goldfinches, sparrows, Towhees, Cedar Waxwings ~ to name a few. We also watch hummingbirds flit around the Bleeding Hearts and Ajuga that grow lush around the porch and squirrels doing acrobatic tricks to get as many seeds from the "squirrel-proof" feeders as they can carry away in their pouches.

There is no end to the entertainment at the feeders and in the garden, especially now that the weather has warmed. Thank-you Lord for your glorious creation ! ~"For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, or rulers or authorities- all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Colossians 1:16,16

Bird Bath Bliss

I was surprised to walk in on this little yellow bird as it bathed. The bird was rolling in the water spout at the top of the fountain and seemed to be using the water bubbling out of the top as a type of water massage. The bird was rolling upside down, around and sideways over the spout and did not notice me . This was definitely a bird experiencing bird bath bliss!I went inside grabbed my camera and fully expected the bird to be gone with all my commotion, but no...it was still enjoying the water.I believe this is an immature American Goldfinch. It was hard to get a good clear picture because this little birdie was really rolling and undulating in the burbling water of the spout and the feathers were fluffed up and wet from the bathing. Anyway, I watched the bird for about 5 minutes. Then it fluttered into the Rugosa bush next to the fountain to dry off. Click onto the photos to enlarge. "He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between mountains; They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst..... ...."beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they lift up their voices among the branches. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works......the trees of the Lord drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted, where the birds build their nests................O Lord how many are Thy works! In wisdom Thou hast made them all; the earth is full of Thy possessions." Psalm 104 : 10-13, 16,17

"Bless the Lord , O my soul, Praise the Lord!" Psalm 104 :35

For an unbelievably inspirational and encouraging blog ( but get out your hankies too) click on this blog , The Journey. I have no words for how this young woman and her love for the children of Uganda has manifested. Her father has written the blog post.

Remember, you are already blessed beyond all knowing, act on it, rejoice in it!

About BOB, and Other Treats.....

TREAT # 1: A new bird bath !I love my new bird bath. It is just what I have been looking for, a blue glazed terra cotta bird bath that is perfect for my herb garden. It was on sale too! 25% off, which made it just the right price. As I was leaving K-Mart with my new prize I suddenly felt sharp prickles on my back and from the corner of my eye I could see something flapping...I screamed loud as my first thought was this was some kind of huge insect stinging me, but as I reached back to dislodge the creature ....... TREAT # 2 : I realized it was a parakeet !I pried him off my back ( he was hanging on pretty tightly, boy those little claws did hurt! ) and decided to take him home. I had an empty box in the car and that is where he rode home. Chirping every once in awhile from the depths of the box. Here he is in a cage I have on our front porch that I often put doves in. This little bird seems to like me very much and chooses to sit on my finger and chatter away at me. He does not like to get off my finger, and he does NOT like my husband.....I am positive this little guy is also saying half formed words, you have to hear the sounds he makes. I named him BOB. ( Bird On Back ) TREAT # 3 :And looky here! This is one of 2 ducklings hatched from my call duck / runner duck cross.The little ducks were hatched by a Silkie / Frizzle hen. It is a good thing I put 2 of our duck eggs under bantam hens because the mama duck was faithfully sitting until 5 days ago. She left her nest and I saw that she and her mate were sitting away from the nest, as close to the door of the pen as possible, and the eggs, just a few days from hatching were stone cold.We are pretty sure it is because we have had raccoons and coyotes skulking around the pen every night, trying to get at the eggs and ducks from the outside of the pen. My husband has had to go out and scare away the predators. I am so glad we built the new pen. The predators are very bold. TREAT # 4 :While I was gone my Ruth had a lamb. This is one of the teeniest little lambs I have ever had survive, and she is a healthy and feisty little girl. Here, her little tail and bottom are shaking as she nurses. TREAT # 5: Perfect Sunday weather. Here my Hubby reads by the pond. His dog Hawk sits with him, and Hubby keeps watch from this chair for the possible sighting of the wood duck and maybe her young, emerging from the big cedar snag. TREAT #6 : Time and good weather to work in my beloved herb garden. My blue bottle trees, my blue bistro table, my blue roofed dove cage, my blue weeding bucket, and my new blue bird bath. But this does not make me blue, it makes me appreciate God's bounty, and good enough health to work in the garden until.......

Evening comes. TREAT # 7: A beautiful evening.

I would like to offer you the opportunity for me to treat you. I realized this is my 301st post! When did I write so many posts? I know, I know, one day at a time and they add up. Anyway, between this post and my 305th post I will send a treat to someone who has commented. I will send a wee little lamb shown in my sidebar and My Etsy site , or a skein of handspun wool yarn! Also displayed in My Etsy. TREAT # 8: You! Thank-you for taking a few moments of your precious time to read my blog, what a treat you all are! Bless you blogging friends.