Sqawking Blue Jays - noisy theives!

I feed birds in my back yard, I have since we moved in as a kid way back in the early '70s.  Seed, suet, stale bread - whatever we can find - out it goes. We have always gotten great pleasure watching the birds, me, mom, dad and eventually big and little Guy - darling husband Guy now has a routine on how he fills up our 5 feeders.  He even went so far as to set up things in Maine to attrack birds too!

I have taken to putting millet and nyjer seed and peanuts on top of our rabbit hutch (our hutch is about ten feet long with a flat roof, the perfect platform feeder.)  I've  begun buying millet, cracked corn, nyger and peanuts from a company called  Prdseed (love that name!) and we store everything in galvanized garbage cans (to keep out the critters) in the shed.

Blue Jays LOVE peanuts and as soon as a batch goes out, that insane racket they make starts - one calls another and then that one another and so on.  It's funny, only one Jay at a time swoops in, grabs a peanut in it's beak and then flies into a tree to crack it open and munch it down - never two, I guess it's a Blue Jay culture thing.

When the weather is clear and crisp as it's been lately, and the Jays come, I am instanltly transported to Maine - you see every morning is clear and crisp and Jays constantly squawk there, so when I hear them around here, it's a deja 'vu thing - I guess that's why I do it - for "that feeling".

John Lennon Google Doodle - Happy Birthday John

Argan Oil

I found a real treasure for moisturizing my face - Argan Oil.

Argan Tree

Pits & Seeds

 Argan oil is an oil produced from the kernels of the Argan tree, native to Morocco, it is valued for its nutritional, cosmetic and medicinal properties. Ancient  people of Morocco would collect undigested argan pits from the waste of goats which climb the trees to eat their fruit. The pits were then ground and pressed to make the nutty oil used in cooking and cosmetics. Hopefully today's oil is harvested in a much more sanitary way!  But it just goes to show how great this oil is, if people were willing to go to these extremes just to harvest it!!!

Using oil on my face at first seemed incongruous, after all weren't we taught that we had to get rid of the oils on our face?  But I realize the opposite is true (even if you have "oily" skin), if you hydrate your skin with the right kind of oil, it won't need to produce oil, thus making your face oily. 

 I use Josie Maran brand & adore it!

I also use oils to cleanse my face, but I make up my own concoction!  Three parts extra virgin olive oil (moisturizes) and one part of castor oil (cleansing), I put itnto a spray bottle and use twice a day - better than anything I ever have purchased over the counter!

The Not So Itsy Bitsy Spider

A visitor set up house my garden - a creepy, ugly spider. They make my skin crawl - but this one fascinated me for some reason.

The eensy weensy spider
 Crawled up the water spout
  Down came the rain
   And washed the spider out
    Out came the sun
     And dried up all the rain
      And the eensy weensy spider
       Crawled up the spout again.
Sorry I could not resist

The Last Rose of Summer

It is sad to see the last, rugged rose bush, produce one more beauty befor settling down for a long winter nap. This is the same palnt that gave me a glorious bloom a few years ago (my perfect rose post). Beauty still prevails.
 

See you next year!

Moonflowers & Morning Glories

Many gardeners consider Morning Glories too invasisve, nothing but a glorified weed.  Not me!  They are an absolute staple in my garden.  I now grow them from seed, taking advantage of the pods that form after the flowers are gone.  I simply crush the pod between my fingers & spread the seed on the ground.  I scatter them along fence posts, birdfeeder poles & even near climbing roses & just let them climb the canes.  They are easy, simple to grow & add a touch of delight in the garden.

Of course I can't just leave things alone, so a few years back I began

companion planting Moonflowers, along with the Morning Glories.

Just like the name implies, they flower in the evening - big, beautiful

white trumpets of beauty!  So just as the Morning Glories tire out

for the day, Moonflowers take their place.  I love them to death!