Fall Has Arrived

Looking over the most recent posting from a month ago on Progress and Milestones, I'm reminded how quickly the perspective of where-are-we can change.

Where Are We?

We had four visitors during the Labor Day weekend who either had visited weeks before (daughter Liz and partner Jay) or had only seen landscape photos in our blogs (sister Betty and bro-in-law Ernie). They each shared reactions to changes they noticed since their last viewing. The consensus was the plants in the yard are finally starting to move beyond the newly-planted-and-shocked stage, and are starting to grow and look established.  The majority of the credit goes to the native plants that are large and healthy.

And that was two weeks ago. Since then, a number of the plants are starting to bloom and prosper. Photos have to wait; I've got to get this out so I can go outside.

Go Native?

Few of the natives are in a showy blooming stage, but this year — what the heck — we like healthy green leaves so much that we're gratefully loving every one of our native plants, maybe even more than those we planted. Except the sand burrs, the cat tails, bermudagrass, and other non-native grasses. They are growing ferociously and would require us to give more time than is possible, so I've settled for just removing the larger sand burrs as they start to develop burrs. I could be out there now, but no, I have to write about it.

This ISN'T a photo of the bird I saw,
but resembles it.

Is it a Flycatcher?

I added a bird to my life list recently. It might be a Willow Flycatcher, which seems to be the closest match I find for bill length, foot color, eye ring, coloring and markings, and behavior. Unfortunately, it was silent while I watched.

The photos of all the other flycatchers that are reported to migrate through this area appear to be so similar that a misidentification is likely. It looked much like this one, though with an obvious yellow circle on its upper breast.

I am an inland bird snob.

What about Indoors?

Eventually, we have to go inside (sigh), where many, many tasks are waiting their turn to be done. Like cleaning. Yuck. Like hanging art in my office or the entry hall, which may have to wait for winter. But what about installing the kitchen cup hooks? We finally located the right size hooks in the right color, and then ignored for weeks the hooks and cups waiting on the counter. Finally, the time felt right to measure and install. Finding a workable angle for measuring was the hardest part, but I finally found the best way to approach the task. This worked quite well for drilling the holes, as well. Not counting the sawdust and its friend gravity.

Back Outside... Cement?

It took threats and bribes, but we finally have our concrete hot tub pad in and ready for the next steps — electricity, water, screening, and the tub, though I've learned that expecting a certain order can be unrealistic. Getting an electrician is near impossible, and their work will be harder than you might guess, because the line has to run from the house out to the back yard. And it has to be in a plastic pipe buried 18" deep. And run through one of well-established slopes full of plants. I'll be carefully digging that trench after transplanting the unfortunates in its path. I'll leave the trench digging along the garden walkway to the hired help, a furpiece. 

I neglected to mention the new concrete ramp from the back "porch" down to the pathway (bottom left in the photo above). 

Here's a little image I did on FB for my North Carolina friend, Nancy. You can almost see the buried wine bottles that make the border. 

Time is up. I must go outside now. There's transplanting to do. And shoveling sand.