Summer garden and new baby birds

Oh, am I enjoying my garden about now... especially in closely framed photos. :-) This way, I can crop out the neighboring plants that are fading, or the grass that is browning, or the varied toys, shoes, sandals, tools, hoses and/or clothing items that seem to find their way into my garden beds. When I weed, I also collect water bottles and boots with the morning glory from amidst the lavender. I imagine in a few more years my yard work will be more mundane, without quite as many unusual discoveries.

Now, if I could only discover what the cause of that unusual smell is in the garage...

...on second thought, maybe I just don't want to know.

Alex appeared to be in thoughtful contemplation of this part of the garden last night as we enjoyed a picnic dinner. He stood there long enough for me to run inside and get the camera and take this photo... I was quite impressed with his deep appreciation for God's creation. Later, when I approached him to share this quiet moment of wonder, he informed me that that he was wondering how he was going to retrieve his boot that Max had thrown in there.

Oh.






Aaron gave me a gorgeous hanging basket for Mother's Day, and I'm not the only mother who thought it a nice addition to our patio. A small bird has made her nest there, and has an awful lot to say to me as she paces and flutters nearby when I try to water it (part of the reason for some of the fading flowers!) and this morning I saw the new baby birds for the first time. Really-they still look like stretched out red yolks to me.
This evening, they wanted me to feed them when I checked on them.. :-)
It is absolutely amazing to me how dramatically baby birds grow and change each day. We had a robin's nest earlier this summer in our yellow climbing rose, and it was incredible to watch those little birds grow over only about 1o days. Unfortunately, we don't think they survived. Hopefully, these little ones will fare better as they are in a location that predators would find hard to get to!