It's Been A While...

So I am going to try to ease back into this. Today I am testing brunch recipes for a baby shower I'm hosting in a few weeks for Leah. I made my favorite muffin recipe - Morning Glory muffins - and modified it for mini-muffins. Morning Glory muffins are filled with goodies: carrot, apple, pineapple, raisins, nuts, and cinnamon spice. Little nuggets of fall.









-- Post From My iPhone

Hiatus

I am taking a break from blogging. We listed our house with Century 21 on May 3rd, and we had our first offer on May 5th. The contract was finalized on May 11th. We close on June 17th.

I do hope to compose some final blog posts about my garden at some point. However, right now life is just too hectic, and I may break into tears if I try to write about this garden that I've put so much time into. So, some distance... and some time...

Later gators.

Chipmunk

Right when we moved into this house, we found a little chipmunk drowned in the pool. So sad! He was such a cute, tiny little creature, and I felt so awful that he had fallen in and couldn't find his way out.
To continue the wildlife saga... yes, we have a chipmunk. Maybe even a family of chipmunks!
Apparently the chipmunk family made their way back to our yard. I was sitting in my office chair a few weeks ago when Walle started going nuts. I looked our the front window and saw this bad boy running across the front porch.

I've spotted this chipmunk (or maybe its relatives) numerous times over the past few weeks. Sometimes it is in the backyard, making its way across the back porch. Sometimes, it is on the front porch sniffing around for its next dinner. I do enjoy seeing these cute little creatures in my yard.

Oppossum

Yep. An opposum lives in our trees in suburbia. Wanna see?

The photos aren't great because it was fairly dark outside, and I was very cautious about getting too close to him because I didn't want to scare him away. Chip and I were sitting in the backyard on a cool April evening, enjoying a tasty beverage. We heard something scratching around on the fence, and we initially both assumed it was Meowmers, the neighbor's cat. But as I started to look closer, I realized this animal was much larger than Meowmers. I thought at first, "Holy crap, that is an oppossum!" But, to tell you the truth, I don't see so good, so I doubted myself.

The animal continued to walk the fence. When I saw him illuminated against the back neighbor's house, I knew it was an oppossum.

He walked right along the fence, right into the next neighbor's yard. He didn't mind us at all.

Carolina Wren

A pretty little Carolina Wren made its nest in the bird house hanging from a post on my back porch. For just a couple of weeks this spring I would go outside in the morning and evening to watch mamma bird feed her baby birds in the bird house. Anytime I got too close to the nest, mamma bird would let me know by giving her signature squawk.

Do you see her perching on the porch swing chain?

Then, all of a sudden, they were all gone.

April Iris Blooms

In late March I posted about how excited I was about all the buds on my irises. Well, bloom they did! It has been a spectacular year for these pretty purple plants.

By April 1 the first iris blooms had opened up.
Previously, these irises were planted in a very shady part of the backyard garden. Once I moved them to the sun, they multiplied very quickly. I've had to divide them every other year so far. Talk about prolific. This year is a divide year, so after they are done blooming, I'll have some irises to share with some garden friends!
I've had quite a time trying to figure out the cultivar/variety. I have some guesses, but no clear identity. Isn't it a beauty though? I love the rich color. I think it is stunning.
They are the perfect component in my front porch bed.