Another Wierd Bird Encounter...and Bees!

Did I mention last week that I heard what sounded like a baby bird in the garage? That prompted me to clean out the garage on my day off last week and I never did find it. So...I thought it must have been outside. Well I found it yesterday. It was all tangled up in a vine near the eave of the garage and had died. It was a little fledgling finch and I felt horrible. If only I had looked outside. Poor little baby.

I've been working hard on the yards trying to make them look as tidy as I want them to look. I don't know why I try because I'll never accomplish it - not with this much to take care of. Still, I worked outside all day Tuesday in 98 degree heat and got a lot done. I broke down (finally) and bought several bags of nice, dark mulch and got most of one bed done. What a difference it makes! I bought enough to finish the rest of this bed.



I'm very pleased with my crepe myrtle. I planted it two years ago (?) and it's grown really fast just like I had hoped. The sunflower was planted by a kind bird.

This is my chaste tree, which has also gotten really big.




Here are a few of my daylillies. I have quite a few varieties, most of which I brought with me when I moved 10 years ago.






Note the outline of each petal with the burgundy color!




And this is my cart of begonias that sits to the right of the stairs going up my front porch. It's never looked as good as it does right now :)


I've been paying close attention to the bees. I've got tons of bumbles and I'm happy to report that I've also got several honeybees. There must be a hive somewhere nearby in the woods because they are always toward the back of my property.

I've gotten stung twice this week - two days in a row - by yellow jackets. I hate those things. They are down right MEAN! While watering, I discovered the hard way that there is a nest in one of the planters on the patio. I was watering and thought there was a horse fly buzzing around my head when all of a sudden there were several. One little b-----d landed right on my chest and stung me! They chased me in the house and were pounding on the storm door!

The night before that, I got a nasty sting near my waist while watering the bed next to the driveway. The venom from that creature has drifted across half my stomach and itches beyond bellief. I've been taking Benadryl and other antihistamines and it's easing up a bit, but I wake up several times a night scratching like crazy. Needless to say, I've called a professional exterminator who will be coming tomorrow to assess and destroy (I hope).

Once again my pictures are squished. Sharon, I tried loading the pics first but that didn't make a difference. I think I'll switch to the "new and improved" blogger editor for my next post. Hope I don't mess things up too much.