Rhodies

We know that summer is here, because the rhododendrons are in bloom. Along one edge of our property is a big wall of rhodies (as our landscaper friend calls them).

When we first moved in I was not very fond of these plants and suggested they be removed. The landscaper gave me an "are your crazy" look and said do you know how many people would love to have these ? A year later, I have changed my mind. They act as a nice buffer and it is beautiful when they are all in bloom.

Luckily the deer have shown no interest in these bushes. Hopefully the new fawn that visits will follow his Mom's lead and ignore these flowers.

Wanna go for a ride?

When I ask Danny "Wanna go for a ride?" he always takes me up on it. Sometimes we go downtown and walk the main street, sometimes just for a ride, and sometimes we go to the dog park. Yesterday, we went to Winslow Park otherwise know as the Westport Dog Park.

I opened up the trunk to get his blanket out and he jumped right in the trunk!

When we got to the dog park, there were six or seven dogs already in the park playing. Usually, Danny is ready to play with the other dogs, but yesterday he was just interested in sniffing everything and everyone.

We took a walk around the park and after about 45 minutes headed for home. About 3 minutes into the ride home, Danny was sleeping in the back.

Stormy nights

Poor Danny is afraid of thunder. That means none of us have been getting any sleep the last few stormy nights.

We can tell when a storm is coming - Danny begins to pant and paces back and forth. When the thunder finally arrives, Danny tries to hide under the bed or behind the couch. Unfortunately, Danny is too big to fit into such tight spaces.

The lack of sleep is taking a toll on all of us. Danny doesn't move when the alarm goes off for his morning walk and neither do we. I may have to start drinking coffee to get thru the day.

Duck Crossing

I was running late for work and as I raced into my car, I opened the garage door and began backing out the driveway.

The Lexus has a camera that shows what is behind you when the car is in reverse. I really don't pay much attention to the backup camera, but when I looked over at the screen, there were Maddy and Paddy - waddling behind the car!

I stopped the car and chased them to the pond.

As I drove on I wondered if we could sell this idea to Lexus as a commercial - cost of a backup camera $X, saving 2 ducks priceless (oops, maybe that is Visa commercial).

Hawks return

I have not seen much of the hawks since early spring. I assumed that they had either moved on to a new hunting ground or all the leaves made them much harder to spot.

The other morning, on the way home from Danny's morning walk I looked at the pond and there sat a beautiful red tailed hawk. The only time I have seen a hawk sit on the ground is when it is grabbing its prey. I immediately thought of Maddy and Paddy, but they were at the edge of the pond about 5 feet from the hawk.

The hawk sat for a minute and then flew off. Tonight I also spotted the hawk flying around the pond, so there must be something of interest out there.

Renovation

We have been thinking of renovating our house, but are having an extremely tough time finding a company to work with.

If you know of any architects or renovation contractors that you would highly recommend in Fairfield County, CT - please add a comment with their contact info.

Thanks!

Flip-flop

I have a pair of rubber flip-flops that I leave by the door, in case I need to go into the yard. The other day I noticed that there was one by the door and one in the middle of the living room.

I didn't give it much thought, just picked the shoe up and put it by the door. The next day I noticed the shoe was again in the living room. So, I placed it by the door and headed upstairs.

When I came down, Danny was caught in the act - happily gnawing on my flip-flop. Not that Danny doesn't have a pile of toys to play with. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, he probably thinks it is a larger version of his rubber bone.

Wish I got a picture !

Turns out it is not just flip-flops that Danny likes. As I was reading this to Jeff, he said he has caught Danny with my fuzzy slippers!

Maybe Danny has a shoe fetish ??

Foxes, Ducks and Turkeys Too

There are wild turkeys all over CT, but I have not see any in the yard, until today!

This turkey seemed to enjoy the tall grass around the edge of the pond.

Calla Lilies

I received this stunning flower arrangement for my birthday and wanted to share it with everyone.

Duck, Duck, Duck

For most of the spring, Maddy and Paddy have been frequent visitors to the pond. Occasionally, Dupree (the lone male) will fly in for an afternoon.

Now, for the last few days, another female mallard is living on the pond. This duck has a white ring around her eye and constantly swims back and forth. This is very different from Maddy and Paddy who tend to sit along the edge of the pond. She is shy and flies off if I get too close (sorry, no pictures). She constantly quacks/coos as she paddles along, it is such a happy sound, I can't help but smile.

Some Retriever

The heat just wipes poor Danny boy out. On Saturday it wasn't hot, but it was muggy. While I was taking pictures of the yard he was out rolling around in the new grass. When Maddy & Paddy the ducks came to see what was going on, Danny had no interest in even chasing them today. Some retriever, eh?

Complete

The landscaping is finally complete!

Brian Cossari and crew from Hoffman Landscapes put the finishing touches on our back yard today. The Town of Wilton's wetlands regulations would have been impossible to navigate without Brian's help. When there was a disagreement during the project, I feel Brian did the right thing by making sure I was satisfied even though it cost him a little money. While our project was on the small scale for them, I was always treated professionally. I would definitely use them again for any sized project.

And just look at the before picture, yuck!

Another new visitor

As I was leaving for work, I thought I noticed something slowly moving across the grass, on the side of our yard opposite the pond. I looked again but all I saw was green and then something moved again. I was not sure what it was - at first I thought of the usual suspects - the woodchuck or a squirrel, but they move too fast.

After staring for a few minutes, I realized that it was a turtle - its shell was about the size of a serving plate. The shell was very green and I think it must have come from the pond which is covered in green duckweed.

I shouldn't be surprised that the pond might contain turtles, but I was surprised to see such a big one. After a year, I thought I had seen all the wildlife, but I guess you never know what might show up.

Tree Peony

Ever since I heard about tree peonies, I have wanted to plant one, but it always seems that spring becomes summer and we never buy one. Last weekend we started looking( very late) at local nurseries and they had none or just the regular peony.

When we lived in Oxford, we would go to White Flower Farm in Litchfield, CT and they always had beautiful plants and bushes. I called White Flower Farm and they still had a few remaining tree peonies.

After purchasing the peony, we were stopped by 2 people in the parking lot who asked - is that a tree peony - where are you planting it - have you had one before- we wanted to get one, but they are so pricey, etc. Who knew that these plants were so popular!

Tree peonies grow to 5 feet tall and have many flowers. It turns out that it takes MANY years for a tree peony to mature, which may explain why our little tree is 1 ft tall. It has beautiful flowers and I am hoping that the deer and woodchuck will ignore it.

If you have been to White Flower Farm, you know that you just don't buy one thing, so now we have several other new plants as well. If you really want to find a large selection of quality plants, trees, or bulbs, I would highly recommend White Flower Farm.

Wilton Window

Here are some of the sites from our yard. As spring time leads into summer, we are seeing some new flowers....

Out in the sun

Danny boy enjoying a day in the sun.

Rememberence

Memorial Day, a time to reflect and remember. To all the soldiers and sailors, especially my Dad, we say thank you, we miss you and will always love you.

Woodpeckers

While eating dinner tonight with the door open, I heard the pileated woodpecker. I have seen this woodpecker on our morning walks, so was not surprised to hear the loud knocking as it pecked at a tree.

What did surprise me was that when I was later in the yard, I saw two pileated woodpeckers! One was a little smaller than the other and I believe they were a male and female. I did not have time to get a picture, but here is what the pileated woodpecker looks like, if you haven't seen one (or 2 ;) )

Marist & Kelly

Meet Marist and Kelly. At 6:00am these kits were already running in the yard.
Marist is named in honor of Marist College's mascot (the red fox). Kelly is for Brother Kelly, one of my favorite professors.

Fox kits x 2

As we were cleaning up the dinner table, I looked out the window and saw 2 fox kits (babies) near the shed. My first thought was "wow, they are SO cute" and then "they look like puppies". The one kit walked up the ramp to the shed and sat down (this is the woodchuck's favorite sunning spot). The other kit just sniffed in the grass (perhaps smelling Danny ??).

When we opened the door to take a picture, the foxes ran under the shed and disappeared. I did not see any parents around. I wonder what happens when the foxes and woodchuck meet in the burrow/tunnels ?? Jeff is betting that the fox would kick some ***

Bird dog

A couple of years ago, Jeff got me a decorative bird cage. It makes the perfect do-dad to put on the base of the fireplace. There is a little wooden bird perched atop the birdcage.

Danny was playing with his toys the other day while I was reading a book. He came over to me with something in his mouth. At first, I paid no attention but something in my mind clicked and I realized it was too small to be one of his toys. I decided to check, just for kicks, and after a few minutes of prying was able to get Danny to open up for me.

It was the little wooden bird from the cage! Not a scratch on it, mind you. Of course what else would you expect from a retriever? I couldn't help but laugh as he pranced around with the little birdie hanging from his lips. Never a dull moment with this dog around...

Hummertime

The last few rainy days have kept Hummer away. As we were eating dinner tonight, two hummers visited the feeder right outside the kitchen. By the time we grabbed the camera, they were gone. After a few minutes, they came back and we were able to snap a couple pictures.

A dog's life

Oh to be a dog. This is Danny boy in that magical time between his morning walk and his breakfast when I'm in the shower.

Images of spring

What spring looks like at our house:

The Gate - Part II

The gate has now been painted and you can see that the grass is slowly growing.

Maddy and Paddy (the ducks) have been back to visit. In fact, when they are hungry they become quite bold and will march up to the driveway in search of a snack. With the fox running around, I get a little nervous. I'm not sure if a fox would eat a duck, but I don't want to find out.

When Danny sees the ducks, he still races to the edge of the pond, but always stops before making the final leap. In fact, he is much more fascinated by the woodchuck and will just sit and stare at the opening to the burrow.

Danny and the woodchuck

We gave Danny a bath today and were in the front yard waiting for him to dry off. We headed towards the pond and expected that Danny would follow. After a few minutes we realized that Danny was not with us. We turned around and there he was - slowly, patiently stalking the woodchuck.

The woodchuck was at the edge of our property, eating grass and Danny would take a step stop, stare, take another step. The woodchuck did not move at all - either he didn't notice Danny or didn't care.

Danny crept up on the woodchuck and when he was about 5 ft away, he broke into a run. Unfortunately for Danny, the woodchuck's burrow was about 2 feet away. When the woodchuck disappeared, Danny was so confused - he stuck his nose down the hole, and had to be dragged away.

Seeing Danny stalk the woodchuck made me realize that he is a hunter at heart.

The Gate

As part of the new landscaping, there is supposed to be a gate at the top of the stone stairs.We have been waiting for the gate to be installed and today it finally arrived!

We are trying to decide if we should stain it white or some other color. It gives an interesting focal point to the yard.

There is one stump left to be removed and then the project is complete.

The grass is slowly coming in - a few sunny days and some light rain would really help.

Hummer's Back

For the first time this season I spotted a hummingbird flying around the fuchsia. Last year it took me several months of coaxing with feeders and flowers (aka woodchuck snacks) before the hummingbirds appeared.

I immediately boiled some sugar water and put it out in the feeders. I hope that we will soon see hummer all the time.

Does it get any better than this?

A nice spring day playing toss with your buddy.

Free to good home, part II

The annual spring cleaning frenzy has taken hold in the Garage. Quite a few stray gloves were tossed along with the year's casualties in the Bird Feeder department.

In the year we've owned this house, I've picked up stray kid stuff all around the yard. The first month was the most fruitful with 3 or four baseballs, two basketballs and 4 golf balls (3 wiffle, 1 regular). We had some stuff that the previous owners left behind, so we sent the stray balls along with it. Since then, whenever I found a ball I threw it into a box in the garage. That box got cleaned out tonight and it's contents may surprise you:

• 9 golf balls (6 regular, 2 wiffle, 1 playskool)
• 2 playskool golf clubs (1 driver, 1 iron)
• 4 baseballs
• 1 tennis ball
• 3 basketballs (2 regular, 1 nerf)
• 1 home base
• 2 matchbox cars
  

I think we've found most of the stray items, but the first mowing of the year might turn up something new.

To the point of the post.

Since I scored the monster toolbox from Sears, I don't need my spare box. This is a Stack-On three drawer toolbox that measures 20" wide and 8" deep. The top opens and I don't have a key for the lock. It is free to the first person who emails me at marist89(at)excite.com [replace the (at) with @]. I don't mind holding on to it until I see you next. If I get no takers, it goes to the Holy Family Regional Christmas Tag Sale in November.

A new visitor

This morning while playing ball with Danny in the front yard, we saw a fox for the first time. Danny showed no interest at all - the fox crossed the front yard and headed down the road.

Tonight while cooking dinner I looked out the window and the fox was back. This time strolling thru the back yard and into the woods. I always thought foxes were red, but this one is brownish.

According to Google, foxes like to nest in enlarged groundhog/woodchuck holes. I wonder if that means we have a new tenant under the shed.