Suggestions wanted

Recently we purchased a wonderful bird feeder for the backyard. The problem is, the birds must not think it so wonderful. We had it on a Shepherd's hook and nothing happened so now it is hanging from a tree. Still it keeps getting snubbed. So, who has the solution. We have trees in the neighbors yard, we have a bird bath that they seem to enjoy. We have colorful flowers planted. Anyone have any ideas?

Road trip to Natchez

Yesterday we took a road trip to Natchez. We had a couple of stops along the way. We first stopped in Port Gibson which is a small town where it's main street is lined with many church buildings. As you can see in the first picture the steeple is topped with a hand and finger pointing to Heaven. I loved it! I just had to take a picture of it. The other picture is an old Jewish temple. I thought the architecture was interesting.

In Natchez we had to go down and check out the mighty Mississippi. She was still high even though she had gone down considerably. We also drove around and looked at some of the antebellum homes there. Then we went to the cementary. It was quite large and old. I loved some of the statues they used to mark the graves.

The last picture is of the Turning Angel. She is mentioned in a Greg Iles book David has read. It seems there was some horrible building accident in 1800(something) which killed a few teenagers that worked in the building. The statue is dedicated to their memory.

All in all we had a great time in Natchez even though it was really hot.

Where's the hummingbirds?

Today at work I had the nicest conversation with an elderly gentleman about hummingbirds. He told me he had about 25 feeders but so far not many birds. He was looking for some plants to help attract them to his garden. I highly recommended Black/Blue Salvia which he bought 4. He also bought some Gomphrena and butterfly bushes for the color.


I asked him if it wasn't still a little early for the hummers but he said he always has them at this time. He was concerned about the crazy weather we have had and wondered about the effect on them. As I listened to him, it was so obvious how much he cares about these little birds. I asked him if he had ever touched one to which he replied yes. He then told me the story of how one had gotten caught inside his garage(I think) and knocked itself unconscious by running into a wall. He said he picked it up, put it inside a shoebox, put a little sugar water in the box by the bird. He said it took 5 calls to different vets to see about taking it in and finally found one that would see him.

He said he waited patiently in the waiting room and then they called him in. When he went to open the shoebox out the bird went searching for a way out of the room. The vet assistant told him to just open the door and let it out. He wouldn't hear of it. He said he captured it, took it back home, placed the bird on a feeder. He said it fed for about 3 days and then disappeared. He said it never seemed quite right and figured it passed on.

I thought what a sweet story told by such a caring and compassionate individual. These are the kind of things that make my job and life so great!


A few tidbits about hummingbirds:

• They are territorial



• They are the only bird that can fly backwards



• They have to eat every 20 minutes



• The first hummers you see in your yard are scouts



• They prefer flower nectar over homemade sugar water

The latest from the garden.....

So far things are looking pretty good in my garden. All except this broccoli. Okay, I know what you're thinking. This guy should have been harvested a few days back. Well I have never grown this veggie before and not sure what to expect. Anyway, to make a long story short, I harvested tonight and steamed them. Actually tasted good, much better than store bought.

My other veggies are doing great except my zucchini. It seems to be slow in growing. My yellow squash is the straight variety and not crooked neck. It is called "Goldbar" and is doing great! Peppers and tomatoes are all producing and my elephant garlic is blooming. I have to decide if I am going to harvest it or let it go dormant for next year.

Well I guess this about covers it for now. We had lots of wonderful rain last night so all my plants look happy today.

What a great day!

Yesterday we were both off work and decided to spend our day at LeFleur's Bluff State Park. This is actually in Jackson's city limits. It was a beautiful, sunny day with a little breeze. We first started off at the Museum of Natural Science. They had neat displays of birds, dinosaur bones, fish aquariums and other interesting things.

After we finished the museum we had a little snack and then wandered the many nature trails they have. It was a great way to spend the day. Normally, we would probably have worked in the yard and exercised.

To top it all off David's mom cooked dinner for us. Food sure is good when you don't have to cook it yourself.

Almost in our backyard

God is Awesome!!

Today has been a great Sunday! Church services started at 10:00 today so we decided to drive down by the lake to kill some time. We drove down the Natchez Trace Parkway which is only a few minutes from our house. This is a quiet, scenic drive which allows us to see different types of wildlife. We have actually seen an American Bald Eagle as well as wild turkeys. Today we saw about 5 deer up off the side of the road. What a beautiful sight! Blessings abound-too bad most people are always in a hurry and don't notice them.

Church was great as usual. We had services outside. Today was a ground breaking for the new building that is going to begin soon. We signed rocks with messages to be used somehow in the building. We also had our pictures made wearing hard hats. Everything was great!

Then we went to Wal-Mart for our usual grocery buying. I know, you are thinking what is so great about that! Today, they were giving out ice cream sundaes. Yeah! They were delicious. I havent' had one of those in years.

Tonight we will be grilling. Yummy!

A beauty in the garden

It's official. "Gloria" has a new home. She has been flanking our front door for several months and we finally got her moved today.

This is what it is all about.............

Working in retail affords me many opportunities to converse with many people. Some I enjoy, others, well you know. But since working at Gardenworks I have met many nice ones. Last year when I started working there I met a little elderly lady that I have hit it off with. Don't know her name and she doesn't know mine but she came in yesterday and I waited on her. She walks kind of slow so that gives us plenty of time to talk. She is the type that comes in only for one or two things but ends up with several more.

After I checked her out I walked her to her car carrying her plants. As I placed them inside I thanked her for coming by and looked forward to seeing her again. She then said to me, "Thanks so much for helping me. I love ya, hon." Then she gave me a big hug. Isn't that what life is all about. Caring and loving our fellow man?

The sun always shines at Gardenworks

Chase is one of our high school boys. He is a very hard worker and fun to work with.

This is our hut where we check customers out.

Working hard

Vanesa is the newest member of our team. She is funny and truly blonde(no offense Vanesa). This is part of our perennial section

More annuals

Annual section

Melissa checking out the sweet potato vine

Section one at Gardenworks

Pretty!

More containers

Containers for sale

We are lucky we get to pick any pots in the store and plant them up as we wish. This is one I did.

Working hard at Gardenworks

As you can see, we work really hard in the nursery. These girls are two of the hardest working people I have ever known. Alice(wearing the visor) demonstrates the importance of watering which is a daily chore. Melissa is demonstrating the importance of having fun while on the job.

After the Storm

We got up this a.m. with thunderstorms and heavy rain. Our backyard literally had a river running through it. I just knew my vegetables would be showing up on some neighbors plate because they had done floated on down the road(Smile). I also thought I might get a call telling me not to come to work but that didn't happen. Can you believe people actually shop in torrential down pours? This would be okay if they were shopping inside. They bring their umbrellas and stand there letting us do all the plant gathering in the rain.(Please don't take offense if this is you). Then we also got a truck in we had to unload. We all looked like drowned rats when we were through. It rained for hours and we were under a flash flood warning. But luckily by noon it was done and the sun started to shine.

We had a beautiful sunset this evening but I didn't really catch much of the beauty, just the peacefulness of it all.

Happy Anniversary

Tonight we celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe we said "I do" that many years ago. I can never thank the good Lord above enough for giving me such a wonderful, loving husband. We celebrated with a wonderful dinner out and of course what's a celebration without Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Yum!!!!!!!!

A little sunshine never hurt anyone

Okay, so I have decided to give this blogging thing a try. So, just hang with me while I adjust. Since moving to MS, I have done lots of gardening. Our house came with grass, shrubs, very little trees and lots of sunshine. I miss having shade but decided to think positive and have a vegetable garden. So far I have planted tomatoes(many varieties), peppers(sweet and hot), cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower(I'm very excited about these cause they are all producing). I have also planted red and white onions, squash, cucumbers, zucchini, and elephant garlic. So far so good, except I had a big war with slugs/snails. They lost! I have also planted some perennials and annuals in this bed.