We Have Purple Martins!

Only took six years, but we have a pair of martins!

They are having trouble deciding which house they want!

If these two stay, eventually we will have all the houses full and will have to add more gourds like we did in Georgia.

The chickadee and chicks have left, so I removed the nest from the box.  Good to see my dogs' fur is recycled.  There's also some fur from an unidentified animal.

A memory appeared on my Facebook page of the photos I took of the grosbeaks last year.  They came on the exact same day this year!

At the feeders:  

In the gardens:

This is Shahab's backyard in Asheville.  We are invited up this weekend to see the poppies.  I hope a Persian meal comes with!!

My friend Dixie in Atlanta is an accomplished oil artist, and this painting of poppies was given to me years ago.  I am thinking of commissioning another for Shahab and Mindy for Christmas.

In Rescue:  Last week was a bad week.  I counted on others to save a chow in LA not knowing he may have been hit by a car.  He laid there six days in urine and feces, the vet thinks of a broken hip.  The people who were in charge dropped the ball, so I called the shelter to get things going. Found a vet tech to get him out to a vet and in the meantime raised $2000 in four hours.  He died when they anesthetized him for xrays.  So sad, I can't even post his photo.  I named him Survivor before his passing.  My first loss.  This week we saved Carla who had been in a shelter in NC for 10 months!  My friend Misha picked her up to foster her.

Here she is pouting for a drive thru cheeseburger LOL!

 Such a sweet girl saved in honor of Survivor.  

Our Wild Kingdom

My new cam is up and the bears are playing hard to get!

I put it down by the stream at the bottom of the pasture with a big molasses block.  It's attracting a lot of activity!  I could hear the coyotes, but none on the cam.   Love it when they sing!

Hummingbirds Are Early!

The hummingbirds arrived on Good Friday, not the usual Earth Day, so they are early.  I had my feeders ready and waiting since the word was they were seen in Tryon.

The honeysuckle I have been training on the fence near the hummer feeder is taking off and the hummers love that!

Goldfinches also appeared.

The chickadee won over the blue bird :(

We were at the lake yesterday, we have renters for the week and were setting up.  I saw this duck, but it never came close enough to really see it.  A loon? A muskcovy?  It was beautiful yesterday, today not so much.  Cold and rain, feel sorry for our renters. Tonight is supposed to be tricky with tornadoes.  Could be a long Easter night.

My purple azalea in full bloom.

Bridal wreath spirea in bloom.

This "weed tree" grows everywhere and has huge thorns, but the most gorgeous wisteria-like blooms that smell like candy!

Click on the link below for my first spring garden tour.  Apologize for some blurriness, camera is giving me trouble.  Happy Easter!

 https://youtu.be/6wCGOwQMeoM

Easter Flowers

I had hopes of posting a dancing bear video, but my cam broke and I'm waiting for another being sent by the company, so the bear mascot on Main Street in Tryon will have to do!

Playing it safe!

We've been taking drives around our area just to look at everything in bloom.  Pollen is everywhere!  Seems as if everything is in bloom at once!

Even the spring greens are pretty.

In my own garden, the dogwoods look bright white with a sudden t-storm popping up behind.

Three years after planting, my wild azaleas are blooming!

My fence line where I have been training and pruning wisteria is paying off, too!

I found these two tiny azaleas growing again in the dog cemetery and will transplant in the fall to the azalea garden.

At Mindy's farm, pear trees in bloom in one of her pastures.

Her greens are growing strong.  We have been trading goods during this time.  Last week her spinach was amazing, I made a big pan of Spanakopita and gave her half in return. 

She even grows ginger, which I used in my Japanese curry dumplings and a Japanese salad. Shahab made a loaf of bread for us, too.

I acquired some duck eggs, higher in protein than chicken eggs, that was another trade.  The shells are so thick and tough, I don't know how the baby ducks get out!  Next week she will have her goat cheese ready and I will take her another item for trade.  It's been fun.

These are the stoneware dishes from the old house that were covered in mud, now clean and ready for Easter brunch!