At the Feeders and in the Trees - Week 32

Gosh, it was a little late in the day to take any pics but I looked out our sliding door to the deck and a hummer was sitting on one of the feeder poles. What a thrill to get this pic! 




 I was focusing and clicking as fast as I could just hoping to get at least one good pic. Well, I got several decent ones to be 6:30 pm. Don't think I have ever gotten a shot of a hummer on the pole. Not as much detail in the pic because of the time of day, but I'm a happy camper.






A few days ago, I captured three American Goldfinches at one of my feeders eating black oil sunflower seeds. 


I think this Tufted Titmouse was a bit startled when the Carolina Chickadee flew in and landed on the branch very close to him.





The Chickadee didn't stay long and the Titmouse was left in amazement.




I have spent so much of the summer working in my gardens and taking pics of flowers and  butterflies that I haven't captured as many birds. 



I thankful to return to spending more time birding - Judy.


Linking to:

 Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturdays
Camera Critters on Saturday
I'd Rather Be Birdin' on Saturday at noon


Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life
Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Grace at Home @ The Charm of Home


Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage on Thursday evening

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet


Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday Sparkles @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home on Saturday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda
Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wednesday evening
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style



Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening

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Gathering Butterfly Weed Seeds

Here in my gardens in Western Kentucky, it's time to harvest seeds from my Butterfly Weed. The pods have opened and I want to have seeds to plant next spring. Follow along and I'll show you how to gather them.



You may remember my Butterfly Weed in June when it was in full bloom with its beautiful orange blooms.







Being true to its name, the butterflies do love the weed.



In July, the weed was still going strong and the butterflies kept coming.




Now it's mid September and the weed has stopped blooming.  A few weeks ago, I started seeing the pods form on the weed. I forgot to take a pic of the pods at this stage but  here is one from the internet.




The pods start drying out and turn a light brown. You can gather the pods, bring them in and cut them open to see the seeds. 




I didn't  get the pods removed before they opened. You can see there is some fine fluffy white stuff in the pods so it is a little tedious to separate the seeds. 




The seeds will blow around your yard if the winds gets them before you do.


I removed the open pods and put them in a plastic bowl to bring inside.


The seeds can then be removed from the fluffy stuff and put on a napkin.




An envelop can work to store the seeds. Since I try to gather other seeds from my garden, I always label the envelopes with the name of the plant and the date. The seeds will be ready to plant in the spring. 

I'm thankful that I was able to gather seeds for spring planting. Thanks for stopping by - Judy.

 Linking to:
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Mosaic Monday @ Normandy Life
Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings
Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House


Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life on Tuesday

The Scoop @ Stone Gable Blog

The Scoop @ Confessions of a Plate Addict

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style


Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wednesday evening

Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane on Wednesday evening

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life
Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Grace at Home @ The Charm of Home


Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage on Thursday evening

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet


Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday Sparkles @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Create, Bake, Grow & Gather @ Shabby Art Boutique on Friday


Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturdays
Camera Critters on Saturday
I'd Rather Be Birdin' on Saturday at noon

Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home on Saturday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda
Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

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Flowers, Ferns and Another New Bed

Many of my zinnias are still producing flowers. The oranges seems to be flowering so brightly these days. 




Still lots of pinks too. Others are starting too fade so I know they will soon go to seed. 





The elephant ears look good. Some are in the ground and others are in pots. I'll dig them in another month to put in our shop for the winter.


I have a fern and hosta bed around a tree in the backyard that sadly I have neglected more than I should have this summer. The hardy ferns are doing great but so are the weeds.








New bed update: The expanded bed in the front yard is now complete. New plants are in place along with new mulch. A few crepe myrtles and azaleas remain from the old bed.




I am so thankful my grandson helped me water today. I haven't been able to get out and water the last few days. I had a radiofrequency lumbar facet ablation on Wednesday and needed one of my grandsons to help me out in the yard. 




He is such a good helper and watered all the beds for me. We had to make a trip to Sonic for a chocolate shake after all his hard work!




The ranger is a life saver to haul water.






Yet another new project: You may have noticed there is a pile of top soil in front of the newly finished bed.



This bed is going to be for orange daylilies. Hubby arranged the stones around the bed. Now the dirt needs to be moved to the bed and daylilies planted. 


That's it for flowers, ferns and beds. Until next time - Judy.


Linking to:



Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day @ May Dreams on the 15th of the month
#My Glorious Garden @ Old House in the Shires

Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wednesday evening
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane on Wednesday evening

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening


Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life
Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Grace at Home @ The Charm of Home


Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage on Thursday evening

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet


Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday Sparkles @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Create, Bake, Grow & Gather @ Shabby Art Boutique on Friday

Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home on Saturday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda
Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays



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At the Feeders and in the Trees - Week 31

I am happy to see the hummers are still here. This Ruby-Throated hummingbird must be the female since the bright red throat is absent. I love to hear their chatter when I'm sitting on the deck. They don't sing but you can recognize their chatting. 




We were at Kentucky Lake last weekend and I went to the restaurant where we have our boat,  and a lady was standing very still on the walkway and said "I'm watching the hummingbirds, we don't have them were I live." She said she lived in Florida. I am so thankful we have them in my area. I love watching them daily.




The Tufted Titmouse must watch to see when I am putting out black-oiled sunflower seeds because he comes by pretty quickly. He stays year-round here in Kentucky.





The Carolina Chickadee is always fun to watch and moves so quick. He grabs a seed and flies to a branch to crack it.




Thanks for stopping by - Judy.

Linking to:


Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life
Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Grace at Home @ The Charm of Home


Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage on Thursday evening

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet


Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday Sparkles @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Create, Bake, Grow & Gather @ Shabby Art Boutique on Friday

Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home on Saturday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda
Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch


Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wednesday evening
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane on Wednesday evening

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening


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Flower Bed Project Update

I am making some progress in our flower bed project.


Last week, I showed a quick picture of the start of a new yard project at the front of our property close to the road.



Our front bed was mostly cleared of the old overgrown bushes then expanded. New stones were purchased and dirt was delivered. Hubby and I put all the stones in place and that was a big job plus it was so hot. I did hire a young man who does yard work to spread the dirt.











Variegated Liriope is ready to be planted for the border around the bed. 


 It took a lot more than the liriope in the pic to go all the way around the bed. 












The yard guy couldn't work Monday (Labor Day) so  I planted 26 of the liriope and spaced them two feet apart. But 26 wasn't near enough; the bed measures 38 x 12.


In addition to liriope, two limelight hydrangea, and crepe myrtles were purchased to add to the bed plus mulch.



One of the crepes, and three limelight's are now planted. My yard guy had time to help me yesterday so now all of the lipriope is planted too.







At the west end of the bed, we kept two older crepe myrtles and two azaleas. 




I am so thankful we have the Ranger to get plants, tools, etc. moved around the yard. A 35 gallon water tank sits in the back of it right now and sure beats dragging a hose out to the new bed.  I used 35 gallons of water two nights in a row and will again this evening if it doesn't rain. Praying for rain!


That's it for today. More work is in store - Judy.

Linking to these great parties:

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life
Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Grace at Home @ The Charm of Home


Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage on Thursday evening

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet


Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Saturday Sparkles @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Create, Bake, Grow & Gather @ Shabby Art Boutique on Friday

Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home on Saturday

Table It Link Party @ Life and Linda
Inspiration Monday @ Our Southern Home
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays
Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch


Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have A Cup of Mrs. Olson on Wednesday evening
Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

Share Your Style Link Party @ 21 Rosemary Lane on Wednesday evening

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening



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