Lilies

These lilies are called "Tiny Sensation."

Granville Goat

The hubby and I took a little cruise toward Granville, TN this
afternoon. We spotted this goat in someone's front yard. He was
so cute, I just had to stop and get a picture of him.

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Thanks to all the military men
and women past and present who made the ultimate sacrifice for

the freedoms we enjoy and to all who serve today! We salute you.

Tree Swallows

Our nesting pair of Tree Swallows. If you look closely you can see
mama swallow in the birdhouse :0) Too cute! I love these little birds!

After one of the storms last week, we found this Robin's nest laying
out in the front yard. It was blown out of one of our Maple trees.


I found this Robin egg shell in our back yard. Hopefully it was
hatched succesfully and not destroyed by an animal or an other
bird!

Wren Nest

It's fun watching these little birds cram those big sticks inside
that little birdhouse :0)

A Mother's Work is Never Done

I took this series of photos on May 20th as a mama Robin feeds
her three babies. The nest is in one of our cherry trees. I don't
see how that little nest held all those birds :0)


The baby bird pictured here left the nest soon after I took this
picture. The rest left a couple of days later.

Mockingbird flying around one of the Maple trees in our front yard.

Sounds of Cicadas & Female Tree Swallow

Our sweet, little, female Tree Swallow peeking out of the

birdhouse at me. They are so friendly and approachable.

You can hear the sounds of the Cicadas in the background.

They've gotten really vocal now that the weather has

warmed up. Enjoy!

Year of the Cicada

Busting out.


This is what the cicada looks like before it's shell hardens and
darkens.


Here's looking at you :0)




I'm glad these things don't bite!


Big red eyes!

Brood XIX Periodical Cicada 2011

A cicada emerging from the nymph skin.










Holes under our Bradford Pear trees where the cicadas have
emerged from underground after 13 years.


Pile of cicadas under our pear tree.


Another cicada emerging.


This cicada landed on my ankle while I was taking pictures :0)

More cicada 2011 pictures tomorrow :0) For everything you ever
wanted to know about cicadas, check out this article. It's pretty
fascinating: http://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/

Seed Sock

Male and female Goldfinches chowing down at the seed
sock :0)

Chickadee Eggs

Nature can be fascinating, but cruel as well. I found this little
Chickadee egg cracked on the patio below the bird box where they
have been nesting. I also noticed some nesting material had been
pulled out of the bird box.


It looks like this egg has been pecked open. House Sparrows
and Wrens are notorious for attacking Chickadee nests and
attacking their young and eggs. It's sad, but I guess that's what
they mean by "survival of the fittest."

Baskets of Flowers

This plant is called a Calibrachoa plant. We got four of these flower
baskets to hang in our garden and two for our back porch. They
are so pretty and I've even seen a hummingbird checking them
out.

We bought this little seed sock at
Wal Mart last week. It's a really neat
way to feed the birds, specifically finches
and chickadees etc...It's fun watching the
birds clinging to that sock, especially when
it twirls in the wind :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three years ago today my youngest brother,
Rob, passed away suddenly at the age of 44.
Not a day goes by that I don't think about him
or smile at something he did or said. I miss him
terribly, but I know one day we will see him again.
Love you bro!

Hole in the Clouds

This is what was left of the blue sky Saturday morning after the
dark clouds started closing in.

The sky looked awesome Saturday morning. I took this shot while
we were sitting on our back porch enjoying some coffee. I was
taking a picture of the clouds, when these two Doves flew into the
shot. Made it almost "heavenly" looking :0)

Creepy Crawlers

I found this interesting looking spider on one of our rocking chair
legs. Creepy, but colorful.

Cicadas

This is the year of the 13 year Cicadas. I found these shells under
our pear trees. Terry and I walk every afternoon when he gets
home from work. We see the shells and live Cicadas all over the
sidewalks, sometimes piles of them. We've been hearing them in
the trees as well. They're pretty cool little creatures with big red
eyes. Hopefully I can get a picture of a live Cicada.

Our red roses are in full bloom and they smell so good!




One of my all time faves!

In Flight

Male Bluebird


Mr and Mrs Bluebird ran our Tree Swallows out of their home in
the Tulip Poplar. We ended up buying another birdhouse which
the Tree Swallows quickly found and are busy building their nest.
We put the new birdhouse up on the garden arbor. Hopefully all is
well in bird land :0)