Skip to main content

On Guard Duty


This dove was watching from the roof of my car port. When she saw me watching, she flew to the crape myrtle tree and watched patiently from there, aware I am certain that I was still watching her.

Now she is casually sauntering around the lawn trying to convince me she has no harmful intent.

HA! I know what she is up to. She is not wandering far from my parsley plant.


I had noticed a black swallowtail butterfly visiting the parsley and last week I found the future generation. I covered them with netting but I have to remain vigilant over those wily birds.

My sister opined that I am being cruel to birds by depriving them of a food source. I consider it stewardship of increased food supply for the future.

They are growing fast and quickly demolishing the parsley.


I was kind of starting to think about the trip back to Vermont but now I am torn
over maternal responsibilities.

It may take a while for the process to unfold.

Comments

  1. gigi-hawaiiMay 31, 2020 at 11:58 AM

    I used to watch the metamorphosis of butterflies. Quite thrilling.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OlgaMay 31, 2020 at 7:21 PM

      I remember doing that in school science class.

      Delete
  2. Linda ReederMay 31, 2020 at 3:30 PM

    Oh, those are so cool! Worth losing the parsley and standing guard.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OlgaMay 31, 2020 at 7:36 PM

      Parsley is easy to grow. I brought this plant with me from VT last fall. It served me well and now I don't mind passing it on.

      Delete
  3. Arkansas PattiMay 31, 2020 at 4:46 PM

    They really do love parsley don't they. I didn't protect them when they got to me and I was stunned to see how quickly the birds eliminated them. If I plant it again, I'll try to protect them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MaebemeMay 31, 2020 at 7:26 PM

    That is incredible! Hopefully your netting will save them from the birds...I'm sure there are others in the neighbourhood to satisfy their appetite.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jenn JilksJune 1, 2020 at 9:59 AM

    That's an interesting problem!
    I imagine there is more food than just this for the birds!

    ReplyDelete
  6. TomJune 2, 2020 at 10:41 AM

    Ha ha. If you have herbs or vegetables, you're going to have pest... I mean, cute little critters running and flying around your yard.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I appreciate readers' comments so much. You don't even always have to agree with me.

Popular posts from this blog

It's TIme

 It's been a while since I have posted anything and even my reading your posts is falling by the wayside. I am in Florida now. I have a yard where little attention was spent on landscaping for the past years so I am slowly and (somewhat) methodically addressing that. I also volunteer to work at the pollinator garden and the edible garden I helped install at the UU grounds and I took over the volunteer job of cleaning out the overgrown community garden by my neighborhood mailboxes. The neighbor who was doing that got sick and could no longer attend to it. It's a bigger job than I'd thought at first -- not only overgrown with weeds, but the plants that are wanted there are in life and death competition for each others' spaces. And two walks a day, morning and evening, so Levi can keep up with addiction to canine social media and a daily rousing came of stick or ball midday take up another chunk of my time. I have a weekly meditation group that I co-facilitate, and my own ...
10 comments
Read more

Life Goes On

There is nothing like a visit from the grand children to remind one that life goes on.  I spent Friday night at my daughter's and then brought the kids back home with me.  I did not get to see so much of them this past summer and it was a birthday gift to my daughter (who just turned 40!) to have a couple of days to herself. She probably spent them in her son's room playing Lego StarWars.  Dane tried to teach me how to play this video game--a hopeless task if ever there was one.  "Concentrate, Grandma!  You have to concentrate!"  I do have a hard time with sustained concentration lately, but in this case I had no clue what it was that needed concentration.  He finally took the controls away from me (thank-you!). It's amazing how long he can amuse himself at my house being out side on a scooter or helping me in the yard, especially if it involves a hose.  Inside, they both sit and draw or craft for hours.  Just before bed, Dane did say, "N...
41 comments
Read more

Eggplant

Mike and I considered ourselves soul mates, but we definitely were not culinary mates.  Mike liked what he liked and disliked what he disliked and he never changed his mind about things like that.  He did not eat mayonnaise.  He did not eat tomato sauce.  He did not eat cooked vegetables except for corn, peas and green beans.  He did not eat onions cooked or otherwise.  He did not eat casseroles ever since they were a combination of things he didn't eat anyway. I did not like mushrooms as a kid and eggplant just made me gag, but my tastes changed,  Foods I found disgusting as a child are now among my favorites--mushrooms, eggplant, avocados, asparagus, eggs, spinach, brussel sprouts, herbs and spices. I will admit that I never developed a taste for liver (nor do I want to). I made this Moussakka a while ago and ate it every day for a week.  I froze half of it but ended up thawing it out right away. It consists of sliced eggplant layered...
31 comments
Read more