What is wrong with this picture?
Need a hint? Well, here you go.
Why am I taking a picture of a pot of dirt? Because this is no ordinary pot of dirt. This would be a pot of dirt that used to be home to impatiens. Yes. USED to be. As in IS NOT ANYMORE. So why not? Where did it go? What happened?
Every morning when I get up, I do a walk through. I walk through my house and look at everything. I don't know why. I look out all my windows. Again, I don't know why. I guess just to be sure nothing changed while I was asleep. I'm a little nosey that way. And I check on all my little plants. So this morning when I peeped out my door, MY POT WAS EMPTY. I mean, it wasn't totally empty. The dirt was there. But the flowers were not! Y'all. Seriously. I thought I was LOSING. MY. MIND. It was there. I know it was. I planted it three weeks ago. And I watered it last night when I got home from church.
The dirt wasn't even messed up or spilled out onto the porch. The flowers were . . . gone. Like they'd never even been there. I walked outside and looked around in the bushes, in the grass, around the corner. I didn't see the first flower or petal or green leaf or anything.
So WHAT (or WHO) would take my flowers?! I thought about the plant thief all day long! I mean, maybe folks are tired of running over my mailbox and have resorted to flower thievery instead. Yeah. It's a long shot. But I do believe it might be possible. If you knew where I lived . . .
So instead of thinking about WHO done it, I later turned my thoughts to WHAT done it. When I watered my plants tonight, I took a closer look at the other pot of impatiens. The back side was looking a little wonky. And then I spied it. Something definitely has been chomping at it!
I mean, we have animals around here. Not any pets. But animals. Like armadillos and skunks and raccoons and squirrels and deer. And lizards. And a few other reptiles which shall remain nameless. So could one of these animals walk up on my little porch and chomp my flowers off and then leave without so much as scratching in the dirt or spilling a little along the way? Would an animal do that?
Why yes. I think an animal would. But not an armadillo or a skunk or a raccoon or a squirrel or a deer. I've decided it's birds! Angry birds!
Seth spent the last two weekends pressure washing the whole house. He'd done the first story a couple of years ago but never the second story. It was quite a mess and in need of a good washing. All of my sidewalks and porches look brand new. Y'all know I love CLEAN so this has tickled me to death the past couple of weeks.
One of the things that was really irritating me was the bird nest on the front porch. The little birdies built it last year before we realized it. We didn't want to take it down until after the eggs hatched and the little babies flew away. Well, they hatched and flew, but we never took the nest down. And guess who came back this spring to the same nest and laid eggs? So we waited again, the babies hatched a flew and we took the nest down last weekend. This past weekend I noticed a new nest being built underneath the little porch at the friends' entry where my pots are. So I took the hose and sprayer and scooted it off before they even had time to finish. I also noticed a new nest being built in the same spot on the front porch where we'd just taken the other one down. So I sprayed it off on Saturday, too.
Yesterday afternoon when we got home from church, those little birdies were just a flying around and just a squawking. I might've even heard a shotgun shot or two, but I wasn't involved directly with that. Last night when I got home from church Seth said that another nest was going up AGAIN in the SAME SPOT I'd just sprayed on Saturday. You can see it here through my front door. (And, please, never mind the dirty window panes. Seth washed the house, but the windows are my job, and I haven't done them yet this summer!)
And when I was just standing inside my house looking out the window at that nest, those birds knew I was there! I mean, look at him!
And here he is again, just a swooping and a flying and a squawking!
So you know what I did? Yep, I went out there again tonight and sprayed that nest down. That's the second time in three days. And they are hot. The birds, that is. They are mad at me. I know they are. And I firmly believe they took out their revenge on my impatiens!
It's late. I just checked on my other pot to make sure the impatiens are still there. And they are. But I'm thinking I better be careful. Because do y'all remember the movie The Birds? Actually, I've never seen it. I just always remember still shots from the movie that I've seen through the years. And I have to admit that the gal isn't exactly looking all scared here.
Every morning when I get up, I do a walk through. I walk through my house and look at everything. I don't know why. I look out all my windows. Again, I don't know why. I guess just to be sure nothing changed while I was asleep. I'm a little nosey that way. And I check on all my little plants. So this morning when I peeped out my door, MY POT WAS EMPTY. I mean, it wasn't totally empty. The dirt was there. But the flowers were not! Y'all. Seriously. I thought I was LOSING. MY. MIND. It was there. I know it was. I planted it three weeks ago. And I watered it last night when I got home from church.
The dirt wasn't even messed up or spilled out onto the porch. The flowers were . . . gone. Like they'd never even been there. I walked outside and looked around in the bushes, in the grass, around the corner. I didn't see the first flower or petal or green leaf or anything.
So WHAT (or WHO) would take my flowers?! I thought about the plant thief all day long! I mean, maybe folks are tired of running over my mailbox and have resorted to flower thievery instead. Yeah. It's a long shot. But I do believe it might be possible. If you knew where I lived . . .
So instead of thinking about WHO done it, I later turned my thoughts to WHAT done it. When I watered my plants tonight, I took a closer look at the other pot of impatiens. The back side was looking a little wonky. And then I spied it. Something definitely has been chomping at it!
Why yes. I think an animal would. But not an armadillo or a skunk or a raccoon or a squirrel or a deer. I've decided it's birds! Angry birds!
Seth spent the last two weekends pressure washing the whole house. He'd done the first story a couple of years ago but never the second story. It was quite a mess and in need of a good washing. All of my sidewalks and porches look brand new. Y'all know I love CLEAN so this has tickled me to death the past couple of weeks.
One of the things that was really irritating me was the bird nest on the front porch. The little birdies built it last year before we realized it. We didn't want to take it down until after the eggs hatched and the little babies flew away. Well, they hatched and flew, but we never took the nest down. And guess who came back this spring to the same nest and laid eggs? So we waited again, the babies hatched a flew and we took the nest down last weekend. This past weekend I noticed a new nest being built underneath the little porch at the friends' entry where my pots are. So I took the hose and sprayer and scooted it off before they even had time to finish. I also noticed a new nest being built in the same spot on the front porch where we'd just taken the other one down. So I sprayed it off on Saturday, too.
Yesterday afternoon when we got home from church, those little birdies were just a flying around and just a squawking. I might've even heard a shotgun shot or two, but I wasn't involved directly with that. Last night when I got home from church Seth said that another nest was going up AGAIN in the SAME SPOT I'd just sprayed on Saturday. You can see it here through my front door. (And, please, never mind the dirty window panes. Seth washed the house, but the windows are my job, and I haven't done them yet this summer!)
Here's my favorite. It's like he's swooping in for the kill and has his reinforcement behind him (right above the hanging basket).
It's late. I just checked on my other pot to make sure the impatiens are still there. And they are. But I'm thinking I better be careful. Because do y'all remember the movie The Birds? Actually, I've never seen it. I just always remember still shots from the movie that I've seen through the years. And I have to admit that the gal isn't exactly looking all scared here.
But I could be next! The Birds Part 2 just might be happening right here in my front yard!
Okay. So not really. And I'm pretty sure it's not those silly birds that stole my impatiens. Although I do feel pretty sure that they are mad at me. But this was still a lot of fun anyway, wasn't it?!
My next plan is to put Seth's deer camera up on my porch . . .