Voicelessness and Emotional Survival > Voicelessness and Emotional Survival Message Board
Yard
lighter:
Just bundle up and drink warm beverages.
When it gets really cold, pretend you're on a sleigh ride.
I like being outdoors all year round. This evening I sat on my front porch and watched the trees wave in the wind as the rain threatened then spit a bit.
I loved M's snake, murder of crows, clipping the wildlife netting to toss the snake that thumped him story. Wow wow wow.... and little fig trees too.
Lighter
Twoapenny:
--- Quote from: Hopalong on June 04, 2020, 02:04:04 PM ---[replying to Tupp from one of the virus threads]
I'd love to see that tree, Tupp! Is it out front or out back? Do you know what sort of tree it is?
I can't/won't do birdseed until the bears go back to bed in late fall (hopefully, since global warming is making the region all-season for some bears). So I've just got two baths.
The one out front under my dogwood tree I made from an old cement pedestal (the bath itself cracked), atop which I have parked a big blue-and-cream casserole dish I inherited that has no lid. Looks cute.
On the side patio in the hosta bed it's a shallow big glazed plant saucer atop another simple pedestal (can't remember where I got that one). If I come up with another DIY suitable "bath" I'd put it out back by the mini-patio and veggie beds.
Both the existing ones are straight sight-line for windows opposite either my front room sofa by the big window, or my back room sofa.
There's nothing more fun, ime, than watching a bird just go nuts in a birdbath.
M had a yard adventure of his own yesterday. Very large black snake with a food-bump in its belly got stuck in the deer netting M had put around his baby fig trees. A murder of crows was screeching away at it from the trees. M heroically (hates snakes) snipped netting away, got thumped by the snake (not bitten) while the crows screamed and finally tossed the snake on a stick into his woods to sleep off its dinner.
You will be amazed to hear that M's hyperbole and exaggeration skills were employed to the max: The crows were snapping at my butt! They were going nuts! And the damn snake got me! Must've been EIGHT feet long! It was intense!
For once, I got a kick out of his drama. (Until he repeated the whole story.) LOL.
hugs
Hops
--- End quote ---
Ha ha! Oh I bet he is a good storyteller, Hops, even if it is more than once! Lol. He's braver than me, a snake would have me running for the hills. I think I've only seen two my whole life here; they only tend to come out when it's hot and they live on common and heath land mostly, so there's loads of places they can bask without going near people. I'm glad he didn't get bitten! But also glad he didn't kill it :)
The bird baths sound lovely! I'd love those but I worry about the cats getting to close to the birds. I think the trees a crab apple; I'm not 100% sure but now we're home all the time I will look it up, I'm just waiting for the 'apples' to get a bit bigger so I can check against the pictures but I'm 99% that's what it is. It's out the front; I don't have a front garden as such, you have three steps down from the front door to the pavement and the area to the side of that has paving slabs with my little pots on them. Then you get the pavement and across from that a grass verge that leads to a wall, on the other side of which is a carpark. So the crab apple tree is directly opposite my front room windows and the top branches of it brush up against son's bedroom window. The view from his window is lovely; you see the top of that tree and a couple of others along the road as well and then just a few roof tops with hills beyond. From downstairs you see the tree but then the backs of everyone else's houses and all the rubbish that gets dumped in the car park so not so pretty. But I've put feeders out in the tree; I was putting food out along the wall but one of the neighbours said it was too easy for her cat to catch birds on there and she kept bringing them in dead so I switched to feeders and have hung them from small branches that can't hold the cats' weight. It doesn't stop them all sitting out around the tree waiting for a bird to fall (hence my reluctance for bird baths) but I don't think they've caught any for a while now. Your bird baths sound lovely. I think once our lovely kitty passes away we won't get another one; I like having the birds visit but it would be nice to do it without the worry of the cat catching them.
Twoapenny:
The patio heater sounds nice, Hops. Is there a roof over the patio as well? Where we lived before there used to be a little hut on the heath that sold cups of tea and coffee; very basic and had been there for years. Someone took it over and built this framework all around it so that it had a covered area and then put in patio heaters and big comfy blankets on the chairs. It was so nice sitting there, out of the rain, snuggled up with a hot chocolate watching the ducks go by. Not that I'm suggesting you build a roof! Lol. It's just nice being able to be warm outside when it's cold. I think it sounds like a good investment in your health and wellbeing through the winter months xx
Hopalong:
Ahaaaa! https://birdseedandbinoculars.com/wordpress/keeping-cats-out-of-birdbaths/ I like the last one here: https://www.bobvila.com/slideshow/wing-it-14-approaches-to-a-diy-birdbath-44300#cake-stand-bird-bath
I just remembered an old shallow white quiche baking dish (dunno what it's for really) I've never used that'd make a perfect birdbath for the way-back patio. Dunno what to set it on but I'll think of something....
Your simplest answer may be a hanging birdbath. That nice tree can earn its keep!
"One DIY birdbath is an ordinary hanging planter. In the center, set in a terra cotta pot upside down and fill in around it with soil and plants. Finally, set a medium-size terra cotta plant saucer on top of the terra cotta pot, hang, fill with water, and wait for the birds to discover it." (Or you could just fill the main planter with something to take up space maybe, like used jars upside down, and fill around those with dirt. That way the only purchase/find you need is a hanging plastic planter and one saucer.) Some flat stones in the bottom of the bath give smaller birds safe footing.
If you find something metal and can drill three holes spaced around the edge, you could even make one use metal clothes hanges wire..... One thing I read suggests painting the outside with acryclic paint .... ooo, colors!
Even simpler if you can find one is a recycled galvanized garbage can lid. I read that the ideal water depth is around 2.5 inches.
Since I have no cats in the yard, I guess due to Pooch, I could set the white one on the ground, which birds also like. It's only about an inch deep but it might work, or maybe I could use that as a base bath for wee birds and add an inverted plant saucer that's a little deeper for the bigger ones.
Oh fun fun fun...
My side patio is roofless, which in summer is wonderful because the one huge tree is just behind the house (TOO close for sensible people) and I can sit and stare into the canopy for ages. Lots of bird and squirrel action. The patio is stone (irregular rejects I got from the stone yard a friend owns) and my yard guy built it for half the cost of companies and did a great job--it's beautiful). Say about 30 feet long and maybe 12' wide with the length on one side lined with stacked reclaimed railroad ties and dirt behind those. About five years back he divided all the front-yard hostas the deer were eating and moved them to the patio raised bed and now they're huge and lush all summer, safe from deer. A tall wooden property fence is behind the hostas. My neighbor's fragrant tree branches (dunno what) hang over the fence and create nice shade. The rest of the patio is open and mostly sunny (though part gets shade from the big tree) and there's a bit of grass at the back end and a corner bed young friends made of stacked cinderblock pavers, in a curve. There's enough sun for flowers and a shorter fence on the other side for no particular reason. (I just had two climbing roses put there.) I added another short fence at the end, with a gate out to the big yard. Have two big pots with cherry tomatoes on the yard side of that so I can use the fence to secure them as they grow. At the driveway edge I had the fence guy build a nice wooden enclosure for the bins, so it looks pretty welcoming. And if both gates (top of driveway and entrance to back yard) are shut, when friends bring rowdy dogs to play out back we can even close them off the patio for a while.
Incoherent description I'm sure but if we could figure out how to post pics, I would!
hugs
Hops
Hopalong:
Lord above, CB, 100 degrees F is HOTTTTTTTT.
I would require my own swimming pool, with baby seals.
I'm doubting I'll do the heater (7' tall and 20 pound propane tanks only last 10 hours, and costly, and you hafta buy a cover and it sounds like more work than it's worth)...but I may just find out who's willing to bundle up to socialize!
I could manage a wee fire pit but likely won't bother, I'll just try to seduce people with hot chocolate or Irish coffee...
Stay well, cool and I hope you can sneak out to your patio in early mornings and embark on a long-range project to hand-tame a bunny and a squirrel or two. I had (very patient) neighbors who did that and they took such joy in their visits.
hugs
Hops
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