Just after a weather-perfect week we woke to rain which has everything soaked up and the forecast is to be rainy all week. I don’t mind because there will be a few times I can get out and finish weeding my flowers. Last year I had to sit and watch the weeds grow because of my fractured pelvis. Like an old horse going by the fire-house I was at the starting line with an arsenal of products to make my flowers a focal point I could be proud of.

I do (sort of) envy (in a good way) my northern friends who send pictures of lush green lawns without a weed in sight. Folks, it takes good dirt to grow good grass and the Ozarks are made up of rocks, rocks and rocks. The acidic red dirt and rocks are the foundation for all the things I enjoy.

Flowers, ornamental trees and bushes are within themselves enough but because of all the shrubbery etc; I have music all day long from every kind of bird imaginable. I am treated to antics by the many squirrels along with the music from the birds……..and then there is Napoleon, all my cats and Mandy. They play around while I work and end up taking naps in the fresh air.

I provide the feed birds like and I keep fresh water in the birdbaths. I watch them mate, start their nests and then bring the babies to the feeders and water. I have generations of birds raised on this little acre. As for the squirrels, I guess they think this is the Squirrel Hilton. They have generated a lot of activity around our yard and are definitely amusing. If they knew the feeders were for the birds I would have a reason to run them off, but my squirrels are illiterate and so I grant them eating rights with the birds. All they know is, food is on the table and come to help themselves. They are not tolerated, they are welcome.

It’s time I must find something to eat as well. The noon hour approaches and I’m always hungry 3-times a day…..I was raised in times when the family ate together around the table, which is a novelty now, but that’s a story for another day.

Essentially Esther