We asked L what we should name her. He comes up with tons of good names these days.

"Clucker" he said.

OK. Mother Clucker it is.

I wonder how the fiber optic guys got back there to do their work?? ROFL

Obviously, I missed a few leaves back there last time. Just enough for her to do her thing right there... SMH

I looked it up. Here in Iowa, as in most states, once a migratory bird such as this is nesting and there are eggs, we can't move it or destroy it...

I dunno how tho we're gonna be able to keep the dog out of there. She already had the exhilarating explosion/chase of the dang MC and knows exactly where she is...

28 days will not come soon enough. LOLOL

I guess now I know what a nesty turkey hen acts like. Oblivious to trucks, workers, loud tractors and people, and the dog didn't stop her either, so I guess we just carry on with our normal daily activities. So maybe we can work on deterring her next spring before this happens again.

L will have to start thinking on a few more names. 🤣 It's interesting she picked a place on the street side instead of the more secluded lake side.

Might be first cousin to this bird…lol…looks like they are in the same skill set when it comes to nesting…the dog will be tricky though? Don’t know about dogs and defensive Mother Cluckers, but here, Canada Geese are not taken lightly.

Turkeys may be more casual… but you will have a brood baby turkeys running, for a while? You need a turkey cam…

Ironically, the Kravitzes, who live on that side of our home, have a camera pointed directly towards her, but there are some ferns blocking their view of her.

I did show her to a few of the regular neighbors here, esp one who walks their golden retriever off leash, today so that no surprises happen. Everyone is flabbergasted about the turkey nest. We shall see what happens, I guess... We can't be here to police it all the time, but prevention measures are in order, I think.

She is not minding us being here, or doing our stuff. Otherhalf mowed the lawn and I've been futzing around w pots and plants and stuff all day here by the garage, and she has held tight. We did have to restrict Guffy to a leash and a tie-out today. She was not very happy about that, but... whatareyagonnado?

I got a ton planted up today. 6 planters full of boston ferns, three big planters of violas, some impatiens leftover from my stuff at home base, and just have a few herbs and coleus to pot up tomorrow... I had to dig out old stuff, replace all the potting soil and move some stuff around to get all this done and I'm feeling it. LOL

But, "Round 1" of spring stuff is in.

I hope it warms up here. LOL . It feels risky doing some of these things (the basils and the impatiens) bc it's still kinda chilly, but dang it, time is always against me.

Wow, Fiss! Your photos are awesome.

How crazy it is that your place is the place for nesting turkeys Rred. She must feel safe.

We’’ve got lots of rain here, again.

OB got through his foot plate/screw surgery very well. Now comes the hard part…for months….

The doc did tell me “it’s evident he has a high tolerance for pain.” Remarking the severity of the fracture and OB took it in stride. If I told the doc all what he was doing on that foot he might be even more impressed. OB is used to body pain since age 15 and an old injury. He must stay off this foot and the stakes are high if he doesn’t listen. Very used to handling things himself, too, although he will ask for directions.

My hand is much, much better and I only wear the cast when doing physical things or going outside. Can’t risk bumping it, etc.

Glad to hear OB had a successful surgery. Hopefully he will behave and recovery will be uneventful.

1. Rred, it just dawned on me that you gave us the perfect "Mother's Day" story. Hope all the little eggs make it to maturity... 🪺

2. PV, practice pulling your shoulders back, exhaling, and saying, "Hey, there...get off that foot!" An independent guy with high pain tolerance is going to have a hard time of it. I guess you'll have to practice 'patience' as well. Our thoughts are with you. 🌷

LOL Jay... Mother Clucker is tolerating us very well, it seems.

I, on the other hand, having read that hen turkeys remain steadfastly put for 28 days and often "waste" themselves doing so, felt the need to make her a drink station...

The big elm stump from last year's dead tree removal, and a giant 20" glazed terra cotta planter saucer, + some rocks and water, and now there is a bird bath/water station for her to notice... (as if there wasn't a whole entire lake within a few feet for her. SMH!)

I put some rocks inside the saucer too for the smaller birbs to stand on... So.... the stump has been dressed. It almost looks intentional now. LOL

It'll serve as a rain gauge too, prolly. LOL

I will not, tho, buy food to feed her. I draw the line there. She can eat our grubs and bugs and last year's acorns I keep finding in my planters. I've been tossing those things out in that little spot behind the ACs and the bobo hydrangeas.

Pandemonium today!!

Bucket list item! Chengdu Panda breeding center.

PV, I'm glad OB is thru that stage of the reparations, and can continue to let it heal accordingly. My BFF here at the lake just had her total knee replacement 6 weeks ago, and we met them for dinner tonight. She is gingerly going without aid now, other than the handrail on the steps. She is more of an Energizer Bunny than me, if you can imagine that, so that doesn't surprise me, but dang... that is pretty good/quick for knee replacement, if you ask me.

Her one observation tonight was that she didn't realize how much that was her dominant knee for gardening. LOL . She tried the other knee today, and it just didn't work for her. I know that feeling well. LOL

On our way here yesterday, this made me laugh...

A whole fence-row of ... cows. Happy cows, for sure!

I "embiggened" some of it a bit so you can hopefully see what I saw... you only really could see their backs. It cracked me up for some reason.

Fiss has the Great Wall of China. I have the Great Fence of Cows. ROFL

Fiss, your photos are so terrific that they look professionally taken. Are you using an SLR camera or a cell phone? Impressive quality!!! And thanks for sharing with us!

Rred, why do you suppose the cows are all in that one linear area? Do you think it might be a bit of a trench and there's water there -- or food is dispensed there? My knowledge of farm life is zilch.

Aw, the pandas! And the cows. 🤣

Jay, you hit the nail on the head.

Just my cell phone!

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers!

Great panda pics!

Today we went to the Sanxingdui Museum near Chengdu. It showcases local archaeological finds that have turned theories of ancient civilizations on their head. The museum building itself is beautiful and the artifacts are unreal. Worth a dive down the rabbit hole on a wet day!

Happy Mother’s Day my dear friends! 😍🌹🌷💐💐🌸🌺🪻🌻💐💐

Oh the pandas! I am so envious!😀

RRed, the Cow Wall is so coinsidental to the Great Wall! What timing 😄

Not to mention Mrs. Clucker!

Happy Mother’s Day from the beach!

Mmmmm…brings back fond memories👍

Mother's Day wishes to all of you!

I spent the day mostly in the car, but we are back in the home base tree house. WE are thinking of renaming it the Dead Tree House. LOL

Anyhow.

A quick tour of a few things that have worked for me...

Mom's lavender irises are just starting to bloom in the front, along with a rare rebloom/second wave of the "Mother's Day" peony in the far back (dark pink) and the blushy white peony making buds along with in the background.

The seeds I planted from plants that originally belonged to my neighbor Jo at the lake are going bonkers in bloom in the "dog yard" and a few other places I have scattered those seeds.

These plants took a while to establish and grow big enough to bloom like this... but I have babied and protected them! They are about 12 years old now, and in their prime!

I have a few more going over behind the house in this bed where I transplanted a Siberian iris a few years ago...

Another thing that I did soon after I moved here...

My friend gave me these cinnamon ferns and another friend gave me the purple columbine... This bed by the back door had NOTHING in it, so...

It looks pretty from above, but the ferns are doing TOO well in there now. They have migrated to the front of the bed, and I've been plotting moving most of them... So in anticipation, I've planted some peonies in there a couple years ago. Here is how it all looks from above on the deck right now.

LOL These ferns in the front, up next to the wall, have to go somewhere else. I'll keep a few in there, but dang! They have taken over (Finally! I kind of wanted them to, right?)

Rred, I stumbled across this article from "House Beautiful" and thought of you. maybe there's something here that you haven't thought of... 🌿

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/gardening/g3470/deer-resistant-plants/

I have thought of all of those, and have about 1/3 of that list here. We are challenged also by the shade here... altho the dying ash trees are making it more open, we still do not get the full sun most of those plants need.

I am gonna spend the next few weeks cleaning up the former hosta/current "fern bed," which is in its awkward between seasons stage... The bluebells have not yet died out, nor have the daffs' foliage, but the wild bellflower (campanula rapunculoides) that sneaked in there is taking over so it's a hot mess at the moment. I just pull that stuff out by the handful. But there are some wins in there too! The ferns I've planted are all still there and there are some weird spirea cultivars that I planted that have decided to come back and stay . They work well in there too and the deer don't bother them so far...

rred, for the shade, look at pulmonaria, especially the pink-a- blue and Spot On. They start blooming early and for a long time. The foliage is beautiful also. I need to add more of those

We snagged a new hose at the lake bc our old reliable kinky green vinyl encased garden hose finally sprung a pretty significant leak that annoyed me the other day...

We got one of these gimmicky things...

...because the garden center guy was using a huge long one to water their garden center plants, and I was watching him maneuver it, etc. It just looked so nice and easy!

So we got one, and OMG! Life changing!! So lightweight! So easy to move around, even when it's full of water, and when you turn it off, it shrinks back down into a small little thing that I can easily move around all at once. NO MORE WINDING, no more kinking, no more exhausting trips arranging the thing with the sprinkler...

We were sold instantly. We both loved it. We are getting a couple for this house too. Worth every penny, imo!

I've seen them advertised on TV and thought, "Oh no. Too good to be true." But I fell instantly in love with it. I'll let you know later this summer how it's holding up to my usual amount of abuse. LOL

I can finally get rid of this monstrosity here by the front door! YAY!! (We will move it to the back where it will be much more useful anyhow... LOL)

The people who built this place sure put the hose bibs in the wrong places. But this will be good in back where we need access to a hose and where there is no hose bib.

William and Mary a.k.a. pulmonaria does really well at my place and as far as I can tell the deer do not eat it. Hummingbirds like it. I just dug up a small piece to give to my daughter-in-law for Mother’s Day.

we had a crinkly hose in front, when it crinkled up I put it in an old planter pot. Unfortunately this spring, it sprung a leak. The usual hose repair kits don’t work on it. It was about 5 years old.

I just read that deer proof list and will dispute American Holly. Deer nibbled on mine every winter, climbing snow banks to do so! This past winter between the scale and the deer, they were denuded. At the advice of the garden center, we tossed them. I moved some boxwood into the spot

Agree Ladma…my holly is also totally stripped.

These deer resistant plants seem to depend on location. The warmer it is, the less they are interested since they have other things to eat. In colder climates they eat even the things they are supposedly not eating. I'm in zone 7B and they leave alone the holly tree. I know they eat roses in many areas, but, but not here. One thing I was surprised to see them eat was the nandina..this year was the first they've ever done that and I am sure it was because the winter was much colder for a long period of time

yes, printesa, we have harsh winters, and a herd of deer that wander thru on a regular basis, they eat everything but the inkberry. The nursery was surprised, because the inkberry is supposedly tastier! . The euonymus along the pool fence gets pruned hard every year by them, but comes back each summer

We have a small forest behind our yard and they do have enough greenery there and all the yards around..We would see them cross our front yard regularly..one evening we counted 13. One good thing now is that the trees around the fence are large and they no longer see beyond the fence so they don't jump. At the beginning, they didn't care about the fence and jump it like it was nothing. At least my tulips and lilies in the back are safe. In the front yard, I have to spray and even then, I lose some. Euonymus are being eaten here also. They don't care about thuja, but my friend in Canada has to cover them because the deer destroys them

There’s a huge forest behind where I live and it doesn’t seem to make a bit of difference in terms of the deer. I think they live in the first 10 feet of it and just come in to the restaurant whenever they feel like it. It’s good to know that they aren’t eating the inkberry I’ve been thinking of planting that. If you’ve got anything else that’s deer resistant please let me know… I do have the boxwood but as plants go it’s not high on my list of favorites.

We learned this morning that last evening, one of our nearest dearest friends passed away suddenly. Always so hard when good friends go, and especially the ones from our own age range and with such long history together... This is one I knew long before I met Otherhalf, and come to think of it, he was with Otherhalf when I first met HIM... long story, but yeah... His poor wife, also a great friend of ours. Lost him on Mother's Day. I just can't imagine.

Suffice to say, he meant a lot to both of us as well, and he will be missed.

So what does one do after hearing news like that? I cried a bit for sure, then paced around, texted a few people, and felt kind of sick...

But I had a lot of adrenaline to work out of my system, so I continued my mission of eradicating the bellflower in the back garden. I filled two garbage cans full of the stuff. There is no way to really get rid of it, but I beat it down every spring and it gives the other things in there more of a fighting chance.

It was nice to find all my ferns and spireas again, and I wanted to tidy that all up ahead of the iris and peony bloooms about to happen in there. The spring bluebells and the daff foliage is all still standing up, so this is that awkward stage in there where it looks a little "too much" but trust me, it was worse before I pulled out all the crazy bellflower. LOL

I still need to clean out the bird bath.

Behind me, Guffy pointed here for the longest time. So I began to film her, and yep! She had found a vole. It ran out down the railroad tie wall around the greenhouse and she totally missed it, but I caught it all on tape. LOL

Thank god for garden chores and a dumb dog today for a little comic relief.

Later, I got a cute pic of my girls giving each other a nose boop right between my 2 favorite plants. My "Mother's Day Peony" had a rare second blush of bloom next to the pretty white single I moved there a while ago.

Cherish every moment you get, people. And tell those people and pets (and even plants) that you love them, every chance you get.

I am very glad we just recently had a lovely lunch with our friend and his wife. My last memory of him is a good one, indeed.

Awww…Rred… so glad that you got to make a connection with them recently. He must’ve died suddenly and unexpectedly therefore? It is one of the things no one tells you about aging. That you will experience friends and your contemporaries cross the Great Divide before you. That unique relationships of decades will simply cease.

Yeah it was not how we ever thought he'd go out... he had a myriad of health problems, and lived with debilitating pain all his adult life. But it's enough to know that he is out of pain now.

It’s always a gut punch when it’s unexpected. I’m sorry for your loss.