Tuesday, March 13, 2012

A Lost Day

Up at 4:15, 49°.

Yesterday wasn't really a lost day, just a lost gardening day.  I wanted to look  for a Martin house since our el cheapo plastic one finally bit the dust during an Ozark gale last year.  We both decided to buy a better quality house this year.  It was DH's day to exercise so to be frugal with gas, I decided I would go in with him and we could look for the birdhouse and pick up dog and cat food.  I wanted him to help me pick out the birdhouse.  We looked at two places before I decided (as I usually do) that I would just order one online.  Amazon hasn't failed me yet.   BTW, the cost locally was very close to $200 for the house and the pole; I found the same brand on Amazon, a package deal and with my $25 discount points accumulated for $118.  I do dread putting it  together though!  I got the Heath 18-room metal house, a 15 foot pole and  the bracket for the pole.  This is the month the birds arrive here.  I do hope I am not too late getting  it up.  I love gardening with the  Martins visiting overhead .  They are very friendly and I can work right underneath them and they don't fly away


We got oil  for the tiller and I need to change it before I use it again.  We also need to change the oil in the riding mower.

I took my Kindle and enjoyed a nice 45-minute read while waiting for DH to exercise.

A is still fixing fence but the blasted  cows are still jumping over.  One breaks the top  wire and the rest follow her over.  Today they will try to put some corral panels (not cattle panels) in a few places to see if that stops  that one cow....she need to be permanently fixed IMO! If the neighbor would put some hay out that would help.....

The rhubarb is growing....I need to find it a permanent home.


and another clump of daffs,

9 comments:

  1. Your neighbor's cows are jumping over? Not very "neighborly" especially if this isn't the first time.

    My Mom has a martin pole house / condo / apartment thing in her yard and I love the little twittering they make flying around all day!

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  2. Good morning Glenda ~ Hope you get your Martin condo soon. I'm sure you'll do fine putting it together. I don't know that I've ever been around martins. I love hearing birds singing, chirping and chit-chatting with each other. Some mornings I even hear roosters in the neighborhood and they always make me feel happy.

    Good grief ~ I wonder WHY the neighbor's cows like your place? Hope you come up with a remedy soon for keeping them at home. Oh wait a minute, the leader cow needs fixing and there's not enough hay at home. Hmmmm.

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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  3. I guess the neighbor doesn't starve his cows ENOUGH to warrant some kind of ASPCA or other kind of intervention. :-( You've mentioned their sorry state more than once on your blog. Poor things.

    I have every confidence in your ability to assemble that martin house. We've seen how clever you are. *heh*

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  4. We've talked many times about putting up a Martin house on our property. (I guess we need to do more than talk, huh?) We need them to eat mosquitoes on which I understand they do a very good job! (I dislike "putting things together" also!

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  5. Metal is a good choice. Squirrels chewed the holes bigger and took over the Martin House that He-who-mows built.

    Bad neighbors are a real pain. Cows will go where the grass is greener or the hay juicier.

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    1. My BIL built a blue bird house for me and the squirrels enlarged the opening a lot. I had no idea they would do that! The blue birds are nesting in it again this year though.

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  6. Thanks for showing me the beautiful daffs, Glenda! Perhaps next year, I'll have plantings to show off! Too bad about the cows...what a pain but the Martins will love their new condo, I'm sure!...:)JP

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  7. I wonder if it would be worthwhile to consult an attorney about what your legal rights are concerning those trespassing cows. Sometimes a battle won is a war lost when it comes to neighbor relations. (Speaking from experience here) I know that on the OKgardening forum they used to recommend a double fence to prevent deer jumping over. Of course that is extra cost, but if nothing else worked maybe it's an option. Or maybe an electric fence? I've no experience with those.

    You will enjoy the Martins. I don't know if Hubs is keeping our martin houses cleaned out or not this spring. They blew down in the storm but that's because he fastened the poles to the fencepost instead of making a footing for the poles. DUH. He put them back up but here is a man who (apparently) just WILL NOT dig post holes. I've been working on him about a garden fence and he just isn't budging. May have to do it myself. *Sigh*.

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