My Daily Travels

I dearly love my woodland creatures who visit my yard daily in search of a treat, but they can be so destructive at times. In the spring, John and I planted five sunflower plants from seed along the back section of our yard, but the squirrels and raccoons kept digging up the seeds. We continued to... Sign in to see full entry.

An extremely high water bill this month gave John and me reason to be thankful for the heavy downpour of rain that remained throughout much of the day yesterday. The heatwave earlier this month all but drained my supply of water from my rain barrel, forcing the need for city water from the garden... Sign in to see full entry.

As I have gotten older, I appreciate quiet time in order to think clearly, read, reflect, or just appreciate the peaceful calm that comes with silence. It is ironic that I value the quiet, yet I have chosen to live three blocks from the fire hall and next to train tracks with daily railroad activity... Sign in to see full entry.

You can't control everything that happens in the garden, but after some research, I learned that tomatoes with tough skins can occur after a heatwave, and that is precisely what we had on both accounts. Our first batch of red tomatoes survived the soaring 90-degree temperatures during the heatwave... Sign in to see full entry.

While cleaning up the mess from yesterday's outdoor birthday party, we watched Mr. Stinky doing his own clean up. Lucky for us, he didn't show any signs of aggressiveness, and not once did he act as though he was about to give his leery spectators a "stank spray" from getting too close. In fact, he... Sign in to see full entry.

The last few days have been really hectic with all of the parties, music and festivities going on in my community. Thursday was my borough's music night on Plum Street, last night the Elizabeth RiverFest kicked off, and today we are having an outdoor party for our grandson. I made up a party size... Sign in to see full entry.

During a break in the music concert last night downtown in my borough, I heard a commotion up in the tree next to where I was sitting and spotted this sweet little baby robin waiting on his mama to bring him his dinner. The nest was situated roughly 6 1/2 feet from the ground, but with my height of... Sign in to see full entry.

Photo courtesy of Sherri Granato Sign in to see full entry.

Any time you deal with a questionable forecast that leaves the air uncomfortably muggy with a temperature of 86, no breeze, and an overcast sky with a 50% chance of rain, it makes for miserable working conditions for any type of constructive yardwork, but we are going to give it a go and pray that... Sign in to see full entry.

We at first wasn't sure if my Hibiscus would survive after an accidental death by weed eater took her down last year. Early spring of this year we found remnants of green pushing its way through the dirt in an attempt for rebirth. We weren't sure is it was a weed, or if the bright green stems were... Sign in to see full entry.