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| "Fill these bowls and put down the camera." |
Mike stopped by to warn of the storm, which I did not suspect. It was just another hot and humid July day, as far as we knew. The weather sites acknowledged the coming storm, and the clouds looked promising. I went out to water the young Crepe Myrtle bushes in the backyard.
"Why did you water them before the rain?" Mrs. Ichabod asked.
I explained:
- First the five-gallon buckets will fill from a short rain, so why not empty them before the storm?
- Second, if it is another short rain, the bushes will get the benefit before the rain starts - and then get a little more rain or even a long soaker.
Her final question was, "You didn't get wet?" She and Sassy consider raindrops to be fatal. Sassy will go out in snow and ice, but she nopes a slight rainfall.
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| Crepe Myrtle Picotee - red and white blooms blend into a colorful pink. |
Recently I showed Mrs. Ichabod what doting on the Crepe Myrtle by the kitchen window accomplished. Last year I watered it often and it doubled the size of its mates in the front yard. Now we are looking straight out the window at the brilliant flowers.
Next year we should be looking out the window at a strong Crepe Myrtle perch for the birds as they feed. The squirrels are so obnoxious on the Jackson EZ Bird Swings that I am going to move one to an empty window - no food - and put more perches on it. Bushes will serve as self-repairing perches for the two bird-feeder windows.
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| The squirrels like to sit on the bird swing to eat. This is the kitchen window view, before the Picotee Crepe Myrtle bush began growing. |
The recent vandalism from squirrels came from running out of thistle seeds, which they avoid, and using a songbird mix, which smelled good enough to eat - peanuts, etc. Now they can munch their songbird mix at the solo squirrel-proof feeder that they raid with ease. In Bella Vista, I stopped filling it, because they dominated it completely and laughed their little rodent laughs at the obstacles I added to the built-in squirrel proof measures.
My favorite moment with them was watching the squirrel stand on the baffle that was supposed to keep him off the pole. From that position he could wiggle the contraption that closed the food off from any creature heavier than a bird. That allowed him to jiggle endless amounts of food into his mouth, which he did with a saucy look on his face. I said, "I give up," and left it empty afterward. However, I moved it to Springdale, to use as a stand-by feeder.
