Growing..grass, birds, and plants

hostas (they exploded overnight!)

finally cut after the rain

All of those rain-filled days have given us a beautiful green lawn and plants that are growing well. One of my favorite things, I must confess, is to cut the lawn. I love to watch the scraggly mess slowly transform into a nicely manicured, straight-lined border for our house and plants.

Our robin babies are doing well. All four are getting more feathers and their skin is getting darker. You can see spots where their adult feathers will grow in. They are all also strong enough and big enough to lift their heads above the rim of the nest to reach out their beaks for their food. The mom and dad diligently collect and bring the babies their worms to eat, while the birds noisily reach for them.

robin resting its head on nest's edge

two birds reaching for food (eyes still sealed shut)


Ella loves looking at the birds' progress in the nest

Ella helps me water our plants every day. We use "recycled" water from our rain barrel. It has been working great and it feels good to not waste new water when we can just use what's been collected from our rooftop. Here is Ella watering our four basil plants on the porch: