Guests Of Honor

Susan scooped me on the backyard’s newest tenants, a mating pair of sparrows that are moving into a paper lantern dangling from the northeast corner of the house and busy constructing a nest within it. Being made of the aforementioned paper, the lanterns (there’s another hung from the southeast corner) are actually in pretty sad …

Pedaler Peddling

Well, it was a unique start to the day to be sure. I’ll spare you the lovely details other than to say it’s not too many sunrises that I greet with long overdue backyard poop-scooping duty, but since I’ve been getting home well after dark these last several weeks and today is trash pick-up day on our block, I answered …

Aloe There

Sometime last year Susan did some thinning of the planter box by the porch steps and out went a collection of stunted, ingrown aloe plants that weren’t dead but weren’t thriving either. So I picked the sturdiest looking one of the bunch and plunked it down into a hole I dug in the backyard… an …

Fetching, Isn’t She?

Willing to risk looking like I goofed off had fun today, I offer these video-still moments of truth during a backyard fetch game with Ranger:

Artifact Or Fiction

[Click for image macrotasticality] There you were yesterday afternoon, old nail. Unearthed no doubt by our six-month-old pup. You certainly didn’t excavate yourself from wherever your resting place was within the confines of a backyard that never ceases to amaze me with its seemingly endless trove of artifacts. The pup and I were playing catch …

Morning Snap: Afghan Pine Sapling — 7:31 a.m.

With luck, attention and the proper mix of conditions, nutrients, and whatever else is needed for its success, I’m hopeful this little six-inch Afghan pine (aka desert pine, eldar pine) sapling that I transplanted into a nice-sized pot yesterday afternoon will grow to become a living Christmas tree for us to decorate either this year …