Rabbit Holes and Baby Zinnias...

 If only I had known, I would have closed the garden gate.  But, how could I know that there was a burrow underneath the tall verbena, and that in that burrow was a little family of baby rabbits?

I had left the old gate open, so Millie had followed me into the garden.  She's never far from me, so I thought nothing of it. I went about my work and she went about hers, which was to go sniffing here and there about the garden.  When I glanced up from whatever I was doing, it was just in time to see her pull two young rabbits from the hole ~  two perfectly adorable little rabbits with the biggest brightest eyes ever.  There was nothing I could do.  Millie ate them.  She is part dingo, and dingoes will be dingoes.  My son said I should thank her, but I was sad.  I did not scold her.  Why, that would be like scolding me for eating a BLT sandwich.

The Sunny Little Garden continues to be a work in progress.  I am pleased to see that the wooly mulleins which I brought in from around the place, are doing well.  I took three and left three in the wild to propagate freely.

Since this picture of the garden was taken, one hundred seven zinnias (Burpeeana Giants, the flowers of  which remind me a lot of those of Bee Balm)  have been added to the outside borders of the garden.  These are my babies that I have nurtured from seed purchased at a local farm supply store. I had dutifully carried them outside by day and back inside by night.  That is, until I got the idea to just leave them in the bed of the side-by-side.  It was simple ~ back it out into the sunshine by day, and pull it back inside at night.  It worked, and the little seedlings thrived.

By the time I had them all transplanted into the rich garden soil, by bending, squatting, and even crawling,  I was wishing I hadn't started so many.  Maybe next year I will just plant one flat.  :~)  But, a flat of foxgloves would be nice, wouldn't it?

If you look closely you might notice that a few of the little plants have been nibbled on.  Now, I wonder what could have done that?  :~/

Lately, I have also been working in the borders around the house.  I had been thinking that I needed something to bring a little life to the beds, something with more energy and movement. Having become somewhat obsessed with the Butterfly Bush, not only for its showy and fragrant flowers, but also because of its attraction to butterflies, I asked myself, "Why can't I have Butterfly Bushes all over the place?"

"At the side of the everlasting Why, is a yes, and a yes, and a yes."

~E.M. Forster

So, that's how I came to have eight more Butterfly Bushes, and I already had five.  I love the way the arching branches, with clusters of beautiful blue blossoms, blow in the wind.  (Nanho Blue Butterfly Bush).










We have been getting lots of rain here, which is a blessing, I know.  Haying has gotten off to a slow start, however, because of it, but the extra moisture will pay dividends later on, I am sure.  We did finally get one field in rolls, so haying season is officially here.

There are puddles of water all over the place,   This pair of mallards, undoubtedly on their way farther north, thought this puddle looked inviting.

Underneath this tree is our shady spot where Millie and I take refuge from the heat.  I can think of all sorts of things I would like to do here on a hot summer's day.

So, from my shady place to yours, I hope your lovely month of May has been good.  Take care.

Mary

Dances With Wolves...

Recently, we had a problem with our satellite receiver and television which left us with no service for several days.  We really kind of enjoyed the time without it.  Ahh, the quietness of it all...

But, once it was back up and running, and all systems were go, we settled back to watch something.   As luck would have it, my favorite movie, Dances With Wolves, was playing. I turned on "Closed Captioning" so I wouldn't miss a word, made some popcorn, and put up my feet.  Now, it's not a new movie for either of us, for we have watched it  a countless number of times before, but I never tire of it.

Gosh, there's a lot to love about this movie, which won a grand total of seven Academy Awards.  What a beautiful homage it pays to the old American West and to the last frontier.

"Thirteen years later, their homes destroyed, their buffalo gone, the last band of free Sioux submitted to white authority at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.  The great horse culture of the plains was gone and the American frontier was soon to pass into history."

 And, then, for those of us who know the love of a dog, there was Two Socks.  Just take a look at this  excerpt from the movie.  How can anyone not love Two Socks?  And, don't forget to turn up the sound, for the music, which was composed and conducted by John Barry, is just wonderful.

All of  the dolls pictured here are from my collection of Skookum "Bully Good Indians," the first of which were made by Mary McAboy (1876-1961) and later mass produced and sold as souvenirs across the American West in the early 20th century.