Monday

Larry wanted the Wood Ducks to nest by his pond. He built a wood duck house in 2019 at the pond’s edge. He was already sick but finished it. No wood ducks had came by 2020 when he passed, but in the spring of 2022, they found his house and have been laying eggs there each spring. Astrid sent me a text this week “Gigi, the wood ducks are here”! New life appearing on the pond is exciting. There are eggs in Larry’s wood duck house. Life ends, life begins!

This is a lily called Italian Arum, but most folks call them  “Lords and Ladies”. They like shade and remind me of a peace lily. I love the thick foliage in the spring.  Later in summer all the foliage will die and orange shoots spring up.  The flower  has calcium oxalate crystals in its leaves.  These are very irritating to skin and soft tissue… like the tender mouths of hungry deer.   All parts of the Arum are poisonous, including the corm from which it grows.  Deer, squirrels, voles and rabbits won’t touch them.

My friend sent this. She wondered why the bird nest in her bush had a speckled egg. It’s a Brown headed cow bird egg. I have them coming to my feeders and they aren’t a bird I like. They are a parasite bird. They lay their eggs in other birds nest. The other eggs in this nest look like finch eggs to me. 

Ada got sick Thursday. She had a fever, cough, etc.  I wish she lived near me so I could help with her more. By Sunday, she was able to sit in the sun and read. Erin went to the library alone and picked her books. She said she wanted chapter books. She was not full speed this morning but she slept all night and felt better. She went to school. She lives school.