Mama Robin celebrates Mother's Day

Robin eggs are pretty much a right of passage here in Minnesota.

Every year, a bird builds her nest in the same place, under our deck.

Typically we just ignore it until mid summer, when we don gloves and toss it out.

(uninhabited, of course..)

This year though, with a Robin flying out from under the deck every time we walk down the steps or past the deck at ground level...

I decided to see what might or might not be in that nest.

Of course, I can't get my big head in between the deck boards and the nest, to see, as there is very little room...but behold...the power of what else...

THE MIGHT CELL PHONE!

Pics snapped quickly on 5/3/2014

The eggs are so pretty, they almost look fake!

I wish I could take my time and get a good shot with either a phone or a real camera...

These look like a portrait, not a holding up of the cell phone without being able to see, shot!

imagine what you could get if you could see what you are doing! 

On 5/7/2014

I snapped a couple more...

because, well, I wanted to see what was in there!

The internet tells me that Robin Eggs are not always fertilized, and won't always hatch into anything.

I also read that if you take one egg out...the Mama Robin will lay another egg because she always wants to have 4 under her...

isn't THAT interesting?

It's temping...swiping an egg...just to see if it gets replaced...

but we would never...

Today, Mother's Day.

5/11/2014

These HAVE to be just hatched today, no?

Ugh.

They are soo creepy looking!

I wasn't sure what to expect to find in there...but when I walked by and that Mama Robin bolted at my presence...

I figured I'd hold the phone up and see!

I wish I could see through the boards of the deck...

but you can bet I'll be checking on these creepy creatures for the next few days to see their progression.

We are in the middle of some major house projects right now...

I'm hopeful this family moves up and moves out before they are forced to!

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Timber!

There is something a little bit daunting when you are standing on the ground,

 staring up at a 40 foot spruce tree...

But when you are staring up the branches of a 40 foot spruce tree that has all but died, well...

Suddenly, that tree doesn't seem so mighty ~

There is nothing left to do, but bring it down...

Branch by pokey branch...

Man, was this tree ever crispy!

 

 

While it would have gone up in seconds if we'd of just lit fire to it...and oh, believe me, it did cross my mind...

 

 

 

With the help our of great neighbor Denny, (& his chainsaw) it was brought down pretty quickly.

 

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas!!

Thank God for great neighbors (with chain saws!)

And just like that...

A tree that had been growing for almost 2 decades...

Gone.

And now, I must decide what to do with this space...(and that damn stump!) but for the time being, it makes a great place for little boys to hang out & work!

We are told it might be hard to try and plant a new tree in it's place ~ as the root system is pretty extensive...although we do have a small spruce that we may try and dig up that's been in the ground for the last 4 years...& move it near the place that this one has been...but will it live?

That has yet to be seen I guess...

Other thoughts are making this area our fire pit space...

Or, just grinding out the stump and leaving it open...

OR....

Becoming Butterflies ~ Our Monarchs have arrived!

We were soo excited to find that we had baby Monarchs in our garden...

They quickly grew before our eyes...
And turned themselves into one dozen little Chrysalides...



We knew that when the Chrysalides turned from green to 'black' - they would be emerging within hours ~ (it's not really black, it's actually CLEAR, and the black you see is the actual Monarch inside!)

As luck would have it...they emerged while we were gone...

and were pretty anxious to see the world when we got home...

So much so, that a certain little excited four year old let one go...

in. the. house!

The hubs' rescued him though ~

I thought all of the kids would be more excited...

but D, my little adventurer was the only 1 besides me who really cared!

I don't know - I just find them sooo beautiful!

They stuck around for a little bit of fruit...

But not very long...before they were up, up and AWAAAAAY!

We've seen them floating around the yard and our garden...

And we look forward to the next generation of Monarchs which should be sometime this month!

The Mighty are Fallin'........

Back in the middle of May, I snapped a couple of photos of our backyard...

It was comical then...
See the distinct green lines?
That's the proof in the pudding that the Scott's fertilizer my hubs puts down actually does what it is intended to do!
We fertilized one part of the yard, but, as you can tell, we didn't fertilize near our row of evergreens. We are minimalists when it comes to using any chemicals around here...
Good old fashioned rain water and the occasional garden hose is how we work the majority of the time...

Nice lush green grass.
Nice lush evergreen trees.

A month later?

Look at the middle tall evergreen...

It's turning brown...

In case you can't see what I'm talking about...

let me give you a close up...

I snapped these photos with my cell phone ~

And you should know - that this very spot was struck by lightning last August. Well, the fence directly behind this tree was. A metal plant stand was struck and blown clear off the fence, shattering some of the fence...

If the tree was damaged by the lightning strike, I feel like we'd of seen damage before now.

It would not have been nice and green at all this spring right?

Something is literally eating the needles off of our tree!

Ugh...

I spoke with a super nice Certified Arborist over at Rainbow Tree Care...

Tony thinks we might have a case of Spruce Spider Mites.

Blerg.

Google It.

It's not pretty.

See?

I swear, It's getting worse by the minute.

I did the 'white paper test' & I definately get little creepy crawlings coming off of the branches...some red, some brown.

They look nothing like the ones I'm seeing via my Google searches...but they can still be spider mites right?

Can my tree be saved?

Will these hungry little creatures...if that is indeed what it is creating this ruckus...move from one 40 foot tree to another?

We don't have many established trees to begin with...it makes me sick to think about losing one!


How does one 40 foot Spruce recover from THIS?

We have no other choice but to pay someone to come out and give us an official diagnosis...and hopefully a quick and painless cure!

Has anything like this ever happened to you?

Can our tree(s) be saved?