Baby Blues and wonder dogs

Mama BlueBird chose the birdhouse closest to our front door as her new home and promptly set to work. For the past several weeks, I have patiently watched the five lovely blue eggs that she laid in the nest. Also, for the past several weeks, Ezzy, our mutt has guarded this tiny abode against all sorts of critters. Ezzy loves to chase anything that will run from her but she absolutely loves birds. (Hehe, maybe she is a "bird" dog!) This morning, a squirrel found the nest and thought of raiding it. Obviously, bird eggs are on a squirrel's menu. Mama Bird tried her best to fend off the intruder but to no avail. This was at 5AM, Ezzy still being in the house had not yet set up guard in her usual spot beneath the birdhouse. My morning coffee was interrupted by a fierce barking at the front door..company at 5AM?..a burglar fumbling with the lock?..what crazy ideas were going through my still sleepy brain! Quietly, I slipped to the door, listened and then realized what was bothering Ezzy to the point of hysterics. I flung open the door and she bolted nearly ramming headlong into the screen door. The squirrel panicked and simply froze on the roof of the birdhouse. Mama Bird had now summoned the entire bird population of South Mississippi to join in the defense of her home. The screeching and squawking of what seemed like hundreds of birds filled the early morning air. I, being the totally sane person that I am, ran out of the house waving my arms above my head yelling "Shoo! shoo!" What a ruckus we all created! The squirrel, who by this time has regained his senses, scampered to the top of the tree and dove. Dove to a nearby fence post! He did not make it. Instead, he plummeted to the ground and crashed into my cute, ceramic toad house. Dazed, he slipped through the fence only to encounter Ezzy! Now she thought this was the most fun she has had in ages, the squirrel thought he was done for, the birds thought their chorus successfully vanquished the demon and I thought.."I am glad that nobody saw me!" After a great chase, Ezzy went back on watch from her spot beneath the nest just waiting for another exciting race. I headed back to the kitchen to get a fresh cup of coffee. Good ole Ezzy!

Today was the big day..as of last count there are four naked babies in the nest! Honestly, they are so ugly that they are cute! But then, maybe they are just cute because they are babies. I know that they will grow rapidly into the beautiful blue birds that I love. I will definitely be putting out more bluebird houses. The eastern bluebird eats a large number of insects every day so they are very useful birds to have in the garden. I would like to build at least 10 more houses to place in and around the peach garden. Hopefully, I can encourage more of them to make my garden their home.

After the squirrel incident, I went out to pick the first of the ripe tomatoes. I am not sure why we only have cherry tomatoes this year since the seed packets said "plum" tomatoes. The crop looks good if I can keep the stinkbugs and worms away. Early this week, the stinkbugs were taking over the garden so I mixed a spritz bottle full of garlic water and doused the tomato plants.The bugs have moved to the beans and

my tomatoes smell garlicky! I picked almost two gallons of the small tomatoes. The garden also yielded eight fat bell peppers, a lovely handful of chives and some garlic cloves. All of these destined to become a batch of tomato sauce! It was not long before the large pot was bubbling happily with yummy red sauce. Four and a half quarts of tomato sauce were added to the shelf! All in all, another good day on the Bayou.