the garden: celery update 2

That cool fall weather that I've been waiting for finally showed up Sunday. Low humidity, mild temperatures, nice breezes -- perfect for painting furniture on the patio, doing some gardening, taking a walk through the neighborhood. And sleeping with the windows open, something Tony and I did for the first time since the beginning of the summer.

It also was the perfect weather for my celery plant to thrive. That is, you know, if my celery plant STILL EXISTED.

(Recap: I've been attempting to grow my own celery from the base of an old stalk. See my original post and my first update.)

It turns out that last week, someone dug up the entire plant and took it with them, leaving a big hole. They also left a few leaves, just to taunt me. I don't have enough evidence to convict, but all circumstantial evidence points to the damned squirrel that lives in my alley as being the culprit.

Squirrels: 2. (Including the tomato crime.)

Jessi: 0.

the garden: bird feeder

I put up a cute bird feeder in my backyard last weekend, and at first I was kind of sad because I wasn't getting any customers. But then a sparrow started coming around. Here she is, viewed from inside the house: 

And pretty soon she told all of her sparrow friends because by Saturday afternoon it was like I was running a sparrow nightclub. In related news, this is how Victor is now spending 100 percent of his free time: 

I mentioned previously about Tony's first-place award for chicken showmanship. He busted out some more of his avian knowledge as we were watching the birds, identifying the male and female sparrows, grackles, mourning doves and cardinals. The things you learn about your spouse.

So the birds have pretty much decimated the supply of sunflower seeds that I put in the bird feeder. And I'm not sure whether I'm going to refill it because those little bastards ate all of my strawberries while they were here. And squirrels were all over my backyard. Whom I blame for this crime, which I came home to last night:

Bah humbug.