We love to watch the birds that visit our yard, and recently added a Bird Buddy feeder to our renovated landscape. The feeder is solar powered and includes a camera for capturing images of the birds who come to feed. The bird feeder is mounted on a tall, squirrel-proof pole. You can monitor the feeder through an app on your smartphone, and receive postcards of birds visiting other feeders.
Bird Buddy feeder ready for visitors
So far, we haven’t had any visitors, but the literature indicates that it can take 4-6 weeks before birds discover the feeder and feel comfortable approaching. In the meantime, here is a view of our feeder without any birds!
The landscaping project is finished! My husband and I have worked with a local landscaping company for the last several years to renovate our urban lot. We wanted a drought-tolerant and wildlife friendly landscape where we can enjoy time outside and watch the birds and critters from our patio. We also had a list of repairs that had accumulated over the years, such as a broken irrigation system, a dilapidated fence, trees that need to be removed, and stairs and paths that needed help.
Path to the rock garden
The design was inspired by Doug Tallamy’s work to promote the use of keystone plants, which provide vital food sources and shelter for other species; and the idea that personal gardens and landscapes can provide a sort of patchwork of habitat for wildlife, in a Homegrown National Park. Tallamy is a professor and lecturer from the University of Delaware and has written several books, including The Nature of Oaks and Nature’s Best Hope.
The oak tree is a keystone species
The property is a triangular shape and on a gentle slope. Its main feature is a large oak that spreads its long branches and casts dappled shade throughout the day. The garden design features several zones including a woodland meadow, a succulent rock garden, a sunny meadow, and the lush lower yard with its vegetation screen. The plants are either local native or Mediterranean, and all are drought tolerant. The landscape is designed as a wildlife garden with keystone plants for food and shelter. Irrigation provides water as plants get established, but the frequency of watering will be reduced as the plants mature.
Path to the lower yard
Calling the garden “New Eden” may sound a little ambitious at this point (most of the plants are gallon-sized and pretty small). But I’m using the term to call on the hope and potential of any new venture, and to recognize the audacious act of casting dreams and plans for the future!
I’ve added a third book to my list of must-read decluttering books – The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a LIfetime of Clutter, by Margareta Magnusson (Scribner, 2018). Although “Swedish death cleaning” may sound a little ominous and grisly, it is based on the concept of putting things in order before you die, out of consideration for the family and loved ones that come after you.
As Ms. Magnusson describes it, death cleaning means “that you remove unnecessary things to make your home nice and orderly when you think the time is coming closer for you to leave the planet”. This act saves precious time for loved ones after you’re gone, because they only need to handle what you felt was most important. The book is a series of essays on topics like “What to Keep and What Not To”, “Happy People”, “A Few Thoughts on Accumulation”, “Unwanted Things”, “At Last: Photographs”, “Written Things”, and “The Story of Your Life”. These essays are filled with wit, wisdom, and sound ideas for cleaning for those we leave behind. As a person “between 80 and 100”, she is uniquely qualified to write this book.
Magnusson further points out that making the home orderly and uncluttered also benefits you and your family while you live. A serene home helps you to focus on what is most important to you; to carry out routine and special tasks more efficiently; and to clean and maintain only what you most need. I read this book about a year ago, and pick it up regularly to reread sections for ongoing inspiration, as I death clean my way through my own home.
Steps (the blog) 