Meet some of our "friends"...

I recently had fun practicing with my camera on the wildlife around our yard and capturing the critters that venture up on our porch. I began filling our "hands" feeder with sunflower seeds and have been entertained daily by the squirrels that venture, oh so cautiously, up on our porch to gorge themselves on the treasured seeds. I took these pics through the window of our living room and this little guy kept a close eye on me. He seemed to know that he and I were separated by two thicknesses of glass and that he was fairly safe to keep chomping away on his stash of sunflower seeds.

Looks like he has a "look-out" buddy there in the background to keep away the competition!

Look at this pile of sunflower seed hulls that have been carefully picked over and discarded.

He will sit out there for hours!

I moved a little and he got rather concerned!!

Awwwww, a Cardinal. Reminds me of my native state: Ohio. (It's the state bird)

Wish I knew my birds better....what's his name?? Note: Thanks to Bee, we now know that this little fellow is a Chipping Sparrow! Plus, she shared a great new resource: www.whatbird.com for identifying birds. Also, I should have put this verse up with the picture in the first place...Thanks Barbara H for reminding me to look it up!

Matthew 6:26 "(A)Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"

Freddie the Lizard lives on our front porch and visits often.

I wish I could report that these beautiful and fragrant peonies came from our yard...however, we can not grow them here in the hot, humid south. :-( I found these at our local Kroger store and HAD to purchase them as a sweet reminder of the myriad of bushes we had in my yard when I was a young girl. I must have stuck my nose in these for a whiff at least 50 times the first day they graced our kitchen table. They bring back special memories for me. Funny how (it is said) that out of all our senses, smells are the strongest trigger of memories. I used to collect large bouquets of peonies for my Mom and she'd place them on our kitchen table. The funny thing I remember about them is how many LARGE black ants would always be attached to my bouquets and end up in the house along with the flowers. :-) I wish we could grow lilacs, daffodils and peonies here as I have such fond memories of those from my youth. Hope you enjoyed meeting some of the "Locals" at our home.

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