What happened in the backyard Wednesday

It got cleared out. It got cleaned and picked up but not by me. Obviously. Remember the picture of my dining room? My backyard had the same decorating style. Lots of stuff but no good place for anything to go so things just started piling up......for years (besides, when you live with turtles, plants last longer when you keep them out of the ground and slightly elevated in their protective pots). Brian left the two trees I planted (ha ha ha) but otherwise, this photo looks exactly like what the backyard looked like when I moved in 15 years ago but um, maybe with even less plants.

Earlier in the week I gave Brian, the guy who mows my front yard, a big bonus because he's fallen on really bad times and since he is so honest and takes advantage of NO ONE, he felt compelled to spend two whole days cleaning up my backyard, not the 1-2 hours I was expecting. Well, he always does a fabulous job keeping up with the front yard but I was a little surprised at just how thorough a job he did in the backyard. My 3-4 dozen perennials that were still in pots because years later, I still had not  gotten around to putting them in the ground....all thrown out. Absolutely all of them. I was a little shocked at first but now that it's a day later, it's just a big relief not having to think about them anymore. He even cleaned my deck, rearranged Freddie's pillows and PLUMPED them. That just cracked me up. I mean really, look at this...

And here are the leftover pots.....maybe 3/4s of them had perennials in them. I had already brought in the tropical plants that can't take long winter temperatures so it's not like he threw out everything. Just the bothersome. I do kind of miss all the hostas though. :-/ But I'll get over it.

When he cleared out the many years of honeysuckle growth that completely covered the old barbecue built in the 1940s, he found the remains of a possum. When he told me about it he described it as the poor little thing that didn't make it. He left the skull for me because he knew I liked that kind of stuff. 

Poor little thing. Possums only live about 18 months in the wild. Since this guy was found in my yard, I'm sure at some points in time he came to the back door and loaded up on catfood, maybe he had some Teddy Grahams for dessert too. 

A day to remember, November 4, 2008

Early in the evening yesterday, my sister called from Michigan saying the election results were leaning heavily in favor of Obama (Michigan is a blue state). I hadn't thought to check for election results yet because the polls hadn't yet closed in California. When I turned on the TV to watch the election results for Missouri (a red state) the election seemed like it was heading for a McCain win. The idea of a Republican win just made me ill. But then I had to interrupt our conversation and our speculation of the results in our two different states because just that minute,  I heard a noise coming from the back door. And when I looked, somebody was in the process of getting that screen door open. It was the "bold, brazen article" whom I have not seen since last month. I had to hang up on Colleen and attend to the door because those little raccoon hands were as focused as a turtle is on peony shrubs in the spring. I had to react immediately.

...which was to hand over as many white grapes as I had in the refrigerator. I hadn't seen this little guy for a month so I was very happy to see him again. Raccoons are so damn cute. I know they're destructive but look at that face!!!!

I think he ate about two dozen grapes before he realized he had eaten too many because the last one or two could not be forced in. They just fell out of his mouth back onto the deck. So we moved on to cat food (I think that's what he preferred anyway).

It was a very windy night. There were clinking sounds, wind chimes, dog barks, sudden gusts of wind which would send dry fallen leaves flying. This raccoon had absolutely no fear of me but the occasional little weird noises really spooked him (he found the dog barking very disturbing). When the grey cat that smells like cigarettes arrived for his dinner, that spooked the raccoon so much, he had to get to a high place immediately.

And pretend he was invisible.

After the grey cat left, he came back down...

...looking for either more food or something fun to do or both.

He nosed around for some more grapes and when he found that they were all gone, he grabbed the stems, rolled onto his back and started playing with them.

There were some more scary noises that weren't too scary but scary enough so he waddled under the glider and continued to play with the grape stems there. Raccoons strike the most ridiculous poses. But he eventually decided he had eaten and played enough and waddled off.

And then.......the possum arrived. It was time for his dinner.

Yesterday was an historic day, a day that hopefully will change the U.S. and the world for the better and how will I remember it? Me lying on the floor taking pictures of a little raccoon and possum who were trick or treating a couple days too late.

Gawd.

Visitors and residents from this weekend

This morning I caught Cathy Jean by surprise when she was taking a nap in the sun with her front legs dangling over the side of this 2x10 piece of wood. It was pretty cute. But Cathy Jean didn't want me to see her so relaxed so she woke up and shot me this mean look. While I tried to take her picture, she scrambled as fast as she could to find an area where I couldn't see her.

Not far away from her, there was an orb weaver who had built a web between the two hanging baskets of lantana.

The monarch who came into the yard to enjoy the lantana stayed at the top of the baskets. Safe.

A funnel-web spider took in some sunshine (their webs are all over everywhere, this is the only funnel-web spider I could find out in the open and he was huge!).

Praying mantis in the backyard.

Praying mantis in the frontyard.

Praying mantis pondering on the front porch.

When the two stray cats are done eating dinner, the leftovers go to this juvenile possum. Possums are just the strangest looking things. They look like they walk on four little pink fingered hands. This guy is cute and when he scampers away, he is fast! He doesn't have that ambling waddle that the older ones have.

You can't tell in this picture but that gray cat I despise is passed out on the bench behind him. Full tummy.

Another orb weaver in the backyard is busy reweaving this web. The little possum is eating right below him. I probably should not be out with my camera and its flash while the police helicopters are flying over my backyard with their searchlights. It's your typical Saturday night. They're searching for the kind of wildlife I don't want in my backyard. That only happened once.

And then there is this beautiful thing. This Pandora sphinx moth was on my front porch screen when I was on my way out tonight. I hope he's still there tomorrow morning so I can take a picture of him in his real colors (he's supposed to be olive and dark pink!!!). This was done with a flash at night so I won't know the real colors until I see him tomorrow morning.

I got out a ruler and measured him. He's 2.5 inches wide between the bottom tips of the wings. I'm leaving the porch light off tonight so I'm the only one who knows he's there. And hopefully, tomorrow, he'll still be there and I'll have a photo that is even prettier. :-)

Time to start wearing your fingerless mitts...

...because summer's over. Autumn is here.