Finally, wildlife that I can live with...

...bunnies!

For the past week now, there's been a bunny by the guest cottage. He sits there early in the morning and he's probably munching on the sweet clover that grows by there. I've seen the little brown rabbit when I go around the courtyard to open up the gate of the coop so Mickey can go in and out of the coop as well as going in and out of the garage.

When the rabbit sees me, he quickly runs underneath the cottage, and if there's one bunny under there, then surely he's with the rest of his bunny family.  I've seen a lot of animals go underneath that cottage, everything from mice and snakes to armadillos and foxes. The bunny is the least of my concerns, and if there's a family of rabbits under the cottage, then I don't think all those other critters are under there as well.

The barn swallows are back, as always, and there seems to be a lot more birds than in previous years. All of them have renovated the existing nests a bit, making them either taller or wider or both, and the birds who have been here before sit there at the edge of the nests and just watch us going back and forth on the porch. Sweet little birds, all of them, even though they do make somewhat of a mess along the edge of that porch.

A pair of barn swallows had chosen one of the ledges underneath the breezeway connecting the house to the garage... they were trying so hard to build a nest there, but all the mud and dirt was just falling onto the courtyard because the ledge wasn't wide enough to hold the base of the nest. Well, my husband noticed their efforts, and he got a piece of board and used two nails to secure that small piece to the very thin ledge the barn swallows had picked out. Within half an hour, the two barn swallows were inspecting that new board and flying back and forth with bits of dirt and mud to construct their new home.  My husband put that scrap piece of board up yesterday and ever since, those two little birds have been building.... my guess is that within a few days, their nest will be complete and the female will be sitting on some tiny eggs. I told my husband that he earned some really good birdie-karma this week.

Mickey is still walking around the yard and looking for Gatsby, our other outside cat who had to be 'put down' last week.  I didn't realize how much I'd be missing Gatsby till he was gone... that cat followed me all over the yard, all around the porch, and more often than not, I'd be tripping over Gatsby because he was always walking so close to me. Now that he's gone, the porch seems empty, and I know Mickey is missing him outside, and even Sweet Pea sits by the screen door and looks on the porch for him. Gatsby was such a part of the family even though he spent most of his life with us outside on the porch or inside the garage.  I miss calling his name out there in the yard, and it never failed to surprise people when I'd call his name and he'd come running across the porch like a dog would. Gatsby... our wise gentleman cat.... he is definitely missed.