Here is an update on the gourds I grew last summer in my Georgia Garden! I showed you a while back how I Dried Them then turned them into natural Birdhouse's. Tina was kind to Give Pointers on this process and it was fun and exciting Making This Craft. Above is one of the 4 gourds we turned into birdhouse's and place through out the yard. This one is in the Crepe Myrtle in the front yard.
Well, just look who has taken interest in the gourd house! I wonder what he is looking at in the hole? 
Hum, I only see a hole large enough for this Eastern Bluebird to go inside. Lets move in for a closer look shall we? 
Oh my goodness, a tiny blue egg! Could it be an Bluebird egg? 
And now naked baby bluebirds in the gourd! This brood has fledged the gourd house and we cleaned it out soon afterwards. 
A big ole ugly spider has made a second gourd his home. I guess I should have made a sign which Says "Birds Only" on the front. Oh well, he is catching bugs so as long as he is happy in the gourd, I reckon he can stay there...
It has been so gratifying to take a seed, place it into the ground, harvest a gourd, turn it into a place for my beloved bird to call home and raise a family! Tina, thank you so much for encouraging me to grow these gourds! It has been most rewarding of anything I have ever grown in the garden!
Mommy bluebird is currently sitting on eggs as she has once again decided to REVISIT THE GOURDS, In the Garden...
Note: the 4 links above should give you all the information you need to turn a gourd into a bird house for your enjoyment! Come on, give it a try, I did...
Good Morning everyone! The Saint and I are headed to the lake to enjoy a cruise and probably a dip in the water since they are calling for another day of 100 degree weather. It sure was a hot one yesterday at 101 degrees!
ReplyDeleteEveryone have a wonderful day and stay cool however you chose!
Have fun, keep cool and I loved revisiting the gourds with you! The Bluebird and nest is wonderful! gail
ReplyDeleteHave fun! Those gourds make such cute bird houses. Lil Bundle wants to play -ciao!!!
ReplyDeleteSkeeter girl ! I have always admired your gourds ! : ) .. I wish I could grow them here and do the same thing for bird houses !
ReplyDeleteThoose are such hot temps .. I would live in the lake ? LOL
Treat yourself to some nice cool sangria while floating in the water .. now that would be perfect ? LOL
Stay cool (if that is possible) and enjoy the day. I am happy you got bluebirds in your gourd. That is great.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying gourds but I don't know how well they will do up here, sure wish I could get a bluebird for my efforts! Have fun at the lake, I just saw triple temps for the south, more rain for the north east. :(
ReplyDeleteThat is the prettiest Bluebird ever, And it's making a home in your gourd. That is terrific. Sure wish I could get Bluebirds down here.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying gourds again this yr. Don't know how they will do as I'm letting them grow on the chain link fence. They were almost drowned from the earlier rains.
Stay cool Skeeter. The lake sounds like comfort.
Hi Tina, Dawn, Anonymous, Jean & Nina. Hope all have a wonderful day.
Good morning all. Mr. Fix-it says we are heading to the lake too. Pretty hot too but he really wants to use his boat-I go along to make him happy as it is not my thing. Hopefully we'll catch some fish and not get too sunburned.
ReplyDeleteSkeeter, I am so glad you have had fun growing these gourds. It is a really really neat thing to be able to take a little seed and look what you got?! That bluebird looks really really big. I am surprised he chose a gourd for a birdhouse, but ever so glad for you! Now the spider, that's a pretty scary picture. Would work great for Halloween for sure. Everyone have a great day! Stay cool or dry as the case may be:)
Good going Skeeter!!! Awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree that growing from seed is just the most awesome thing, it never stops amazing me and that is really the reason I garden. I grow so much that I am not even able to beging to eat but I just love watching it grow. Guess I should really try some gourds.
I sure wish you could bottle up some of that heat and send it up north. I never likes a lot of high temps but this is crazy.
Wonderful post again Skeeter! Amazing bluebird captures. I like the spider shot too!
ReplyDeleteThat is SO great a bluebird chose to nest in one of your gourds. How do you clean them out?? It's perplexing me...
ReplyDeleteGreat pics! Thanks for a wonderful post! -Jackie
ReplyDeleteHi Tina -hope you have fun out on the boat --you and Skeeter are making this mama want her hubby to get his boat out there too:) But, alas he has work today so no lake time for us.
ReplyDeleteHi Lola --I hope your gourds take off for you --all that rain probably gave them a slow start but with this added heat you have been having I'm sure they will zoom off and mass produce:0) I love how Skeeter gets such cool pictures --wish I could capture such beauty. Sadly, I set my camera down and forget to snap pictures --only get pictures of my lil Bundle:0) He is growing so darn fast!!!
Hi Jean, Dawn and Nina --have a super day!
What a woinderful post! I love the photo of the egg through the hole!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to spend a hot day! Hope you have a wonderful time. Glad the bluebird loved your gourd enough to grace you with a nest. :)
ReplyDeleteHello everyone! We had a great day at the lake. I feel asleep at one point and it was so nice to totally relax like that. We took a dip in the lake and it was like bathwater warm! lol. Had homemade pimento cheese sandwiches as our picnic and then home to shower and relax more. I feel asleep once again on the futon in the sunroom while trying to watch the news and weather. Wanted to see if we are expecting rain any time soon. We have been setting the water sprinkler out to water due to the dry hot days here...
ReplyDeleteThe gourd was most fun to plant and harvest then turn into a house for the birds to enjoy! I do recommend it to any wildlife lover as it is most rewarding!
Kathleen, I took a tool that the Saint has for picking up dropped nuts and bolts when working on the cars. It is a grabbing type thing and gets hold of the nesting materials and I pull it all through the bird hole small clumps at a time. Not as easy if it had a door in the back but works well, just a bit slower...
Jean, I wish we could trade off some heat for rain with you! The pop up showers in the evenings are going right around us leaving us dry and hot...
Everyone have a good evening and sleep well tonight. I hope I do but with two naps, afraid I will be up all night now. Tomorrow, it is back to watering the gardens and enjoying my blooms in the garden…
It's great to see that the birds enjoyed your homemade birdhouse, Skeeter. I bought a packet of gourd seed this spring, but I've been waiting to plant them until I had some extra room in the garden. I hope it's not too late!
ReplyDeleteThat is really exciting! You gave the plant life and in turn have given a home for new birds to start their life.
ReplyDeleteThat bluebird is really pretty too, we have the Western Bluebirds here, but I've never seen one.
Good job~ I like gourds too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great project, this looks really fun! I've always loved gourds! Your bluebird is so pretty and an egg to top it off! What a sweet story!
ReplyDeleteI remember the gourd-making post! I have one of these gourd birdhouses and never knew what went into making it. I've been using mine as interior decor, but now I think I'm gonna move it outside to get some action.
ReplyDeleteHi Skeeter, glad you enjoyed your visit to the lake, and had such a nice, restful day.
ReplyDeleteI love your gourd bird houses, and how wonderful mama bluebird is back incubating her second brood. How fun to be able to peek in and keep tabs on what's going on in there!
Rose, Get those seeds into the ground, You may have enough time to produce a gourd or two before fall! I had the most fun with the gourds last year. This year I pitched a few seeds around some tree trunks and they are growing but so far, no gourds as of yet...
ReplyDeleteCatherine, I had the most fun with this project. I must give Tina all the credit for encouraging me to give it a try. Now I am a gourd growing, bird-house making advocate! lol. The Western Bluebirds are beauties but heck, I think all birds are beauties! :-)
Darla, give a gourd birdhouse a try! You will be amazed at the fun you will have making it and watching baby birds grow inside them is most rewarding!
Lzyjo, Grow you a gourd or pick one up at a market and give a house a try! I could not believe how quickly the birds took to the gourd. They also passed up on 3 wooden houses for this gourd!
JGH, I had thought of keeping the grounds inside as a decor but then decided to give it a try outside! And low and behold, we have had two broods in the gourd house! Beginner’s lucky maybe but that is luck I like to have in my yard!
Garden Girl, the lake was so relaxing. I am lucky to have a Saint do all the work to get us in the water and around the lake! lol, We spotted a Bald Eagle and it was really close to us. That is always awesome to see at the lake! The second bluebird brood have left the nest already. I had this post written and scheduled to post before I left for TN. Those birds do grow and fly off so quickly. We peek in on them when they are eggs then first hatched. We dont bother them after that for fear of stressing the mommy and daddy. Saint thinks he saw a chickadee go into the house so we need to check in to see what is going on now...
Hi Skeeter, We humans thought gourds a good idea for wildlife houses, but the wildlife confirmed it.Congrats.
ReplyDeleteCatmint, It just amazes me how wildlife adapts to things we provide them! Such a neat project for us to create!
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to see that the cute gourd is being used! Loved the pics!
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