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Tarragon, mint, basil, chives, parsley, thyme, and tomatoes :)
My parents came in town and they brought tomatoes and basil and the rest came from the Asheville Farmers Market Herb Festival!

Kate Birdie

Sam and I had quite a week with our backyard animals, particularly the gold finches.  We had a gold finch feeder on our deck (it has since moved to the middle of our backyard) that caused injury to at least 2 birds :(  Very sad, I know!  This past Sunday a gold finch hit our backdoor, and he was stunned for quite a time.  He sat on our deck for at least 30 minutes before he hopped off.  I said hopped off because he had injured his wing and couldn't fly.  On Monday we noticed the little fella hopping around our backyard and eating fallen bird seed in the grass.  He had made a home in the ivy that was growing on our neighbor's fence.  Again, we felt a stab in the heart.  At lunch time on Tuesday, we saw the gold finch sitting in the grass, and finally we decided that we had to do something.  I made a call to our Wild Bird Unlimited store who put me in touch with a lady (who happened to be out of town) so she gave me another lady's name that takes injured birds if you drop the bird off at the WNC Nature Center.  Later Tuesday afternoon, I saw the bird in the middle of the backyard, so I knew that was my chance to catch him.  Since he couldn't fly, he was quite easy to catch.  However, I didn't have a box set-up to put him in, so I frantically called my mom and asked her what to do.  I'm holding the bird in my left hand, talking to my mom on speaker phone, and stabbing holes in the top of a Nordstrom box with a chopping knife (scissors weren't working with only 1 available hand).  I sadly took the little bird to the Nature Center.  I know he is in good hands, and I hope he survives.  He certainly wouldn't have survived in our backyard with an injured wing.  

Now, fast forward to Tuesday evening, I'm getting ready to go to yoga, and Sam calls me downstairs to point out another injured gold finch, this time a female.  Again, she was in the middle of our backyard eating seed off the ground.  Now, just take that knife in our hearts, turn it and dig deeper.  We were so upset to see another injured bird.  These little birds are so cute, and pretty, they are yellow, my fav color!  I went outside and caught the bird before my yoga class.  She was feisty and more difficult to catch - she could hop fast.  Sam built her an overnight home and a transport home.  We felt bad keeping her in a shoe box all night.  Resourceful Sam, took a wire mesh basket that holds cleaning supplies, and made a lid out of cardboard for the lid.  He put a little cup of water and bird seed in there for her, and thankfully she was still eating, so that's a good sign of life.  The next morning, I took our newly named bird Kate to the WNC Nature Center to join her now named friend William.  We did the best we could for these 2 finches, and we moved our bird feeder on Sunday evening, and today received something to put on our windows and doors so they don't get confused.

Makeshift Home for Kate (taken with iPhone at night, so sorry for the poor quality)

Travel Home for Kate, windows are made from ziploc bags : ) (Again taken on iPhone) 

Sydney's 5th Birthday

Symptoms of a 5 year old's birthday party may include:

Baby Fever

Puppy Fever

Bieber Fever

This fever causes extreme joy and excitement when a glimpse of an older friend nickname "Justin Bieber" enters the party.

 But then the fever sets in and causes extreme shyness : )

Animal Fever

I could have taken this little guy home with me.  Aren't all baby animals cute?!  This little goat does look a little devilish with its horns growing, but still pretty cute with his floppy ears.

Which animal doesn't belong in the following series?  I would say Champy their "oldie goldie" golden retriever.

And last but not least, here are some cute kiddos that attended the party.

Does anyone want to adopt a cat...or two?

I thought I would ask my readers if anyone is interested in adopting a cat, or two.  My Nanny and Papa had 2 cats at their house, April (aka "Little One") and Dexter.  They are indoor/outdoor cats, both very loving and cute!  Please spread the word to anyone that you know that has a soft spot for animals.  I don't have a picture of the cats, but I do have another picture of Olivia, Sydney, Amber, and Donny's new puppy, Brody!

I would also like to thank my sister, Rachel Garrison for taking my new head shot, profile picture.  She offered to take a few shots of me while we were in Puerto Rico for Rhea's wedding, and I love them!  Thanks Rachel!

One more random thought for this post, I realized a day later, that I so could have added "Bieber Fever" joke to my last post.  I plan on doing that for my next post of pictures from Sydney's party, because Sydney does have a little bit of the "Bieber Fever!"

Puppy Fever and Baby Fever

Somebody had to have walked away with puppy fever or baby fever from Sydney's 5th birthday party!  Wow, that party was like a zoo, and I can say that because they had a petting zoo!  There were adults, goats, children, a puppy, multiple babies, a chicken and its chicks, kiddos, a miniature pony, and a rabbit!  Whew, that was a whirlwind of a party.  I'll post pictures of the babies, goats, and more later.  For now, here are a few pictures from the party.

Meet Brody, the newest addition to Sydney's family (this would be Sam, my husband, holding Brody).  He was soooo asleep, at this point, it was adorable!  Brody is a golden retriever puppy, and he's just a fluff ball right now.

Here is Sydney, the birthday girl with 2 chicks.  At one point, I looked down into the chicken cage, and I could only see the mama bird.  I looked around and didn't see anyone holding a chick, and thought did we loose all of the baby chicks?!!  The answer was no we did not, the mama bird was hovering/sitting on all of her chicks!  She's one smart momma!

The chicks were a huge hit!

Here is Olivia, Sydney's sister, with a little chick.  Olivia is a big animal lover!

Well...my cousin Greg was the only one that didn't really want to hold the cute little babies :)

This was the first family event since Papa's passing in February.  It was great to be together, celebrating happy little Sydney's 5th birthday.  My friends know that Nanny is now living in an assisted memory care, which is great for her.  She is getting a lot more activity, full time care, and making new friends.  It takes time for everyone in the family to adjust to Nanny's new home, and for Nanny's sake, this was the first time that we took her out of her new home.  She did great, and it was nice having her around.  Here's a pic of Nanny and me.

Sophie at 4 Months

Okay so I'm back from Rhea and Jonathan's beautiful wedding in Puerto Rico (sadly I'm back home).  Sam and I were just easing into vacation mode when it was time to go.  Note to everyone out there, if you have a chance to go to a destination wedding stay longer than 3 nights/4days!  Day 1 was arrival and rehearsal dinner, Day 2 was the wedding, Day 3 was vacation, and Day 4 was a little vacay and then pack up and head home.  I can't complain, because we had a wonderful trip, but it would have been nice to stay longer.  Congratulations to Rhea and Jonathan, I love you, and your wedding was a great celebration of the wonderful love you share for one another.

Now onto cutie pie Sophie!  It was really fun being a part of Sean and Naomi's lives for a few hours.  This is one of my favorites!  So sweet!  The little bit of time I got to spend around my neice, Callie, at this age, they make the cutest faces especially when you get up close to their face.  Sophie's little smile along with her mom (and dad too in the background) smiling, makes my heart warm and fuzzy.

This little smile is pretty cute too.  Sophie's eyes are very captivating to me.

Sweet little kiss from Dad

Another one of my favs, pretty much any sort of snuggling with baby picture will be a favorite of mine.

Now that's a happy baby!