This morning I went outside to check on my plants. The ferns are looking really awful, they're all brown. I want to pull out those uglies but not sure about stepping into that area since I evidently still have some snakes.

I removed a tiny one from my pool skimmer basket last week. It was dead so I had no qualms about holding it. I even got Terri Anne to touch it and then hold it herself. She was quite proud of her ability to overcome a fear most of us have. I don't recommend picking up just any old critter but a dead harmless snake is okay. We discovered that its belly is smooth if you rub it in one direction and rough and prickly if you rub it the other way. The little beady brown eyes made me think of the gecko on the Geico commercial. Today it wasn't on the stone wall where we left it so it might have been a meal for some other creature.

I also heard a hummingbird's chirps as it was circling and deciding where to land on my feeder. I still haven't refilled the seed feeder for the other birds but I'll try to remember to do that with Terri Anne's help after school today. 

My basil plants have grown so tall that they were tipping over. I had to find something to stake them so they're upright. I also noticed a large bumble bee lovin' on one of the blossoms. I needed to cut off the blossoms anyway so I left his till last but finally removed it with him intact. He was so intent on getting his fill of that basil blossom's nectar that he didn't even fly away. I'm going to pick lots of leaves to make some pesto which I will freeze to use this winter. Now my hands smell like basil which is one of my favorite scents. It reminds me of a poem I wrote in 2008:

Basil

I'm drunk on basil's
sweet, seductive scent,
as I select the best leaves,
the ones its other admirers
have not yet sampled.
I'm not the only lover
of this herbal siren whose
perfume greets me when
I touch its leaves or
slake its thirst with
welcomed drinks of water.
But now as Autumn's
near and living as I do
where Winter takes its toll
on tender plants, basil's
scent will soon be just
a memory and a longing
for Spring's return.