Never heard of creeping cucumber. Do you use it in a salad?

I've got some tiny c*cktail tomatoes growing from my compost heap. I left them to do their own thing and they started creeping up the bottle brush tree. I've sort of helped them by hanging them over the branches. Should have been nipping off the ends but left them to wander. They are now so high up I have to stretch to reach the ripe ones. Next thing it will require a ladder to reach them.   I see they are also growing in various parts of the garden where I put compost. Might have to cull a few.

There's some creeping cucumber growing here and there as weeds.  I'd never tried the fruit before, so I decided it was time.  I picked a few berries and ate them.  They do indeed taste like cucumber.





Here's some of it growing up on an azalea.  I'll eventually remove it.

That's interesting. Usually, we have both males and females at our feeder, but this year up to five females have been vying with each other to get at the nectar.

Beautiful gardenias. 

During our drought, my window hummingbird feeder was mysteriously knocked down on three successive nights. I decided something was thirsty, and I put water in the birdbath that usually holds none. Saw a cat take a drink there a day later. The culprit? It's not a feral cat; it has a collar and I believe belongs to near neighbors, but it is a roamer.

I've been taking the feeder inside after dark, but I fear some damage was done. It's only plastic. (Glass would have broken on the pavers below.) Wasps have been all over it for days. I tried washing it thoroughly and the situation seems better, but this exact feeder is no longer being made. If necessary, I'll use Krazy Glue to fix the cracks over the winter.

Meanwhile, the hummingbirds are still fighting each other over the feeder. They utterly refuse to share. It has been so dry that few other flowers are available for them, although the next door neighbor has multiple feeders so mine isn't the only one around. These are all females--probably pushed away from those other feeders by the males.

They'll leave soon. They usually vanish when the weather gets a little colder.

A few new gardenia flowers have blossomed recently, presumably as a result of the substantial rains we had a few days ago.  The hummingbirds are still swarming impressively, and they sometimes poke their noses into the gardenias.  I also sometimes poke my nose into the gardenias because those flowers are one of my favorite aromas.

The weather forecast for the next few days is supposed to be sunny and pleasant and about as perfect as weather can be, so let's hope that actually happens.

I'm pretty burned out on yard work.  I did a lot of it this year, and I'm ready for the dormant season.