Advantages of being Disorderly

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is
constantly making exciting discoveries.
A. A. Milne

I cannot remember when I became aware of this quote*, but it describes my philosophy very accurately. I like reading articles which report that children who grow up in excessively clean homes are more likely to develop allergies. Our mother taught us to make our beds, do the dishes, and keep the bathroom clean and I make sure these tasks are done. But daily dusting, vacuuming and floor washing would reduce my discovery time to an unacceptable level.

Gray Catbird

Our next door neighbour uses the corner of the yard adjacent to our deck to pile her yard waste. It is quite an eyesore and we built a privacy screen around our deck to hide the view. A rusting, roofless shed contains old firewood, and pruned branches from her shrubs are thrown against a broken up picnic table. Lilac bushes on both sides of the fence provide plenty of leafy branches for cover. The area has become an ideal place for birds and small animals to rest in between visits to my feeders.

Female Eastern Towhee on the brick border of the garden

We live in a very typical urban subdivision but have had some interesting visitors this spring. Besides our usual numbers of Chickadees, House Finches, Goldfinches, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Robins, Blue Jays, and Blackbirds, we have a resident pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches, and visiting White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Pine Siskins, Hermit Thrush, White-throated, White-crowned, Chipping, Song and Fox Sparrows, Cedar Waxwings, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Cooper's Hawk, Great Horned Owl, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Pine Warbler and this weekend, an Eastern Towhee and Gray Catbird. The last two visitors prefer thickets and underbrush and our neighbour's yard provided the perfect environment.

The "disorderly" corner of our neighbour's yard, bottom left

My husband will not keep a messy yard, but the brick work he built around our flower beds and the mulch under the shrubs have also attracted birds. He also avoids the use of toxic lawn and garden chemicals. We were all amused by our visitors this weekend. The Gray Catbird aggressively chased the other birds and squirrels away from the feeders until it was done. The female red squirrel is nursing her babies and comes boldly for quick treats on the deck. I have not found her nest yet, but watched her move one of her babies in her mouth across the top of the fence. By the time I got my camera, she was gone. We also watched the male Cardinal lovingly feeding his mate, beak to beak, while sitting on the fence outside our window.

Being a little disorderly can be a good thing for sure!

*I saw the quote on Michelle's blog