The early bird gets...well, soaked.

Every spring, we make a trip to Home Depot or Lowe's and get a bunch of flowers and plants for our outdoor pots. This trip usually consists of Dayven walking around saying "What about those?" "Do you like these?", "oooh, those look nice", to which I reply "hmmm" and then proceed to pick whatever it is that I like. This year I threw the poor guy a bone and let him pick out some things for the back deck, as well as the pot next to our front door. He is quite proud of his selection and keeps a close eye on his picks, often commenting on how nice they look. Lately, he has been complaining that the coleus I planted are choking out the flowers he picked for one of the pots. This is true actually. The coleus are easily twice the size of said flowers and they're preventing even a drop of sunlight from getting through, but that's not really the point of this story. Dayven has been talking about how much he hates Coleus and asked me to remove at least one so his poor flowers will stand a fighting chance. I quietly agreed, but never really got around to doing it. This morning, I went out to water my plants and noticed a gaping hole in the pot where a Coleus had previously lived. So much for subtly. Just before I began to pour, I noticed two small beady eyes peering out at me through the foliage. It seems a flock of baby birds have taken up residence in the leafy jungle. Who knows how long they have been living there. It's possible I've been watering them for a month. I'm sure the gargantuan greenery has been providing a nice shelter for them. I'm glad I noticed them before I doused them in another tidal wave. Their mama was watching from a safe distance on the light outside the garage. I'm sure the mutant Coleus can survive a day or two with no water while I give our feathered friends time to vacate.

The previously inhabited residence...