Potlucks are depressing enough as it is: How did we not notice this?

Sweetie McPie and I were on the back porch Monday, just chatting; we can't remember what exactly we were doing out there - I think the rain had stopped and the sun had come out and we were inspecting "the grounds" (all our plant life).

Now, our back porch and back door is actually our "front" door, in that it's the one we used. (The interior of the house is oriented such that from the inside, the back door IS the front door. The main foyer is attached to the back door...)

Ok, I haven't even started my story, and I'm already digressing. So, back porch, where all the action happens. We're out there, hanging out... and we notice the following elaborate construction, not six inches from the door that is in constant use by a family of four (including regular slams by a 7 year old):

In previous weeks, the light was behaving sketchily - sometimes it turned on, sometimes not, and Ken had said somewhat idly that maybe a bird was building a nest in it. I saw no evidence of this (but didn't really investigate) so didn't take him seriously. Suddenly, we have definite nest action.

Very curious, we tried to see inside, but the top is about five inches from the ceiling of the porch, so we had no vantage point. I stuck my camera up there and took a picture of the inside. It looks like this:

That's a lot of bird spit, frankly.

So, no eggs yet. We're wondering how that will go, and also wondering whether or not to draw the children's attention to this miracle of nature. It will be hard not too. Also, we have determined that it's not a robin's nest, though those are the birds we see around most. At night, we can see the nest from inside our back door, and we saw the bird in there - it's butt-end only, and while we couldn't tell what it was, we could see it didn't have a red (or even slightly pink) breast.

While I'm feeling all pastoral, I'll indulge in regaling you with image from my garden. (You know you're old and lame when...)

Remember that brown patch in the midst of the beige area of non-grass? Ta-da!

Okay, the grass still patchy, but at least it's green! That's swiss chard on the left, beans on the right, and carrots at the back. The front non-growing patch was going to be for tomatoes, until we realized there's not nearly enough sun for those there, and we never got around to deciding what to put in alternatively.

Next up, the cutest little basil seedlings on earth. These are McPie's project. Come fall, we're going to have a shitload of hostess gifts in the form of basil plants. So, invite us to dinner, 'kay?