Left-Side Hummingbirds or Right-Side Hummingbirds?

That's how Durwood told me he IDs the hummingbirds that come to our feeders.  Some come from over the house to the right and go back the same way, others fly in from the left and leave that way.  But this morning, when I was having coffee and reading the paper on the patio around 7:30, a pair of hummingbirds flew out of the apple tree (straight out the patio doors), had drinks, and flew away back into the apple tree and beyond.  Does that mean that we have West-Side Hummingbirds (Left), East-Side Hummingbirds(Right), and North-Side Hummingbirds (Back)?  I'm suspicious of the idea that each bird has a route to the feeders that doesn't vary but then I don't get to sit and watch them and learn their markings like Durwood does.  I am tickled that they make a sound and I recognize it so I can look up to see them when I hear it.  They make a kind of squeak, it's a very small sound but it's distinctive.  Pretty cool, huh?

I couldn't control myself last night and cast on another bib in Cascade Fixation.  I'm calling it Packer (with a touch of Vikings) Bib.  I like the three colors and I'm no Packer fan (not really a football fan at all) but living here you can't see green and yellow (or gold) together without thinking Packers and even a non-fan like me knows that the Vikings color is purple.

All kinds of stuff's starting to flower and make buds and leaves out there.  The Bleeding Heart will be blooming soon.  The volunteer violets are like little galaxies in a green sky.  Those red and yellow garden tulips are still going strong.  One of my blueberry bushes is covered with blossoms.  I think I should have pruned the largest bush because it's only got leaves on a few branches; I'll check the handouts from the blueberry growing seminar I took last spring.  It's time to fertilize them anyway. 

Tomorrow after the Energy Efficiency Survey guy goes away (we'll get some free CFLs and some free LEDs and he'll adjust the too-high heat of our water heater for us) we're going to Stein's for garden plants.  We want to get tomatoes and lots of herbs.  Well, not lots of varieties of herbs but lots of plants of certain ones--basil, parsley, and thyme--those are the ones we use a lot and we read an article that said they make good companion plants for vegetables for deterring pests or enhancing flavor, for instance, planting basil by your tomatoes is supposed to make the tomatoes taste better.  We're going to test the theory.

May 22--Sophilos, Volute-Krater of Chalcidian Shape.  "Mama, there are pigs kissing on that flower pot."  The little girl's voice echoed through the display hall.  The nearest patron, an older man with white hair and a stoop, frowned and grunted at the child's naivete.  The rest of those in earshot smiled and a few giggles were stifled.  The low light and general air of self-importance in the Sarah Welton Museum of Classical History made most visitors feel that they had to be quiet, if not silent, and reverent.  The child's clear voice and her mother's confident response, "they must be good friends then, don't you think?" seemed to give the rest of the visitors tacit approval to talk in normal tones.  People found themselves slowing their steps so as to remain close to the mother and child.  The security guard was concerned that there was something amiss when he realized that people leaving the museum were smiling and talking among themselves, not solemn and as silent as if leaving a funeral like they usually did.

Okay, back at work, have to go do work things.  Only one more day until I get my laptop back.  I can't wait.  I know it, I'm addicted to the thing.  *sigh*  I'm wearing a linen cardi today and it has a little embroidered blue horse on it which makes me think of a visit to Lexington and time spent with DD & DIL2.  I miss those girls.
--Barbara