Uh-Oh

I opened the curtains this morning and, uh-oh, the birdbaths were iced over and there was frost on the newly mown grass. %$#^&!!!!!  (sorry, emotion got the better of me)  It's May 16th, people, it's supposed to be warming up not cooling down, not freezing overnight, not endangering my overwintered bay leaf and rosemary plants that are on the patio, not icing the birdie juice.


Speaking of birdie juice, Durwood made 2 cups of it that we dyed orange to put out in Mom's old oriole feeder when we saw the oriole try to contort himself to drink from the hummingbird feeder the other day.  He's been ignoring it.  The level of juice hasn't dropped a millimeter while the juice in the hummer feeder's almost gone so the orioles are definitely still drinking it.  Maybe it's the feeder...  In the meantime we'll put out another hummer feeder with oriole juice in it.  Tsk. Birds.


I embroidered (not very well) the face on the Elephant Pacifier Strap yesterday and knitted the second half of the Strong heel on my Fiddlehead sock.  I had to turn off my audiobook and hope that the phone didn't ring for the first 4 rows but after that it was a cinch, it made perfect sense.  I don't have a lot of confidence that the heel will be durable since it's a single layer of knitting, not padded like a flap heel, but it's clever.

I got the back and side yards mowed yesterday after work.  It was a job and one that I didn't do all that well.  The grass was too long to not bag but I didn't bag because of how much more work it is with all that stopping and carrying the bag of clippings to dump somewhere.  Now there are windrows of cut grass left on the lawn that will dry and look raggedy but I figure it'll get chopped up when I mow next time.  I promise (cross my heart) not to wait so long.  I didn't mow the front because I'm trying to let the overseeding take hold.  That means every morning I run the sprinkler for half an hour when I first get up.  It looks like crap, it needs a chance to improve, either that or I'm calling a lawn whisperer for some advice.

May 16--India, A Common Indian Nightjar.  The sun was setting, the shadows lengthened like black fingers across the field.  Rana sat on the bank of the irrigation ditch watching the swallows dip and swirl to catch insects in the fading light.  The world seemed to hold its breath at that time of day.  The wind died, everything got quiet, a person could hear herself think.  Rana had a lot to think about.  David wanted to take a job offer that would mean moving halfway around the world.  She wasn't sure she wanted to go, wasn't sure she loved him enough to stay married, to make that kind of commitment to a life with him.

And that's the end of that notebook.  Woohoo!  One more on the pile that DS & DD will have to burn or recycle when I'm gone.  One more book for me to read through when I'm old and feeble sitting in my wheelchair on the porch of "the home" wondering who wrote all of that, thinking what nice handwriting she had.  Silly.  Hey, I slept until 7 o'clock (luxurious) so it's time for me to have a bit of yogurt, granola, and fruit while I read the paper, then Durwood's got a toe doc appointment before lunch.  See you later, alligator.
--Barbara