Big Bird, Tiny Bird

My assistant and I were visiting the neighbor yesterday and she told a gripping tale of seeing a Red-tailed Hawk on the ground with its prey out her patio doors and then another one came and stole the meal.  I was envious, jealous even, so I kept my eyes peeled and my ears cocked and was rewarded.  I heard a commotion in the big trees in the lot behind her house and one of the sounds was the call of that Red-tail.  So I watched and watched and soon I saw it perched way up in the branches all the better to glare at the birds trying to chase it away.  Durwood wants to entice it into our yard so he can ask it to thin the chipmunk and squirrel herds but I don't think that'll happen.



We're still getting regular visits from a couple of female hummingbirds.  I don't know if you appreciate how tiny they are but in the first picture you can barely see her tail as she sips from the port on the back side of the feeder.  (see why I spent $12 on one with the reservoir below the ports?)  That's her in the second picture after she moved around to the next port.  The back one and the left one are the most popular ones; I have no idea why.










The patio pots are looking gorgeous.  I'm looking forward to the plants filling out so that the soil isn't quite so prominent but I'm very pleased with the colors and... well, I just like them.



I slipped up keeping an eye on the asparagus and found these three giant spears this morning.  Guess what vegetable we're having with our leftover burgers and sweet corn tonight.  Go on, guess.







I finished knitting Advent Garland Mitten #7 (the non-green one) on Monday and last night I started crocheting Advent Garland Mitten #8 (variegated green).  With the knitted one you start at the cuff, knit up to the thumb, veer off to knit it, and then continue up the hand to the top.  For the crocheted one you make the top of the thumb first, break off the yarn, then start the hand at the top, work around and around for a while, join the thumb top, and move down to the cuff, decreasing on either side of the thumb as you go.  Neither one takes very long and I'm enjoying the variation in constructions.






In garden news, I was surprised to see that the heirloom variety Wisconsin 55 tomato plant has flowers on it.  None of the others do, not even Early Girl, so maybe it's more adaptable.  I need to figure out how to rearrange the soaker hose without killing the lettuce sprouts because the herb plants don't seem to be getting enough water.  I'll study the problem and work on it this weekend.

May 31--Claude Monet, La Rue Montorgueil, Paris, during the celebrations of June 30, 1878.  The air over the city crackled with the sound of flags snapping in the summer wind.  The end of June was full summer and Paris made the best use of the day.  Flags, bands, the crush of people in the streets, everything in the red, blue, and white of the French flag.  Even kites children flew in the parks looked like flags escaped from their flagpoles.  Claude sat in the window of his flat, took off his glasses, and painted the blurs, the energy, the feeling of the day.  There was a lot of wine flowing, that probably had something to do with the freedom he expressed on his canvas that day.



This morning's sunup sky was a pretty one.  Most of the clouds have scuttled away to the east but I don't think we'll escape them altogether anytime soon.  It's still chilly enough to wear long pants, at least in the morning.  I'm trying not to yearn for warmer days too much because I know I won't like it when it gets summer-hot in a few weeks.  Off to work.
--Barbara