Just Plain Birds

As my last day of work draws nearer I find it increasingly difficult to get myself going in the morning.  I read the paper with a lot more thoroughness.  I spend extra time working the Jumble and Sudoku and less time staring out the window looking at what's happening out there.  This morning I saw a Downy Woodpecker for a fleeting moment but mostly there were just plain birds.  The House Finches (the males have rosy pink heads, I think they're an invasive species brought over as cage birds a century ago that escaped) have taken over the Oriole feeder.  They've always been the birds that pecked away at the orange half and grape jelly when the Orioles aren't around but this year they've extended themselves to the nectar feeder.  I guess I don't mind.  The Orioles only come early and late in the year, when they're nesting they need "real" food for the babies so the House finches are welcome to the nectar.

Then there are the Mourning Doves, the little old ladies of the bird world.  These are not bright birds in fact they're the ones that bash into the windows so I'm thinking they've got the same problem as people with concussions do.  Plus I love the whistling sound they make when they get startled and fly away, like little old ladies when you tell them a dirty joke.  (except for my Grandma Babe who never understood a clean joke in her life)


Yesterday afternoon I stole a few minutes to set up a table in the back room and cut out another pair of seersucker practice pants from the remains of the fabric.  There wasn't enough to cut out the whole length of the legs but I think they're about even.  And I have enough scraps so that I can sew "cuffs" on the leg bottoms with the stripes going horizontal if they're just too short or an awkward length.  In fact, I might just do that anyway as a "design element."



After supper I cast on another anklet with yarn that reminds me of Easter eggs.  We all know how much I dislike pastels but for some reason I like this yarn.  Maybe it's the lime green...  BTW, that bracelet is a row counter, kind of an abacus you wear on your wrist.  (one of these days I'm going to get me an abacus and learn how to use it, and not a counting frame either, a real abacus)

And I printed off a couple patterns, dug out needles and brought some pink yarn with me today to cast on the first Pink Pussy Hat.  Better late than never.  LC and DIL1 told me the other night that I'm a "rebel girl" like they are.  LC has a book "Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls" that is full of one page biographies of women like Harriet Tubman, Frieda Kahlo, Grace Fitzgerald (she was a pirate), so little girls grow up knowing that they can be and do whatever they want.  LC told me that rebel girls are "strong, smart, kind, and brave."  I was very touched to be included.  Makes me want to be all those things every day.  (I see I need to stop for some printer ink on my way home)


June 22--Diego Velasquez, Prince Baltazar Carlos.  Boys and horses have almost as much affinity for each other as boys and dogs.  Balt would have slept with Maestro if Mama had not made such a fuss about rats and fleas in the barn.  Balt thought it was cleaner in the barn and it smelled better than the house and most people did.  He and the groom sponged off Maestro every day after Balt came back from riding.  Despite Mama's contention that it wasn't his place to brush his horse, Balt insisted that caring for his animal was part of being a horseman.  Papa agreed.

Okay, now this is almost ready to post so then I can cast on for a hat.  Can you believe that I've had to work at work most of the day?  I mean, really.  Good thing I'm retiring ONE WEEK FROM TODAY.  *ahem*  Sorry for shouting.
--Barbara