Invasion of Bluejays

This morning around 8 o'clock I looked out the patio doors and saw five (5!!!!!) Bluejays zooming to the birdbath and peanut wreath and then to the apple tree and away.  They were accompanied by a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a female or fledgling Oriole.  They were here and gone so quickly there was no chance of taking a picture of the whole gang but I did get a couple decent shots of one of the Bluejays that came back for a long drink.

The other night the moon looked gorgeous peeking out between tree leaves.  I went out and took its picture and this is what I got--a white smudge in a black ground--and I was standing under the streetlamp so the tree was illuminated.  I wonder why it didn't show up on the pictures?



None of the things I've done today have been photo-worthy.  I went out to drag the trash bin into the garage and noticed that the curb and gutter guys had finished off our lawn pit and strewn some grass seed over it.  Yesterday?  The day before?  No one came to the door to say "time to get out the sprinkler."  So I dug out a sprinkler that makes a square or round pattern and dragged the hose down to the spot.  Naturally the hose that attaches the hose reel to the faucet and the place where the hose attaches to the reel both leaked like crazy and it didn't seem like any water was going down the hose so I had to unreel it all, disconnect the leaky ends, reconnect the hopefully not leaky end to the spigot, and try again.  It worked, thank god, but now I get to stop at Fleet Farm for another hose timer because that's just so convenient and keeps me from having to remember to turn on the water--which I probably wouldn't and then we'd have a dirt and weed patch instead of lawn.  Not that we have a very manicured lawn since I won't let them spray insecticide or herbicide because those chemicals kill good bugs and weeds and the dead weeds leave bare patches in the green.  At least mowed weeds are green.

I also made a batch of birdie juice (4 parts boiling water + 1 part granulated sugar) and let it cool while I went out to fill all the other feeders, then I cleaned out all the nectar feeders and refilled them.  Oh, and the ant deterrent things they hang from were dry so I had to get out that hose and fill them up to keep ants out of the sugar water.  No photos were taken.

Last night I sat on the couch with my seam ripper and got started opening the side seams of the Caribbean-bought clothes I never wear so I can use the fabric for clothes I will wear.  Not worth taking a picture of that either.  When things get made it'll be another story.

August 2--Julia Margaret Cameron, Adriana or Clio.  When Signe wore her hair tied up like that Mama said she looked like Papa's Grandmother Frieda.  Signe wasn't sure that was a compliment.  She remembered Grandmother Frieda as a crotchety old woman who never had a kind word for anyone but Mama said she had been a great beauty in her day so Signe should be quiet and be happy for what she had.

And that's when the Sandman clubbed me over the head.  I vaguely remember Durwood taking away my glasses, notebook, and pencil and turning off the light.  To wrap this up, here's a picture of a very wet Robin.  They're such enthusiastic bathers that one can nearly empty the birdbath and it holds more than a gallon of water.
--Barbara