Flowers

I tried to take bird pictures today but every time I saw a photo-worthy bird it zipped away before I could get the camera up.  Two or three times the Nuthatch came but was gone in an instant.  Once I saw it land so thought I had enough time but, no, it grabbed a seed and sped off.  I saw the Hummingbird once but again was too slow and too late.  So all we have today is flowers.

The bee balm is blooming nicely.  It wasn't too windy so I managed an in-focus close up of
one blossom.

The red day lily is still blooming too.  Not as many flowers as there were last week but still a decent showing.

The original orange day lilies are blooming too.  I've never noticed the pretty markings in the centers of the petals before today.

Dad's rose is still in flower.  Each of the canes has its own bouquet of flowers on top.  When it rains, and it rained again this evening, the flowers get so heavy that they bend the canes down to the ground.

And under Dad's rose the purple chrysanthemums are blooming which means tomorrow I go out with the little shears and clip them back so they bloom in the fall when they're supposed to.

I knitted on June Toe Cap #1 this afternoon and got to the third color and the toe decreases.  Just a few more rounds and it'll be done.

Today's toss was a dinosaur-shaped creamer, a stegosaurus to be exact.  That is the last of my little collection of non-cow creamers that I'm donating.  I have one more shaped like an elk but DD expressed a desire for that one so I'm keeping it for her.

The prompt today said that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  Discuss.  I know what it means, that the coordinated efforts of a group is more powerful than the efforts of the individual participants, but once I've said that I don't know where to go with it.  If anywhere.

--Barbara

Red Bird

This morning this Cardinal chased a squirrel off the platform feeder.  Usually Cardinals chase other birds away but since I filled the feeder the other day and put in a handful of black sunflower seeds, one of the squirrels has taken to jumping in and stuffing its face.  I was surprised that the squirrel left.

The first woodpecker sighting was this Downy Woodpecker on the suet pellets.  Then not too much later it (or another male) was sighted on the suet cakes but that one took off before I got the shutter button depressed.  Tsk.

This afternoon I worked on the June Toe Cap #1 adding the second color of yarn.  What I thought would be enough yarn for the whole thing didn't make it halfway and this green bit is much less so I'll be adding the third color soon.

After lunch I decided to work on the latest art assignment--Proposals.  There are three proposals in the assignment.  The first is to dress like your parent, the second is to imagine your feet in a mountain stream, and the third is to kick a rock around.  That third one has a long explanation as to the purpose of the rock kicking but I won't bore you with it.  I chose the second one and made a mediocre drawing of feet in a stream and wrote a so-so poem about it.  Whew, that's done.

Today's toss was a sheep-shaped creamer.

The prompt today said to write a to-do list for the President.  I started out with make nice with NATO and the WHO since the previous president wasn't nice to them and then I started on my wish list.  I'm sure we each have our own wants and wishes and some of them might even come true.

--Barbara

Mistaken Identity

 I saw a Nuthatch visit the platform feeder for a split second this morning and thought it was back on the suet pellets so I took a picture.  Turned out to be a Chickadee pretending to be something it wasn't or maybe I got caught up in the excitement.  *sigh*  Ah well.  A male Hairy Woodpecker came to the pellets today too but he flew away before I could get a picture, dang it.

The Wren has taken up a position on the leg of my Menopausal Goddess hanging from the gutter.  He sings all day hoping to attract a female for his nest.  So far I don't think he's had any luck.  I watched him chase another bird but she gave him the cold shoulder.

Another clump of day lilies burst forth in bloom today.  They keep me busy going out to remove the spent blossoms every day.

 

I spied a little sprig of pink yarrow this morning on the side of the house.  It doesn't look very pink in this picture (and it's out of focus) but, trust me, it's pink.

I spent an hour this afternoon making my Fair entries online.  I made a list of what I wanted to enter last month when the Fair judges were the guest speakers at our May Knitting Guild meeting so all I had to do was figure out the class for each item and get them entered.  Once again it costs $4 to enter as many items as you want.  I splurged and bought an all access ticket so that I can go watch the judging and go back and enjoy it with friends, if I can find anyone willing to go with me.

This evening I started a toe cap with the leftover yarn from the last hat that I made.  I was sure that it'd be enough yarn for one.  Nope.  Not gonna be enough but I have two more little balls of the same yarn in different colors that I can tie on and make a multicolor one.  I think it'll be just fine.

Today's toss was a goat-shaped creamer.

The prompt today said that a relative offered to make you the beneficiary of a large inheritance on the condition that you use it to start a profitable business.  Write a business plan.  I don't know how to write a business plan so I rambled on about starting a lotion/lip balm business which has absolutely no possibility of becoming a profitable business but it was all I could think of on the spur of the moment.

--Barbara

Mowed

I got a call from LJ, my neighbor, this afternoon saying he'd been thinking of my not-fixed-yet lawnmower, said his schedule for the next week is pretty much full, and did I want to borrow his new, fancy lawnmower right then.  Boy, did I.  That is one sweet mowing machine.  The job didn't take less time but it did take less effort.  Maybe next year I'll save up and get me one of those.

As soon as the rain stopped this morning the Cardinal arrived to scatter the Chickadees and have his pick of seeds in the platform feeder.  I need to remember to refill it tomorrow.

The Gray Catbird came for his daily bath.  I know I keep showing him to you but I dearly love the way he ducks and fluffs and gets himself all clean before flying off.

 

More of the Bee Balm is blooming.  I think the flowers look like fireworks and can't wait for more of the daisies to bloom because together they please me no end.  

 

And the daisies aren't far behind.  Here's the first couple flowers just open today.

 

The spiderwort loved the rain we had yesterday.  It had stopped blooming so much but was back at it today.

A whole clump of day lilies is blooming.  I think there are clumps of day lilies up on the retaining wall but none of them have send up any buds yet.  I hope they're other colors.

 

Today's toss was a chicken-shaped cream pitcher.  I have a few cream pitchers (that aren't cows) that I used to display but since I don't put cream in my coffee why keep them.

The prompt today said to write an ad for a cleaning product.  Bor-ing.  I picked Draino because I like the name and my ad is lame.

I found out today that my adopted grandson, AD, reads this blog.  Hi, AD!  Glad to have you here.  Take care, I'm thinking about you.

--Barbara

Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain, Rain

 That's all it did today.  Rain.  It wasn't quite raining when I got up around 8 o'clock but it soon made up for it and it hasn't really quit yet.  Which means the grass got watered and will grow so I'll have to mow it.  I hope the mower part comes soon.

I think that a nest of Chickadees has adopted the suet pellets.  I looked up this afternoon to see four of them on there.  By the time I got the camera up and on one had flown away but I nabbed three of them on there.

Yesterday I noticed that the Black-eyed Susans or Rudbeckia are fixing to bloom.  The buds look like little fists to me.

Today's toss was a red velour shirt.  Velour, that's a blast from the past.

The prompt today said to list five uses of a hat, scissors, a bucket, and a paperclip.  I'll leave you to make your own lists.

I tried to get on Netflix this afternoon to watch something and couldn't so I called the cable guys but they couldn't help because I have a smart TV and it doesn't use the cable box to access Netflix or Amazon Prime.  So I had to call the customer service number of the TV manufacturer, contort myself around to get the serial number and service number of the danged thing, and then wait for a call back which didn't take longer than 10 minutes.  The guy talked me through a little procedure and I fixed it. !!!  I feel so accomplished even though all it entailed was unplugging the set, pushing a hidden button for 15 seconds, and then plugging it back in.  Whew. I was afraid I'd need a new TV but now I know how to fix it.

--Barbara

Popular Pellets

Two species made good use of the suet pellet feeder today.  This little Chickadee spent quite a bit of time pecking at the pellets and then hopped over to the crook to feed a fledgling that was perched fluttering there.

 

Then one of the newer squirrels hung there nibbling away until I got tired of looking at it and opened the patio door to shoo it away  I don't begrudge it the food, I just don't like it hogging the feeder.

 

I went to visit DS at Zambaldi the other day and watched him clean one of the tanks.  It involves a lot of water, both hot and cold, some sanitizer, and more water to rinse it out.  He says that brewing there is much easier than home brewing because he can hose out the equipment and if anything spills he can wash it down the drain.

 

Some of the milkweed bloomed!  I haven't seen any monarch butterflies yet but I'm sure they'll be around soon.

 

 

The day lilies next to the milkweed also started blooming.  These day lilies are the old ones that were in back of the first house we lived in when we moved to Green Bay in 1962.  They're tough old plants.  Very sturdy.

I finished the Chocolate Snow Day hat at Friday Night Knitting.  I am so glad that I ripped out my first attempt and started over.  This smaller hat fits me just fine and will keep some sailors noggin warm next winter.

Today's toss was a Christmas sweater (not an ugly one) that no longer fits.

The prompt today asked you to write about something that annoys you.  I wrote about people who still contend that the pandemic is a hoax and that coronavirus is just a form of the flu.  Really, people?  I'm not going to start.

--Barbara

Rain

I awoke to rain slashing the window over my head and thunder in the distance.  We need rain so I wasn't too unhappy with it but I wanted to go to the grocery so I waited until it stopped and the sun peeked out before I went.  I got to the store and back before it rained again.  Whew.  And now it's raining again but the thunder and lightning have moved on.  After the last lightning strike fried my cable/DVR box I was nervous when the storm approached because I was recording a show (Midsomer Murders on PBS) but the lightning stayed far enough away.  Double whew.

I didn't have anything to take a picture of.  No new flowers blooming but I did think that these lawn weeds with their little yellow flowers were worth a shot.  I don't know what they are but I have a bunch of them.  Now that it's raining the grass will start growing again and I'll mow them all down but hopefully not until the spring for the self-propel part of the lawnmower comes in and LJ has time to install it.

However Dad's roses are showing off like crazy.  I thought this little one that's just opening with a raindrop in it was worth a photo.

 

The purple chrysanthemum is blooming as it has in previous years.  When it stops raining (maybe tomorrow) I'll go out with my little shears and cut off all the blooms and buds so that it blooms in the fall when it's supposed to.

I tried taking a photo of a Goldfinch in the honeysuckle.  As soon as I was all set he turned his back so that's the part of him you get to see.

I've been putzing along on the Chocolate Snow Day hat trying to make it last so I can knit on it tomorrow night at Friday Night Knitting.  I've got a couple more inches of hat body and then the crown decreases to go.

Today's toss was an old gray sweatshirt that I like but won't wear again.  I haven't worn it in years when it fit, I won't be wearing it now that it's too big.

The prompt today asked what general subject you have special knowledge of.  I have general knowledge of a special subject, that's scuba diving, but I don't think I have special knowledge of a general subject.  Maybe I could expound on something like English grammar and I used to know a lot about Geography but the map has changed so much in recent years I'm totally behind the times.

--Barbara

Chickadees

 It's usually impossible to catch a Chickadee on film, uh, digital, oh, in a picture (you know what I mean), but today two of them sat on the birdbath rim chatting and sipping so I got one shot of them together.  There was a third bird on one of the crooks but too far away to get in the frame.  Three at once!  Amazing.

I saw a splash of orange in the garden and went out to see that the butterfly weed hasn't been frozen out after all.  A white moth fluttering around it caught my eye.

 

And while I was looking at the butterfly weed flowers I noticed that there are blueberries growing on one of the bushes.  They're small and hard because we've had no real rain to speak of but there are blueberries.

 

This afternoon a Downy Woodpecker came to the suet cakes.  I think it's a good thing that the neighbors have feeders out too because I've had a lot more woodpeckers lately.  The Gray Catbird came for a bath and I have to say that it was the most thorough bath I've ever seen a bird take.  Even the Robins don't go all in like he did today.  I didn't take a picture because I was transfixed by his energy and splashing.

Today's toss was a black shirt/sweater that I really wanted to keep because it's so nice but I tried it on and it just hangs on me and the neckline is all wrong.  Out it went.

The prompt today said that your phone rings.  Who do you want it to be?  I said Durwood, always Durwood.  He's the one I want to talk to.  It's been nearly three years since he died and I miss him as much now as I did when he was first gone, it just doesn't hurt as much as it used to.

I've been on a hummus jag.  I have a WW recipe that is 0 points per serving so I've been having it with baby carrots and sugarsnap peas as an afternoon snack.  I've been so hungry lately but I'm working hard to stick with the food plan so a "free" snack is a godsend.  First batch I made plain, the second batch I added roasted red peppers, and tonight's batch I put in a few green olives and thinned it with olive brine.  Now I wish I had basil plants so I can make a pesto batch next time.  Maybe I can find basil leaves in the grocery?

--Barbara

Moonlight

I was closing the shade last night and there was the moon shining nearly full so I went out to take its picture.  Naturally the moon was hiding in the trees.  It never occurred to me that the porch was that much lower than the floor of the house but there is a step down so I had to maneuver to where the moon shown through the leaves of the trees.

Today we have day lilies.  Not the reddish ones, the plain old orange ones.  Only one plant is blooming, the one tucked next to the air conditioner, none of the other ones that aren't tucked against the house are sending up buds yet.

And we have birds.  I saw a gray blur and looked up to see a young Red-bellied Woodpecker come to the suet.

Then right after that a male Downy Woodpecker came too.  I saw the Hairy Woodpecker but it didn't stay long enough for a photo op.  It was a woodpecker day!

This little White-crowned Sparrow came and spent a lot of time pecking around in the fallen corn and seeds, and also had a bath.  He's smaller than the regular English Sparrows but he didn't have a problem chasing off the chipmunk that was trying to horn in on his food.

I ground up some grilled chicken breasts today and made some chicken salad spread.  I like it ground better than diced, it holds onto the mayo/yogurt/mustard and spices better than the chunks.  I'll toast a sandwich thin and smear it on for lunches.

I went to the farm stand for local strawberries and some sugarsnap peas so I spent the time that I'd have dedicated to finding something to toss cleaning and slicing berries and cutting the strings off the peas.  Naturally I had to sample them, more than once. Yum.

The prompt today asked you to draw a picture without thinking too much.  If what you drew was on the book cover, what would the book be about?  The only thing I can draw with any degree of skill is a palm tree so my book would be about an island, maybe running away to live on an island.  Not very imaginative, but it's all I've got.

--Barbara

A Play Day

I went to Bay Beach Amusement Park today with Lala and a friend of hers.  We met at 10am, were some of the first people there, and we didn't leave until 3:30pm.  This is a city park and the ride tickets are 25 cents each.  Now, rides cost two or three tickets but where else can you spend the day on the rides and not spend more than $5?  Not counting lunch, of course.  It was great to be outside even if the day was cool and windy.  I forgot to put on sunscreen so my nose is sunburned.  Good thing I have aloe.  We rode on the big Ferris wheel with its panoramic view of the bay of Green Bay.

 

We had a blast on the bumper cars, rode both of the small-gauge trains around the grounds, rode the Scrambler twice, and the Tilt-a-Whirl three times.  Lala and friend went on the big slide and the swings.  I skipped those, they're too high for my taste.

 

 

I was pleased to see that the bee balm has started blooming.  Didn't see any bees today but I'm sure they're around.

 

 

 

The female Hummingbird paid a call today and sat there long enough for a picture.  I know I show you one every time I manage to take a picture but I can't help myself.  Even after all these years I'm still thrilled to see one.

 

 

I filled the birdfeeders and the squirrel corn but this two-toned squirrel decided to visit the platform feeder and help himself to sunflower seeds and mealworms, the snot.  I chased him away a few times but ended up giving up because he was so persistent.  Once the "goodies" are gone and only safflower seeds are left he'll leave the feeder alone.  I hoped that I could risk putting out the goodies because my neighbor has better seeds than I do but I guess not.

Today's toss was a toddler-appropriate sticker book that got lost behind some other things and never got played with.

The prompt today said that you change genders.  How would your days be different?  Would people treat you differently?  That was a hard one.  I've never wanted to be a guy and I'm not sure how my life would be different.  I'd still be retired, I think, and still putz around the house.  I did think (judging from Durwood's early retirement) that I might have a part-time job to keep me occupied.  

--Barbara