Still Smoky

It seemed a little less smoky today but not much. The sun was still a red-orange ball in the haze and it smelled like an old campfire outside. Thank goodness for air conditioning and good filters. There's an air quality alert that runs until noon tomorrow. Hopefully the wind will shift and send the smoke back to Canada. Outdoor activities have been cancelled because of it, so you know it's bad.

 

I went down to Zambaldi Beer this morning to get a 6-pack for knitting tonight. DS was unboxing a new slush machine. The old one had sprung a leak so a new one was in order. Blue raspberry hard slush was the flavor last weekend. I don't know what it'll be this coming weekend but it's bound to be tasty and cold.

 But first I went to T.J. Maxx to look for placemats. I found two sets that came home with me--one made of straw that I set the table with tonight, and the other of linen that I'll use next time. We had good eats tonight. I made chicken tacos with lots of toppings. DM made Mexican corn salad that was cold and very good. She also brought some chocolates because KE couldn't make it and she'd said she'd bring dessert. CS brought queso and chips which were delicious. It would have been easy to just have queso and chips but we ate some of the other stuff too. I've got plenty of chicken taco meat and toppings for suppers for the next few nights. Yum.

 

I saw a flash of blue in the yard and saw a Bluejay hopping around up by the retaining wall. I took a quick picture hoping it'd move closer but it didn't. It flew away instead.

 

The lawn mower came this afternoon. He was wearing a gaiter over his nose and mouth to filter out some of the smoke. It can't be good to breathe that stuff all day.

 

Today's drawing was a Crocus and it turned out! I took my time, erased a lot, and colored carefully and I like it. Several people have told me to cut myself some slack in the art department so I'll try.

 

A Downy Woodpecker landed on the suet cakes. It also visited the square green feeder but didn't stay there very long. It liked the suet cakes better.

 

I've got some lily pictures and a marauding squirrel picture but I'll save those for tomorrow because it's getting late and I'm tired. CS saw a Hummingbird at the feeder while I was in the kitchen so I missed it. Dang it! But I'm glad to know it's coming around so I'll keep refreshing the birdie juice.

--Barbara