Yippee!

I don't need knee surgery!! While I'm a bit sorry to lose my air-tight excuse for lying on the couch and knitting for a week, I'm really relieved. I have a prescription for physical therapy, which I can do here in town, so I'll have to get that set up next week.

The doctor was running very late, but I had taken knitting with me, and managed to get clear to the heel, so time was not wasted. I thought it was also amusing that there's a coffee bar in a corner of the waiting room. It probably serves the entire building, but it was just kind of amusing. And it smelled really good.

I searched out the Wild Birds Unlimited store while I was there, and it's a very, very nice store--very attractive inside and absolutely stuffed with every kind of seed, feeder, gift, etc. you could possibly imagine. I was dazzled. The proprietor was really nice, willing to talk and share advice, and we wound up talking about dog training, since he trains puppies for service dog work. I'll definitely be going back. I bought a 20-pound bag of safflower seed, since I can only find 1-pound bags here, and the birds are emptying the feeder every 2 or 3 days.

Just a little while ago I saw 4 house finches on the safflower seed feeder, 2 house finches and a house sparrow on the nyjer seed feeder, and 3--count them, three!--birds in the suet cage. Obviously they're figuring out how to use it. It was pretty funny there for a while--they would perch on the outside cage and reach in as far as they could to reach the suet and overbalance and fall in. At first they'd fly right out, but after a while I noticed one--a female finch, I think--was going into the protective cage and clinging to the suet-holder to eat. I guess other birds have been watching and copying her.

The bird-store guy said I'm probably not getting goldfinches because they're shy and don't like to compete with other birds, so I'm thinking of putting another hanger with a feeder under the living room window. I can see the tops of the Casa Blanca lilies from the couch by the window, so surely I could see a feeder on a 6-foot pole. The other option would be to maybe hang one on the front porch, but I'm not sure they'd want to come onto the porch. He also suggested putting my hummingbird feeder back out in August--that a lot of times you might not see them in the spring but they'll show up in late summer/early fall.

We've had a substitute secretary in the department this past semester, and I've really enjoyed it--she's SO nice, very enthusiastic, always willing to go out of her way for people. She brought me asparagus from her garden, and most recently a jar of rubarb jam, and she made a coffee cake for my birthday. So I want to do something for her before she leaves, and my sister found this great site where you can play around with different colors of yarn and beads and order a kit. I ordered the dk weight, thinking it will knit up faster than the fingering, and I'm hoping it will arrive Monday. Then I'll have to knit like crazy to get it finished by the end of the month. I like knitting with beads; I just hope the colors are at least close to what I saw on my monitor!

stormy weather

It looks like for the moment the worst of the weather is off to our northeast, but it's been an evening of severe storm warnings and tornado watches, and radar shows another batch on its way across the river. Every time I think about taking the dogs out for a little exercise, it starts raining. We're under a severe thunderstorm watch until 11 tonight I think, and there's supposed to be rain tomorrow too.

I had 5 house finches on the safflower feeder this evening (in the rain), but none on the nyjer feeder. I'm going to have to see if the holes at the bottom got wet and clogged up, in which case I'll have to dump it out and clean it.

At noon today I saw the downy using the little sunflower feeder by the puppy pen. It was empty when I came home, though, and I suspect squirrels.

A couple of little birds have figured out how to go into the suet feeder. Yay! I'm so happy! The light hasn't been good enough for me to tell if it's house finches or English sparrows, or something else entirely, but I'm so pleased some of them are starting to figure out how to use it and not be afraid of it.

I'm thinking of trying the hummingbird feeder again. The first time I put it out I optimistically filled it all the way up, and then had to throw it all away. This time I think I'll just put a little bit in.

I was looking at pictures of available rescue GSDs--and NO, I'm NOT thinking of getting another dog; I have neither the room nor the finances, and if I were going to add a third animal it would be a cat. I was just looking. And despite all my protestations to the contrary--"No more long-hairs! Never again!"--my eye is immediately drawn to the long-coats. Maybe, years from now, when I'm looking for my next GSD, I'll be able to find one I like with a nice "plush" coat.

if it's not one thing...

Honestly. I discouraged the squirrel with safflower seed, nyger, and a generous coating of vegetable oil spray on the pole. I discouraged the strlings with safflower seed and by not putting out fruit.

NOW I have this mourning dove that's learned to sit on the ledge of the safflower feeder. Mourning doves are supposed to be ground feeders right? Well, this guy has been studying up, and while he's not graceful, he's figured out how to cram himself onto this little ledge and stuff his crop until it's a wonder he doesn't barf. I've been watching him--he doesn't eat, like the finches and cardinal do--pick up one seed, manipulate it open, eat the kernel. No, this guy just picks them up and swallows them as fast as he can. My only hope is that he gets so heavy with all that food in his crop that he gets hit by a car. I wonder if mourning doves are heavier than cardinals? I may be driven to getting that spring-loaded feeder after all!

There's another mourning dove with white tail feathers. I know mourning doves have outer tail feathers that show white when they fly, but this one looks like someone painted the last half of his tail bright white. It's so white it practically glows. That one stays on the ground where he belongs.

The suet cakes in the new suet feeder look like they're being nibbled on, and I've seen both a house finche and an English sparrow leaning w-a-y in to snag a few beakfuls, so I'm hopeful they're figuring it out.

It looks like, if I wind up needing knee surgery, I'll be home at least one week and possibly two. I've been reading as much as I can find all over the web, and it's hard to get a good idea--everyone seems to react differently to it and also individual surgeons seem to have preferences for post-surgical care. One of them said stairs were easy--just sit down and go up backwards, pushing with your arms and good leg. I think that same site said you can drive whenever you're off pain meds and feel up to it. I'll be glad to meet with the surgeon and find out what she thinks and prefers so I can make some more stable plans and also stop wondering what to expect.

I've been paying attention to the dogs the past few days, and their sense of body space is very good. The only time they brush up against me is when they get excited about going out to play. When we go out to potty they line up and wait for me to put their collars on. At meal time, Taenzer lies down on the mat where I put her food and Timber sits in the back hall, and they wait until I put their dishes down. It probably helps that they're older and not quite as squirrely as when they were youngsters. But I don't expect they're going to be a problem. I am thinking of contacting the friend of a friend to maybe take them out to the puppy pen to play; two to three weeks is a long time to ask them to go without exercise.

A river runs through it

Or past it...

It rained most of the morning. There was some sun when I first got up, but it got darker and darker, until it was more like 8:30 p.m. than 8:30 a.m., and I had to turn on the light. Then it started to rain. Gently but steadily. Okay--it's been dry and we needed it. (After all that rain we had, I can't believe I'm saying, "it's been dry and we need rain"!) It rained most of the morning.

Then the sun came out. I took the dogs out--it wasn't too wet--but we came in after about half an hour because it was humid and buggy.

Later in the afternoon I was lying on the couch reading. I'd sort of noticed it was getting a little darker, but it suddenly broke through the words that I was hearing rain. So I ran outside to get my knitting and the cushion off the swing. It rained. And then it rained harder. Water ran down the side street. It looks flat, but it must slant slightly to the south, because the water ran fast and steadily, like a river. Then I heard a sound that made me think a car was coming, and I waited, and nothing appeared, and finally I realized I was hearing the rain, which had ratcheted up and was just pounding down. Then it eased up, and 5 minutes later the sun was out. Now it's overcast again.

I've put a couple of chunks of suet in the bottom of the new suet feeder, and a couple of birds have found it, including the downy, which I'm delighted to see back again. None of them have actually gone into the cage part, though--I think partly because they're all very alert and fly away whenever a vehicle drives by. I can see one going in for suet, a vehicle driving by, and the bird panicking and not being able to remember how to get out, so I'm not sure this will work for us. They are interested--they land on the outside of the cage and lean in as far as they can. I'll leave it up for a while and see.

I did a little clicker-training with the dogs this afternoon, since it was obvious we weren't going to get back outside. We worked on closing the kitchen cabinets. Timber pretty much has the idea; we just need to refine it. Taenzer, bless her heart, tries and keeps trying, but today we just got to the point where she was almost but not quite touching it with her nose. I wish I were better at this, I think she'd be more confident and get it sooner. There wasn't quite as much extraneous behavior, less walking around, than last time, so that's a good thing. I'm thinking, she knows how to nose-touch a sticky-note; maybe it would help her if I stuck one on the door.

Sunday morning

Yesterday was a pretty nice day, and although Weather Underground says today is supposed to be like yesterday, I beg to differ. I was just out with the dogs, and I'd say it's hotter and more humid. I foresee a lot of lying on the couch, reading. I've got the shades drawn against the sun this morning.

Visitors to the feeders have fallen off. I'm guessing this is because there's more natural food available, i.e. more bugs. And some seeds--I saw a little finch the other day standing on its tiptoes to reach dandelion seeds. The first time since childhood that I've felt warm and fuzzy toward dandelions. So I suppose things will pick up again come fall.

I ordered some plants this year--which I haven't planted yet, and I'd better hop to it before everything dies--and one of the places sent me a "free bonus hardy fuschia." I have planted that, and it currently looks like it's dying. I think I'll snip it back about 2/3s and then just leave it alone except for keeping it watered.

This year the Casa Blanca lilies are taller than they've ever been, but the leaves are turning yellow from the bottom. This upsets me. I'm hoping it's because it's a little dry, and that watering will fix it. I'm hoping for lots of blossoms this year.

I saw my first fireflies last night. I remember last year I saw the first ones around the first of June, too. But it's quiet at night--frogs and toads must be finished mating, and the crickets and cicadas haven't started up yet.

knees and birds and knitting, oh my

Well, it seems I have a high-grade ACL tear in my right knee and may need surgery. The nearest specialist is a 2-hour drive, which distresses me, since it means I'll have to ask someone to drive me two hours, hang around for however long it takes to fix things (it's usually outpatient surgery, I read online), and then drive me two hours home. It seems like a lot to ask of someone who isn't family. I'm also inclined to protest, since my right knee doesn't actually bother me--it's the left knee that hurts when I'm going down stairs or trying to carry anything heavier than a bag of groceries.

I have an appt. with the specialist in a couple of weeks, so I'll talk it over with her.

Meanwhile, after a hot and humid week, it's cooled off considerably, and is much less humid, and sunny, praise be. A lovely day.

I finally got a suet feeder that I hope will be starling and squirrel-proof. It's your basic suet basket suspended inside a kind of cage. The idea is that small birds can go in, and big birds can't, nor can squirrels reach. The small birds don't seem to have figured out the going-in part yet, but I did see my little downy--whom I hadn't seen for a couple of weeks--hanging upside down from the bottom of the cage pecking at the strip of suet-cake I'd laid there to sort of advertise that there are goodies inside. I'm glad to see him again, and still hoping to see little birds inside feasting away.

And some of the finches have discovered the small sunflower-chip feeder I have up by the puppy pen. They sat on the fence while we were out this morning, not sure about using the feeder in the presence of the dogs, then finally took the plunge. That's exactly what I was hoping for, to have birds using the feeder while I sat on the swing when out with the dogs.

At last, my garage is completely painted! The son of one of our instructors did it. He's--let me see, he's a college sophomore, so he must be 19 or 20, and seems like a very sharp, reliable young man, who did a very neat job. Unfortunately the trim color is far more blue than I wanted, but at least it's painted. I'm thinking of nailing tin flashing around the bottom, where the paperboard is rotting out, and then putting clear latex caulking along the top of the strip of flashing to keep out water and critters. I asked him if he might be willing to help me with the windows, and he said yes, so that's a big load off my mind.

The garden looks fabulous this year, very lush and full. I've been taking pictures, just not posting them, since things look a lot like they did last year (except maybe the roses are better), and I haven't planted anything new. The blue spiderwort is particularly lovely this year, lots and lots of those beautiful blue blooms with the starry gold "eyes." I bought a few wave petunias for the driveway planter today, and may go out to the nursery this weekend to look for plants for the containers.

I have socks in process, and a lace scarf, but I wanted something a little less fussy to work on, so I found a handpainted worsted weight wool and have started another Ugly Shawl. This one is garter stitch, with increases worked on either side of the center stitch every other row. I have a solid blue I can work an edging with. This won't be very big because I don't have as much yarn as for the original Ugly Shawl, but it will be warm to throw over my shoulders on cold nights.

I'm reading Virginia Woolf. Lots of Virginia Woolf--I'm reading A Writer's Diary in the living room, Congenial Spirits (an edition of letters) in the bedroom, and Mrs. Dalloway outside with the dogs. I intend to also read To the Lighthouse and Orlando, along with the letters and diaries, and probably Quentin Bell's biography, and possibly The Waves. That is the most amazing book--it took me weeks to read it the first time because I would read a paragraph, or sometimes just a sentence, and have to put the book down to marvel at the writing. At the moment I'm wondering where my brain was the last time I read Mrs. Dalloway, since I'm finding all sorts of meanings and beautiful language that apparently missed all my brain cells last time. There are some books it pays to reread, because you always find something new and wonderful in them.

Cuteness

Timber, jolly ball firmly in mouth, stalking butterflies, pouncing with both front feet, and trying to bash the butterflies with his ball. Beautiful and adorable.

Newly-fledged baby house sparrow, sitting in the grass at the foot of the feeder pole, complete ball of fluff and feathers, looking befuddled and clueless. From time to time one of the parents dropped down from the feeder to stuff a seed in its mouth. Something startles the mixed flock of house finches, house sparrows, and mourning doves, and they all take off in a flurry of wings, leaving baby sparrow to gaze around in dim surprise: "Where'd everybody go?" Eventually it flew into the spruce tree a few feet away.

I survived my MRI

But it was a near thing. They did put me in feet first, but one more inch and I'd have been out of there. If I ever need an MRI on the top half of me, they're going to have to drug me. As it was, I spent 45 minutes reminding myself to breathe and consciously relaxing all the muscles I'd tightened up. "BREATHE." "You're not going to die." "Just a few minutes longer." "BREATHE."

It kind of helped that I could see the counter from where I was. I guess every time the thingy moves around to another angle, they start a new countdown, so I could see it go by in groups of 3-6 minutes, which helped, and I could also add it up in my head (once I realized what I was looking at), since he'd told me it would take 30-45 minutes. I also thought about the Ts and Stella and my mom.

Meanwhile, it's a sunny breezy day, and we're going to go out to play in a while (after I recover). It's supposed to get hot this week--boo! I vote for sunny and cool.

Apparently one result of the starlings throwing safflower seed all over the place is tht they're sprouting. My thought is that I'll get one of those weight-sensitive feeders that I can set for cardinals but not starlings, and then switch over to one of the no-waste blends (no hulls, so no sprouting). Not sure what I'm going to do about all the safflower plants, though. Round-up? I'm a little worried it might poison the birds, though.

I've got some suet hanging up at the edge of the dog pen, but nobody seems to have discovered it yet. I took the hummer feeder down. I might try it again later.

I thought I saw the indigo bunting at the feeder when I came home, but it flew away before I could get my field glasses to be sure. Maybe tomorrow.

birds and knees

There's a catbird in the neighborhood--I know, I keep hearing it--and I'm trying to lure it to the feeders with offerings of fruit, but so far, all I see eating the fruit is starlings. Since I'm also trying to discourage the starlings, I'm about to stop putting out the fruit. Although starlings aren't supposed to like nyger or safflower, and I see them at both feeders. I'm not sure they actually eat nyjer or safflower, but apparently they keep hoping, and they throw the seed around hoping for something better. Anyway I'm not sure how much they'd be discouraged if I stop putting out, but if the catbird doesn't come, I'll stop.

Saturday mornings are such nice birdwatching times, but this Saturday at 8 a.m. I'm going to be getting my knees x-rayed and an MRI on my right knee. Yay. The doctor is making noises about arthroscopic surgery. I'm not thrilled by the thought, but it doesn't require a hospital stay, and if they do one knee at a time, I ought to be able to manage the dogs. I'm hoping they won't make all of me get in the MRI machine, since all they need is my knee. I'm pretty claustrophobic, but I don't really want to be sedated--I might miss my favorite NPR show, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me"!

/

I love blue

I notice that I currently have blue columbines, blue bearded iris, blue spiderwort, blue Siberian iris, and blue veronica blooming. My bedroom is painted robin's-egg blue. Most of my sock yarn is some shade of blue. I LOVE blue.

So you can imagine that I was completely THRILLED this morning to see a blue bird at the feeders. !!!! It was an indigo bunting, I think. I've never seen one live before. Super thrill. They're seed-eaters and all my sources say they prefer millet but will eat nyjer and sunflower chips. I don't have sunflower out at the moment because of the starlings, but I do have njyer, so maybe he'll come back.

It would be nice if I could post pictures of all these new birds I'm seeing, but my camera's not that good and also I'm shooting through the window screen, so unless the sun is directly on the feeders, I get very dark photos. And it has to be morning sun; afternoon sun bounces off the white house across the street which means the birds are silhouetted against the bright background. However, seeing as how there hasn't been much sun lately...

(I didn't think starlings were supposed to like nyger, so why is that one out there hogging the feeder?)

I want to get a bird song CD--I heard a song this morning I didn't recognize. I wonder if it was that indigo bunting? I hope it comes back when the sun is out--they're not blue because of pigment but because of how the cells in their feathers reflect light, so they can appear different shades of blue depending on the light. Anyway, I know that recordings of birdsong are available online, but you really can't listen if you're using dial-up, so I want a CD.

Finished one sock (which is, erm, blue) yesterday and cast on for sock #2.

Saturday morning

The "partly sunny" forecast for the day so far equals completely overcast, and I'm thinking of trading my cotton sweater for wool. It's a bit chilly.

My poor sister broke her ankle last week. She thought it was a bad sprain, but the doctor sent her in for x-rays, and there it was, broken. Apparently not enough to need a cast, but she's hobbling around with one of those support boots on. And of course, it's her right leg, so she can't drive. "I think I can plant [things she had bought on sale] sitting down," she said optimistically. My first thought was that she now has a great excuse to sit around and knit!

Silly birds--the nyjer feeder is a cage-type, with the cage around an inner plastic tube, and it has four ports about halfway up, and four around the bottom. The seed is just under halfway down, and the birds are perching halfway up on the cage and then stretching their little necks and sticking their heads w-a-a-a-y in through the upper ports to get seed. For some reason they don't want to use the lower ports.

The starlings seem to have mostly give up on the safflower seed. Once in a while one lands on the tray and throws seed around, but mostly they're leaving it alone. This is good. I've decided to try a cage-type suet feeder--not just the flat kind you stick a suet cake in, but the kind that has a cage around the suet cage. It's designed to be squirrel-resistant--they're not supposed to be able to reach their little paws far enough in to snag any, so I'm hoping that means starlings can't reach far enough in, either. Guess we'll see.

BTW, if anyone ever tells you that starlings don't like oranges, don't believe them. I think they like grapes and apples better, but they'll definitely eat an orange if you put one out.

I wouldn't mind them if they weren't such greedy cusses who keep the other birds away from the feeders. It's kind of interesting to watch them--I'm starting to be able to read their more obvious body-language

I put up a hummingbird feeder out by the puppy pen. So far haven't seen a hummer. I'm thinking I might hang a basket of fuschia or maybe red petunias up and see if that helps. I don't really expect to get any, but the flowers will look pretty.

I'm about halfway down the foot of my first Serendipity sock. I so much like this original Apple Pie yarn to work with. The yarn used in the pattern is stripier, and Apple Pie tends to have short color repeats, but Blueberry, the colorway I'm using, works up just stripey enough to work well for this pattern, I think.

Picture me happy

I have the day off.

It's payday.

The sun was shining when I got up this morning.

I had SEVEN purple finches at the feeders, 5 eating safflower and 2 at the nyjer feeder.

Add a cup of Good Earth Chai latte made with honey, and a snuggly Taenzer, and color me happy.

Star[ling] Wars

I went to Menard's with a friend yesterday, actually to look at a refrigerator, but while we were there, we looked at bird stuff. They didn't have an upside down suet feeder, but they did have safflower seed, which starlings aren't supposed to like, so I got some.

The squirrel climbed up, nibbled a bit, then sat up with this "what the hell?" look on his face--it was pretty funny. Nibbled a little bit more, same reaction. Tried again, gave it up, jumped down and went away. Yay!

The starlings are being hrder to discourage. They don't seem to like it, but they also don't seem to believe that the stuff in the feeder isn't sunflower chips (the sunflower chips and safflower seed are the same color). I was watching them through my great-grandfather's binoculars this morning. They land on the feeder, pull seed out, and throw it around (which is annoying, but since it lands on the ground, the cardinals can find it), then try the thistle feeder (don't like thistle, can't deal with the feeder itself), jump into the tray where I was putting breadcrubs and s uet (currently empty), jump into the other tray (where I was putting fruit, also currently empty), then go and throw safflower seed around some more, then fly off. I figure that eventually they'll either get discouraged and go away, or they'll develop a taste for safflower. I hope it's the former rather than the latter.

The first time the cardinal tried it he got this definite "hmm--interesting" look to him. I was watching him through the binoculars this morning, too, and he's eating the stuff. It's interesting to watch him get a seed, then crack it open with his beak and eat the innards. I imagine once his lady finds it in the grass she'll enjoy it, too. There's a purple finch that seems to really like it too. The English sparrows (which are really weaver finches and are now called either house sparrows or house finches, but I can never remember which, so I just keep calling them English sparrows) seem to throw it around like the starlings do; I don't think they're eating it, but they are pigging out on the thistle seed.

The poor little downy woodpecker--every time he comes to the feeder, the starlings attack him and drive him off. I hope that once they get discouraged by the safflower seed they'll go away and leave him alone.

So I'm still going to get an upside-down suet feeder, or maybe a caged one--the upside down one might be safer for the downy, but more small birds might be able to used the caged one. I may also get a weight-sensitive feeder; I'd like to offer a mix that has sunflower chips and peanuts bits, but I don't want those greedy starlings eating it all. Which they would.

I'm mad that I can't put out fruit and suet. When I had them out, I noticed I had a bunch of robins hanging around--more than just the parents on the porch. Now that it's not there, no robins. Boo, starlings! I was hoping I could loosen up a little over the winter, but apparently starlings don't migrate.

It's a pretty, sunny, cool day today. I need to go out and do some stuff. One of the businesses behind me strewed plastic all over the place and I need to pick it up (and maybe take some pictures, so I can complain to the city). I've also got to plant some daffodils a friend gave me and dig up some tulips to give her, and I'm thinking of moving some hostas from the back to the front. I'm not sure how my knees will hold up to all that digging, esp. since I'm also doing laundry and the basement steps are hard on my knees, but I can take a crack at it.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

The battle continues

Well, the battle of the bird feeders continues.

The squirrel seems to be fairly well under control, at least for the time being, but now it's starlings.

I'm not fond of starlings to start with, and they're both bullies that scare other birds away and awful feeder hogs. I've been looking around for advice on line, and it seems to run to "don't put out things they like to eat," with a sidebar of "use starling-resistant feeders."

I want to encourage the robins and mockingbirds--if there are any mockingbirds in the neighborhood--so I was putting out pears and grapes. Gobbled up by the starlings, though they don't seem as fond of apples as of pears and grapes.

Suet--forget about it, unless you get one of the feeders that makes the bird hang onto the bottom--starlings aren't supposed to be able to deal with those, although I ran across a "hint" where someone had to hang things from the cross bars of one of those upside-down bottom-feeding suet feeders to keep the starlings off.

Apparently my options are (1) replace my sunflower seed with safflower seed (cardinals will eat it, starlings probably won't), (2) get a weight-adjustable feeder that will accept cardinals and smaller birds, but closes when starlings land, (3) get an upside-down bottom-feeder suet holder, (4) get a feeder with a dome baffle (starlings don't like to be under things), (5) get small tippy feeders that starlings can't hold onto.

I was putting out bread crumbs, and I've seen several of the finches and sparrows land in the tray this evening and look disappointed that they're not there, but one starling can go through an entire piece of bread in about 15 minutes (as opposed to half a piece a day pre-starlings).

Ha!

I saw the feeder pole swaying back and forth. Looked out, there's the squirrel on the ground, nibbling at the sunflower seed I scattered for him and the cardinals. From time to time he'd look longingly up at the feeder above his head. Finally he made a running jump, hit the pole about 30 inches up--and slid down to the ground.

Heehee! I sprayed it with Pam this morning. It's not toxic to the squirrel like a petroleum-based product could be, but it's obviously slick enough that he can't climb the pole. I have to spray it every other day or so, but I'm tickled pink to have proof that it works!

Learning Curve?

I've been noticing the past couple of days that the birds using the feeders are starting to use the top sections. This means they have to cling to the wires and mesh. It occured to me that when I first put the feeders up, they all wanted to sit on the lip of the trays, and when they tried to grip the cage or the mesh, they seemed really awkward and uncomfortable, with a lot of wing-fluttering and wobbling. (Except the downy, who just grabbed the mesh and propped himself up with his tail--no problem.) But now they're grabbing onto the mesh/wires and I've seen 3 or 4 birds use a feeder at a time. Seems funny that they would have to learn how to do that, but that seems to be the case. I'm glad they're getting the, er, "hang" of it.

Something is eating the pear and apple pieces I put out. Not sure what, but there are peck marks in them. I was hoping to lure any mockingbirds that might be around. Haven't seen any, but I'm glad something's eating the fruit. Maybe I should try some raisins.

I put some bread crumbs out, too, which is a big hit. I'm putting out brown bread, so it's not totally junk food, but it's funny how they love the bird equivalent of junk food.

I don't have a ton of birds visiting, but I do seem to have a little group of regulars, and maybe if I keep putting food out, the word will get around. I'm planning to get a suet feeder up soon.

It threatened to storm big time all day yesterday, but never did. We got some rain in the evening, with a little thunder, but that was pretty much it. It was terribly windy, though. I had to take the car to the dealer, 2 hours away, to get the Check Light checked out, and the wind made it a real struggle. The actual time there wasn't too bad--the dealer had me out in an hour (yay!), and a friend who lives there was able to meet me for lunch and we had a good talk. I left early, though, because I was sure it was just going to storm like crazy and I'd be driving through a downpour. Never did, though.

I started a new sock in the dealer's waiting room yesterday, using some more of the Apple Pie sock yarn from the stash, Blueberry colorway. I do love this sock yarn. I'm knitting it on US size 1s, and it's a pretty heavy yarn as fingering-weight yarn goes--I'm going to have to get another set of 0s and 00s for the finer yarns like Schaefer Anne and Cascade Heritage.

okay, enough already

First, I must retract--apparently downy woodpeckers do eat seeds. There was one at the feeder again today at noon. Cool!

Now. First the microwave died. Tuesday the laptop motherboard went toes up. Last night just before bed the arm thing that raises the plunger in the toilet broke, AND I discovered that it's leaking from somewhere (damp floor). Today on the way home, the Check Light came on in the car--this turns out to mean there's something wrong with the catalytic converter, so I have to take it to the dealer in Springfield or Peoria or somewhere.

Enough is enough, okay? Please?

EEEEEEKKKKKKK!!!!!

I have a good eek and two bad eeks.

The good eek: I saw a woodpecker at my sunflower seed feeder tonight. A downy, I think. Dumb bird--woodpeckers don't eat seeds! But he sat there on the perch and pecked away. That does it: I have to get another pole and a suet feeder. And suet impregnated with hot peppers, to try to keep the squirrel out of it.

Bad eek #1: Remember I was so proud about installing the new hard drive in my laptop myself? Well, it won't turn on. It does turn on, but the hard drive won't engage. My computer-repairing person says he thinks something in the motherboard is fried and I should just give it up and get a new laptop. *sigh* I'm thinking about it. I can use the desktop, but I'd prefer to use a laptop for a number of reasons--floor space, ease of updating (I can tote it in to work and use the wireless), and ease of toting around--I'm thinking of doing some genealogical research at my mother's home town this summer, and having a laptop would be so much easier than hauling around a lot of paper. But I couldn't buy it with cash, I'd have to charge it, which I'm reluctant to do. So I'll have to think about it a little more. Tiger Direct has a nice Gateway with 4 Gb of ram, 320 Gb hard drive, Windows 7, AND a phone modem hookup for under $450--that's a pretty good deal.

Bad eek#2--I've been knitting a lace scarf for my outside knitting, which is madness of course, and tonight I dropped a stitch and have wound up unraveling about 3", trying to catch all the stitches in one row--any row! Argh! Very frustrating!

But I am pleased about the woodpecker. There weren't any birds at all, and then all of a sudden there were the two chipping sparrows, a couple of purple finches, 4 cardinals (in turns, not all at once), and the woodpecker. I love watching birds at feeders. I'll have to start keeping the camera closer to the window.

Coolness

Literally and figuratively. The temps dropped from an overly-warm upper 80s last week to a very comfortable 60s over the weekend, with overnight lows in the upper 30s--delicious sleeping weather!

Figuratively cool because I've just identified a couple of chipping sparrows at my feeders. Okay, they're a common little bird, but I've never seen them to identify them before. I have some cardinals, at least once purple finch, and a couple of purple finches visiting the feeders, and a robin nesting on my front porch. Cool, eh? I can add them to my tiny life-list.

I haven't seen the goldfinch that visited on the first day, alas, but I keep hoping. I've reached a truce with the squirrel at the moment--it can eat the sunflower that falls on the ground as long as it leaves the feeders alone. I also got a sunflower feeder that's a little more squirrel-resistant--metal lid and tray with wire mesh.

I'd still like to put out a suet feeder. I'm not sure I'd get any woodpeckers, but I've been reading that other birds are interested in suet during the nesting season since it's high-fat and easy for baby birds to digest. Maybe I'll try the kind that has hot peppers mixed in--birds can't taste it, but squirrels aren't supposed to like it. Won't hurt to try.

temporary visitor

When I took the dogs out for last call last night, I turned on the porch light, which I don't ordinarily do. I don't know why, but I glanced to my right, and found a robin had built a nest on the shelf of the porch ceiling support.

I don't know how long she's been there. I presume she's noticed that the dogs and I use the door several times a day. I hope that if she's laid eggs she's going to stay until the babies are ready to go; I'm not qualified to care for abandoned baby robins.

I'm trying not to look at her too much--predators stare, and I don't want to spook her. That's why the picture is so dim--I took it through the window. I don't know why the Blogger photo thing is insisting on showing it sideways, though! Darn it! Kinda ruins the effect. If I can figure it out, I'll repost it. It's a very messy nest.



The brunnera is blooming like mad--it's just gorgeous. And for a change, the blue in the photo is the right color blue. This is Brunnera Jack Frost.

This is Brunnera Looking Glass. It may bloom more later--it's been a couple of days behind Jack Frost all year. I don't really care--what I love about Looking Glass is its solid silver leaves.

The poet's narcissus is also going great guns this year (and if anyone knows where I can get Howard Johnson's Better Bulbs fertilizer, please let me know! I can't find it online). It's so white. I've always read that poet's narcissus is a late bloomer, but mine always bloom with the rest of the daffodils and narcissus. The blue is periwinkle, and that's fairly close to the correct color, too.

I saw the squirrel this afternoon. He--or maybe she; I think she has a nest between the eaves and gutter of the house across the street--sat in the grass at the foot of the bird feeder pole, but didn't try to climb it. What she did was look like she was digging up the daffodils growing there. Maybe I'll try smashing up some more peppermint Life Savers and sprinkling them around the daffodils. I don't mind if she eats seed that falls on the ground, I guess, as long as she's not eating straight out of the feeder.