More Iris

First thing in the morning I check the iris. The latest ones out are Kahili, reddish falls with yellow standards, and Top Gun, mauve falls with peach standards. Kahili is in my Gopher Garden; it is not really maroon and gold but will do, con- sidering iris colors. I am fascinated by Top Gun and you may see it as in inspiration for the colors in my silk ribbon biscornu.

I decided to add a picture of the white bleeding heart. This spring, I finally separated it from my pink bleeding hearts. It has never done as well as it is this year. I think that the pink bleeding hearts were intimidating it. I also added a slightly more artistic picture of Old Black Magic.

Yesterday I decided to make new sugar syrup for the hummingbird feeder. I picked up a new one because I was disappointed by how quickly the syrup grew mold in the feeder I had gotten. I think that the first new feeder spread the syrup out into a shallow puddle which warmed up faster and grew mold faster. The reservoir in the newer feeder is glass as opposed to plastic but I think that will not make any difference. The feeder that I used last summer had a plastic reservoir.

Iris in Bloom

The iris are beginning to bloom. I took pictures of the first ones but am not very impressed with the pictures. I may resort to archived pictures from earlier years. The very dark iris is Old Black Magic. The one with red/lavender falls and white standards is Gay Parasol. The blue and blue one is Arpege. The little two-tone lavender Siberian iris is Lavender Bounty.

For me, this is the best time of the year. Can you tell that iris are my favorite flower?

It is about the pictures yesterday. It is purely coincidental that the silk ribbon flowers go so well with my orchids. I put the stitchery in progress on the table where I display my orchids and just decided to take a picture of the orchids too. I think I ought to take new pictures because they are so dark.

Continued Progress

As you can see, I continue to stitch on the little Summer Biscornu. I am not very confident of my ability to make the Japanese ribbon stitch flowers. This one is beginning to look accept- able. It needs a couple petals of the darker shade, the one I think of as aubergine. I ended up practicing on a couple flowers that I cut out.

This morning I decided to take a picture of my two orchids that are blooming. They are on the table where I put my stitching and they go reasonably well with my chosen colors.

Summer Stitching

This is Summer Biscornu by Thea Dueck, Victoria Sampler. I am stitching it in my choice of materials, some of which are in the picture. If you want to pick up the free design, register to join Thea's chat group. I think it will eventually appear in the collection of freebies at her website, Victoria Sampler.

Yesterday I did wash the floors and did treat myself to a trip to the University Dairy Store and Storm Cloud Trading Company. At Storm Cloud, I got a tube of Delica beads, filigree beads, and some crystal beads. You can see them in the picture but only the corner of the packet of crystals shows. At the Dairy Store, I got one pint each of Strawberries and Cream, Brickhouse, and low fat Cookies and Cream. Brickhouse is a chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks and Bordeaux cherries. I also picked up some Parmesan, aged smoked gouda, and smoked brick cheeses. All in all, it was a wonderful shopping trip.

It is a splendid day. After so much gray, overcast sky, the sun is glorious. It is still a little chilly for the time of year.

This week, I decided to change the day I wash the sheets from Wednesday to Monday. It seemed to work well. Monday was sunny and windy; the sheets dried very quickly. Tuesday and yesterday were very overcast and cold; not the best kind of day to dry sheets.

Plans for the Day

This is the scarf I made for the mother of one of my friends. Her mother is currently undergoing a course of chemo and then will have a course of radiation for cancer. Her mother likes aqua; I hope she likes the colors in this scarf. It is made of cotton for comfort and easy care. My friend will be taking it to her mother in two weeks.

The day is overcast but the weather forecast says no rain for us. Not a very exciting day. If I wash the floors, I will treat myself to a trip to the University Dairy Store and Storm Cloud Trading Company.

There is no way to predict in advance the cheese and ice cream varieties at the dairy store but it is always worth a visit. Storm Cloud Trading Company is the mortar and bricks store. They have fabulous beads.

What's In Our Neighborhood

The pictures show the road construc- tion that is at the south end our street. It is about a quarter of a mile from our home. The road is being widened so that it will be twice as wide as it was. During the day, we can hear the noise of the construction and on dry days which is most days, the dirt and dust seep into the house. We took these pictures Friday morning before work began.

The first picture is looking west and the second one is looking toward the sunrise. This road is the southern edge of the housing development where we live. The road that forms the western edge is also under construction. It has jokingly been said that in Minnesota there are two seasons, winter and road construction. This year, for us, it is no joke; it seems all together too true.

Do you remember the pictures I posted of our two cats? Quincy is the one that is white with orange; I prefer to describe him as orange with a big white spot. Our cats are strictly indoor cats. They firmly believe that there must be a window or screen between them and the outside. They love to check everything that is outside from the windows. They love to sniff the breeze.

There is a cat that frequently comes around to our yard. Quincy and Mooch are very interested in monitoring his activities. When the cat walks through the yard, our cats go from window to window following his progress. The visitor is orange and white, like Quincy so we call him Fake Quincy. In all unbiased truth, Quincy is much better looking than Fake Quincy.

Sunday morning we saw Fake Quincy in the backyard. It looked like he was intensely observing the retaining wall of the garden. He did not seem to move a muscle and seemed to hold his position for much longer than a cat is able. Eventually we discovered that Fake Quincy was watching a little chipmunk. When we discovered it, it was running along the top of the wall directly toward Fake Quincy. We watched and just hoped that it could out maneuver the cat. The cat tried to pounce on the chipmunk but the leftover construction materials that we had not put away gave the chipmunk cover. The cat tried to get to the chipmunk while the chipmunk kept up a loud chatter.

We felt that a rescue was in order so we went out to scare Fake Quincy away. He reluctantly left but the chipmunk continued to chatter. We were puzzled about where the chipmunk was as we lifted up the things that were hiding it. The chipmunk was stretched out flat on its stomach underneath a piece of lumber that was just barely held off the top of the wall by some small pieces of siding. It remained still and quiet for a couple seconds until it determined that we would let it run away.

Right now it looks like we could have rain. Cross your fingers that it does rain. We need it so desperately.

Memorial Day

Yesterday I prepared an entry that I was just going to upload this morning. Last night we watched a live broadcast of the Memorial Day concert and program on the Mall in Washington, D.C. It was a very touching reminder of the history and purpose of this holiday. My prepared blog entry just does not seem appropriate. I need to ask Roger if he wants to fly the flag today. You will know if he does because I will post a picture of it.

We have nothing especially planned for the day. One of our sons is working today so as a family, we are staying home. Saturday we took flowers to the cemetery for my family. We stopped at the cemetery where Roger's parents are buried a couple weeks ago when we visited his aunt. That is a reminder that we ought to check with a cemetery monuments dealer local to the cemetery because no one in the family has arranged to have the year of Roger's mother's death engraved on the monument. Roger's aunt has taken responsibility for seeing that flowers are placed at the monument but has just this year passed that responsibility on to one of Roger's sisters.

Roger's aunt's health is precarious. With her eventual passing, Roger will be come the senior member of the Nelson Family.

The old soldier raised the flag. Proper flag etiquette holds that on Memorial Day, the flag is raised to the top of the pole and then lowered to half staff in honor of members of the military who died in the line of service. At noon on Memorial Day, the flag is raised to full staff.

Geocaching in MN

Yesterday turned into a beautiful day. The sun was out and the sky was a gorgeous blue when we went to the cemeteries. Since we were going that way, I decided to see if there were any Geocaches near the cemeteries. Roger and I have been caching for almost a year now. We cached from Minnesota to the West Coast, into Baja Mexico and all the way back home on our vacation last year. This year, we will stay at home and cache in Minnesota. If you want to know more about caching, here is the website. I found seven but we actually looked for only three of them. They must have been the three best ones.

One of the caches was inside the kiosk. You can see the public golf course driving range in the background. The golfers were so intent that they never paid us any attention. The other cache was on a hillside along a rather uninspiring access road to the south of the golf course. It was a good thing that we went for it during the spring before the burdock grew any bigger. It will be much more difficult to find when the burdock covers it. We brought a lot of burrs along with us from this site. You can see some clinging to the only thing they can on my nylon jacket, the hood strings.

The day today is looking beautiful. The sunrise was inspiring. I wonder if we should go out for more caches today. It sounds like so much more fun than cleaning up the mess inside the house.

The Beginning of a Quiet Holiday Weekend

Today is Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend. Sometime during the weekend, we will go to put flowers on my grandparent's graves which are in one cemetery and the family memorial which is in the Russian cemetery. I really do not feel compelled to do it for myself but rather because the families seem to make a pointed effort to decorate the graves, especially so in the Russian cemetery. I want people to know that there are still family members who loved and honor my grandparents and the family name.

It is not the nicest of days but we need every little bit of rain that comes our way.

Roger had an appointment with the person at the clinic who helps manage the deep vein thrombosis patients. He is right on target and does not need to take the heparin. He will be monitored to see if this will work with just the warfarin which is a rat poison. He can resume his normal activities and is not supposed to change his diet even if what he is eating is high in vitamin K. The speculation is that the clot was somehow related to the procedures done earlier this year to collapse his varicose veins.

Another Good Day Coming

It is another lovely morning. Instead of going to the health club we went for a walk near home in the early light of dawn.

Last night, I finished reading a very interesting book, a novel based upon fact, Honolulu by Alan Brenner. It is about a "picture bride", sometimes called a mail order bride, who arrives in Hawaii in 1914. This young woman is Korean but it makes little difference if she were Chinese, Japanese, or from another Asian or Southeast Asian country, the story is the same. The book is well researched and appears to be very accurate.

I must prepare to go outside to uncover the iris.

Strange Weather

We have had a couple consecutive days with temperatures above 90F. Both days set record highs for the day. We have also had extremely strong winds. We have had no rain and the humidity has been low. Is it any wonder we have extreme fire danger warnings? I hung sheets out to dry yesterday and they did so in very short order.

Today the temperature is not as high and maybe the wind is less difficult.

Squirrels

If today is Wednesday, it is the day we stop at the grocery store on the way home from the health club. And so we did. As we were unloading the groceries and gym bags, we noticed a squirrel resting in the driveway. That was not unusual but it had something large in its mouth. It was quite large and upon a closer examination, we realized it was another adult squirrel. It appeared to be dead. It certainly was not moving. It could have been unconscious but alive; however, we have no way to know.

The first squirrel would run a short distance and then stop, apparently to catch its breath and rest for a bit. Then it would continue on its self-appointed journey. It repeated this several times as it crossed our driveway, the side yard, and the length of the neighbors' lot. We have no idea how far it had traveled before we first saw it. We watched the squirrel in amazement until we could no longer see it.

It was one extremely dedicated squirrel. To us it looked like it was taking a dead companion to a specific place for a specific reason only the squirrel could know. To us, it appeared that the squirrel was giving its companion a funeral.

Establishing a New, HopefullyTemporary, Normal

Today is beginning much better than did yesterday. Roger looks fit and well, especially considering that he has a deep vein clot (DVT). He needs to be better than he was last night about taking one of his medications on a precise schedule and he needs to be committed to getting up and walking around every half hour. I cleaned the kitchen timer so he can keep better track of the time. I hope this works. I plan to go to the hospital for my regular Tuesday morning volunteers. It is probably better that he keep track of his schedule than for me to do it for him.

I think we will be able to quickly adapt to our new schedule of activities. While I was waiting in the hospital yesterday, I finished the names and dates on the three baptismal banners for the end of the month. I should be able to finish backing them this week too. That is well ahead of time and will feel very good.

Delivery Confirmation informs me that the model for Just Cross Stitch was delivered to the mail room yesterday morning.

All in all, things look very well. This could easily be much, much worse.

What a Day

Today I was not even certain I would write a word. The day had an unusual start. I took my husband to the hospital emergency room. We discovered that he had a small deep vein blood clot. He was given two meds for it in the ER and allowed to go home after he made a clinic appointment for today. We ended going back mid morning for his clinic appointment.

Today was also the day of the appreciation luncheon for hospital volunteers. I was able to attend but came in just a little late. There was a place saved for me and I was able to enjoy everyone's company.

When I got home, we had to go out to pick up the new prescription meds. I am now back home and just a little tired.

During the weekend, a little purple finch checked out the jelly feeder. It has not been back so I think it may not like jelly. So far, we have seen no orioles. I refreshed the sugar syrup for the hummingbirds but we are yet to see one.

Stitching Again

You may have been wondering about my comment about stitching as I am yet to mention it. Yes, I do stitch. I stitch for Hoffman Media, the publisher of Just Cross Stitch magazine. When I stitch a new design, there is little to nothing I can say about it. On Thursday, I returned the finished model I stitched for Just Cross Stitch magazine. When it arrived in March, I set aside everything that I was stitching except for the banners we give families when their children are baptized. I had been stitching two projects, From Sea to Shining Sea by Little House Needleworks and the pocket and accessories by Janie Hubble, The Cat's Whiskers, that appeared in the December 2008 issue of The Gift of Stitching.

I have uploaded a picture of the finished design, From Sea to Shining Sea, that I found on the internet and a scan of how far I am. I seriously question when I will ever pick it up again. That is one of the hazards of stitching for someone else. To meet a business deadline, a stitcher must be willing to set aside something she or he may want to stitch. Sometimes, it is hard to resume work on the project set aside.

I uploaded a scan of the pocket showing my current status on it. I did pick it up again and intend to finish it. In case you want to know more about The Gift of Stitching, it is an online stitching magazine. I think it is a lovely magazine.

The overnight weather forecast indicated that parts of Minnesota would probably experience frost overnight. We were cautioned that where we live would probably not but that the temperature was expected to go as low as 36F which is getting a little cool. We decided to cover our veggies, bring in the unplanted flowers, and let the flowers we had planted go uncovered. After we had covered the veggies and brought in the unplanted flowers, we said that we had just ensured we would not have frost. It must have done the trick. :-) There was no frost but we have to quickly uncover the veggies.

Not Much to Say

Although the day started gray, it looks nice and sunny. The temperature is a little low for this time of year and promises to stay low for a while. The wind continues to blow

Memories

It was good for us and for Roger's aunt that we visited her yesterday. On the way home, we drove through the town where Roger's father's farm is. His dad sold the farm prior to enlisting to serve during World War II and moved the family to Minneapolis.

Through the years, we have driven by the farm just to see it; however, not as frequently since the old farmhouse was demolished and replaced with a new house. Yesterday seemed like a good day to drive by and take pictures.

The only original buildings in the picture are the barn which is directly to the right of the house and slightly hidden by the house and the garage which is a gray cement block building between the red barn and the long red shed. I am not certain if the silos, one of which is hidden by the large tree are original or not.

The second picture is of the ravine on the farm. The ravine is the main feature in one of the family stories of life on the farm. It has been excavated and is not the same as it was as it was then but it is still the ravine.

One evening, one of the cows did not return to the barn for milking. That could mean only one thing, she had given birth to her calf while the cows were out in the field. True to form, she selected a remote and secluded place, the ravine. Roger's parents had to go out to find her and bring the calf to the barn. Obviously, the calf was not going to climb out of the ravine on its own. They put the calf in a sling made of a bedspread. Roger's dad walked in front; Roger's mom walked in back; and the cow followed them. It was a task to carry the calf in the bedspread out of the ravine. With every upward step, the cow would moo and nudge Roger's mom from behind. It was hard enough to climb out of the ravine with the calf but they were laughing so hard they could hardly take a step.

A Windy Morning

It is quite windy and I still walked to the health club this morning. When we got back home, I hung one load of sheets out to dry. I almost expect them to be dry when I hang out the second load.

This morning, I used a herbal soap with rosemary and thyme. I scent my body oil myself with lavender oil. I almost smell like herbes de provence.

Yesterday we picked up some impatiens, pepper plants, and plants to put in a decorative pot for the front door. I put the pepper plants into the garden right away. The first two tomato plants that we put in are growing very well.

Last week we saw our first bumble bees. They seem to be coming out of hibernation. Unfortunately we are seeing fewer honey bees that we would anticipate. This seems to be the result of more hive collapse. It will have dire consequences for our food supply unless we can stop the progression of hive collapse.

Wildlife Activities

The day looks cloudy and rainy. As I have said, we need rain so desperately that it is very poor form to complain about it.

While I was volunteering at the hospital yesterday, I saw a family of geese. They had four goslings. The geese parents very diligently care for their babies. The male was actively patroling the area to ward off interlopers which I saw him do. He very vigorously chased away four geese that wanted to check out the pond.

At the same time, there was a rabbit running through the area. The rabbit did not seem to merit the goose's attention. It was a treat to watch the wildlife as I performed my volunteer duties.

Tuesday

The day has been alternating between sunshine and overcast with gusting winds. I am tired as I had to walk home from the hospital. Roger had the car out for the morning. Normally it would not have phased me but I swam for a mile this morning. As it turned out, I could have called one of our sons to bring me home. It just served to remind me that it is a good idea to drive during the road construction. The wind was blowing large clouds of dust across the road.

We are busy at the hospital. There are lots of new babies.

Glorious Sunshine

Our sons took us out to dinner yesterday. I was not very excited about where we were going but as it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised. I had a very delicious grilled chicken salad. I was afraid it would be crowded because of Mother's Day. Our sons said that they thought most people were going to go out for brunch. They seem to be correct. It was not very busy at all.

Yesterday we had alternating sun and cloud cover. It was still a pleasant spring day. Today we have sunshine and it is glorious. The temperature is a little low but the sun makes up for everything.

Mother's Day

Today is less than a stellar day. We woke up to rain but considering how dry everything is, we should be grateful. So perhaps, it really is a wonderful day.

Our cherry tree is young and still very small. It really does not produce enough cherries to make a pie or preserves. Until now, we have eaten a few cherries off the tree but the birds, probably robins and blue jays, have eaten most of them. This spring, there are quite a few blossoms; I wonder how many cherries will actually develop. If they do, I wonder if we will try to cover the tree. We used to do that with a large tree that we used to have.

Someone spammed my blog. :-(
I deleted the comment and think I ought to see if I can block anyone who spams.

As I key in my comments on Sunday mornings, I listen to The Splendid Table during one of its broadcasts. You can listen to it any time you want to. I think it is very interesting.
http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/

More Pictures

Yesterday morning was beautiful. The sun was out and it was an ideal time to take pictures of the trees. The upper picture is of the cherry tree. The other is the apple. Both trees are dwarf to enable us to have enough growing room for them. We actually have two apple trees.

What you may not realize is that our winters are too cold for us to grow sweet cherries. We can grow the bright red sour cherries. This tree produces sour cherries that are quite sweet. I am not exactly certain why we have apple trees because we do not spray them and they become too wormy to eat. But, they are lovely in the spring. Unlike the apricot, they send out leaves before they blossom.

We went out yesterday to uncover the iris. It seems to be a little late to do this but better late than never. We did not finish the job. During the late afternoon and evening, we had a light misting of rain. Today looks like a repeat of yesterday except that it is not quite as warm. Our bright blue sky has clouded over. For the next few days, we are going to be a little cooler than average.

Trees in Bloom

Yesterday was gorgeous. The sun was out and it was warm. Right now today looks like a repeat. Our apricot has finished blooming; we still are not certain if we will have apricots or how many. It looks like there will be no cold to kill any possible developing apricots. The cherry is in bloom and the apples look like they will begin to bloom today. The raspberries are growing.

Some flowering crab apples are blooming but not the ones in the park behind our home. There are some in front of the health club. All of them are in full bloom. I think that the building protects them and I also think gives them a warmer micro-climate. They are on the west side of the building which collects heat from the afternoon sun. The trees are so very fragrant.

I just opened the window to better see the trees in the back. Little Mooch jumped up on the sill to sniff the air. Did I already tell you that he and Quincy firmly believe that there should be a window or screen between them and the outside? They love sitting on the sill of an open window.

Little Bits

Here is the information about the yellow and cream daffodils in the bouquet.

1. Larger flower: Cream cup and yellow petals, center right in arrangement
This is a large cup daffodil and may be Avalon. If not, Avalon is a very good substitute. http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=01-0204

Smaller Flower: Cream cup with yellow streaked cream petals, toward the left side of the arrangement
I think this is a jonquilla. I think it is Pipit and has mutated. I can find no good substitutes for its form and colors.
http://www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com/spring/productview/?sku=01-0713

This is not a very exciting day. There is laundry to start with. I really ought to take the winter mulch off the iris. We did get some petunias yesterday. It might be fun to put them in the garden. We added two large Roma tomato plants to the garden yesterday and some seeds for slicing tomatoes. Beans, peas, and broccoli are up. The first tomato plants we put in are growing well. We have been leaving their covers off over night.

A Breath of Spring

This morning, I just picked some flowers to give away. I decided to show them off here too. My garden looks so much more impressive when the flowers are in a vase.

We are getting ready for our Wednesday morning study group. I have been able to change some of the sheets and start a load of sheets in the washer. When we return home, I will be able to hang them outside to dry. The pillows are out airing.

Yesterday, we had three new babies in the hospital during the time I was there. It is always so exciting to see the new babies.

Thoughts on a Rainy Tuesday

When I went out to find strawberry print fabric, it was a dismal failure. Apparently strawberries are not the current "in" thing. There were no, and I mean not any, strawberry prints at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Hancock Fabrics. There were cherry prints and watermelon prints so they must be the current "in" fruits. I also saw some cute Italian themed prints. I did find some strawberry prints online and thought that might be the way to go; however, they might be a little large. I was beginning to come to the conclusion that I may not have much choice. We went up into the attic because I wanted to hunt out some scraps of a sewing project from a number of years ago. It is a print with tiny strawberries and strawberry flowers on navy blue. I really wanted a green or white background but the navy blue might do. Imagine my surprise when I found some fabric that I had forgotten about. I had gotten it to make a patchwork skirt which is never going to happen.

This morning it is raining which we need. I am very glad that the oriole feeder has a rain cover to keep the jelly from getting watered down. There will be pictures of orioles, if they ever come to the feeder and if they will let me take the pictures. I still have not found a really good place or way to hang the feeder but am doing the best that I can. There may also be pictures of the hummingbirds, assuming that they return and allow me to take their pictures.

So Much to Do and So Little Time

After we returned from the healthclub this morning, I put the grape jelly in the jelly feeder for the orioles. From the house it looks like sparkling deep purple jewels as the sun shines through it. I hope we are able to attract orioles with it. During the weekend, I discovered that other people are putting out their hummingbird feeders too.

It was so good this morning to have time to chat with my healthclub friends as we cleaned up and dressed in the locker room. You have no idea how good it feels to share time with them. It was a good way to begin the day.

It has also been extremely good to chat with my online friends this morning. One of them told me about a series of mysteries that I had not yet discovered. I checked the library system and there are quite a few, if not all of them in the system. I need to hurry and take care of my morning tasks so I can run over to the library.

If I go to the library, I can check out the fabric store. I am looking for strawberry print fabric to line a little needlework project that has a strawberry design.

Bird Patrol Continues

Throughout the afternoon and early evening yesterday, the robins continued to fly into the windows. First thing this morning, they were at it again. This morning our older cat, Quincy, helped Mooch with bird patrol. They seem to have been successful for the moment but I think the task is bigger than the pair of them. I am going to have to get some hawk silhouettes for the windows this week.

Because I posted a picture of Mooch, here is one of Quincy. He is quite handsome and for a cat, dignified. He is an ideal companion cat and loves to cuddle up to the members of his family, both human and feline.

Yesterday was a lovely, beautiful day. It was warm and the sun was out. We decided to check out an estate sale. It had quite a collection of things. I bought two pieces of depression glass, a dark blue-green iridescent bowl and a plain pink serving plate with a fleur de lis handle. I decided I wanted the serving plate to use today.

Today we are serving a little lunch buffet at church for the families of children baptized during the year and the stitchers who made the banners given to the families at the time of the baptism. When I saw the serving plate, I thought it would be very nice for the bars. I had been planning to make cherry bars, lemon bars, and ginger creams. The cherry bars should look nice on the pink glass. Because of this lunch buffet, I have no idea what time we will return home from church today.

The sale was close to the University of Minnesota which was enough of a draw for us. It was nice to see the campus and the progress on the new stadium. The stadium is certainly huge and grand, much more so than Memorial Stadium was. Another draw was the new I-35W bridge. This replaces the one that collapsed 1 August 2007. The monetary settlements in that disaster have just been finalized. The new bridge was completed and opened last September while we were on vacation. This is the first time that we have driven across the bridge. Needless to say, we do not live very close to it and it is something we have to make an intentional decision to see and do.

Saturday

Yesterday I checked the little tomato plants. They seem to be doing very well. The volunteer lettuce is also doing very well. I discovered that a lot of weeds are germinating very well too. Because it was sunny yesterday, I was able to wash the sheets and hang them outside to dry.

Speaking of hanging laundry outside, there apparently are some communities where one may not hang laundry outside. They are covenanted communities and it is written into the covenant. With the current emphasis on greenness, I wonder how many covenants will be rewritten.

While we were out grocery shopping this morning, one of our sons says that the robins were banging on the window again. He put Mooch on the window sill. The birds decided to move along. I wonder if we should get some hawk silhouettes to put on the windows.

It's In The Cat's Job Description

This is Mooch, the younger of our two cats. He is wearing one of the baby hats I make for our local hospital. Yesterday we gave Mooch a little task to perform and he did very well with it.

During the middle of the morning, two robins were repeatedly flying into one of the windows. We decided to ask Mooch to sit on the window sill and hopefully scare the robins away.

Mooch is a little unusual for the typical cat. He will come when he is called. Since we could not find him in the upstairs of the house, we called to him hoping he would come. He came running up the stairs. We brought him out into the living room with the intention of putting him on the window sill. We could not explain to him what we were doing and he was certain it was not his idea of what to do. Once we got him on the sill, he quickly discovered the robins.

One robin flew away when we brought Mooch to the window and the other one flew to the top of the fence. Mooch watched the robin as it stood on the fence and walked back and forth along the top of the fence. Mooch chattered to the robin; his tail looked like it was run by a motor. The robin stayed on the fence for about twenty minutes; we are certain she could see Mooch through the window. Mooch remained on guard even after the robin flew away.

Thanks to Mooch for a job well done. Time will tell whether the robins have decided to stop trying to fly into our windows.

Yesterday we did put out our hummingbird feeder and the oriole feeder. The oriole feeder is out without jelly which we will get tomorrow.