Watching

One thing I noticed on Saturday as I sat on the deck. The birds were not out singing in the yard until around 10. I thought this unusual but perhaps I've not paid as much attention to the sounds in the yard as I should. There used to be a robin, perhaps I've talked about him before, who would sing at the crack of dawn outside my bedroom window. Robins are loud, particularly at 5:15 a.m. when you're trying to sleep. I have not heard that robin this year but then, the windows have been closed to keep the air conditioned air inside. He might still be singing but I'll not hear him.

I like to just listen to the outdoors which is why I noticed the absence of bird calls. The cicadas are out in full force and I think, like a lot of things, that's early this year. That was the predominant noise from 8:30 to 11, when I went inside. The birds didn't make an appearance until around 10. It started with a couple of cardinals calling across the yard. I'm not sure where the other male was but I could hear him. I like hearing the call of the one in my trees and then the response of the other one trying to make inroads into territory by calling. I'm not sure how they decide which one of them has won a "sing off". This went on for an hour. Then the chickadees showed up.

There were 3 of them. At first, I thought they were "yelling" at one of the cats. It was how I knew where my other cats who were allowed to go outside at will, were within the yard. You just had to listen for the chickadees. I realized, however, there was not a cat outside. So what were they "chick-a-dee-dee-deeing" at. Looking up at the birds hopping around in the tree off the deck, I realized one of them was female. AHA! It was comical to watch the males hopping around, trying to impress her with song and agility. Eventually, they spotted me watching them and they all took off for the trees at the back of the yard.

I've noticed a distinct lack of grackles this year. I'm not complaining. They are very messy birds and intimidating to smaller ones. The lack of them means the chickadees and finches and sparrows have a more pleasant environment. In spite of the messy robins, the bird bath is cleaner because there are no grackles. There are a couple of cardinals and several chickadees who use the bath. They are too fast for me to photograph, however.

Perhaps the absence of song is a relation to the heat. It must be hard to forage for food and sing when it's hot and humid. I hope my keeping the bird bath clean keeps native birds in the yard.

And about the photo at the top. There's a cardinal in the bushes. A spot of red in a sea of green.

Beverage:  Darjeeling tea

Deb

Stitching Indoors and Out

It's a toss-up whether Saturday spent stitching on the deck or Sunday spent stitching in the living room was more productive. On Wednesday, I finished off the tail.

Outlining, when that comes at the end of the cross-stitching, will make the feet more visible. This is what I accomplished on Saturday, in between, "Get back up on the deck!" and lap scratches and encouraging them to just be outside.

Oh yes, there's a face there.

On Sunday, I finished that face.

There's a hat and wording left as well as the outlining and it's completed. Perhaps in a couple weeks, I'll be looking for a new project.

Beverage:  Darjeeling tea

Deb

Yes Please. Full Tank Please

On Friday, I had to drive to Davenport, Iowa to do an inspection for work. "Had" really isn't the right word there. I "got" to go to Davenport to do an inspection is perhaps the better sentence. I don't get to go out of the office much anymore as someone should be there for phone calls and I can't do the heavy field work I used to do. Inspections, I can do those. It might be a lot of walking but I can pace myself and still get the work done.

It was the best day out of the last 2 weeks to be 1) driving across the state and 2) being outside to inspect a farm with 5 out buildings in addition to the house. There was a nice breeze, not a wind. It was mostly cloudy so when I was outside, I wasn't in the sun. And, best of all, the air temperature hovered around 82. Love those kinds of days.

I arrived in Davenport 30 minutes early so I drove around a bit to get my bearings. South of Davenport is Buffalo, a small river-side community. Oh my. Look at the gas prices. When I left Wheaton, I filled the tank for $3.63. This is $3.25. Once the inspection was over, I refilled my tank. I was a bit worried about being able to pay for the gas I knew I'd need.

Thanks, Iowa, for having cheap mid-grade gas. It made my pocketbook happy.

Beverage:  African Rooibos tea

Deb

I Might Have to Buy Another Chair

Yesterday was the perfect morning to have breakfast on the deck.

I'm not sure what it was about the morning, but, when I got up, it just felt like I should be outside. I opened the back door and stepped out. It was in the upper 70's. I dressed, made myself a bowl of cereal and sat on my deck enjoying the morning. This is the first day since power washing, planting, staining, planting, scrubbing, and painting that I have been able to just sit on the deck. When my cereal was finished, I brought out the scissors and deadheaded the flowers. I probably should prune the geraniums back a bit, particularly the pink one, but I think I'll wait until August. 

There was a lot that went into the compost bin, but the flowers look fresh and nice and they have a lot of buds on them so there will be more flowers this coming week.

I decided the morning deserved cross-stitch. I brought my project to the deck, made myself some tea and commenced stitching. Eventually, the girls decided to come outside, too. The first forays onto the deck included going down the stairs to the yard which is a no-no. All I had to do was say the name and "no" and the offender dashed up the stairs and back into the house. They know. They just want to see if I'm paying attention.

Pilchard came out first, after being shoed inside once for attempting to go down the stairs. It took a bit of persuasion but she hopped up into the other chair.

The whole chair was given a thorough sniffing and then, viola, she settled down.

I love the position of the ears. It's the familiar, "Must you take a photo of EVERYTHING I do" look. She stayed with me for about 20 minutes and then the novelty wore off and she went back inside. That was Mija's cue to come out and take a look around.

Sometimes I wonder what they smell. Their highly developed olfactory sense means almost everything has a scent. They just tune out what isn't important. I'm not sure a raccoon, for instance, hasn't been on the chair. It's entirely possible that it came up on the deck and climbed up into the chair looking for food. Perhaps it's another cat, although I would have seen that face they make when they've smelled another cat. They both gave the chair a thorough sniffing, legs, arms, seat and back.

Mija didn't lie down. She sat there for about 10 minutes watching for birds and bugs and swatting at the flies that would land on the chair next to her. She actually wanted my lap a couple of times in the 2 1/2 hours we were outside.

So this pleasant interlude causes me to wonder. If I bought another chair, would they each claim one and then settle down for a time? I think being outside in the fresh air is good for them and, as long as they stay on the deck, we can do this. Perhaps another Saturday morning experiment is in order. These chairs will be dirt cheap after Labor Day. Storage might be a problem, getting them in the storage container.

We went inside when the sunshine had covered half of the deck. The day was heating up as well. It was delightful and a purr-fect way to start.

Beverage:  African Rooibos tea

Deb