Phoebe Babies

The four phoebes in the nest are thinking about learning to fly in a few days. Meanwhile it's nice that mom and dad are providing room/nest service.



The phoebes have been nesting under the balcony every summer of the twenty years I've lived here.



Yes, they're noisy. Yes, they make a mess. I love them.

Snapshot for June 20

Weather in SW Michigan ...
Very hot. Mid 90s yesterday. Maybe 100 today.

Very dry. The lawn is brown. The creek is shallow.

I'm sitting in front of the fan and plan on spending the rest of the day reading in the same spot.

Really? ...
This female downy woodpecker and a male downy woodpecker spent several hours drinking the hummingbird feeder dry.

I've never seen woodpeckers drink sugar water before. The hummers wouldn't drink with a woodpecker on their feeder.



Something from the kitchen ...
Leftovers from Mom's birthday dinner. Box decorated by granddaughter Kimmy.



I am creating...
Still working on the doily but have to admit it hasn't been a priority. I'm up to 272 stitches/round and am spending a lot of my knitting time counting stitches so I don't have to tink back. That's how I keep the process relaxing, but it doesn't make for quick progress.

I am NOT procrastinating ...
Getting the building in Paw Paw cleaned out, cleaned up, and on the market. It feels so good to have this done. Now if buildings in Paw Paw were only selling a little better.



I am reading...
Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark. I've read several in this series. They're well written, nicely plotted, and easy reading.

I am hearing...
The fan.

Outdoors ...
The guys are still working on the barn. They found a concrete driveway buried under about a foot of dirt. Being guys, they had to dig it out and see what it was.

Unfortunately a sunken driveway isn't very useful, so, being guys, they had fun re-landscaping the area with a Bobcat.



Something new for me ...
Some Web's 50% linen, 50% cotton fingering weight yarn to try out for knitting doilies.



A few plans for the next few days
As mentioned above, the plans for today are to not overheat.

Thursday I'm having dinner with friend I haven't seen in over a year. I've been widowed. She's newly engaged. We have a lot of catching up to do.

Giving thanks for ...
The power getting restored quickly today. It was off from noon to two on this, the hottest day of the year.

And ...
I have two spring fed ponds and a clear running creek on my property, but the birds think it's a treat to drink the stagnant water in the ant moat.

Happy 90th Birthday Mom

Dave and Karen made this wonderful dairy free Vegan carrot cake so everyone can enjoy it. It's a tennis racket and tennis ball in honor of Mom's 90th birthday and her love for tennis.



This is much more fun than three years ago when Mom had a heart cath and four stents for her birthday.

Oriole Pictures

The male orioles have been showing up daily to enjoy the orange and grape jelly. They are so pretty they rate their own blog post.

It's fast!

As of lunch time today, I have wireless high speed internet. I also have a new laptop.

After suffering years and years of dial up with a landline carrier that only works 95% of the time on a good day, I'm very excited and hopeful that this is going to be as wonderful as I think it's going to be.

Have a great weekend everyone. I'll be busy doing setup and tranferring files. And, as long as things go reasonably smooth, smiling. Even if I was the last person in America to get a wireless connection.

I'm Knitting A Doily Named Anna Marie

A few weeks ago I had a fantasy that I moved to a sweet, small condo and knit lace doilies for all the flat surfaces and the backs and arms of chairs.

The fantasy was so detailed I even imaging my children and grandchildren talking amongst themselves that they had no idea what they were going to do with all the doilies when I died. I visualized writing a note in my will that they could be donated to Goodwill with no hard feelings.

Maybe that’s a sign that my knitting obsession is coming back. Or maybe it's a sign that I'm nuts. I’ve always wanted to knit doilies and last week I ordered some good quality fingering weight yarn to give it a try. Crochet cotton from Mary Maxim.

I've had this book for years and enjoyed looking at it many times. OLD WORLD TREASURES

For my first experiment I selected the doily named Anna Marie. This picture is from the book, not my needles.

Yesterday I cast on and got a good start - except for the sloppy center. I need to do some research and find a few tricks for making the cast on neater.

Having no idea what size needles to use with this yarn, I guessed at 3s, 3.25mm. So far it looks like an acceptable guess. I'll know more when it's finished and blocked.

Pattern: Anna Marie from OLD WORLD TREASURES

Yarn: Crochet Cotton from Mary Maxim.

Needles: #3, 3.25mm

Feeding Sweet Stuff

The female grosbeaks are enjoying the orange in the oriole feeder.

Several people have asked me about this wonderful feeder. It's Poly-Recycled Oriole Feeder SNOF.

There are two spikes to impale the orange and two removeable plastic cups to hold the grape jelly.

If you're going to feed sweet stuff you want to have a Trap-It Ant Moat for Hummingbird Feeders, Red Bulk to keep the ants out.

I have a moat on the hummingbird feeder and the oriole feeder with 100% no ants getting by it.