Color COVID

At what point do I get to wake up somewhere other than Vladimir Putin's America? Here it is- May 9th- and I'm swaddled in my winter clothing, picking through the woodpile searching for a few sticks to burn? It's actually flurrying with the sun out and we're all still quarantined from COVID 19 and WTF!! When I walked back from the mailbox, it was near white-out conditions...
I have begun the lovely task of assembling annuals, perennials and shrubs and vegetable plants to populate our many gardens and beds but I had to hustle them all back into my studio so they didn't freeze to death last night. And what of the hummingbirds?!  There have been a bunch of them- right on schedule!- flying around and landing on our feeder; I may have to install a nectar heater! But where do they spend the night?

This isn't half of them! The seedlings and tender things are all over our dining table and every available window sill. (We have temporary shelving on several windows...) Even today, the wind is so strong and sharp that they're all hunkered down inside.
So I had an exciting adventure yesterday morning. I called our local hardware/feed store and ordered and pre-paid for the horse food I need so that I wouldn't have to enter the building. As is typical protocol now, they said they'd leave the two bags on the rear loading dock. I drove our trusty car (running like a top!) to the back of the store, put it in reverse and hoped for the best. I say this because the driveway leading up to the loading dock is seriously narrow and surrounded on both sides high concrete walls and a chain link fence too boot. Add to the already trying circumstances is that I have my sunglasses and face mask on so that the mask was causing the sunglasses to fog slightly. I carefully calibrated that the right passenger side of the car was the trickier side to gauge my proximity to the imposing wall and backed up... BAM!!! Oh, I hit something!!
I pulled my car forward, exited and went to survey the damage. Trusty the Car looked fine but when I turned around, I realized that I had hit the corner post and it had caused the chain link fence to bow out. Yikes!

See? Nothing! Bernie didn't even get scratched! (I had feared having smashed a taillight or dented the fender area.)
Needless to say, I was mortified and knew I had to do the right thing. So I gloved up- already in my mask- and entered the store, which of course, was packed with customers and there were no sales people free. I exited and instead confessed by cell phone what I had done. I also walked to the back of the store and found three (3!!) male employees on the loading dock (all wearing masks) shaking their heads and... LAUGHING! Like "hahahaha; dumb blonde!!" In this case, I really didn't care as I confided just how stupid I felt and offered insurance information if they needed to press charges or put in a claim. But they were great and made plans among themselves to straighten it out. (In truth, it wasn't that bad!) They actually asked if I had gotten my two bags of beet pulp okay (yes, but need I remind you, these weigh 50 pounds apiece!) and told me to "have a nice day". I told Bob that the next time he went to our hardware store, he should view my signature "Damage by Rita" installation. I may avoid the store myself for a while as I'm certain they'll all be giggling at me when I come in...

A Bee in My Bonnet

While I may be referring to "bees in my bonnet" metaphorically- like I do have crazy things buzzing around mentally and emotionally and socially and politically, I'll put those temporarily on hold and discuss the REAL bees.

Case in point is our hummingbird feeder where our beloved hummingbirds gorge themselves at this time of year, in preparation for their long flight south for the winter months. However, instead of hummers, we have attracted hundreds of deranged and suicidal honey bees. These bees have a million flower choices to pick from but have somehow, in a misguided and fatal mission, decided to main line sugar water. They can't get enough: some of them actually squeeze themselves into the tiny holes provided for hummingbird beaks and then they drown. This is doubly terrible as the honeybees- pollinators that we are more than happy to draw to our garden and help make our local honey- are dying in our feeder in crazy numbers. And worse, my friends the hummingbirds are unable to dine at the feeder because of all the swarming bees! I can't win!

In disgust, I took down the feeder and cleaned it and have stored it for the season...

And on another even less appealing note, Bob calls my attention to the gigantic hornets nest (Or wasp nest?) that is being duly constructed outside my studio window. Who knew? I've had that window cracked open and have walked directly beneath that huge hive with nary a problem, blissfully unawares of the hundreds (perhaps thousands!) of wasps building a megalopolis above my head! Not much you can do about that until cold weather comes except be careful and don't go poking any long sticks into it! There are plenty of other places to go looking for trouble!

Turtles, Foxes and Food Poisoning

We had many visitors this week! Some were welcome and some we were glad to see leave the premises. Beginning with the speckled turtle above. I have heard that they return to the same location every year to lay eggs and the one above seems right on schedule. I encounter a turtle every spring in just about the same place under our giant maple tree in Maggie's side field. It didn't even pull its head in, so I think he/she recognized me.
On the same day, only a few minutes later, our resident crows were throwing a hissy fit. It turned out they were chasing and harassing a fox, which ran across the bottom of our field. Hard to tell, but it's probably the same fox I saw before in Maggie's pasture. I didn't get a picture because it was further away and the drama was enacted pretty quickly but it was cool! Nice looking fox...
That same day, the farrier paid a visit to trim Maggie's feet and agreed that her hind hoof harbored the biggest abscess  he had ever seen. (One assumes he's been in contact with many of them.) He thought she'd be fine, even though her entire hoof feels sort of hollow. She's a tough old horse, and not always fond of visitors to her domain so it's a good thing that the blacksmith came before...
The vet! Horrors! Maggie hates the kind of attention that comes with doctor's visits: teeth filing, shots, intruding hands, although she does seem to like Dr. Carlson better than the evil Dr. Elwell. I request that people coming to minister to Maggie call me from the driveway so as to give me a minute to catch Maggie before she senses strangers approaching. She has been known to turn tail and gallop beautifully across the field, evading hoof trims and shots and spontaneous riding parties. For an older horse, she moves very fast.

Our hummingbirds returned recently and we now have two feeders, thanks to Sheldon and Louise and their birthday generosity to Bob. I haven't seen it, but Bob and our friend Elizabeth claim to have seen the smallest (probably an immature male) hummer they'd ever witnessed. We've already had dive bombing aerial battles.

I will not document the most recent visitor in pictures. I had a case of food poisoning last night and as I needn't remind anyone, this was not good experience. Bob and I purchased salmon burgers yesterday and we both agreed that the young man manning the fish counter was unpleasant. He was pre-occupied and terse and obviously didn't relish being elbow deep in ice, scallops, snapper and free range, wild caught, cold pressed Alaskan sock eye. The couple he waited on before us requested crab so I asked him-ironically- to change his plastic gloves as I'm highly allergic to crustaceans and can get very sick. I say ironically as several hours after consuming the very deliciously prepared salmon burger, I awoke to a nasty cramping in my stomach which required a hasty departure to the down stairs bathroom. Suffice it to say, I was unsure as to which end to attend to first as both points of exit were in dire need and would not be denied. I successfully voided any trace of the offending fishwich after a prolonged intermission in sleep and returned to tell Bob of my plight. (He suffered no ill effects.) Fortunately, I feel fine this morning but am not anticipating craving sushi any time soon.

More Birds of America

I think it some how appropriate to post an eagles picture on Memorial day. National bird and all, right?  This winter, on a really cold morning (do we all remember that there were lots of those?) I went with friends to view the eagles from a utility company site in our town. For whatever reason, eagles like this particular stretch of river and they hang out there all winter long. (Maybe they have a deal with our local energy company, to help and improve the company's image?) The craziest thing was that despite my skepticism about spotting the birds, there actually were eagles present, just visible through a telescope on the far side of the water. It was mighty impressive but absolutely impossible to photograph. So I photographed the laminated photographs that were on the wall of the viewing hut. They really do look like that! Here's a close up:

Check out the beak. There were other more common birds hanging around, like hawks but the eagles commanded attention. But isn't it classic that birds of prey that were almost obliterated by our country's love of major pesticides are the symbol of our "freedoms"? Don't get me started! Why not make this charming little fellow the national bird:

That is an actual bird, photographed right outside our kitchen window.  They're so cute! And this bird was not at all shy about having his picture taken.

(I'm not sure what the yellow line is... some reflection on the window). (Check out HIS beak.) Actually, they'd be a pretty good symbol of America, because despite their tiny size, they're really pugnacious and fight constantly with one another over who gets to eat at the feeder. Sounds just about right to me!