Tuesday This and That

I was home from the store last week and had bought a big bag of navel oranges.They were lying on the table right next to the patio door windows. I was washing produce at the sink and not paying much attention to what was going on. The patio door was open and I could hear an oriole calling. I knew that the container of grape jelly was empty on the feeder. I turned to get the jelly out of the fridge and saw the oriole flying toward the window and back to  the feeder. He did it again and again...back and forth. They usually just fly away when the feeder is empty, but today he stayed and seemed to be trying to get my attention. Then it dawned on me...the oranges were right by the window...he was telling me to put an orange out on the feeder. I did this and then I waited...sure enough he was back and sat there and ate some of the orange. Later on, I checked the feeder again and saw a tiny tail hanging down from the feeder. It was bobbing up and down. I knew that Chip was up there. He had never sampled grape jelly...to my belief....and he was tasting this deliciousness for the first time. Then he sampled the orange and found that he liked it. So now, I have an oriole/chipmunk feeder.

I was out last night...watering a few things. The tomatoes are looking good...so far.I neatened up everything...cut off some dead flowers, deadheaded a rose, filled the bird bath, cut off some damaged hosta leaves, and sat to rest a bit. I was watching the hummingbird feeder and thinking about the couple that I met at Farm and Fleet earlier in the day. I was looking for cucumber seeds for Joe and this man and woman were buying seeds too. She says, "Can we plant cucumbers too?" He said, "No, we planted them last year and they went to waste." She asked about zucchini and got much the same answer. He looked and acted kind of bossy in his bib overalls. She and I started to talk about hummingbirds...I told her that I had to buy a new one, because the raccoon had broken it. She laughed and seemed like she needed a friend. He turned to me and said, "I don't let her feed the birds in the summer...they can get their own food. We only feed them in the winter." She and I exchanged a look and i could see that she was a very unhappy woman. I guess bullying can happen to anyone...anyone of any age...not just school kids.

Well, today the weather is gorgeous.Joe just took my car into Rockford to have the tires rotated and I stayed home. I think that I will clean the front porch and bring some house plants outside. I have a clivia that i have had for several years...It hasn't bloomed. Does anyone know if it can go out in the summer? Guess I'll have to google it. If you haven't watched the eagle cam for a while...those eaglets are as big as mom and dad. Yesterday, they were playing  hopscotch....flying over each other...and teetering on the very edge of the big nest. They are getting noisy and flapping their wings a lot. When mom or dad drops a fish or critter...they lunge for it ...best bird wins. Here's the website if you want to watch their final days in the nest.  http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles 

Balisha