The Hummingbirds used to get to North Georgia on April 15th every year. The past few years it has been the last week in March. I love those little birds. To be honest, I love all birds. I can't believe all the beautiful birds and critters we have in our lives. If we only would take the time to get to know them and their habitats I can guarantee we would never be bored. I have been watching and studying birds for over 40 years and still learn something every day.

It rained in spurts yesterday, at times rather briskly. It may have rained through the night, I'm not sure. It was welcome, and by the looks of the clouds, there is more on the way. It's coming in short blocks, but at least it's coming. I slept in this morning. It must've been close to ten before I awoke. I'm still groggy from sleeping too late, but I must've needed it. I don't use an alarm clock, and am not sure where to even find one in this house. LOL. I think we have an emergency alarm packed away in a drawer somewhere. Today, I am bored with the morning routine of cranking out three or four pounds of noodles. But, I am still needing to use up some extra eggs. The zucchini is proliferating in the garden like bunnies, so that issue needs addressed as well. To kill two birds with one stone, at present there are four loaves of zucchini bread in the oven. We'll eat one loaf for b'fast in the morning, give a loaf to one of my kids, and freeze two for down the road. Come winter I'll appreciate having the bread already to eat, more than dozens of bags of grated squash. I sneaked off six egg whites as I was mixing the breads and shall use the hot oven later to bake up a big meringue shell. I've a quart of heavy cream and fresh strawberries in the fridge and they'll end up as a pavlova for tonight's dessert. DD has asked us over to supper and this way, she'll not have to worry about making the dessert. I hear my husband up in the woodshed now pounding. LOL. He never shares with me what he is up to when he disappears up there in the male hinterlands, but like a little boy when he gets done with it.......... he wants me to go outside and "find" the surprise. I love those child-like qualities about him, but wouldn't tell him that and bruise his macho man ego. LOL. Most women do are suckers for men with a dose of little boy still in them, aren't they? It only gets exasperating when you have to always be the adult. Yesterday, I found a thirteen pound beef brisket at the market at an incredibly thrifty price. It's already cut up and in the freezer. This is a common cut in the south for bar-b-que, but it's a really hard one to find in the north unless it's already been corned. What a shame, as it's taste is hard to beat when cooked properly. I also found a pleasant surprise in the woods yesterday. One old tree had a huge vine of grapes on it, and I know it's an escapee of our very old red grapes I grew by the chicken shed. Three summers ago, a well-meaning old gent and good friend of ours convinced my dh that vine needed rejuvenated, and proceeded to whack it literally to death. It never recovered. As usual these escapades are done when I am away for the day, LOL, because they knew I would object. The fruit trees, veggie gardens and vines and brambles are MY TERRITORY. We found another clump of these same grapes where my husband had thrown vines from a pruning many years ago in a windrow to compost and they rooted. The extension agent had told me this variety was so old, it was prolly not in cultivation anymore, and it makes the most beautiful red grape jelly on earth. Matures right around frost. So, to find those clones were thrilling to me as we kept the line alive. DH, feeling guilty about the prune job, has already built an arbour for me for the ones in the windrow. LOL. Problem is it's smack dab in the middle of what I want to use as pasture for milk goats down the road.

Nice quote. I almost always have a bit of nature in my hand when I come in from a walk, even a simple grass seedhead to explore. I need to study it up close, the color, texture, arrangement on the stem. Meldy, those xray pictures are exquisite. Thanks for the link. Would have loved to see the forty-foot images projected on the side of a building...bet it was magical. josh

I am sick of August too. I am not even looking for bargains which is something I usually do at the end of summer. This weekend I let some melampodium in a pot by my front door get too dry. I thought I watered it but by its looks it got skipped. That is what is dangerous this time of year, I do not want to lose my dogwoods or the big orange fragrant azalea. My tomatoes are mostly sad looking. They would make salsa, but I am ashamed to give them to people all but the very best. I am still keeping four people/families in tomatoes but apologizing for the way they look. tavy my pond is not done according to any plan. I had a truck load of so called top soil delivered years ago that turned out to be sticky gummy clay not good soil at all. That is what I dug a hole in to place my first attempt which was a discarded water bed mattress. That was ugly, ugly but I loved to feed the goldfish and see the dragonflies and frogs. Then someone threw away a fiberglass form with a slow leak. I put up with that a while but pulled it up, dug out a bit more and put down a rubber liner over old tarps and pieces of carpet. There is no electricity there except I do have an extension cord across the yard which I always take up before I mow and don't plug back in until I am completely done. I may dig a little trench someday and get a man to make me a safe outlet ground fault or whatever they are. I am too cheap to hire it all done. The stock tanks with frogs were my rain barrels. Those 50 gallon rain barrels they sell for a big price would not go far here. I did not count on the frogs invading, but I do like them.