My female is sooo focused! First nesting fledged (6) on Thursday May 10th, I got the nestbox cleaned out asap because I know this female is very quick to start the second nesting (she is the same female we had the last two years). She started the second nest on Friday and laid the first egg this morning! I couldn't believe only four days inbetween fledging and laying another egg! Dad is still busy feeding the fledglings which are in our woods, haven't seen any of them yet, hopefully by this coming weekend I will get some glimpses of them and maybe tell how many made it. Two were non flyers so I am not sure about those two, especially with the mom focused on the second nesting and not on her fledglings. Donna

Very odd things happening with my houses this year. I had bluebirds in one house that laid 5 eggs. For the most part I try to stay away so they don't get spooked. In this case the next time I checked there was one fledgling that I saw but he didn't seem ready to fly away yet. But when I checked 2 days later there were no babies or eggs. The nest was empty. This box was protected with the mesh on the opening. I'm hoping time just flew by and the brood hatched and fledged in my absence! Will the parents start a new brood in the same nest or should I clean the box out for them to start over? I had another box that had activity, 5 eggs layed and a week later no eggs or babies. I fear they were killed since it was an old house from last year and it did not have the protective metal mesh at the opening. I have a nest nearby with the mesh protection. I kept checking and there was no activity or eggs. Then suddenly there was one egg!! I assumed the mom would lay more. I checked for 2 days, still only one egg. The third day the egg hatched with a tiny bald with a little fuzz baby bird. I kept watching from a distance and I did not see the male or female going into the house. I skipped looking inside the box today. I wanted to stay totally away. Tomorrow I will check again. I hope the little guy is okay.... Is it unusual for a female to lay only one egg? I'm thinking that perhaps the pair that were in the other box moved to this box when a predator got their other eggs..... Thus only one last egg to lay??? The box with the one egg is about 20 feet from the empty box. Perhaps this is part of that brood? Can the mom or dad move an egg or did she just lay it in a different box?? I have another box about 100 feet from that one protected with the mesh that some sparrows have taken over. They have built a nest and hang out in front of it on the mesh opening and on top of it but no eggs for well over a month. Perhaps they are the culprits that got the 5 bluebird eggs. Very strange that they built a nest and aren't using it. I know they will build several, one as a decoy or to give the female a choice, but I don't see that they've done that unless they are planning to take over the bluebird box. I will be keeping a watch on that....

Way back when I was in home ec class in high school. You know the dark ages! Lol We made the simplest cute and useful aprons. I hate losing it in the flood. I will have to make another one. It was basically 2 large rectangles edged on all edges. And a long strip of the fabric deep enough for a pocket. That strip was the same width as the rectangle and was sewn on the front rectangle across the bottom, leaving the top open, like a giant pocket. Then stitch 2 lines from top of pocket to the bottom spaced apart from each other evenly to turn the giant pocket into 3 equally sized pockets. Then stitch the 2 rectangles right side together at the top edges only about 2 inches each. That creates a boat neckline so that you can slip it over your head. Now you have an apron with a boat neckline and a row of 3 pockets along the front bottom. All you need now is a tie. Sew a ribbon or a piece of the fabric, with the edges sewn, to each edge of the front rectangle at waist height. Done. It literally takes less time to make it than it did for me to type this. This style is called a cobbler apron. Similar to this one.

I was walking my dog yesterday. Typically in Florida, people wait until the sun gets low because its so hot and the sun blinding. While walking, I pass neighbors and we always chat briefly from a distance. I tell people my dog is not the friendliest and people respect that (not true). Yesterday a neighbor was walking on the opposite side of the street and we chatted briefly while walking. We were talking about how we were dealing with the virus and being isolated and how tired we were of the whole thing. Just chit-chat. Then she says, I think the whole thing is overblown and you'll never see me wearing a mask, gloves and all the crap. As I kept walking, I said, 'well, I certainly don't want to get it as I'm not a spring chicken.' She said, 'its all overblown and I wouldn't worry about it at all.' I'm 71 and my guess is she's about the same. We passed her house and I kept walking thinking, what makes her think it's all overblown? I have no idea but at my age, even if I survived, who wants to take the chance? Who wants to be sick for weeks? Not me, not worth it. I don't like being isolated, I don't like the restrictions its put on my life, but l also don't like the idea of catching this virus and its implications. Just not worth it. Jane