Today = 18 days since 1st 3 baby bluebirds hatched in my frontyard birdhouse and 17 days since the other 2 baby bluebirds hatched. We had a rainstorm late yesterday, so I thought the babies would not come out until this morning. Fortunately, it was a "normal" rainstorm without all the high winds we've had in the last couple of months. I got up very early this morning and I think there is only 1 left in the box. I hear his lonely little sad chirping and have seen the dad bluebird 5 times since 7:00 a.m. come to this one. They could have come more times, but this is all I have seen. The next to last time the dad bluebird just popped his head in the box and did not feed the baby, or I didn't see anything in his mouth to feed as he went in, but the baby quieted down for a while. The last time, he did feed the baby and checked in on him 3 times, and "bonked" his reflection in my window 3 times. He doesn't see me as the room is dark and he sees only the reflection of what is outside. I saw 1 in the backyard kid's playhouse and this one was soaking wet. It could have been that he just got wet from the heavy dew we have here today. The babies seem to love the little shed and kid's playhouse we have because they are also made of the cedar that their house is made of. My husband said that they probably think they are in a giant birdhouse - lol. I hear at least 1 in the tall trees in the woods in back of our house making the same little sounds asking to be fed. I so much wanted to see them fledge this time, but I guess I missed it again. The only thing I can hope is that I can sit where I am in the bedroom window where I have a direct view of the birdhouse opening and hope that this last one fledges today or tomorrow. I'm really not sure he'll be ready to leave until tomorrow, so I've got a long wait in store, especially since I have to be getting ready for my son's wedding.

I couldn't sleep last night worrying about the babies. I was so scared they would all be dead this morning. It looked as though the mom was feeding them yesterday but I really wasn't sure if they were getting much or not. This morning I got up early and got ready, took the dogs for our daily morning walk and then came back and took the guard off. I prayed so much yesterday and my heart was beating so hard as I opened the box and looked in. Thank God I saw four pairs of eyes looking back at me. So I have been watching for over an hour now, no peeking at all that I could see. Took Mom half an hour to go in and feed them but now she is feeding them and removing poop sacs but it still seems like they want them out for some reason. I have no clue why, she will get the food and sit for the longest time either in a tree near the box or on top of the sparrow spooker before going in and I can hear her chattering. Dad still hasn't done any feeding yet, for some reason he couldn't figure out the hole guard yesterday. So I am going to watch as much as I can today. If one goes out and cannot fly I may just try putting it in a tree and watching it, that way at least I know they will get fed. If I have to I can always put the guard back on for overnight. I am praying they all make it ok. Thanks everyone for your help. Donna

Carolyn, I have read a lot of Frank's work and I think she is slipping a bit. Somewhat reminiscent of A.R. Siddon's novels, which get quite repetitive in their vocabulary and plots. (e.g. I think she used "spavined" as an adjective in every book she ever wrote!). I have just finished Ian Caldwell's "The Fifth Gospel." The author claims it took him 10 years to write. In a sense, it is a "tour de force" in terms of scholarship re early Christian church history. The plot has many twists and turns. It is also a study of the separation of the Eastern Orthodox patriarchy from the Western Catholics and the papacy. The novel puts a very human face on the late Polish Pope as well as the Vatican as a small nation unto itself. (Caldwell's previous novel was "The Rule of Four.").

techs recommend Maytag as they provide very good after market warranty should you need it. I made the horrible mistake of buying Electrolux after having Maytag for over 30 years. The washer shredded my king size comforter, a set of queen sheets and the dryer has been making a racket since day 1. They said that I should never have put a king size comforter to wash...but that's what they advertise and part of the reason I bought it. Electrolux blamed me for it all. They provide the worst customer care I have ever had. Their products are poorly designed. As an example, the racket made by the dryer is caused by lint blocking the blower fan. I remove all lint after every single load as I have always done. When the tech came, he said we have to take the machine apart every so often to remove lint that did not get caught by the screen. Who takes their machine apart?!!!! So I used a very long handled rubber spatula to squeeze it in that area to get excess lint out but still not perfect and back to the infernal racket. After multiple visits from a tech to "repair" this, the last tech put an extra thick felt around the lint screen to try to keep all lint on the screen. So far so good. The kicker is the letter I received from Electrolux stating that should this repair ever re-occurs, I will have to pay for it!!! Unfrickin believable!!!! So I asked the tech who provides best warranty service...hands down, Maytag. Lesson learned.