Hummingbirds

Hubby and I watched a fascinating program about hummingbirds on TV the other night. Hummingbirds originated in South America and only exist in the western hemisphere.  They are very aggressive little birds.  They exist high in the Andes and have a special type of hemoglobin that allows them to maximize oxygen so they are able to fly in oxygen concentrations similar to that on Mt Everest. They must eat every 20 minutes to support their high metabolic rate.  Their hearts beat at 1200 times per minute.  At night they go into a state of torpor where their heart rate drops to 70 per minute and their body temperature can drop to the 40 degree range.  The program said the hummingbird is still evolving with new species developing and their range is extending north. This is a ruby throated hummingbird (the only species in our area) that Hubby photoed at the bird feeder.

Vegetable Garden

This year Hubby planted his tomato plants from seeds. Our vegetable garden gets smaller each year. But Hubby loves to grow tomatoes. This year he is growing two kinds Beefstake, and a heritage type.

He also started some Zucchini from seeds and he will plant wax beans. Those are my favorites. He also put some Dahlias in at the end of the garden.

Summer Project

As the official seamstress for the Lions Club, I have been given the task of making side banners for our award banner. I found some felt that is the right color but it is a cheap utility felt but I think it will do. I will have to do a lot of rearranging patches.  I visited the Clauson Club to see how they did their extensions.

 I think I will not attach the extensions to the main banner like they did. I can attach the cord in between the two parts of the banner.  I will need a longer dowel rod.  I think I will ask Althea to help me arrange the patches.

Spring is Here

Yesterday, the first day in a long time that wasn't raining really hard, we went to the Bordines Nursery to buy plants.  When you see all the beautiful plants it's hard not to want one of everything. I still have more to buy.  We didn't get the baskets for the front porch.  I like sunpatiens and the Farmers Market or Bordines didn't have them.  I wanted a firefly begonia for the humming birds and didn't get one.  For my box on the deck, I like sweet potato vines and salvia. Didn't get that either.

A Road Trip

Over the weekend we took a trip, first to Eastern Pennsylvania and then to Baltimore to deliver furniture and belongings from Grandma's estate. Hubby got a cargo carrier for the back of the car and it worked very well for Martha's table set.

 It allowed us enough room in the car to take Mindy along. Mindy had a great time.  I don't know how much she enjoyed visiting Mika and Charlie, but she sure enjoyed playing with their toys. She also enjoyed sleeping in bed with us. No more compllaining on my part about sleeping with Fervor. Mindy takes up a lot more space and Fervors paws on my face don't compare to Mindy's tongue in my ear.

A Leaf Quilt

I finished the leaf quilt that I made for Bill and Rejina. I wrote about it on the 3rd of March.  This quilt turned out so nice. It is quite large 95 by 103. I am very proud of my design. Now I need to ship it to Oregon.

Branch Retinal Artery Occlusion

Two weeks ago I was having lunch with my nephew's family when I lost my vision in part of my right eye. Hubby was truly alarmed and insisted I call the ophthalmologist immediately.  She was wonderful, opened up the office and examined me. She also made the appointment with the retinal specialist for the next morning. After numerous tests, including injecting dye into my vein and taking pictures of it as it went through my eye. The conclusion was that the clot had passed but my eye was still swollen inside and would take awhile to clear.  The doctor also sent a letter to my internist, who ordered an EKG and an echocardiagram, a 24 hour heart monitor and a Carotid Doppler. All of those came back uneventful so now all I have left to do is the 30 day heart monitor.  He also put me on Plavix and a statin even though my cholesterol is not high. Now I just have to convince Hubby that I will not fall over dead any moment.

Save the Squirrels

Every once in a while Detroit Edison sends out crews to trim the trees away from the wires. This apparently needs to be done again. An unfortunate squirrel apparently touched the high tension wire and the tree.  He still hangs there on the wire.

Today another squirrel found the first squirrel corpse of interest and he too felt the electric wrath.  It knocked him unconscious and he fell to another branch.  After several hours he came too and crawled off.

A Day at Probate Court

Someone had the bright idea that we should go to probate court with Mom's will. I am not saying who. Mike and Marilyn and I went down a month ago, waited in line for several hours, paid $175 and given a court date.  Today Mike and I went down and spent many hours in court and when they gave us the final papers they said we had to be bonded for $75,000.  Part of the problem is that I listed Mom's assets to include things that we were the beneficiary on. I think, I am not sure. I think we will wing it without bond.

A Lot of Stuff in a Two Bedroom Apartment

Six of the kids came for Mom's funeral and stayed to help emptying her apartment. Thank God for their help! The Treasure Chest which is a resale shop in the Village complex(the kids call it the Dead Peoples Store) took everything we didn't want, like dishes, Nick knacks, holiday decorations, bath chairs etc. Everything but furniture. The kids took some, and we took some, and Mike took some, and we threw out some. Hubby and I took a trip to Ohio for Mary's stuff and we will need to make a trip to Baltimore and Pennsylvania with the rest. It would be nice to have our garage back and Hubby still hasn't hung the pictures.

The stuff in the kitchen has found it's place.