Hummingbird wars

Allie's first coaster ride

the work of local chalk artist David Zinn

hard to tell but this a flock of turkeys I went by early this morning They will be prettier in the spring

Whitmore Lake on my bike ride

sunflowers past their prime this morning

my Delaware host's dog 3 weeks ago. He was put to sleep this week due to a tumor that would be painful to treat. As my friends were quite attached to him, they are very sad

For the past month, my flock of hummingbirds (maybe 5 or 6?) have been hellbent making sure no other hummer gets to eat. I have 3 feeders and numerous gardens (their favorite flower is my cigar plant followed by the butterfly bush) so no one is going hungry. But as soon as one lands on a feeder, another zooms in to try to stab it in the back. Then there is a chase. Sometimes they fly inches from our heads. One of my feeders is right outside our bedroom so I can lie in bed and watch their antics. In a few weeks, they will be gone. I assume most of this chasing is just getting their flight muscles in shape for the big trip across the Bay of Mexico. I thought the swallows were gone too but today a tree swallow swooped through the yard.

A perfect day for a bike ride. Cool and best yet, no wind. Although there was no fog at our house, I soon went through a mile long patch of it. Fortunately I was covered in flashers so that the very few cars could see me. 33+ miles. I went by the back of our old house, weed city. So much time was spent last summer making those gardens nice and now they have all gone to weeds. Not my problem anymore, thankfully.

We rarely use our patio except when we have crowds of people coming over as uncovering the table and chairs is such an ordeal. But since there is no rain for a while and all the family is coming tomorrow, the patio is now useable and especially nice at night as the sun is on the other side. It is now surrounded by flowers though some of the petunias are looking raggedy. Last night I left a container of bird seed out that the chipmunk so much wanted to steal. Too bad we were there. Still he kept trying to sneak up on it.

All the grandbabies and their parents should be here tomorrow. I will have the food prepared all in advance so Steve and I can enjoy the kids instead of being in the middle of food prep most of the time.

The end of summer...sigh.