The return of the swallows et al

Dead tree sculpture in New Orleans taken by my niece

We had her all week. Her mom had sent winter clothes for her when two of the days were in the 80s. Thus we went short shopping

Every night we had homework and reading

Every year, second graders in Shanna's district spend a day in the one room school house down the street from me. This is Daniel

The kids dress the part. When I first moved in, I assumed it was an Amish school until I saw the boys' shoes

on her rocking hippo. We went for a long walk together with her refusing to look at me

Maya had fun playing with Allie

May is the month of the pretty birds. The oriole returned before I could put out his special feeder. Now he and his mate have an orange and grape jelly

Yesterday the rose breasted grosbeak reappeared

First of our migrants to return were the barn swallows last week. Already they have decided to add to their nest inconveniently above our front door. They seem to be ignoring the over the garage nest. They fly back and forth repeatedly to check on their nest. If we are on the porch, they perch nearby staring us down or fly swiftly by our faces. Usually the hummingbirds come back towards the end of April but I figured they would be late as the whole Eastern half of the country had delayed spring. I saw the lone male a few days ago, a day after I put up a feeder. I don't have many flowers for him to feed on..just primrose, Pasch flower and lots of daffodils.

Yesterday, the male grosbeak appeared. He is so pretty. I haven't seen his rather ugly mate yet who looks like a large sparrow with a unibrow. We do have our spring migrant sparrows, the tiny chipping sparrow and the fat crowned sparrows. The boring, invasive house sparrows are a constant. We found the oriole sipping out of the hummingbird feeder today. It didn't take long for him to find the oriole feeder which I quickly put out. Gone finally are the juncos aka snow birds. They breed far north. Usually they leave in early March but they stuck around until last week.

We finally have a break from Maya who although very sweet and cute, is a handful. Her mom returns Sunday but her dad will pick her up from school today. I won't miss the commutes to school during rush hour. Maybe tonight I can sleep without dealing with someone with night terrors.

It was warm, bordering on hot, for two days. Not good for running but OK for biking. I am getting more in shape. I took some on-line health survey from my Medicare plus provider. According to it, my biological age is exactly my actual age. Hmm. I am very active, have good glucose, cholesterol levels, normal blood pressure, not overweight..absolutely no health risks yet I am no better than average in their book. See if they could ride a bike as fast as I can.

I am ignoring my yard work..too much to do. Right now there is a high wind advisory and thunderstorms so that's my excuse.