Sometimes Life Is for the Birds

It has been ... & continues to be ... not a very pleasant few days for me.  Last Saturday morning with temperatures predicted to be over 100 degrees our air conditioner decided to stop working.  We could not call the repairman until Monday morning.  I called him first thing that morning & reached his voice mail.  I left a message & expected to hear from him within an hour or two.  This has always been his usual response time in the past.  However, on Monday night I still had not received a return call.  Yesterday John & I had to run a few errands in Lexington.  We left early in the morning & did not return home until about 2 o'clock in the afternoon.  Of course the repairman called while we were gone.  I called him back, reached his voice mail & left another message.  Hopefully he will call back this morning.

I haven't been doing much these past few days.  Knitting with a big pile of wool is definitely not a wise choice.  I have been doing some stitching though.  I will show photos in an upcoming post.

What I am going to share with you this morning are some bird photos!  News of our little birdbath ... probably the only birdbath in the devil's playground ... has spread like wildfire.  Sometimes there are 3 or 4 finches using the bath at the same time!  At other times different species of birds come to the bath & sometimes they act a bit selfish!  I've mentioned before that we have a pair of bluebirds who come to the yard but they are very hesitant to get close to the house. Apparently the temperatures are making them a little less cautious because I see them visiting the birdbath from time to time.  They are usually only there long enough to get a bit of a drink & then something spooks them & they fly away.  However, I guess the temperatures the other day were too much for them & a few other birds.  In as little as half a minute we had a robin, 3 finches, & the 2 bluebirds competing for the bath.  Mrs. Bluebird must've felt pretty sociable because she & Mrs. Finch had a nice conversation for a little while   : )

Here is a photo of a robin.  As in the last picture above, for some reason I always seem to capture at least one photo of a bird looking at me, probably wondering what that big human is looking at ... lol!  

I am pretty excited about my photos of this next visitor   : )   We rarely see hummingbirds here.  I know they are in the area & I have been wanting to buy a hummingbird feeder for quite some time but I can't find any I really like.  Well, John went to the grocery store on Monday & came home with a plant neither of us had seen before.  It's called a Montbretia.  I haven't taken a photo of the plant itself but here is a photo I borrowed from the internet.

It's really quite breathtaking!  The tag indicated it is a magnet for hummingbirds. We just sat the pot in the garden amongst the daylilies & hoped that maybe a hummingbird would find it.  We were both amazed & delighted when we looked out the door not even an hour later & found this little guy visiting!

As you can see, at this particular nanosecond he is wondering what that big human is looking at   : )   Taking photos of a hummingbird is not an easy task!  It's nearly impossible to focus on them because they flitter around so much & those wings never stop moving at what appears to be the speed of sound.  He left the plant & we hoped he would return to visit again which he did later that evening!  We are so in love with this plant that after our trip to Lexington yesterday we stopped at the grocery store & bought two more   : )   Not wanting to plant them right away (it's just way too hot) we put the pots together & hoped Wilbur (yes, we named him) would be back.  He did return & had a great time with the increased number of flowers   : )

At one point he must've needed a bit of a rest because he perched himself on one of the stems & gave me a pretty pose   : )

Getting to watch these little guys makes me think of that old saying, "the best things in life are free."  Perhaps "free" isn't quite the right thought though since it did cost us something to enjoy these visitors.  We had to buy the birdbath & we had to buy the Montbretias so perhaps the better saying would be something about money well spent. Whatever the saying, the enjoyment is a real gift   : )  

I hope you all find something to delight in today   : )   I know something I am going to delight in!  While typing this post I received a call from the repairman!  He is coming this afternoon to fix the air conditioner! Hallelujah!  I will feel like a human again rather than like a damp ogre   : )