When the Big Fat Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin' Along

Remember that robin I told you about the other day who enjoys himself in our little birdbath?  I was able to get a photo of him! At one point Mr. Finch there jumped into the water with Mr. Robin but that photo unfortunately did not come out clearly.  I think I was too excited watching them   : )  

Our temps have been 100+ these past couple days & we have been given the promise that this will continue for a few days more.  Ugh! The good part about that (cheery me, always looking for the good ... lol!) is that the humidity is next to nothing.  Unfortunately the bad thing about that is the humidity is next to nothing.  Our poor grass is brittle & brown in a lot of areas, the ground is literally cracking, & the poor plants are having a really rough time of it.  Of course it is crucial for John & I to go out in the evenings to give everything a good soaking. With both of us working our self-assigned areas we each spend about an hour & a half to 2 hours out there.  On the one hand I think what a colossal waste of time this is!  I could be stitching!  I could be knitting!  I yearn for a postage stamp yard!  However, I then look at the flowers & the trees & here we go again ... I feel ... hmmm.  I was going to say "happy" but my mind won't let me admit to that.  Content maybe?  I just know I was out there last night ... it was about 9 o'clock, still light, with the Sahara Desert type heat ... & as I was watering things I just felt like ... I don't know!  Good grief!  Certainly not "like I belong here!"  Me?  Belonging in the devil's playground?  Where's the barf bag?!?!?  I can't explain it but I guess it's a happy/contented/belonging sort of feeling. Beats me where that's coming from.  Of course once the watering is finished & I have to come back inside the house I hate everything.  Operator?  Get me Vienna! Anyway, another daylily has bloomed so I thought I would share it with you.  It's actually a more redder red than it's showing up here in the photo but you know how that goes.  

I spent a total of 10 ... yes, 10 ... hours working on insurance stuff the other day.  That was fun ... not!  I have 2 more claims to work with & then I can sit back & wait for more denials that I will have to appeal.  I told my doctor that I think they keep denying me hoping I'll go away & she said that's what they do. Well, I'm not going anywhere.  My "favorite" denials are always the ones that say I didn't provide some bit of information which if they'd only open their eyes & look at the paperwork they would see!  I've taken a real shine to highlighters now.  When they tell me I'm missing some bit of information I boldly highlight it & then resend the entire claim back to them with a cover letter pointing it out.  If there is more than one bit that they are telling me isn't there then the claim ends up looking like a rainbow.  I'm sure they love me at the insurance companies.  I'm probably known by name by all the employees   : )

I've been working on my shawl in the evenings & have made quite a bit of progress on it but I still have a long way to go.  I'm not in any hurry though.  I really need to get started on another cross stitch project to have going at the same time.  My hands are confused.  I can hear them talking to each other over the clickity click of my knitting needles.  

Left Hand:  "What is she having us do now? What happened to the cross stitch?  I was looking forward to stitching that next Nash design!"

Right Hand:  "I don't know ... I'm as confused as you are!"  

Incidentally ... in my last post I told you about Little Hen Rescue & the chicken sweaters.  I had sent an email to Joanna Eglen, the founder of the organization, asking her to shed a bit more light on the use of the sweaters.  Joanna says "The jumpers started when we were picking up thousands of caged hens that were completely bald.  This is when I first started & I didn't have heat lamps or certainly didn't have enough.  I also had to rehome them quickly to make room for the next lot of hens that were coming so the jumpers were the answer!  They kept them warm & allowed them to be outside for the first time in their life without the worry they would be cold!  So we had thousands of milticoloured chickens leaving our rescue site!   Even Christmas outfits winter time! They look very funny & the hens accept them happily!"  What a wonderful woman to dedicate her life to saving these hens.  The world needs more people with a heart like Joanna.