A Yard Adventure

We had one of those days when the weather couldn't decide what to be. There was sunshine, hail, and heavy rain at times. The kitties and I took advantage of some morning sunshine to fill the birdfeeders and check out the blooming things. Sadie was the first to blast out the door.

She feels more secure when Smitty is with her...and vice versa, I suppose. They are fast friends when they're outside together. The bricks surrounding the blueberries allow them to walk out into the grass with out getting their peets wet. This area also has the wide long blades of grass that kitties love for grazing. Looks like "Mow Man" needs to come.

A few more tulips are blooming.

This next one is by the greenhouse. I took this photo while standing on our deck, a good 20 yards away, and the focus is pretty good. Over all, I'm happy with my new Panasonic Lumix ZS80 camera. It does a great job both close-up and far away. 

Oh yes, and I can't remember if I told you that we'll be able to get the Nikon repaired. I had a couple of older versions of the Nikon camera. One will be "parted out" to repair the newest version. Mike will take over that camera when we get it back. We were promised a turn-around time of 8-9 weeks, of which we've only burned off about 2 weeks at this point. It will be a while before we get it back.

But getting back to the blooming things, the Black Tartarian cherry tree is blooming away. When the snow hit, only a few flowers had opened. Seeing it in full bloom like this gives me hope for this year's cherry crop.

It always produces more cherries than the Bing to its right. The Bing has just a few flowers opened, but more are coming. I'm concerned about the absence of bees, however. It has rained so much, and we haven't seen many pollinators out.

Continuing my stroll around the house, I checked again for the one poppy bud I've found. Still there. I didn't see any more, and there are none that I can find on the poppy up near the house. It might be slim poppy pickens this year.

The squirrels were happy for the sunshine. Now what mischief do you think this guy is trying to get into?

Well, he's thinking he'd like to find a way to the treasure trove of peanuts over his head.

Reinforcements have arrived.

This here is the epitome of biting off more than you can chew. Generally the jays fly to a nearby tree where they crack open the shell and eat the peanut. Certain areas of the yard are littered with peanut shells.

There's a shield on our feeder pole that keeps the squirrels from climbing the pole. However, I've seen them jump to the landing on the feeder from ground level. Where there's a will, there's a way. Smitty keeps an eye on them. I always enjoy watching the kitties when they're outside just acting like cats. I tapped on the window when I took this picture, but he was intent on watching that squirrel. It was early for lunch, but that doesn't bother Smitty.

Back inside, I made some more progress on my quilting. Three of six rows are finished now. I'm hoping to get one or two rows finished today. It's hard to see the quilting in this picture.

It's a little easier to see it from the quilt back. This is going very smoothly. I've had no problems with thread breakage, nor any problems with tension. My thread combination is working nicely...and I've probably jinxed myself by saying so. This was one of two quilts I made for the 2019 Rainbow Scrap Challenge, and so I'll link up there today.

I'm heading out for the farmer's market with Erik and Mae again this morning. I don't really need or want anything from the market, but I imagine there will be something there to tempt me. Mainly, I just enjoy spending time with the kids. Also, I enjoy listening to them as they discuss the week's menu at their house. They are both excellent and adventurous cooks.

Mike and Erik are gearing up to head to Northern California next week for the IMSA race. (Just now, I had to Google what IMSA stands for: International Motor Sports Association.) There is a track near Monterey...and then there's Monterey...worth a visit in and of itself. They'll be taking the RV down and camping right at the race venue. They're also taking the electric bikes...yes, the dastardly shoulder-breaking bikes...and riding them around to see all the goings-on. I only mention this because I volunteered to make food for them, and so they won't have to do much cooking. I've been collecting leftovers over time, and I'll need to make a few more things this weekend. It'll cut into my quilting time, but I'll have the house to myself for a week starting next Wednesday. It's just another reason I want those plumbing repairs to get started.

Speaking of plumbing repairs, we finally got the go-ahead from the insurance company yesterday. I expect the work will start on Monday. I'm still mad at them, but it's one less thing to worry about for the time being.

Okay, we're expecting some nice weather over the coming week. It's a great day for the farmer's market, and possibly, I'll be able to start planting my annuals next week.