1/19/26

Hummingbird Wars

Good morning, my friends. It was another day of beautiful weather here in Escondido. We had a lazy morning, and then met up with our friends Debi and Jim for lunch. 

Before that, though, we were treated to the arrival of the hummingbirds. When we stay in a place for more than just a few nights, we hang a hummingbird feeder and a seed feeder on our window. We were delayed for a week while Mike fixed the slide, but we hung these feeders about a week ago. There's been no activity at the seed feeder yet, but the hummingbirds discovered their feeder yesterday.


At first, there was just one, but then there were probably about three of them warring over the feeder. If you've ever had a hummingbird feeder, then you know how territorial they are...and they use language that would make a sailor blush!


The kitties watched inside for a while, but then Smitty thought he should go outside and act as a mediator.


Sadie kept watch from her catio, meowing orders, and making suggestions for an end to the conflict.


They didn't have much luck ending the hummingbird wars...hummers gotta hummer, I guess. Nevertheless, they were awarded the "Nobel Puss Prize" for their efforts. After the medal ceremony, they enjoyed treats of valor.


From there, we headed to Carlsbad, California, for lunch with Debi and Jim. Coming over the crest of a hill, we could see the Pacific Ocean. When we lived here, we were never thrilled by the sight of the ocean. It's just there...like the mountains at home. At home, we live 60 miles inland, and so we've renewed our ability to be thrilled by the sight of the Pacific Ocean.


We had a late lunch, and visited with Debi and Jim. It was good to see Debi up and around after her unexpected hospitalization. And since this was a "pie shoppe," we had pie too. I had banana cream, Mike had Dutch apple. I didn't take any pictures except of the blooming poinsettia outside the restaurant.


When we left the restaurant, we stopped off at our other friends' home, Deb and Tom, because they received some mail for us. Mike had to return a radio that wasn't working properly, and he had the replacement sent to their home. I really should put "replacement" in quotes because they returned the exact same radio. We know it's the same radio because it has the same serial number as the one Mike returned. And, you might not be surprised to know that the exact same radio has the exact same problem it had when he returned it to them. Hmmmm. So Mike sent an email back to them saying, basically, WTF? We're still waiting to find out WTF is.

While we were there, I took a couple more pictures of the blooming things in their yard. This is a blossom from a pretty hedge growing along their fence line. My phone tells me this is "Bower Vine."


And you might think you were in Hawaii if you saw all the hibiscus blossoms in their yard. Just lovely.


So, this being MLK Day and a holiday for many, we're going to take a day off. We need to make a quick trip to the grocery store. I've washed a load of jeans, and I have one more load going. Later this afternoon, I'm thinking I'll get out my sewing machine and do a little sewing. I've already selected the Gumballs blocks for today's project...this one:


All the pieces were cut and kitted up before we left home. If I'm remembering right, I have just two more rows of five blocks each to make. When those are finished, I'll be able to sew the quilt top together. (As I'm writing, I can't remember if I brought the whole project along, or just the blocks that need to be completed.)

So that's our day. If you've enjoyed this post, you can thank Sadie for her behind-the-scenes editing and input.


If it weren't for my cats, I'm afraid my spelling, punctuation, and capitalization would be atrocious. 

Okay, so off I go. I think I'll be finishing up my slow-stitching piece this morning, and so there's not a minute to waste.

5 comments:

Pamela Dempsey said...

What beautiful flowers! I guess they haven’t had a cold snap yet.
I had a short video from Rob at Stitching Heaven called the Rule of 7. I thought of you and your Gumball quilt. At about the 28 second mark you can see the green and orange ones above him in the background. So pretty. I don’t know how to send it to you.

dgs said...

Sounds like another wonderful day. I'm happy to hear Deb is doing better and you were all able to get together. Very odd about Mike's radio. I'll be interested to hear what the company says - WTF? On another note, I missed your report about the avocados you bought from the Farm Stand. I hope they were yummy enough you get another visit or two, before the end of your winter adventure.

Kate said...

Oh is that my problem? I need an editor cat to help with my spelling? Too bad My Guy has a firm "NO" to any animals in the house (other than My Girl's cat, which he tolerates because he does want her to come home occasionally). Oh well. Looks like you had a really nice day for your visit.

piecefulwendy said...

Who knew cats could be so good at editing? Wilbs helps me quite often. Way to go, Sadie!

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Hummingbirds and woodpeckers are quite territorial and often fight. It's funny to watch the woodpeckers at our suet feeder - they don't like to share with their own type of woodpecker, but will share with another type.