Connie's Corner

A visit, rain, & birds

Last Sunday my daughter and granddaughter came down from Jax for a visit. I am so happy my daughter has moved back to Florida from Delaware and can visit me now. We had a wonderful afternoon even with the rain, catching up and just drinking each other in. We went for dinner at a favorite Italian place of mine and Jim's...Sole Mio...and the food was perfect with a cannoli split three ways to end it all. Oh, my. Time for them to leave came much much too soon. Next time they will plan to stay overnight.

Yes, it rains here everyday, sometimes all day, which is unusual. Normally, our rainstorms are brief with the sun coming out after for steam heat. Not so lately. The good side is that the overcast is keeping us cooler, not even reaching the 90s for awhile, and my lawn is greener than it has ever been. I have to pick up dead wood and fallen pine twigs in between the raindrops and carry an umbrella on my walks.

I have a family of hummingbirds visiting my feeder, squeaking and buzzing to let me know they are there. I have a bird's eye view as I sit here at my computer. One of them is there almost every time I look up, and they drink the mix so quickly, the feeder has no time to get dirty between refills. Two of them take turns sitting on the little perch I made. Yes, they do sit. I didn't know that either until I looked at the Audubon site, and it showed me how to make the hanger from a metal clothes hanger, unhook the cut end, straighten it out, and depending on how long you need it to be, bend it up and around, creating a little eye-loop for the feeder to hang from and extending the straight part horizontally for a perch, cutting it off where you like. They are fascinating to watch. When I refill, they actually try to "buzz" me. And they will fly to the feeder regardless of the rain. My regular bird feeder is nearby, and sometimes they will try to roust off the cardinals and chickadees for more privacy, I guess. They are aggressive once they get used to the feeder. Mopsy sits in the window and watches. They pay no attention to her.

until next time...c