For once, the sunrise was a no-show -- it was cloudy with sprinkles, as it was off-and-on the whole day. I went to refill the hummingbird feeders -- I've made 2 gallons of the nectar, so I'm not constantly making it -- and now they're getting somewhat used to me; maybe it's because they know where their sugar water comes from. While I was bringing the feeders down to refill them, a hummingbird or two would buzz around me -- a bit dangerous as I was on a ladder. As far as the other birds go, I bought another bag of bird food -- online, from Amazon (of course) which this time is not a "no mess" blend (I'd gotten that from my friends at the Wild Birds store in Torrance before I left) and is full of sunflower seeds which will probably end up on the ground. But I'm getting a good selection of birds, and getting more every day -- Northern Cardinal (who are still a bit shy), Pyrrhuloxia (which sounds like a gum disease), Lesser Goldfinches (a nice brightly-colored yellow to add to the day), along with loads of House Finches, Canyon Towhees -- and a patrolling Roadrunner. I've seen him out on both the front and back porches; probably looking for lizards. (I should tell him that there's a large Clark's Spiny Lizard in the well house he can have -- they're fairly large, about 8 inches, and it had scared the bejesus out of me when I first opened the well house door as it was up in the corner nearest me, and jumped down.) No snakes to report yet -- and that's just fine with me. I'm keeping the grass, etc around Faranuf short with the weed whacker, so there are no "snakes in the grass", so to speak. As far as the rest of my 4 acres, all bets are off, but it's so overgrown that I'd never venture out into it. In the morning I did an errand that was long overdue -- I cleaned out Tundra Dos. I transferred everything onto the garage shelves, and now I can transport, say, a dining table (mine is too small, fitting 4 people very tightly) and people in the extra cab back seat. Then it was to the post office, where 2 hummingbird feeders (the saucer kind, sanctioned by Audubon, once again acquired from Amazon) were waiting for me, along with peppermint oil, which when rubbed around the feeder holes are supposed to ward off ants,which go into the holes, drown, and make a big mess when you clean the feeders. (Wasps do that, too.) The hummingbirds love the new feeders, and there are more ports on them so there are more hummingbirds per feeder. I rubbed the peppermint oil (recommended by many online) on one feeder as an experiment -- and at first the hummingbirds stayed away, then as the smell wore off (I'm assuming that's why they were leery) they flocked once again to the feeder. And each saucer feeder has a "moat" in the middle, which if you fill with water keeps the ants out -- so I'll just use that for now, and have the peppermint oil as a backup. Inside Faranuf, I made sure the pantry was stocked; here's a photo of it --
On the lowest shelf to the right is sugar (a 25-pound bag I got from Wal-Mart for about $12), above that Swiffer cloth (again, purchased from Amazon and a LOT cheaper than buying at a store -- and being an Prime member, I get it within a few days) to the left at the bottom are containers with rice and pasta, and at the top are freezer bags, quart-sized bags, laundry detergent, and other cleaning supplies. Most of the items were purchased during a Costco run...The afternoon was spent with the birds, and later I got Ms. Coues deer back at the water feature -- and she leaped away when I opened the back screen door. Later still there was a Mr. Coues at the water -- who again turned and went into the brush, but not before a snapped a photo of him through the glass door --
Then my friends John and Carol came over for dinner. My dining table is SMALL, and I only have 3 chairs that will "fit" it -- the others are lower than the table, so you feel like a little kid with you head barely level with the table. For some reason, the chandelier above the tablet hangs down too low; I call it "The Cone Of Silence" , after the plastic bubble used in Get Smart which never seems to work properly. I finally got some wire and twisted it around some of the links so it was raised a bit higher, and there was less of a chance of knocking your head on it as you get up from the table. I made chicken thighs in a marinade and spaghetti with pasta, and Carol supplied a salad and wine -- then we finished with Ghiradelli Double Chocolate brownies, always a crowd pleaser. John is extremely knowledgable about desert gardens, snakes, lizards and spiders, so was regaling me with stories about encounters with those critters here. And Carol showed me a video on her phone of a Tarantula Wasp dragging a tarantula eventually to its burrow, where John said it lays eggs on the still-alive tarantula and the hatched wasps feed on it. Shades of "Alien"! As we were outside going to their SUV, John pointed out a small praying mantis -- and a Black Widow spider that had spun a web under a siding above the concrete foundation. He said to put it in a jar and give it to Shane, a "snake wrangler" who will add the spider to his invertebrate business. Otherwise, mom Black Widow will lay eggs, and I'll have to deal with a host of them, not just one... On the way out the driveway, John called out that a Kangaroo Rat had just disappeared into the brush. All in all, it was a Critter Kind Of Day...
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