Category Archives: Random

Ruby’s nest

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At the end of May we discovered a hummingbird nest right above our deck.  It belongs to a Ruby-throated hummingbird so we named her Ruby.  Not too original, I suppose.

We didn’t see a lot of activity with the nest until a few days ago when I snapped these pictures.

Two babies.  Do you see their tiny beaks?

I don’t know how much longer they will be around as they appear almost adult-size to me, though I’m no hummingbird expert.

We had a terrific line of storms come through Friday night with a lot of downed trees and power outages in our area.  Ruby is still here.

In a jam

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Free time has been practically non-existent this week with the twins at our house.  I took a personal day from work yesterday so we went on the Great Strawberry Hunt to get strawberries for jam.

Our Spring came early this year as did the flowers and early summer fruits like strawberries.  It took some time to find fresh local berries but we were finally successful.

We used the recipe from the Sure-Jell box for freezer jam.  First the quart of berries were cleaned.  Then the twins used potato mashers to “kill” the berries and sample them as well.  They took turns adding the four cups of sugar and stirring it in.  I “cooked” the Sure-Jell (pectin) with 3/4 cup of water on the stove.  I poured the hot solution over the sugary berries and they stirred it.  And stirred it.  And stirred it.

Here’s the only photo from the Jam Session with them stirring everything together:

They really like licking the spoons and bowl when we were finished.  In fact they wanted to drink the jam.  Don’t worry Mom, they didn’t.

This recipe was just the right amount to do with children.  We made 5 1/2 jars of freezer jam.  I have enough berries to make another batch.  Maybe tonight.  Or not.

Wrandom Wednesday

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In no particular order:

1.  I lost my blogging mojo a few months ago.  I can’t seem to find it.   I used to post 4-5 times a week.  Now it’s 4-5 times a month.  Am I really this dull?

2.  We started “summer hours” at work this week.  That means we can work four 10-hour days and have the fifth day off.  Monday is my day off and I love it!

3.  I started cleaning the basement.  When we moved into this house 18 years ago, Mr. Aitch put things on shelves.  I rearranged them about 10 years ago.  Yeah.  I’m throwing things away and/or donating them.  I thought about a yard sale but I just don’t want to devote the time and energy to do one.

4.  I am a carnivore.  I like red meat.  I also like fruits and veggies.   Add chicken and turkey to the list.  And some mild fish, too.  Bread, yes.  Pizza, not so much.  Really, I’m not a pizza fan.  Mr. Aitch and I made a meal of warm, fresh-baked bread and a bottle of wine once.

5.  I iron clothes when I’m bored.

6.  I love my green eyes.

7.  I used to be a great navigator.

8.  I want to lose 10 pounds.

Amazing

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This weekend during our Memorial Day celebrations, we witnessed something truly amazing.  Well, it was amazing for us.

Can you see it?  It’s only two inches across.

It’s a hummingbird nest.

She’s right above our deck.

We had never seen a hummingbird nest before and had no idea she was there until we heard her chirping when we opened our umbrella over the table.  I was lucky to get these few pictures before she flew off the nest again.

We can’t see inside the nest to know if she has any eggs but it’s fun just knowing she’s there. 

Our feeder is about ten feet from her nest.  I will be very diligent in keeping it filled with fresh food.