Cop Car's Beat

Brown-eyed Susans

Last year I scattered some brown-eyed Susan seeds in my miniature meadow (mm) in the back yard and planted a few potted blanket flowers. Inexplicably, I can find no photos of last year's mm, despite my belief that I had posted such photos last year. Oh, well. This year, a crop of brown-eyed Susan popped up in my mm, by which I was pleased. Early on, the first couple of times that Hunky Husband mowed our grass this year, he avoided one plant out in the middle of our "out back" because he thought it might be a flower that I had planted. Hmmm...eventually, it became obvious that it was a displaced brown-eyed Susan. I happen to like brown-eyed Susans from the plants that grew wild in our cow pastures WIWAK. The photo, below, shows the lone plant in the foreground and my mm in the background.

Had the brown-eyed Susans not come up this year, my mm would have been pretty barren once the daffodils wound down. A few blanket flowers came up, but they were so stunted that one would not know they were there unless one did a close inspection. Those few have already gone to seed (photo, below). Other than the rose and tomatoes which I purchased earlier this year, I've not broken isolation to buy seeds/plants.

Week in Review - 7/11/2020

I got a laugh at HH's expense - 7/9/2020

Hunky Husband casually mentioned, about an hour ago (11:00am) that he needed a plastic bag into which to place his pocket stuff and that he had to "be there" at 7:45am, tomorrow. "Where?" asked I. "For my MRI." said he. It seems that the medical scheduler had called HH, yesterday, to give him the information on his appointment. Today, he thought that he had told me; however, the last thing he had told me was that they would call him back with his final schedule, that they had five patients to fit into three slots. "Where is the MRI?" asked I. "Behind the pharmacy." "Here in Derby?" "Yes." "In the same building as the pharmacy or in the building behind the pharmacy where you had your hernia surgery?" "My hernia surgery was in Wichita. I don't know what building it's in." Then we discussed whether he needed me to drive him or not (perhaps they would dose him with anti-anxiety stuff, I thought - he is, after all, slightly claustrophobic), which he was sure was not the case. Thus, HH ran up to the medical offices (a 5-minute drive) to get more information. It seems they had told him nothing except the time and that he was to go behind the pharmacy, into the green doors (which I remember from when I took him for his hernia surgery.) UPDATE: The MRI suite was in the same building with the normal physical exam offices and pharmacy.

HH came back from the medical offices, in a panic. He couldn't wear his jeans to the MRI - or anything with metal. They told him to wear sweats - which he thought he didn't have; but, I dug out a pair of fleece sweats that I had bought him 20 years ago. he hadn't worn them more than once or twice; but, they had metal zippered pockets. Bummer! So, I gave HH a pair of my pull-on knit pants. This is the point at which I got to giggle. He tried putting on the pants without removing his socks. His socks snagged on the knit pants causing HH to dance about. However...that option turns out much more viable than my taking the metal zips out of his sweats. The sweats are so old that the elastic in the waistband has totally given up. In a pinch, I could have picked him up a pair of pants from one of the stores; but, I don't really want to take that risk in the middle of the day. Although, in the past, I have borrowed HH's jeans (and shirts) to wear, this will have been the first time that he has borrowed clothing from me. He's good with it.

Whiplash have we - 7/8/2020

Last Thursday, the Governor of Kansas issued an executive order that included the requirement that people wear masks when out in public. (There are some exceptions; but, go with me here.) The order went in to effect the next day - 7/3/2020. On Thursday, the County Commission of Sedgwick met and voted 3-2 to have people in our county consider the governor's order as "recommendations" rather than "requirements". Under the "Home Rule" laws of Kansas, lower divisions of government are allowed to do such things. Well...on Friday, the City Council of Wichita met and overturned the Sedgwick County Commissioners so that the governor's executive order would apply within the City of Wichita. Again...allowed under "Home Rule" laws of Kansas. The Wichita vote applies to Hunky Husband and me only if we venture north for several miles.

Today, on the 5 o'clock TV news (that we do not normally watch, but just happened to see), we learned the following (excerpted from the County of Sedgwick website):

(Sedgwick County, Kan.) – Dr. Garold Minns, Local Health Officer for Sedgwick County this afternoon signed an Emergency Public Health Order that will require any person within Sedgwick County to cover his or her mouth and nose with a mask or other face covering in situations such as:

• inside any indoor or outdoor public space where social distancing of six feet at all times is not possible
• in line and waiting to enter an indoor public space

This order will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning, July 10, 2020 and to be in place until at least midnight Sunday night, August 9, 2020.

Since Kansas is doing so poorly with COVID-19 these days (see yesterday's excerpt from the US News website, below), it only makes sense that we have the Emergency Public Health Order in place.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is among the top 14 states in the country for the most rapid spread of coronavirus, and in the top 14 states for having the least restrictions on activities, the state's top health official said Tuesday.

Poor little dead tree - 7/8/2020

For the past few years we've been nursing along (not very well) the little sugar maple that was planted in our front yard in 2000. Hunky Husband really liked that tree and didn't want it taken out - hoping against hope (but not willing to spend a small fortune on the treatments the expert wanted to give it for a few years). Finally, I guess COVID-19 killed it off. At least, it was pushing out leaves and seeds this spring. I am happy that it finally died so that I can get it out of there. I've sent an email to "my" tree people to please come take it out. One can tell by the small size of the tree that it had failed to thrive.

Mid-week Laugh  - 7/7/2020

From All Hat No Cattle, today:

Hunky Husband's Car, today:

My car, today:

I hasten to add that 1) the masks are removed before we drive and 2) never, before, has either of us ever had anything hang from our rear view mirrors (I know this because neither of us had a car when we married - not until three or four weeks before Dudette was born). Hanging the masks this way allows us to doff a mask when we arrive home and hang it by an earpiece without touching the cloth portion. Since neither of us drives much, our ventures out are of short duration, and it is a few days (at least) between ventures, hanging the masks allow them to naturally let any virus disassemble.

I should go to Vegas - 7/6/2020

To beat the heat, I started my lawn work at 6:15am, this morning. The first thing I did was to rake the detritus out of the edge of the grass along our 120 feet of curbing, scoop it up, and add it to the compost pile. When I had finished, one could see the rake scrapings along the curb. Instead of immediately sweeping up the leavings (and you can imagine that I did not wish to overwork that particular set of muscles lest I develop aching), I cleaned out the cover of the curb-side drain, pulled creepers out of the woods, and wound up the hose that I had left strung out when watering the trees, yesterday. I had every good intention of doing the leavings sweeping tomorrow morning, but I had reached my heat/humidity/exertion limit for the time being.

Imagine my pleased surprise when, 30 minutes after I came inside, the city motorized street sweeper came along our curb. Yay! Just think how frustrated I would have been had I exerted myself in sweeping up what it took the motorized street sweeper but seconds to remove. This would be my day for gambling! (The above photo shows the motorized street sweeper on its return trip down our street - sweeping the gutter that is across the street from us.

Health Update for Family - 7/3/2020

HH: Hunky Husband had his “annual” physical (first one in who-knows-how-many years; but, he did have his post-hernial-surgery evaluation three years ago), yesterday. I had asked if I might accompany him. He said, “No”, that I tend to take over a conversation if we are together (that is true – I think that I am just making sure other people get correct information, of course); so, he went alone. When he came back, all he knew was that they had drawn some blood, that they had given him some sort of shot, and that he had forgotten to tell Dr N about the fungus under his toenail. I asked if HH had checked with Dr N on any Alzheimer’s studies that might be taking place in our area, as he had mentioned wanting to do. (HH's mother participated in a study at Washington U in St Louis and they did her autopsy, pronouncing that she had died of Alzheimer's - or complications of, maybe, I don't recall.) “No.” Nor had he asked Dr N to look at a spot at the crown of his head that has been worrying him. HH called Dr N’s office to tell them about his toenail and they made him an appointment for the next morning.

Before he left the house for the second appointment, I reminded HH about the spot on his head and he wrote it down on his little card of notes. An hour later, when he returned, he said that Dr N would take off the spot on his crown and a spot between his eyebrows, but didn’t do it, today. HH was prescribed and brought home with him a 90-day supply of anti-fungal horse pills to take (continuing for one year). They gave him a simple test of his ability to do mental addition (did well, he says) and are going to schedule him for an MRI. Well, better everything should be addressed in two visits than to not have anything more to show for his annual physical than he would have had from his first visit! BTW: The shot was pneumonia immunization.

In his records, it was noted that he had a “slight hearing loss”. I don’t know how his hearing loss was evaluated (HH said they did not test his hearing). I do know that I often wear earplugs if in the same room with HH's TV because he sets the volume level at 30-35 whereas I would set it for 11-14. 

CORRECTION OF 7/11/2020 9:48 am

I'm leaving a photo of the physician in the red dress, above; but, I happened to notice, just now, that I posted the wrong photo. That photo is of my primary care physician. A photo of my eye doctor is below. Apologies to both doctors. The only way I can tell them apart is by the fact that my primary care physician is nearly a foot taller than my eye doctor. (I'm serious about the height difference!)

CC: By chance, I had my “annual” eye exam yesterday afternoon. I knew that my sight had degraded within the past 6-8 months which I attributed to more crap floating about in my eyes.  Dr A found a small hemorrhage in the retina of my left eye – near where the large floater (artifact from laser surgery a few years ago) is attached. (I hadn’t known that it was still attached to anything as it floats “all over” my field of vision until she told me.) I’m awaiting a call from a specialist to get his evaluation. Probably nothing to be done, but Dr A wanted to be sure “we” know what’s going on.

EB: He's doing well - no untoward effects from his birding trip of last month.

The news - June 28, 2020

There is good news and there is bad (but not unexpected) news.

Bad News - The dishwasher drain pump is not working.

It took me 15-20 minutes to empty the water (well, as much as possible) from the washer, last night. No, the drain line is not clogged - the drain pump is not turning on. Odds are that the pump needs replacement, rather than that the controls are screwed up. Twenty years ago, I would have replaced the pump, myself. This time, since the dishwasher has outlived the average life expectancy by several years, anyway, I shall just do the research to see what brand of dishwasher to use to replace it - and - let someone else do the replacement. That should take care of dishwashers for the rest of Hunky Husband's and my lives.

 

Good News - The "large red cherry tomato" (that's how the label from the nursery reads) plant had a couple of ripe fruit on it, this morning.

This being Sunday, it was "water the new trees with the hose" day. While the long hose is soaking one of the trees, the short hose (hooked up in parallel with the long hose) is soaking one of the rose bushes or one of the three largest tomato plants. As I was watering the last tree, I moved the short hose to water the center tomato plant. When I bent down to place the end of the hose, I espied red! I reached around the vine and plucked the cluster of five tomatoes to bring inside. I shall have a home-grown, ripe tomato for dinner, today.

Usually, success with tomatoes is measured in these parts by having fresh tomatoes for dinner on the 4th of July. After a questionable start in late March/mid April (this plant is from the mid-April planting), I count the tomato crop as a success - even if it has been too hot for tomatoes to have set on during the past month. Speaking of the heat: I had gone out to water the trees, yesterday; but, the humidity was murder - the heat index made it feel like 97 degrees Fahrenheit - too much for me! Fortunately, the humidity decreased late yesterday and this morning is bearable.

And then there is Weird - Eastern Phoebe

I've seen birds spread their wings and tails to soak in sunlight; I've seen birds take dust baths; but, the phoebe pulled something, just now (Noonish), that looked like it wanted to soak up sunlight, but I cannot imagine it when the temperature is this hot (90ish). I shot a photo of it through the window. It was only there for 1 or 2 minutes.

Catching up - 6/19/2020

Fresh Paint

             

The house is looking fresher these days - not from the front, but definitely from the back. Cecil, the handyman, painted the three sides of the house that comprise rough cedar siding (although, one of those sides is nearly as much brick veneer as siding). The back side of the house faces southeast and the garage side faces southwest, so those two sides really take a beating from the sun and from the prevailing southwesterly winds. The whole house had been painted when it was built in late 1999, of course, and again in 2008. The front of the house, facing northwest, is nearly all brick-faced and gets little sun and wind, so I decided not to bother the environment by having it painted this time.

With the heat as bad as it has been, Cecil was smart enough to have himself and his helper here at 6:30am to work until a bit past noon each day - plus - the first day, Cecil worked for a couple of hours in the afternoon on the side of the house that faces northeast - in the shade. They were so quiet that we never knew when they were here or when they were not.

100' of hose - Front Yard

200' of hose - Back Yard

It seems that all I've done for the past few weeks is water, water, water. Except for one day, the temperatures during the past two weeks have been in the mid-to-high 90s (Fahrenheit) and I don't want to lose our new little trees. On Sundays, I water all of the trees that have been planted within the past 18 months - plus - rose bushes and the three largest tomato plants. That is accomplished by stretching out the back yard hose and setting it to water the base of each of 13 trees for four to twelve minutes, depending upon when the tree was planted, how large the tree is, and the species of the tree. The roses are watered using a separate 75' hose, for four to six minutes each, depending upon how distracted I get in watering the trees. Wednesdays, the three trees that were planted in May get two 9-quart buckets full of water each, and each rose or tomato plant gets one bucket full each. The front hose is used to water the tropical plants that are summering on our front porch, the plantings along the front of the house, and the plantings on the far side of the driveway. [I note that, since 2:00am, today, we have received over one inch of rain - and the heat is supposed to abate somewhat for today and tomorrow. Yay! I shan't need to water plants this weekend. The rain stopped for a bit a couple of hours ago, but it is again coming down. The sump pump has been activating every minute or two since I woke at 2:00am.]

Note that in the left, bottom area of the above photo there are small (tropical) airplane/spider plants coming up beside the sedum. Last fall, I gambled that those plants would come up from roots that had over-wintered for several years now and did not re-pot any of the plants to over-winter inside. Not only did the "established" roots over-winter; a root from a plant that had established itself from a potted plant that I had put into my basement escape window well (see the photo, below) did as well. The window well root took so long to come up that I had given up on it; but, there it comes.

The photo, below, shows the tropical plants that I am summering in the window well this year. Too small to show up in this photo, the airplane plant is in the far corner.

First visitor since February

For the first time since February, we had someone inside our home: Elder Brother (above photo from a visit in 2018). As paranoid as he is (and who wouldn't be who had experienced two heart attacks and about five cardiac arrests?) we felt that he would be as safe as anyone to invade our spaces - and that we would be a much greater risk to him than he to us. EB had phoned a few weeks ago to let me know he would be birding in Kansas. (He had promised me to always let me know, rather than visiting Kansas without letting me know.) I had consulted Hunky Husband, and we had invited EB to stay with us for a night or two - with the proviso that, should he die of CORVID-19 after catching it from us, he wouldn't haunt us.

EB drove in just after 4:00pm, on a Friday, and left at 8:00am, on that Sunday. We enjoyed his stay, but none of us left the house in the time that he was here. Normally, we would have eaten one or two meals out; but, we had pizza for dinner, Friday; leftover pizza for lunch, Saturday; and I put together a chicken salad for dinner, Saturday evening, with EB opting to have a shredded turkey breast sandwich, instead. We had soft-serve ice cream (vanilla with fresh, sweetened strawberries for EB and me and chocolate with chocolate syrup for HH) for the two meals. EB always has the same breakfast, to which he helps himself: bowl of shredded wheat cereal and four ounces of orange juice. He also helped himself to the treats (photo, below) scattered around the house - dark chocolate coated almonds, brownies, etc. EB eats very little and has always been so thin that it is painful to look at him when he doffs his shirt; but, he's a big boy (84 years old) and can take care of himself, I think.

  Left-to-Right: plain M&Ms, lemon cookies dipped in dark chocolate & almond pieces, and pecan candy made from left-over dipping chocolate

At our ages (and with the state of EB's health), HH, EB, and I find that our risk factor is not as worrisome to us as the thought of our not getting to see one another. It should be understood without my saying so that HH and I went into isolation for 14 days after EB's visit. OTOH, EB went on to spend a few nights in motels in Kansas and Texas, his intended locales for birding. EB also isolated himself when he arrived home from his journey.

Birds Fledged

The wren nest among the foliage of a house plant that is summering on the front porch has one egg left in it - abandoned AFAIK. It was probably not viable. The second brood of five house finches in the miniature swing on the front porch all left (the two laggards are shown in the above photo), and a second brood of bluebirds was fledged. I don't expect any more action in the nests during the heat of the summer. I was properly amazed at that second brood of bluebirds since we have been in the mid-to-high 90s during all of June (but for one day when it was 89 degrees Fahrenheit).

Strawberry Moon

We had few strawberries, this spring, my having ripped out our strawberry patch in order to plant HH's roses; but, I did get to watch the Strawberry Moon rise. As you can see (photo, below) the moon had to rise to about 20 degrees above the horizon to clear the tall trees along our creek.

Three more trees

Three guys came out from Hillside Nursery, yesterday, to plant three new trees that I had asked nursery employee John to pick out for me and send. As always, I knew that John would be better at picking out trees than would I. Since as far back as 1968, Hillside Nursery has been happy to fulfill orders that my family members have phoned in and John has been helping me for at least 20-30 years (he says that he is 10 years my junior although I would have guessed 20).

Two of the trees were more Prairie Pink Dogwoods. Three dogwoods are shown in the photo, below; but, the center one was planted one year ago and bloomed so beautifully this year (see here and here) that I had to give it some siblings. I'm looking forward to next April!

The third tree planted is a pink crabapple. We used to have one; but, I had it taken out a couple of years ago, when I replaced several trees and bushes with sod (see here). This (below) is the new tree.

I'm hoping that the new crabapple will be as pretty as the one I had taken out - shown, in 2012, below.

While I'm at it, I'll show a few of our irises - the kind that has nearly completed its bloom period.

And, lastly, an update on Hunky Husband's red roses, the buds of which were shown here.

Mr Lincoln:

Oklahoma!: Although the photo makes some of the petals appear to be bruised, the dark parts are really deep red and velvety.

Early report on Hunky Husband's roses - 2020May15

Last year at about this time, I posted Something strange in our rose bed. The main theme was that among the roses that I had planted in March, 2019, was a rose that was supposed to be a Mr Lincoln, but which was producing yellow buds (the later blossoms were a creamy yellow), as opposed to the deep red that a Mr Lincoln is expected to produce. On the last day of March, 2020, I posted A little (more) work done which featured a hybrid tea rose bush that I had just planted for Hunky Husband - a Mr Lincoln.

Today, two of the roses blossomed and the two red bushes produced large buds - of the correct color!

NOT a Mr Lincoln:

Rosie the Riveter:

Mr Lincoln:

Oklahoma!:

Unfortunately, with the copious rain that we've been receiving, the fragrances have been washed away (the creek is up, but not out of it's banks, from the 4" of rain we've received.)

Week in Review - 5/6/2020

The first few photos are for Bogie, with a plea that she help me apply a name to a plant that we last decided was "The Magic Plant". This plant has been growing in about the same spot for about 15 years, I think, and I have misidentified it variously as basil or as sage for several years. On a winter holiday visit, Bogie corrected my identification. This past winter holiday visit, Bogie changed her identification of the plant. I no longer recall what the identifications Bogie made were; but, perhaps these photos of the plant in bloom will help her tie it down. Obviously, since the only time Bogie gets to come visit us is during the winter, she hasn't had the benefit of seeing the plant in any other season.

The whole bush - that came up from a small section of the original bush's roots, most of which was hacked out/dug up when the back porch/deck was replaced two and one-half years ago. It seems to me that, in the past, the flowers were a deeper purple; but, I do <i>not</i> remember colors at all well.

Closer look at a stem with blossoms

I'm sure that Bogie recalls that the stems are square, that the leaves are velvety and opposing, and that the leaves are on different sides of the stem as one moves up or down the stem. That is, if one set of leaves is on the left and right sides of the stem, the adjacent set of leaves is on the front and back sides of the stem. The symmetry and placement of the sets of blossoms are like those of the leaves; opposing, and adjacent sets on differing sides of the stem. When crushed, the leaves release a spicy scent. (Which reminds me that I think Bogie mentioned lavender?) Or, how about catmint - except - the original bush grew to quite a large size, so maybe not; but, I recall buying catmint seeds one year. (But, I always thought this plant grew from a pot - albeit, I remembered it as being some sort of basil; but, it made dreadful pesto!)

After Hunky Husband mowed the lawn the other day; and after I mowed along the "new" edge of the woods (after taking out trees that had formed the "old" edge of the woods); and after Adam trimmed along his fence; and after I trimmed around trees, daffodils, and marking flags, I took some photos to record such a stupendous occasion. The marking flags, btw, keep HH from mowing full-tilt over the roughly eroded area of the lawn at the "old" edge of the woods.

The pole in the midst of the daffodil plants is there to support a hummingbird feeder. I've put it out there so as not to have to move it when the handyman starts painting the house later this month. Tomorrow, I'll move the two other poles that support peanut, sunflower seed, and safflower seed feeders. We've not yet seen a hummingbird and I'm beginning to worry. Most years, I think, at least one has arrived by now - flying up and bobbing just outside our living room window or breakfast room sliding door if I have failed to have a feeder awaiting her arrival.

Yesterday, I installed a new, 100' garden hose at the front water spigot and another at the back water spigot. The one in back replaced three of the four lengths of hose that I had strung together last fall in order to water the new gingko trees in back. It turns out that I had misjudged how long those three lengths amounted to. The new hose plus the longest of the old hoses must add up to 175' instead of 200' (I haven't checked.) They barely stretched far enough when I watered the trees, today - and - they did not reach the walnut that is inside the wood, transplanted there three years ago.

The house finch babies have fledged from the nest in the miniature swing that hangs from the ceiling of the front porch and the bluebird babies seem to have fledged from the bluebird nesting box; but, we failed to catch any of them in the process, this year. Yesterday, when I started to water the houseplants that are in their summer home on our front porch (using the new hose in front), I was startled when I flushed a bird from the upper plant. I won't bother the bird to get photos of its nest; but, I'm sure it's a Carolina wren nesting there. I posted photos of one such nest back in 2012, two photos of which I repeat, below.

The nest - doesn't look like much from the outside

The eggs - found by peering down the tube of the nest

Good neighbors are here

Please notice two things in the above photo of our back lawn: 1) The grass was mowed, today. 2) The grass along the fence has been trimmed. Credit Hunky Husband for the first, our neighbor Adam for the second. Adam came to our front door to ask permission to trim along the fence, which I've been reluctant to tackle for fear of damaging Adam's fence (and it's been too darned hot for me to tackle it!) Adam pointed out that no trimming would be needed had he not installed the fence, so he would like to trim it each time he mows their yard. How sweet! However, I told Adam that his kindness did not really make up for his having installed the fence in the first place since it deprives HH and me of the opportunity to see their children play.

Adam made short work of the trimming - the 150 feet took him about four minutes. He said that he had done lawn work to make his money while he was in school. Terrif! While Adam and I chatted (at about 20' spacing), Krista brought Holly (age 4-5) and Reece (age 8 weeks) over - my first real sighting of the wee one, and he's a cutie (but not very large - 8#). Flynn was inside taking his nap - just as was HH.

News on the COVID-19 front: Adam thinks that he has had it. He and his partner (EMTs) had picked up a patient in early March. Shortly thereafter, both EMTs came down with a fever for a few days. As testing wasn't available, then, Adam's not sure. I'm hoping that he has had COVID-19 and that having had it gives him some measure of immunity.

BTW: We are watching to see if we can catch the fledging of the bluebird babies from that nesting box at the extreme right of the photo.

Snakes alive!

In Come here! I posted about a critter that was in our driveway, near the overhead doors. That critter was identified with the herding of my friends and relatives (Stu and Bogie) as a snapping turtle. A few minutes ago, in about the same spot, I chanced upon a very different critter - cold blooded, but quite different. It was a snake. I'm going out on a limb and identifying it (photos, below) as a garter snake of some sort; but, as always, I welcome input from all. My excuse for my photo, this time, is that the snake was moving quite rapidly, reducing me to pointing and shooting - taking what I could get.

 

Back Story: Hunky Husband was mowing. After slipping a pecan pie into the oven, I looked out the bay window in the kitchen to see how HH was doing. He motioned for me to bring him a hat (he hasn't much hair left on top!); so, I took him one. On my way back inside, I nearly stepped on the snake.

ADDITION OF 5/3/2020 - Photos from the internet

Checkered garter snake from Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository

Eastern garter snake (checkered coloration) from University of Georgia website

 

One more time I was faked out.

Having watched the miniature swing that hangs from the ceiling of our front porch for a new nest built by house finches and seeing none, I gave up a couple of weeks ago. In the meantime, Hunky Husband has told me of seeing an adult house finch in the swing on occasion. However, I still saw no nest - just a few assorted pieces of western cedar mulch. Today, I happened to glance up through the window that is above our front door and note two gaping mouths and hairy heads. New babies! The adults had built a nest that was so low that it wasn't visible from my height (or lack thereof). In addition, I noted that Mama Bluebird seems to be feeding babies, regardless of the fact that (atypically) we had been unable to determine that the bluebirds were nesting in our nesting box, this year.

I must become more observant!

And, just because it is still so pretty, another photo (below) of the Prairie Pink dogwood tree. The blossoms are nearly red when they first open, but fad out to pink as they age.