Rolled a double zero on oriole feeder filling.
We have orioles nesting in the big trees near the house. Two pairs for sure, because we've had both males on the feeder at once but maybe more. Frankly, unless you're another oriole, they're not that easy to tell apart.
Yesterday afternoon, I noticed the oriole feeder under the eaves by the front window was nearly empty. (we have three foot eaves so under the eaves does the double duty of giving them protection from weather and us a chance to watch them)(sorry, triple duty since the orioles are a favorite cat tv channel) For those of you who don't know, oriole feeders are filled with sugar water -- one cup of water to a third of a cup of sugar in the early spring and late fall and a quarter cup otherwise. In high summer, I boil the whole thing on the stove (lasts a lot longer) but this time of the year it goes down so fast, I just mix with boiling water and let it cool to room temperature. Mind you, I usually refill at the last minute, after I've been royally chewed out by indignant birds so it's occasionally chill to room temperature in the freezer and oh shit! I forgot and it froze. Again.
So I've got a new cup of sugar water beside me on the deck railing and I reach up over my head (the over my head part will be important later) and take down the feeder but it turns out it wasn't as empty as I thought and the last ounce or so spills down my arm. Cold sticky drops rolling under my sleeve and into my armpit. I sigh. I should have taken this as a sign and quit while I was ahead. I don't. I turn the feeder upside down. Pour another ounce over my bare toes. I sigh again, completely ignoring the omens. Pour the new cup into the feeder, screw the bottom back on, turn it upside down, lift it over my head... and the whole thing empties.
I have a habit of cross threading things and it seems the bottom didn't seal properly.
This is where the "over my head" part becomes important.
There is only a cup of sugar water in the feeder and at least an ounce stays in the bottom. It should not be possible to drench a person my size with seven ounces of sugar water. It shouldn't be possible but apparently it is.
Sugar water dries very quickly. By the time I get to the shower, I feel like an m&m with a crunchy candy coating.
This morning, I fill the oriole feeder again, carefully making sure that I have the bottom sealed correctly.
Turns out, there's a small crack in the actual feeder which means there's no seal...
...and it still shouldn't be possible to drench a person my size with seven ounces of sugar water.
Shouldn't be possible.
Is.
Yesterday afternoon, I noticed the oriole feeder under the eaves by the front window was nearly empty. (we have three foot eaves so under the eaves does the double duty of giving them protection from weather and us a chance to watch them)(sorry, triple duty since the orioles are a favorite cat tv channel) For those of you who don't know, oriole feeders are filled with sugar water -- one cup of water to a third of a cup of sugar in the early spring and late fall and a quarter cup otherwise. In high summer, I boil the whole thing on the stove (lasts a lot longer) but this time of the year it goes down so fast, I just mix with boiling water and let it cool to room temperature. Mind you, I usually refill at the last minute, after I've been royally chewed out by indignant birds so it's occasionally chill to room temperature in the freezer and oh shit! I forgot and it froze. Again.
So I've got a new cup of sugar water beside me on the deck railing and I reach up over my head (the over my head part will be important later) and take down the feeder but it turns out it wasn't as empty as I thought and the last ounce or so spills down my arm. Cold sticky drops rolling under my sleeve and into my armpit. I sigh. I should have taken this as a sign and quit while I was ahead. I don't. I turn the feeder upside down. Pour another ounce over my bare toes. I sigh again, completely ignoring the omens. Pour the new cup into the feeder, screw the bottom back on, turn it upside down, lift it over my head... and the whole thing empties.
I have a habit of cross threading things and it seems the bottom didn't seal properly.
This is where the "over my head" part becomes important.
There is only a cup of sugar water in the feeder and at least an ounce stays in the bottom. It should not be possible to drench a person my size with seven ounces of sugar water. It shouldn't be possible but apparently it is.
Sugar water dries very quickly. By the time I get to the shower, I feel like an m&m with a crunchy candy coating.
This morning, I fill the oriole feeder again, carefully making sure that I have the bottom sealed correctly.
Turns out, there's a small crack in the actual feeder which means there's no seal...
...and it still shouldn't be possible to drench a person my size with seven ounces of sugar water.
Shouldn't be possible.
Is.