Chippymart
I'm kind of in a weird mood right now; a few things have happened tonight to make my brain a bit scattered, but I'll stick with my original post thought.
Now that it's mostly warm out, dad has started planting his garden. He has two small greenhouses on the deck, full of plants, and they're ready to go in the ground. One of the first planters he filled is the one on the corner of the deck, visible from the kitchen window, and the one popular with the critters who abound in the backyard. Including the chipmunk. Several times already, I've had to scamper out there to shoo Chippy from the flowers. Today, I caught him inside one of the greenhouses. Oh dad, either it's time to keep the greenhouse door closed, or time to move plants off the ground. Considering he's caught bees inside there who can't figure out how to leave, closing the door may be the better option.
I also had a hummingbird sighting yesterday! I've been wondering if dad has seen any; no, the only loud buzzing flying thing he's encountered has been one of the big ol' bees that lives in the pergola. I tell you, they're the size of my thumb. So, no hummingbirds in the backyard, but while up in my room yesterday, I spotted one taking turns around the tree. I've seen that happen before. It is a bird condo; perhaps he's renting a place for the summer. (By the way, explaining to mom how that was the first hummingbird spotting of the year got an incredulous reply. She was insistent that, no, that couldn't be. I think I'd remember. Plus, they migrate; hummingbirds aren't here all year long. Again, incredulous. But consider the source.)
Dad did have something unusual happen outside yesterday. He was grilling burgers and went to slice them in half, as he was making patty melts on rye bread and the pieces of bread were long. Somehow he broke the knife he was using. I didn't find that out until this morning, when I was putting dishes away and realized, hey, where's the big knife that goes in the block on the counter? Yep, gone. We do have other knives, and now I understand why mom was breaking out the set of knives she'd bought but got chucked in a cabinet, because seriously, we already have knives and we don't need more. (We actually have another large knife, which works well and I really like, that could probably fit in the knife block. It came from my grandfather, though I don't recall if he purposely gave it to us or if we acquired it after he passed.) Mom was glad that we finally used her knife, part of a colorful Cuisinart set, and today I found all those knives in the regular silverware drawer. Whatever. It's one thing if she buys something and uses it. It's entirely another if she buys something and it just sits there. This house only has so much room.
Now that it's mostly warm out, dad has started planting his garden. He has two small greenhouses on the deck, full of plants, and they're ready to go in the ground. One of the first planters he filled is the one on the corner of the deck, visible from the kitchen window, and the one popular with the critters who abound in the backyard. Including the chipmunk. Several times already, I've had to scamper out there to shoo Chippy from the flowers. Today, I caught him inside one of the greenhouses. Oh dad, either it's time to keep the greenhouse door closed, or time to move plants off the ground. Considering he's caught bees inside there who can't figure out how to leave, closing the door may be the better option.
I also had a hummingbird sighting yesterday! I've been wondering if dad has seen any; no, the only loud buzzing flying thing he's encountered has been one of the big ol' bees that lives in the pergola. I tell you, they're the size of my thumb. So, no hummingbirds in the backyard, but while up in my room yesterday, I spotted one taking turns around the tree. I've seen that happen before. It is a bird condo; perhaps he's renting a place for the summer. (By the way, explaining to mom how that was the first hummingbird spotting of the year got an incredulous reply. She was insistent that, no, that couldn't be. I think I'd remember. Plus, they migrate; hummingbirds aren't here all year long. Again, incredulous. But consider the source.)
Dad did have something unusual happen outside yesterday. He was grilling burgers and went to slice them in half, as he was making patty melts on rye bread and the pieces of bread were long. Somehow he broke the knife he was using. I didn't find that out until this morning, when I was putting dishes away and realized, hey, where's the big knife that goes in the block on the counter? Yep, gone. We do have other knives, and now I understand why mom was breaking out the set of knives she'd bought but got chucked in a cabinet, because seriously, we already have knives and we don't need more. (We actually have another large knife, which works well and I really like, that could probably fit in the knife block. It came from my grandfather, though I don't recall if he purposely gave it to us or if we acquired it after he passed.) Mom was glad that we finally used her knife, part of a colorful Cuisinart set, and today I found all those knives in the regular silverware drawer. Whatever. It's one thing if she buys something and uses it. It's entirely another if she buys something and it just sits there. This house only has so much room.