A New Neighbor

We have a mother robin who has taken up residence right outside our kitchen window. With a bit of judicious pruning, we can see her when she is on the nest and can see the four little blue eggs when she is away. We figure they should hatch in about a week. She seems to be pretty secure where she is, although she is pretty low to the ground. We no longer have a cat, so the only threat would be a raccoon or marauding cat.

Craig, Cassie, and her daughter, Greta, came for dinner yesterday. We met Cassie briefly before we went south last December but this was the first time to meet 5 ½ year old Greta. She is quite precocious, was well-behaved and has a penchant for horses. She arrived with her backpack stuffed with them. She was quite taken with our little robin outside the window.

I am going to Spokane tomorrow for a few days of visiting friends, family, and quilt shops. There are several (quilt shops) that I haven’t seen, or haven’t seen for many years. I will spend a day or two with Jerry and Lois, track down Mike and Mary, and spend some time with Karen. She and Rod are hosting a graduation party for their oldest grandson, so I’m going to lend a hand with some food preparation so Karen and I will have some time for quilting.

Ken has the yard looking quite nice. Although the rhodies are at the end of their bloom, we have some iris and peonies to lend some color. The back patio has always been inundated with grass and weeds coming up between the bricks and blocks so I convinced Ken to take the easy way out this year – Roundup. It worked like a charm and the patio is quite fit looking. I am rather hesitant about pesticides and such, but this one seems to the lesser of what’s out there. The label claims they have even FED it to dogs with no ill effects.

Bassim is going to visit Colleen later this month. He continued to call her even after she said, “The end.” And now he is going to tear himself away from his desk in Sydney where he looks after Australian ex-patriots around the world to spend some time in Phoenix. Now Colleen has added a dog to the mix!! What next?

Word of the Day: objet trouve (ob-zha-tru-va). I love the lyrical sound of it!
A found or discarded object (as a piece of driftwood or an old bathtub) held to have aesthetic value. Hmmm, I have a houseful of those!

Ciao