Good morning to all of you! The sun is shining, the sky is a fantastic, vivid blue. And all the trees and shrubs with their many varied greens are gently waving in the morning breeze. It is a wonderful, tranquil morning here at Steve’s Country. It has cooled off after our first few hot days of summer, with a temp of 59F (15C) this morning. A beautiful morning to be sitting here on the deck with my coffee. The blue jays have been busy gathering peanuts, the hairy woodpecker has been here a couple of times too. Pocket has been busy since shortly after 5am getting his peanuts.

Sir George had his breakfast at 5am, he was quite talkative this morning as he ate. “How are you today Sir George?” Yep,yep. “That’s good.” Yep,yep. “Yes, there was a lot of storms. I hope your nest didn’t get washed away.” Yep,yep. “Everything is fine? That’s good to hear.” Yep,yep. “Yes, my flowers got a little beat up in the rain. Do you ever see any ladyslippers while you’re flying around?” Yep,yep. “Yes, I heard there was some down the river, but I would need a boat to get there.” Yep,yep. “No, I don’t think I will try swimming.” Yep,yep. “Okay, bye.”

And off he goes. Grover finally showed up, I gave him some pieces of bread, he seems to enjoy that as much as peanuts. Jasmine showed up too. She was sitting over by the stairs eating her peanut when Pocket came for more. She came running over right away and Pocket disappeared quickly so she stopped without continuing the chase. “That’s better” I said to Jasmine. Chip. “Yes, a little chase like that is okay, just don’t hurt the chipmunks.” Chip. “Thank you, have another peanut.” Chip. “You’re welcome.” Chip. “Yes, it’s okay to chase the other squirrels, but try not to hurt Jasper.” Chip. “No, not even a little bit. Here, have another peanut.” Chip. And off she goes with it, and doesn’t come back.

One of the male hummingbirds shows up at the feeder, drinks just a little, then off he goes once more. They don’t come around quite as often right now, there are so many flowers for them now, but they still stop by briefly every day. It’s just hard to know when they might show up now, so getting pictures isn’t easy. The last of our summer birds has finally arrived, the “common nighthawk”. They are not actually a hawk, but an insect eating bird. They are only here about 2 months, beginning to leave in early August. It’s nice to listen to them at night as they fly around after mosquitoes, moths and other insects. Time to get more coffee. I hope you all have a marvelous Monday and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2021 Steve McLeod.