hummingbird experience

I've heard they return to where they were born. We had several hatches here last year, and the year before that, so maybe this one knows who I am. I've rescued and tossed out a couple the cats brought in; maybe this was one or those. Or maybe not.

At any rate, as I was hanging sheets on the line this morning, one landed on the clothesline not eighteen inches away from my nose. I said something like, "Well, hey there!" and it turned to look at me. And sat there, looking at me, for another ten seconds or so. As fast as they move,ten seconds my time may be like an hour in hummingbird time. Or not.

Was a neat experience, anyway. That ruby throat looks orangey-copper up close.

...an hour or two later...

Where I sit at my computer I can look out the window and see a bluejay and robin harassing each other in the black walnut tree which is just beginning to leaf out; turn my head a fraction to the right and see the garden - where the first radishes sprang up yesterday (still waiting for the corn, the onions, carrots, peppers, melons, cukes and squash to rise above ground), and turn just a bit more to see that section of clothesline, where the same hummingbird - I assume it's the same one; this early in the season I've just seen three - sits in the same spot it occupied while keeping me company earlier today.

Life is good.

yardening

Radishes came up yesterday. I thought when we planted that we were probably late on radishes and carrots, because they do like "a little frost" but Sunday's snow seems to have pleased them. Haven't been out to the garden yet today, so I don't know if the corn or carrots or pepppers or onions or squash or cataloupe or cucumbers or marigolds or chamomille came up yet :-P yes I'm bragging.

Guess today we ought to get tomato and broccoli and cauliflower sets to replace the ones that died and I need to soak my okra seed and th'Mr needs to finish tilling up the potato patch.

it's snowing here

Eastern Kentucky.

Forsythia has bloomed. Redbud trees are in the ugly lime/rose transition period between beautiful pink flowers and beautiful green heart-shaped leaves.

Dogwood is blooming.
Fruit trees are blooming.
Sarvis dots the hillsides in frothy white patches.
There are buds on my clematis.
Maple leaves are fully open (but not yet full-sized).

And outside my south-facing window a red-banded hummingbird drinks from my feeder, the snow falling thick behind him.

Appalachian Spring?

I'm having a serious "wish I had a great digital camera" moment - but if I did, I'd still probably not have had it pointed in the right direction when the bossdaddy hummingbird drank from the back porch feeder with snow falling thick behind him.

Across the street is a young redbud still in its rose-lavender spring dress - one of the few, as most of those toward town (and out of this north-facing holler) have begun to lose their flowers and leaf out. Am I the only one who thinks their transition period --between cheerful purple/pink and pale green heart-shaped leaves-- is particularly ugly? The purple fringe surrounds a yellow-green core in a most nauseating way.

Today is April 24th. Young maple leaves are fully open but not yet grown to their full size, and from four yards away through my south-facing picture window I can see that --for a change-- both clematis bordering the smokehouse door are leafed out at the same time - I see two buds on the western-most one.

Sarvis and apple trees were in full bloom yesterday. This morning their white flowers are hard to distinguish from the snow. But the plants usually make do. It's the hummingbirds I worry about. I am going to mix a stronger batch of sugar water --closer to 1:3 sugar than my usual 1:4-- and hope the extra calories will help their tiny bodies burn hotter.