Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Houseguest

No pictures today, but maybe this weekend when I'm off. Been doing some sewing, finishing up some old UFOs, and thinking of ways to use some orphan blocks.  Mostly, I've been working in the yard.

The weather has been lovely, a couple of muggy days, but mostly sunny, with occasional afternoon showers, and gentle breezes.  I planted petunias in the trike basket, but haven't found wicker baskets for it yet.  Everything is growing beautifully, and I made another tipsy pot tower for that area by the front walk.

The sunflowers are at least a foot tall now, and need to be transplanted to the ground.  I got a little carried away and planted another whole batch of them.  Heaven knows where I'm going to plant these!  Maybe I'll just give them away. 

And I have to get the upside-down tomatoes in their planters this weekend--they've almost tripled in size and will have blooms soon. There's nothing better than a ripe tomato, warm from the garden, er,  the hanger.

For about the last two weeks, a bird has been overnighting in the garage.  We have a pet door that leads from the house to the garage, so we raise the garage door about 3 feet so Tandi can go in and out all she wants.  At night, we lower the door again.  One afternoon I was transferring clothes from the washer to the dryer, and a bird flew into the garage and landed on the spotlight above the appliances.  I think it was a Carolina wren, but didn't get a really good look at him. I asked if he was lost, and my voice must have startled him because out he flew again. A couple of mornings later, I opened the garage door, only to see a bird fly out of the garage.

Last week, we all slept in, and by 9 am, had not opened the garage door.   Since I feed the birds all winter, it's not unusual for them to hang around and sing to us in the summer, but I heard a particularly loud chirping close by.  I opened the door into the garage, and sure enough, our little songbird was in there, asking to be let out.  Before I could raise the door, the bird flew past my head into the house. He headed for the sidelight by the front door and hit it, then flew into the kitchen and landed in the pantry.  Tandi got all excited and that scared the little guy even more.  I propped open the front door and went around closing all the interior doors, hoping to keep him out of the harder to reach places.  Finally he made hs way out the front door.

Since I haven't seen or heard from him after that morning, I assumed he was properly frightened and wouldn't get locked in the garage anymore.  But Jack told me the last 3 mornings, he's heard the little guy chirping in the garage, so he raises the door and lets him out.  And I have been briefly searching the garage before lowering the door at night, but haven't seen him.  I don't know where he's sleeping, but as there are no other sounds, I'm assuming there is no nest and no baby birds in there.  I'll probably find droppings on the Christmas bins or something, but so far, his bed is a secret. He must think he's hit the jackpot--a whole big birdhouse just for him. Or maybe he's been sent on a reconnaissance mission by the other birds to find the bin of birdseed I have stored in there.

Maybe I should refill the feeders before they send in the crows.

4 comments:

Lori in South Dakota said...

hmm, thought I left a comment but maybe not! I laughed at the bird in the house. Who was more excited--the bird or Tandy?? I know he was checking it out, planning on bringing all the relatives. Yup, this woman has bird feeders--a huge birdhouse. Even opens the doors for us.

Cathi said...

This post had me laughing -- particularly the last line about sending in the crows!!

Pokey said...

Cute post! I remember when a little fella flew into the open window in our back door, but flew into the glass trying to escape, and fell to the floor stunned. (He was after our doggie's food!) It took him probably 15 minutes to get his senses back, I opened the back door, and he flew away. It is always a little shocking to have a wild bird indoors~!

MightyMom said...

Hmmmmm you're very accomodating!! Bird lady.