Monday morning...

No writing over the weekend: the weather was too good. A few more nights with light frost, but the basil's still surviving. The first stage of garden cleanup is almost done: not much more to do until the cold kills the remaining vegetables.



Yesterday I sat on the patio watching the birds at the feeders - four house sparrows, a pair of house finches just starting to show their display colors, and the usually small flock of black caps. The later are fast-moving little birds who dart to a feeder, grab a seed almost without stopping, and fly up into the rowan or elm to eat it; then back again for the next. The house finches, by contrast, settled down on the black seed feeder, one on each perch, and stuffed themselves. When they were through they went one at a time to the nearest water bucket for a drink, then left. Meanwhile I sat and watched and read, sipping a glass of local Gewurztraminer, and sharing peanuts with the squirrels. There was a while in late afternoon when all the lawn mowers were through and it was almost silent.