This is a photo I took of a hummingbird that was browsing some of the garden shop flowers a while back. We get dozens of the little birds of all different colors who browse our feeders in the patio. They are so delightful to watch, either looking out the windows or while soaking ourselves in the spa. Click on the image to enlarge.
Damsel and I spent today doing some of the many chores that we have neglected for the past two months. I had a notion to trim the lemon tree by the RV drive, but the wheelbarrow had a flat; I knew about the flat tire, but only remembered it when I needed the wheelbarrow to haul the trimmings to the trash bin. I had a patch kit for the inner tube so I would be able to repair the flat.
But first, Damsel wanted to drain and refill the spa, so I hooked up the hose to the drain spout and got that going. I then attacked the flat tire issue. Lacking tire shop tools, I improvised with a wrench handle to get the tire and tube off the rim. I took the tube and inflated it a bit, immersed it in a tub of water and found the leak. I patched it up and reassembled the wheel. I was so tired after fixing the flat that I abandoned tree trimming for another day.
Damsel finished draining the spa and mopped it out. I then hooked up the hose for her to refill the tub. By the time the spa was filled, I rolled up the hose and started the spa heater. This weekend, we are planning to take a couple of dips now that second spring has arrived. We look forward to that.
The image above is from August 2012. Click on the image to enlarge.
I don’t know the name of this cactus (opuntia family, I think), but it gets these tiny orange flowers from time to time. When the flower is gone, another paddle will begin growing where the flower was. A very interesting cactus. Click on the image to enlarge.
I’m not too crazy about oleanders, but once in a while, they have pretty flowers. I took this photo down the road this morning when we were walking the dogs. Click on the image to enlarge.
I guess that oleanders are good for low-water consumption and a good border shrub, but they are high maintenance, requiring a lot of pruning and such. Plus, I always associated them with low-grade trailer parks.
Damsel has two hummingbird feeders that hang below the eve of the patio roof right next to the RV drive. We used to get a few hummingbirds now and then, but lately, they literally swarm both feeders. We have seen up to a dozen at a time visiting the area (it’s hard to get an exact count because they move so fast).
A lot of the little birds seem to be territorial and we often see several of the tiny birds chipping away at each other as they attempt to light on the feeder. Damsel notes that the chipping noises they make reminds her of sounds made by the Star Wars robot R2D2. The sound of their wings as they fly by, also reminds her of the Jedi light sabers from the same movie series.
I’m just glad that there are no critters that make sounds similar to the C3PO droid. That would necessitate a shotgun blast or two.
I took the video late this afternoon from inside the patio screen. You can see some of the birds competing, but then a bunch of them feed at once. There are five perches and five feed holes on each feeder.
Several of the Devil’s Tongue Cactus Flowers have opened with the coming of Arizona’s “Second Spring” season. And, as you can see, there will be a lot more flowers soon. Last year, we didn’t get to enjoy the flowers because the rabbits and squirrels (and javelina) find the flower pods to be a delicate snack. This year, I enclosed the cactus in wire mesh and thus far all of the flower pods seem to be surviving. Click on the image to enlarge.
Last night, we got a couple of inches of rain in the time span of about a half hour. As usually is the case when we get that intense of a rainfall, the little wash that runs in front of the house flows like a small rapid river. It flowed strongly enough to move most of the rocks we had stacked in front to prevent erosion. Some of them carried downstream some 150 yards before settling in.
Damsel and I have discussed building a retaining wall between the RV driveway and the little wash on the west side of the house. I snapped a picture of the area the other day and, as it turned out, it became the “before” panel in the slideshow above. Click the slideshow image to see the “after” panel. You may also click these links for a large before view and a large after view.
