Ant Encroachment

Things have certainly been humming along this summer….

Aren't these creatures just gorgeous?  I can't help but smile when I see them fluttering outside the window.

But then…..THIS happened!

Large black ants decided to spoil my fun.

The only consolation that I have is that all of them died after ruining my sweet nectar for the birds.

In all my years of hanging hummingbird feeders, not once have I had such an ant attack occur.

And, to be quite frank, I can't think of one cute thing about an ant….unlike Sneaky Snacky Squirrel, who obviously wanted to raid the food supply, but was certainly an adorable looking creature.

Ants, on the other hand…..have absolutely no redeemable qualities in my mind.

So, I put some thought into just how I am going to foil future ant raids.  I ruled out the candy cane idea, which worked for Sneaky but seems to be more than an attractant than a deterrent for ants.

The Slinky idea, although quite successful in keeping Sneaky off of the feeders, seemed like just more of an opportunity for ants to make their way up the pole, although there might be the possibility that they would be dizzy by the time they got to the top.

Upon further investigation, I see that I have the option of making a moat in an attempt to drown the creatures prior to their reaching the food supply.  

Or, I could grease the pole with Vaseline, but that seems kind of a yucky idea to me.

I could hang a bay leaf, which I do have, but I'm not so convinced that a bay leaf will stay hanging long enough to deter ants.

I could try rubbing chalk on the pole.  Chalk is supposed to have some sort of quality that ants prefer not to cross, but that would require running outside and reapplying every time it rains.  Not something I'm quite enthusiastic about doing.

And, last but not least….there is the application of sticky tape.  Apparently the ants stick to it on the way up.  Do I want to look out and see ants in multitude?  Well, the pole is already black, so, perhaps it won't be that noticeable.

Or, better yet, perhaps a bird will think that the ant would make a nice snack, and spare me the ugliness of their demise.  

I think I'll give it a try.  Here's hoping!

Cuckoo?

Let me just say that things here have been pretty crazy.  I'm not going to divulge the reason behind that comment,  you'll just have to take my word for it.

So, when I glanced out the window on Monday, and spotted a huge bird with a yellow beak looking in my direction,  I became quite excited, thinking that it must be the bird that my friend, Morena had been telling me about just a few weeks ago, but for the life of me, I could not remember the name.

So, I called her up and asked her, and she informed me that it had been a Yellow Billed Cuckoo.  I'm fairly certain that my reaction was not quite what Morena had expected as I let out a laugh that probably caused some hearing damage in her listening ear.

But this woman knows me well, and she understood perfectly why, after the week I just had, I would think that a cuckoo bird would fit right in with my life.  She was excited to come over and I wasn't too surprised to see her arrive with her trusty bird book in hand.

The bird was nowhere to be seen when Morena arrived, so I showed her the photos that I had managed to capture earlier.

Unfortunately, the bird did not resemble anything in the bird book, and certainly did NOT look like the Yellow Billed Cuckoo.

When Marty arrived home from work that day, I mentioned the bird to him, and I noticed a commotion of some sort going on in the tree outside the dining room window.  I asked him what he thought it was.  Not one to miss an opportunity like this, he pulled out his binoculars.

He exclaimed that he thought that this was, indeed, a yellow billed cuckoo!

I know what you're thinking....you're thinking this is a robin.  But, I assure you that I do know what a robin looks like.

And, I must mention that when a Robin landed on the garden gate near the bird in question, the robin  was dwarfed in comparison.  The mystery bird is about twice as big.

While we were staring at it, attempting to figure out just what it was, rain began to fall,  and the bird decided to lift its wings to guard against the raindrops.  Marty commented that "my" bird was acting quite crazy and he couldn't understand why it would stay on the fence in the pouring rain and not seek shelter in a tree.

I mentioned that perhaps that was why the bird was called a cuckoo bird.  Because it acted cuckoo.

Marty found that answer to be quite reasonable and he agreed whole heartedly. 

As if all of this excitement wasn't enough for the day, yet another unusual bird showed up, dripping wet.

Actually, the best part of the above photo is the rabbit lurking in the background.  Not to worry....he's outside the fence, on the other side, although I did have a slight panic attack when I first spotted him through the camera lens, thinking he was going to be munching on the lettuce.

I wish I could give you a better update on cuckoo, but I haven't seen him around the last few days.  

But, I am quite happy to inform you that the nesting bluebirds continue to brighten my day.

And this guy even turned his head and posed for the photo!

How great is that?

In the meantime, I'll keep my eye out for the mystery bird, or you'll be thinking that I'm cuckoo! 

Last Day at the Beach

As I sit here writing, there is a beautiful orange moon rising in the distance.  Unfortunately, my camera cannot capture the magnificence adequately to share.

We leave early tomorrow morning, and, as is typical, the week surely seems to have rushed by way too fast.

My son's family left this morning, as they have a long drive to make with little ones, but we managed to sneak in a little excitement prior to them leaving.

We enjoyed a delightful breakfast with these cuties

who are always entertaining.

We had some visitors who  showed up in the volleyball court

But they didn't stay long.

Then it was time for good-bye hugs:

Suddenly it was quiet, but the rest of us still had this beautiful day to enjoy, so we headed out to the beach where the weather was absolutely spectacular.

We were able to enjoy yet another beautiful sunset over the sound.

Then, it was time for dinner, and the men decided that they would dress up a bit.

Marty and his son-in-law in matching shirts.  Don't they look spectacular?

But, I decided that the look wasn't complete without the two of them posing in front of the fireplace for the perfect beach shot:

And, as if that wasn't enough excitement for one evening, the crew decided that it would be fun to dress up the ducks on the mantle, and pose them like the women in the painting.

Each one wearing a party hat and reading an appropriate book at the beach.

Let's face it.....we are amused easily.

I hope that you enjoyed this past week of blogs, and that you, too were amused by our many adventures.

Tomorrow, we gallivant on home.  Thanks for tagging along!

Until next time.......

National Donut Day

Ok, I'll admit that I had no idea that yesterday was National Donut Day.

As a matter of fact,  I was unaware of the fact that such a day even existed. 

But the news traveled quickly in the house, and it was decided that the infamous Duck Donuts were required for the celebration.

 And you can bet that they were quite tasty!

We were glad to have the diversion, especially after waking up to this view of the ocean:

Or, should I say.....lack of view?

We hoped that the fog would disappear and give us a repeat of Thursday, but such would not be the case.

We all got dressed in our beachwear and headed to the beach in hopes of sunny skies.

Gusty winds greeted us....which was great for kite flying!

But Marty had to strap his chair to the sun tent to keep it from blowing away.

When it was obvious that the sun wasn't going to show, we gave up the tent idea, and decided to just enjoy our last day with the little ones.

Aren't they just too cute?

As they say.....time flies when you're having fun....even when the weather is less than desirable. 

But with such cuties around, how could you not have a great time?

Got milk....anyone?

Ignoring the Forecast

According to Weatherbug, Thursday promised to be pretty much a washout.

Nearly 100% chance of rain in the forecast.

As they say, there's nothing you can do about the weather, so you might as well make the most of it.

So, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, which you can see was quite tasty!

Had a little piggy fun with George and Peppa,  and started a new puzzle, since the other one was complete.

And we decided that since it WASN'T raining at the time, to get sun-screened up and head to the beach.

Much to our surprise, the damp fog lifted and blue skies appeared on the horizon. 

With rain expected for the entire day, there was no time to waste!

The girls began working diligently on their creation

while the boys were busy constructing their own.

There was a slight diversion while the little guy decided that it would be fun to splash PapPap G with water from a bucket......as if the waves weren't enough!

But the girls stayed focus.

Some sea shells for the finishing touch:

And here you see the final result.

Can you guess what that is?

A Piggy in the sand, of course.  Actually, it's supposed to be Wellie.  How cute is this?

In the meantime, the guys completed a much more entertaining minion than Gramma G had managed to create.

Look closely, and you'll see that he even has a wad of hair!

By now, it seemed that Weather Bug was way off track, but we weren't complaining.

We managed to get nearly a full day in at the beach with the blue skies on the horizon.  But, if we looked the opposite direction, grey clouds and mist loomed in the distance.  Lucky for us....it stayed over the sound.

At the end of the day, we enjoyed a fabulous Spaghetti dinner, with some mood music that set the stage for a little dancing.

And we could enjoy the view over the ocean

and the sunset over the sound.

Another awesome day!