Hummingbird with Rhododendrons

The weather continues to be nothing short of delightful, cool and breezy and lovely, and I am loving it! Here is a photo of one of our little female hummingbirds, enjoying a long drink at the feeder that hangs over the deck. The rhododendrons in the back have just popped in the past day or two. I think they are called catawba. Aren't they just gorgeous?

In other news, I made a world-class lasagna, we discovered that the kitchen sink has been leaking a while and is a royal mess under there, and I've been bitten by a tick! EEK! We'd just gotten back from the Barrens, and I was working on the lasagna, when my husband heard a dripping sound under the sink. Oh no, bad news. Big bad stinky water mess under there. Yucko.

Well, the sink got torn apart instantly, and by the time the lasagna was done (I called it Tia Anita's Lasagna, as I am an Auntie; but my friend Julie says in Italy I can be Zia instead of Tia, and I think I may like that even better! So you may call me Zia Anita!) the sink was mostly repaired but everything UNDER the sink had been pulled out and was still sitting around so it could dry, with a fan on it all. Getting everything back UNDER the sink after I've pulled it out is like playing a complex game of Jenga: there is only ONE WAY that it all fits!

So anyway, the lasagna was done and we ate it and wow, was that good. And then we hopped in the shower and after the shower, my husband, looking at my naked self, suddenly started shouting in a way that was not at all good; no, not good atall! For there was a nasty little tick burrowing deep into my ribcage! I saw its little feeties moving as it tried to wiggle in. OH, GROSS! WE HATES THEM, MY PRECIOUS!!!!

So we dug that tick out, with a forceps, a tweezer, and a sharp knife. I have to tell you that when I had a knife in my hand, digging at the creature burrowing into my ribcage, I felt like I was reenacting some perverse version of that scene from Hellraiser, where they give the guy who has delusions of bugs crawling all over him a knife. Or maybe some reverse version of Alien, where the critter pops out of somebody's ribcage.Yeah, not good.

But T. Tiger looked on solemnly, brought me a band-aid, and was solicitous and all, and my husband helpfully said, "Gee, I hope you don't get Lyme disease," but I was all: "Whatever will be will be." (But I didn't really mean it; what else could I say?)

The next morning, here is our status: the sink is dry and fixed and back together again; the lasagna leftovers are in the fridge and freezer (don't you find it's even better on the second day?); and my tick bite is bandaged, and itchy, but I will probably live (I promise I will keep an eye on it). The question of where did I get it, who knows, for I am a girl who crawls through the weeds everywhere I go!

And that is the tale of this day. Now, I need a soundtrack tune, and here is a recent fave. I heard it on the radio the other day, and my brain went, Wow, THAT was a very nice 80s bit! And so I looked it up on the Internet and YouTube, and then checked my own music collection, and YAY, I already own it! (No, this has nothing to do with hummingbirds. Or rhododendrons.)

My husband and I have been dancing around the kitchen to this song this morning with great jubilation, and the video - oh, my gosh, the video is just delightfully strange! - it's just excellent. Here are the Monroes, with What Do All the People Know.

This shot is a companion piece to this later shot, of a male ruby throat hummingbird with the pink flowers behind it!