Buteo

The raptors are out in force now. Their mating period must have started, for this handsome fellow was so busy trying to woo his lady, swooping and gliding around the sky,  that he flew straight into this tree trunk. He sat on the branch, right beside me for awhile while he recovered his wits. His lady continued to swoop around him until he flew off after her. They are a thing of beauty to watch, and it was a privilege to get such a close look at them.

All this was going on as I toiled with paintbrush and black paint to put the final coats on our porch cabinet. It was a beautiful morning and the sun was warm. The black paint was the consistency of pudding and took some getting used to. I used a variety of brushes and paints, spray primers and glossy black paint. The job is done now. I wasn't planning to paint the back which is against the wall, but in the end , since I had plenty of paint left, I slapped a single of coat of paint on without any primer, using a good brush rather than a throw away sponge one. It probably looks better than the rest of the cabinet. The single coat of paint covered beautifully without having to cover the grey primer. The sun is about to go down now and I'm hoping it's dry enough to move back to the porch for the third and final time.

Once that is done, I'll see about washing the black paint out of my hair....