Scruffy

Most of the birds in our garden are in some stage of molt right now, some with comical results and some just a little scruffy like this hummingbird.  If you look at this image in large, you can see pin feathers around his eyes and in the plumage on his breast.  When he comes back next spring, he will look dashing.

I ran some errands this morning, did some last minute cleaning and now waiting for Peg and Kura to arrive in about 3 hours.  The weather is beautiful - cool and breezy.  One of my stops this morning was a local farm to buy some fresh ice cream and local corn and tomatoes.  The corn is especially sweet this year.

Hubs and I sampled the keto brownies last night and I must say, they were surprisingly good!  I added a spoon of instant coffee crystals to the batter which I think added an extra depth to the flavor, and I used extra dark cocoa powder.  Next time, I think I may add unsweetened coconut and nuts.  If anyone is interested in the recipe, you can find it HERE.

I spotted a very worn monarch leaving some eggs around my milkweed patch yesterday so after she'd drifted off, I scoured the patch and found 6 eggs.  Which means that my Monarch Project this year isn't quite done yet!  Fortunately, I had cut back a bunch of my swamp milkweed and it is now about a foot tall with fresh, tender leaves which will be perfect for feeding hungry caterpillars.

I'm saving my dark intake for brownies later.  Well, okay, maybe I will also have one tiny square of dark with ginger.  

xo
Debbi