Weekly Chat Sunday, May 16 2010

We had lots of noise in our garden today. Two hawks have a nest nearby and OH and I were organizing the painting project when we heard a tremendous ruckus, courtesy of the hawks and about a dozen crows who were all carrying on, shouting loudly, zooming back and forth. circling, dive-bombing, with lots of what looked like diversionary tactics. OH and I watched but I couldn't figure out who was chasing who (whom?).  We stood and watched along with a group of Acorn Woodpeckers sitting on the telephone pole above us.  The hawk suddenly zoomed down and landed on the pole and the woodpeckers all whizzed off pretty smartly to the telephone wires (waaay too close to the action!!). The hawk flew off and they went back to the pole and then a couple of crows arrived, at which point the woodpeckers all hopped behind the vertical posts on the pole and stayed there until the crows flew off.  It was so funny to watch.  I had to come back in or the paint would've dried on the brush so no idea how it all ended.   Then yesterday, we had a hummingbird zipping back and forth right up against the sliding glass patio doors, then cozying up to the little window over the washer/dryer, then back to the patio door. Don't know if he was trying to attract his reflection or what!  Never seen that before. Anyway, he eventually gave up and grabbed a snack at the feeder. All quiet here now.

Hey, Annette. Sounds like you had an entertaining birdwatching day. I'll bet the woodpeckers wished that the crows and the hawks would carry on their battle somewhere else! Hummingbirds will sometimes eat tiny bugs off of windows and screens. Don't know whether that's what your little fella was doing.

Sounds like you did a nice job on your door. Thought your "Pot of Cream" color was interesting. I'm going to paint our living room "Creamery" . I have to use no-VOC paint because it doesn't have any smell/chemicals that will bother my Dad.

Hope your garden project goes well. Hope everyone has a nice Sunday!

Hey Diane: Pot of Cream is Behr from Home Depot.  I'd used Swiss Coffee (also Behr) on my Long Beach house - that was nice, but this is a warmer white.   Funny, I actually didn't notice any smell now you mention it....  If I were talented, color-coordinating-wise (!) I'd add some different colors to some walls, but basically clueless. My sister in the UK has a great eye for stuff like that - more like the genes. I got the cream/white, black/white, blue/white genes!! :-)   I'm off to bed; take care all.

Good morning ladies

Annette Your birdwatching must have been really fun - I'd almost certainly have forgotten that the paint was drying on the brush while I did something else!  I do love the interesting, 'foodie' names for paint colours.  Don't think we have any such yummy names (but then I don't paint much!)

Feeding time for the Brighton pair:

Morning, All.  Those chicks look sturdy now, at Brighton,  Sandy.  Good pic of them, thanks.

Dull/cloudy here today and not too warm for May, but at least its dry enough to get something done in the garden this morning.  The volcano has been playing up again and the dust is blowing down to the British Isles, so some airports are going to have to close later:  wonder when Margobird was due to come home?  Will she have to slum it and stay on in Venice for a couple of days? !

Annette:  You can celebrate finishing the painting now, and stand back & admire your work. (before you start the garden project....)  Paint colour sounds nice. We do have some strange names for paint here, but they're not usually foodie.  What a lot of bird activity you have, it sounds more glamorous than ours.  Thanks for starting the Weekly Thread again, I must have had a brainstorm this morning as I looked at the date at the top and thought it was wrong.....   so you're not the only one who loses track!

Have a lovely Sunday, Everyone.

Just been back for a peek at the end of yesterdays thread - thanks to Gary for clip of hummingbird preening on a branch in his garden, so cute.

Good Morning All, Lovely sunny morning here but rain forecast for later. The garden does seem to need some rain though. We have been busy in the garden and taken the risk that the frosty nights won't return and have planted up some of the pots.

Annette, like your sister, we have been to the Chelsea flower show before and are members of the RHS, but have given it a miss for a few years now. I am hoping to see some new ideas/ plants that we can maybe adapt for our own patch, as we lost quite a few plants this last winter. I also enjoy seeing the many various displays etc. which can be wierd or wonderful, but that is the fun of the show. 

Sandy, the Brighton chicks seem to be developing rapidly. I hope to try and see them this week and as SueC said, get a crick in the neck !!

Afternoon all

Busy day ahead here ... new gas boiler being installed tomorrow ... being moved from the kitchen to the airing cupboard that was! Airing cupboard & shelving had to be cleared and kitchen stuff cleared out of the way. I could be on here a lot for the next few days .... moaning ... hope you don't mind a moan or three!

Gary - lovely clip of the hummingbirds in your garden.

Sandy - those Brighton chicks are gorgeous.

Annette - your paint colour sounds good .... I have been looking for a gloss paint in a particular shade of pale green ... but I can't find one I like ... except in the expensive ones that are specially mixed for you :-(    (And your birdwatching sounds great!)

I've had a few ERNIE wins over the years, but nothing greater than £100. The very first Premium Bond that I had was a £1 bond that I won as a child in a competition on the Shreddies cereal box .... way back when they first came out ... needless to say it has never won anything!

Thanks to everyone else for chat etc

Take care