Finally!

It’s been a very busy summer. Mostly filled with trying to move my father from an assisted living facility in Texas to our new home in North Carolina, which we purchased because it has a bedroom and full bathroom on the first floor for Dad. After having been at our previous house for 21 years where the hummingbirds returned early every year I had to start my hummingbird garden from scratch and was worried that I might not see hummingbirds for a while. Getting Dad here was the priority but moving and not being sure I’d have my hummingbird filled summers was a low level stress for me because well–it makes me happy to photograph them. After many complications and months of delay Dad finally arrived here three weeks ago. When he arrived we quickly realized that he needed constant care. My dear friend from Oklahoma, Sally, drove 3 days from OK to NC to help us hire the right people, cook for us and bring some normality to our now very different life. The first morning she was here she was standing in our sunroom and commented that there was a hummingbird. I ran to get my camera and was finally able to get a few shots very early in the morning. Sally is my good luck charm. I had one last year too and her name was Marsha. Whenever I spoke to her on the phone there was a hummingbird.

There are more pictures coming and more stories about my Dad. It’s been an adventure.

Getting ready for Hummingbird Season 2021

Like preparing for the holidays, prepping for Hummingbird Season is almost as fun as seeing the first hummingbird of the season. The first tangible step of preparation is getting new plants into pots. Since we’ve recently moved 30 minutes from our home of 21 years, I’ve started my garden from scratch. I bought some blooming plants at a local nursery and ordered some from Almost Eden Plants (almostedenplants.com). As usual the plants arrived in great condition (the candy corn had a few blooms!) I’ve got about 20 plants on my list, but the ones that arrived first are below: Amistad Salvia, Candy Corn vine, Hummingbird Mint (mango tango) and a Shrimp Plant. More will arrive in the next few weeks. A colleague mentioned that her mother has seen hummingbirds in the area so please cross your fingers for this anxious photographer that they find me in The Quay! Otherwise I’m going to have to move in with Elizabeth’s mother.

Calendar?

Fall is here. Yesterday was 90. It started at 60 degrees this morning with a high of 66. My Cowboys were playing so I decided to sit behind my camera while I watched. The game ended badly (for a Cowboys fan) but the shooting not so bad for this Oklahoma girl.

34 days until Halloween. 88 days until Christmas and 88 degrees outside

I’ll take hot over cold any day. Still the leaves are falling and the flowers are fading and I was really hoping to get this shot of a beautiful Coral Porterweed before it completely disappears. I kept thinking the blooms were gone for the season, and I’d get up in the morning with just a few new blooms.

By the way, I had not realized the toes of these tiny birds are black. See the tips of their toes? Or maybe they were at the bird spa and had their toes done for Halloween?