There Goes the Neighborhood!

 The woodpeckers winged away the hummers. (Well, they don't have elbows.)

Above and below taken through the window with a screen on it.

Don't worry, the hummingbirds are back in full force. Mom has to fill the feeders every other day. I don't know that I would be as dedicated as she.

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Thank you, Emily for the great birthday present! I have been following Fiona, the baby hippo at the Cincinnati Zoo, for years now. She's still cute!

And thank you, Deb, for the wonderful "Another Fu#king Coloring Book!" It's very rude and brash and I love it! It will be great when I get home to my zillions of colored markers that I got many years ago at the Crayola Crayon factory. I wonder if Emily remembers that visit.

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On a walk around the neighborhood.

I was really looking at the tree shapes, but if you're interested this place is solar and for sale.

Mom and I walked a different way from our usual around the block route and down a side street it soon became apparent that this was an 'old growth' neighborhood as all of the cacti and plantings were huge.

I began to feel as if I were in an episode of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."

Mom, always the good Trooper, allowed me to use her as a size reference for this agave. There is no trick of perspective here -- it really is that big.

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This tree is outside of Mom's big patio which is a common area of green and plantings. It blooms once a year and the blossoms only stay for a short time. I'm sorry that the close up is first, but I'm too lazy to juggle it around. You'll have to cope.

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I've been experimenting with a new (to me) type of block. I love the end result, but the execution is a bit on the intensive side. You start with a plain backing fabric and stack two strips, sewing a seam. Then you press it open. Repeat a zillion times. There's another block, but I'm too lazy to look for that picture. I'm thinking of cutting these in half. Eventually, I will float them in black -- but all of my black fabric (and I have a lot!) is in Amherst. So this is another long term project.

In case you are wondering, I have to do the binding on Hey Diddle Diddle. It's sort of like when you are reading a good book and you don't want it to end. But I will get to that soon. I may have to mail it back because I don't know if it will fit into a suitcase. 

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We went to IHop for breakfast! Every once in a while, Mom needs her IHop pancakes. I got this steak and cheese omelet. I had to ask them to leave the hash browns out of the omelet. It hadn't dawned on me that they put them IN the omelet, lol. Luckily, the waitress asked.

Had to take the mask off to eat the omelet!

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Exploring the Wellness Park

Century Plant. It blooms once about every 30 or 40 years.

Sign Art commissioned to honor the Agua Caliente Indians, the first residents of the area. No, they didn't explain what that word means. They did say that there are 13 signs, but they didn't say where. We saw one other of these installations in the small park. I assume the others are elsewhere. 

There are other exercise stations; this one included a recumbent bike.

Interesting Grass

I liked the lamps.

Close up is below.

Close up of the 'flowers' of the above tree. These balls are fuzzy looking; I'm not sure if it's a flower or a fruit. From a distance it looks like flowers. The bees loved this tree!

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We have a pair of bunnies that have a set routine. I can see them from the kitchen window every morning. They make their way munching the grass past 3 or 4 patios. I have watched them grow into teenagers. A question came to mind: do bunnies mate for life?

"Finding a friend for your altered (spayed or neutered) rabbit is one of the most rewarding things you can do for both of you. In the wild, rabbits mate for life and in captivity, the same applies." from Bright Eyes Sanctuary.

The next entry down in my Google search, however, is from www.mammal.org.uk:

"In groups with more than one female and more than one male, rabbits are not monogamous. Lower ranking rabbits may be forced to breed in single entrance breeding "stops" away from the main burrows where they and their young are more vulnerable to predators."

So there you have it -- two answers for the price of one. 

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Since I am all out of things to report and I really should try to sleep more (this is one of those went-to-the-br-and-cannot- sleep-again nights), I will leave you with a colorful sunset from last year.

Cheers!