Monday Miscellany

We’ve got some slow Internet this morning.  That could be because WE’VE GOT RAIN!  Could be those rain clouds caught the Internet off guard so it’s not up to its usual speed.  Maybe it needs a cup of coffee.

Anyhow, it’s nice to hear the rain, and it’s a drenching rain too.  So, maybe the smoke will go away and crispy, dried up grass will revive itself and give us some green pastures and lawns.

 

After all, winter is supposed to be a season away, so it would be great to have those pastures providing nourishment for another month or so.

Yesterday after Bill came home from church, he was telling me about the Catholic nun who conducted a weekend retreat at the Presbyterian Church.  Her focus was Celtic Spirituality. 

Lately, I’ve been teasing Bill that pretty soon the Presbyterians are gonna turn into Catholics cuz there’s a bunch of them that really like the Monastery at St. Gertrude’s in Cottonwood, and their minister has spent a bunch of time at Catholic sites in Ireland and Italy while on his sabbatical.  

Add to that the congregation members who love Ireland, and who knows what might happen.

Anyway, Bill was telling me about patron saints, including St. Brendan, the patron saint of travel aka “the navigator”(we visited the ancient St. Brendan’s Well on Valencia Island in Ireland).  

At that very moment, I happened to look toward the front window at the bird feeder and discovered that we had some “travelers” of our own.

Saints were put aside in favor of "evening" Grosbeaks. We both carefully walked to the window and then I went to get my camera.  While others flew back to one of the trees, one was quite content to keep on eating, allowing me to catch several shots. 

I don't think the finches or juncos were very happy about the intrusion, but the grosbeaks seemed oblivious to their opinions.  A dove also flew in but only momentarily, leaving within seconds. 

We have the grosbeak visitation about once a year.  Sometimes they'll hang around for a day or two and then they go to wherever grosbeaks spend their winters. 

They're beautiful birds, so it was quite a treat to welcome them for this year's visit. 

While Bill took off for the Moyie on a fishing outing, I did some grocery shopping, plumb picking and fence painting.  

After watching the rain falling at the stadium during the Seahawks game yesterday, I knew it would be here soon, so it was nice to complete a few projects. 

The rain has now stopped, and from what I've seen in the forecast, it may not come back for another day.  

So, if that's the case----perfect!  

All that dirt has been washed away, and the landscape will once again have some pure colors.

Bill said this morning that maybe we'd have an Indian Summer.  Hope so.  

Nice to hear the birds happily singing outside in the fresh, clean morning air.  

Ahhh!

Happy Monday to all.