Wednesday, August 08, 2007

I have a connection, by George!

Quickly, I post tonight. The heat has scorched me!


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My link to the world was in bits and pieces! His name is Joe, an independent consultant, and I trusted him. I have a new motherboard and have risen from computer hell!



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Joe didn’t leave me with a network connection this afternoon because he had other appointments to keep. He gave me good instructions and I made the connection myself. I have e-mail!

Hint: Use your can of air once a month to clean all open crevices on your computer. That was not the cause of my problem, but it’s a good tip.



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There are numerous things I’d like to share since being away, but today, it’s all about the heat. I’ve experienced a few record hot and dry summers in my life and I’ll also remember this one, for sure. In my county, high school football scrimmages have been rescheduled, shelters are overloaded, fan donations are requested for senior housing, and just south of my county and in South Carolina, there are strict water restrictions in place. We’ll be next for a restriction because there is no rain in sight for a week and we haven’t had a rainfall in two weeks.



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This photo of my young Hydrangeas was taken around noon today. I hand watered them last night. They have not done well this summer but I have high hopes of needed relief soon.




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I came home from work today to meet with Joe and Bella seemed to be guilty. She avoided me and I wondered what happened... Then I realized Chloe was sick. Perhaps it is heat related although I keep them indoors except for potty breaks lately. The carpet needs to go! My home in Delaware had hardwood flooring throughout except for carpeted bedrooms. I want to get on my hands and knees right now and rip up the carpet! Pet stains annoy me but it’s a way of life around here.




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Hummingbirds were dehydrated today. We're all thirsty.




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I made more nectar and it’s cooling for them now. Sixteen cups will go quickly. I’d love to photograph the action of fifteen hummingbirds. It’s an incredible sight! Tiny wonders.



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When the sun sets tonight, I'll be outside to offer fuel to those who rely on me. This young House Finch is being fed by a Chipping Sparrow. I’m serious. I’ve seen them interacting twice during the past week. When I took this photo, the Chipping Sparrow was watching nearby but my photo of it was blurred. This is odd. I’m watching and thinking. Any ideas out there?

It's 8:30 p.m. and I'm headed outdoors - after I drink an 8-ounce bottle of water. God help us. Let it rain?

26 comments:

Carol Michel said...

Mary, you crack me up showing us your pet stained carpets and then great pictures of birds. Yes, God help us, please let it rain, here, too.

Carol at May Dreams Gardens

Q said...

Dear Mary,
Oh, it is really hot and dry for you! I need rain too. It keeps going around me! This afternoon I could see rain but it never made it to my house.
9pm and 91 degrees, 46% humidity....too sticky for me!
I am so glad Joe was able to get you going again. I have a squeeze air thing I use for my camera that I use for my computor. Very handy and never runs out of juice!
You have lots more Hummers than I do! I am feeding 4. Once in a while I will have 8 but I think that is when my neighbors have failure to refill their feeders.
The little ones are so cute!
Interesting story about baby Finch. I wonder where mamma went???
Glad Chipping Sparrow is filling in. I love Chipping Sparrow. Of all the sparrows it is my favorite.
I will continue to pray for rain for you and me. You have had an extreamly hot and dry summer. It is amazing anything can grow. You take such wonderful care of the birds and plants. I know they appreciate you. I do too!
Stay cool, September is just around the corner.
Sherry

cat59 said...

Thank goodness your internet connection is back, although it sounds like you were quite productive without it. I need to make an appointment with an eye doctor, as well. Also, we are having a problem with one of our dogs having some kind of "episodes" while we are out. Two days in a row when DH came home for lunch there were stains on the carpet--best guess is diarhea (sp?). Now, who is having problems? We've decided it is probably Meg. She had no food for 24 hours and no accidents today. Then I gave her rice for dinner. Let's hope all is well. So, how did you know it was Chloe and not Bella?

Mary said...

Cat - Bella is guilty for everything. It's her nature. Chloe is the one who kept us up all night...something was brewing! Rice and ground beef is the best diet for a sour tummy. Good luck...

Carol - I pray for RAIN FOR ALL! I'm worried that if we DO get rain it'll be too much. That's the way of the weather lately. I hate CARPET!

Dear Q, how about that Chipping Sparrow? It fed an insect to the finch... I didn't have my camera, of course! I love watching nature. Every day. The hummers are an army now. Hugs.

KGMom said...

Hurray that you are back, reconnected to the internet and blogging world.
And I agree completely on this hot hot hot dry summer--we are approaching drought conditions here too.
I planted a new copper beech tree this spring, and already it has lost all its leaves, in spite of my weekly waterings.

Susan Gets Native said...

I feel for Chloe. I wanna barf too.

Birds are chemically bound to feed anything that is flapping and begging. I've seen it in my yard, too. When they see a youngster gaping and doing that bowing, flapping thing, they just have to feed it. It's possible that something happened to Mom/Dad House Finch, but young birds will beg at anyone.

So glad that nice techie came to fix your problem. Did you kiss him full on the mouth when he was done? I woulda.

Susie said...

Glad you're back up and running. Wow! It's really warm in your part of the country. Hope you get that rain soon..
:)

JeanMac said...

Maybe they take over when necessary like a dog will nurse kittens, etc.??Hope you get rain soon.

Mary C said...

I HATE CARPET, too! Eventually, the rest of it will go. We've been dealing with a little remodeling recently, so more of the carpet has disappeared and will be replaced with ceramic tile. Carpet is NOT for those who have pets in the house. Our cats occasionally have hair balls and we did have a problem with one of the dogs, but he's OK now.

Beautiful hummingbird feeder, Mary. Is it easy to clean?

Alyssa said...

Mary - You have all my sympathy. To me there is nothing worse than opressive heat. I'm hoping you will all get some relief soon.

At least the heat hasn't dampened your humor. I laughed out loud when I saw the picture of the repair man. All those tiny little pieces! He must have a steady hand and be very patient. It's great that you're on the air again.

I hope Chloe is feeling better. I'm always worried when one of the pugs isn't up to par. Since they can't talk, I feel kind of helpless.

Have some nice iced tea and start blogging!

dmmgmfm said...

So very good to have you back, Mary. I've missed you terribly.

I hope you get some relief from the heat and some rain.

Great big I missed you hugs,
Laurie

Jayne said...

Yay! Glad you are up and running again. I am with you on the heat sista... too hot to do much of anything but sit still under the ceiling fan.

possumlady said...

Welcome back! Oh how I hate, hate, hate this weather! Even though it doesn't need it, every night when I come home from work I flush out the birdbath and refill it with cool water. It's hard watching all the birds trying to survive the heat with their mouths all agape. I have seen house sparrow babies trying to get food from house finches but so far no one feeds them but other house sparrows.

I hope Chloe feels better. I've had a run of good luck! The last couple of weeks absolutely no one has thrown up or had diarrhea!! Ah, the things that make me happy!

Anonymous said...

WELCOME BACK ONLINE!! YEAH!! Regarding your photo, what size was this "finch"?? I am not familiar with juv plumaged finches but it does look very much like my cowbird (except the head is a little different)! http://www.flickr.com/photos/monarch/683388993/ This would explain why the chipping sparrow was feeding it! LOL at your puppies leaving you your presents!

Mary said...

Monarch, at least twice the size of the chipping sparrow. It looks ridiculous to see that tiny sparrow give up an insect to the pest. Fuller and rounder than a house finch. Could be a cowbird!

Mary said...

Donna, it's so sad to see a tree go, isn't it? Our once lovely willow is gone.

Susan, I wanted to hug that man...

Susie, it's disgustingly hot and humid. Pray for us!

Jean, the tiny chipping sparrow has a generous heart!

Mary C, My plan is to replace all of the carpet with WOOD! The feeder is very easy to clean and the hummers prefer that one over the other. The ports are large. I waste nectar because I change it every few days.

Alyssa, my computer was spread all over the room! I was amazed.

Laurie, I missed posting and visiting you, too. I'm catching up!

Jayne, stay cool!

Possumlady, I worry about the birds, too. And when my dogs' tongues are wagging and their heads are low, I feel for them too.

dguzman said...

We're finally getting rain here in Central PA--but it's still hot and sticky. Though not as hot as NC! Keep drinking that water!

Thank goodness you're up and running again. I've missed you!

Naturegirl said...

I loved this post and photos!! Even the doggie doo doo stain! Yes every time the cats throwup on the carpet I say~TIME FOR HARWOOD THROUGHOUT!!~
I try to shoo them towards kitchen or hall where we do have washable floors!

I just sprayed the keys with ~air duster~ and boy did that cool the hands off the can gets ice cold!!!
Thanks for the reminder and hand watering well that's the name of the game here all summer..yesterday we got rain but that was NOT enough!!
Loved the photos of the birdies!!!
COOL is the word hugs NG

Julie Zickefoose said...

Oh, Poo. Monarch headed off a full-frontal Science Chimp attack. That's a very young, just-out-of-the-nest brown-headed cowbird. I know--the bill is small, and it looks streaky and it really looks like a house finch, but give it a week and it will look a lot more like a cowbird.
Early Monarch gets the catch! Eee! Eee! Eee!

Mary said...

So glad you have your computer problems sorted.I hope you get rain soon. Poor dogs must really feel the heat.I ahve nominated you for a Nice award. See my blog for details.Mary

Mary said...

Julie,

Eee Eee Eee! Science Chimp attack! Monarch beat you to it! LOL! Yes, a cowbird. BUT - I haven't seen adult cowbirds since early spring. Hmmm. Interesting.

Mary - you are too NICE! I'll check it out tonight :o)

Annie in Austin said...

I'm sorry you haven't had rain, Mary and hope it comes soon! It's 99.9º here right now and the rain stopped a few weeks ago, but at least the lakes were filled first, so we can water - well, as long as we can pay the bill, anyway!

Did you warn your technical knight Joe that his photo would be seen by hoards of women all across the blogosphere?

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Mary said...

I do know they deposit their eggs all over the place, though. But I haven't seen any! Did I say this before?

Mary said...

Annie, yes, he was happy to oblige. Did you see Susan's comment? My Lord. We reached a record high of 104 today. My outdoor thermometer read 107 at 4pm. I'm concerned for everthing until we get a reprieve from this terrible trend.

Anonymous said...

zick, you being on vacation is the reason I was a step ahead of you. Enjoy your time at the Chautauqua Institute with the family!!

Sherry said...

Hope you get some rain soon, Mary. I'm in the southern US also and know how you feel, temps here today at almost one hundred degrees with a heat index of well over a hundred.. and everything is so dry. I'm out every evening hand watering everything. Here's hoping we get some much needed rain soon!

Love your hummingbird photos, and your pond is truly the prettiest one I've ever seen. The dog photo with the bubble is great! You take such great pictures.

I hope Chloe feels better soon.