Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - Morning Walk; Hummer Continues to Visit; More Irises; Thunderstorms; Brilliant Sunset

Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - Morning Walk; Hummer Visit; More Irises; Thunderstorms; Brilliant Sunset

I woke up at 3am, and realized why, I was cold.  I like to leave my window open at night, if it's not too cold.  While it is comfortable downstairs during the evening, when we go to bed it's often warm upstairs.  I need to remember to close the door before we go to bed.  Our windows slide up and down upstairs.  I don't always want the window open all the way as it lets in too much air.  Years ago I discovered a wine cork propped in the window is just the right size to let some air flow in.  I've used that same cork for at least 5 years or more.  

I was able to go back to sleep and didn't wake up again until 4:30.  I headed downstairs to make the coffee.  I forgot to prep the coffeepot before I went to bed.  Fortunately I had filled the Brita pitcher earlier in the evening so I didn't have to wait for it to run through before I could add the water.

It was 60F outside by 6am and the birds are chirping away.  I love listening to them.  I hope our hummer keeps returning and brings a friend or two with him.  So far we've only seen a male at the feeder.  We've seen blue jays, blue birds, and cardinals in the trees out our front door, and of course robins and other common birds.  I'm pretty sure I have heard an oriole but I haven't seen it yet.  While we were walking in the park Friday we saw our first oriole of the year, however, I wasn't quick enough to get a picture.  They are so pretty.

Our forecast today is calling for late afternoon and evening thunderstorms, with temperatures reaching 78F, then dropping to 51 overnight.  At least we will be able to walk this morning.  We met Misti in the park at 7 and did our two miles.  It was nice to visit with her while.  She likes to pick the pace up and we did the 2nd mile in under 18 minutes.  I can't believe we were walking 17 miles per minute and a few times under 17 per minute.  We need to step it up!

I thought we were out of fruit for our morning smoothie/protein shake, however I remembered I froze some strawberries a week or two ago.  With those, I had enough with the remaining mixed berries for this morning.  However, when I went to get ice later I found a bag of frozen mixed berries on the other side of the freezer, so we will be good through April.  We've spent much more on groceries than normal this month, but we did not dine out as often or buy as much fuel either.  All in all, the expense overall probably will not change too much.

I looked up and there was our hummer.

Our hummer!

Dean headed to the garage around 9:30.  I started looking through pictures while he was gone.  The tub I chose to bring home is mostly snapshots.  Many of them I'll sort by child, including a date if I have it, scanning in the best ones for our own memories, and giving the originals to the kids to do with what they want.  I've kept most of the pictures in the original envelopes, and most are dated.  I've added several new pictures to the album in Photomyne.  I'm still learning.  Today I discovered you do not have to take pictures one at a time for a group.  Instead you can lay as many on an area as possible and take a picture of the whole lot.  The program will crop each one and they show up perfectly in the album.  It is amazing.  If I find a CD I will download it directly to my Google Photos, and divide the pictures up with the kids.  It's going to be a long process but I've found it to be a little simpler than I expected.

When Dean came home for lunch he brought me some more irises.  These are a light purple.  Since it is supposed to storm here, I followed him back to the garage after lunch to cut several more.

Our hummer has been back numerous times today.  It was just on the feeder several minutes ago for well over a minute.  I took pictures but it was too far away to get a good one.  I believe this was the female - it had no color to it.  We've see both the male and female today.

Dean just walked in the door (4:12pm).  He was only here a minute or two when it started to rain.  It didn't last long.  I think most of the storm is supposed to go south of us, and I hope they are right.   The skies are sure dark and the wind is starting to blow but not too bad.

Outside our back window to the south.

Taco soup is what's for dinner tonight.  It's easy to make.  It makes enough we can easily get at least two meals out of it.  We like to add cheese, and for me a little Tabasco sauce too.  Of course we must have saltines as well.  

It almost didn't fit in my pan.

With a little cheese, Tabasco  & saltines!  Yum!

I had plenty of soup, so I sent Todd (my cousin and RV Park owner) a text I had some for him if he'd like it.  He said yes he would; he'd be by soon.  The storm moved in about 5:15 or so.  There were a few big gusts that gave us a couple of big shakes, then the rains came.  It sounded like it was hailing, but I could not see any on the ground so I think it was just very heavy rain drops.  Todd has been so busy.  The park is still full, with workers coming and going for various projects in the area.  I'm glad for him, and yet again he's on the run all the time.  A one man show!

Todd didn't make it here before the sky opened and it poured.  (He just picked the soup up at 6:55.) The rain didn't last long - maybe 40 minutes.  While he was here he told us we had just under an inch of rain in that short time.  We were keeping an eye on the weather report on TV, and a few places on the map where it indicated conditions could result in a tornado, but I don't believe any ever materialized.  We are thankful for that.

I was sitting here waiting for the last of my pictures to download to Google photos when I happened to glance out the back window.  Another beautiful sunset that made these trees burst with color.

 The sun shining on the trees east of us.

Sunset behind the trees.

What a beautiful evening it turned out to be.  Thank you so much for following along.