Thursday....winding down the week

   It's been yet another rainy day here on the Prairie.  All day long, a steady soft rain, as the Irish are wont to say.  The best part of it was listening to the birds outside my windows.  At one point my Labrador Retriever was going insane out there, and I stepped out to see what she was after, because she was racing around in a strange manner with her muzzle pointing at the sky.

  My first thought was "Squirrel"  but as I looked up at the top of the big dead tree in my front yard, what did I see but an immature eagle...big, but his head not quite white yet.  No idea how he wound up here, but there he sat, glaring down at the raucous dog.  It was a sight to behold, believe me.  Of course, this picture is NOT what was in my front yard, but it's a great picture and so there you go, lol.

  I sat out in the rocking chair on the front porch for awhile, and saw the first Baltimore Oriole of the year, gorgeous in his brilliant orange and black feathers.  As if this wasn't enough, there were Indigo Buntings, a small flock of about 5 of them, Eastern Bluebirds, Titmouse, Juncko, Robins, a Ladderback Woodpecker, several Red Bellied Woodpeckers, and a host of Finches and Sparrows.  I felt especially blessed to get to watch all this from my vantage point.

 (Here's a red bellied woodpecker on the porch rail)

  This silly chest cold has got me coughing like a fool. Other than the coughing, I feel fine.  And it is worse at night, only sporadic during the day. Bleechhh!

  I baked a lovely chocolate cake today and will bake the Italian Cream Cake tomorrow for the big whoop-te-doo tomorrow night. Decided I might need 2 cakes, because the guest of honor is one popular girl. lol  Hard to say how many people might show up...

  For supper I made a lovely Jamaican pork stew...full of whole garlic cloves, okra, sweet potatoes and succulent chunks of slow cooked pork loin. The key spices are cinnamon  and cumin, and the house smells heavenly as it cooks. It was just what the doctor ordered for a rainy cool day.

  Worked in the garden yesterday, planted squash, butternut and zucchini plants that I started indoors.  I got the Blue Lake Bush Beans planted and got the bed ready for the okra. I put tomato cages around the biggest of the tomatoes, and ran out of cages. I need to buy some new ones anyway, these old ones have just about seen their last growing season. I'm going to buy a different style this time too...these are hard to use after the first year or two. I think these are about 7-8 years old now.Things are looking great out there. I still have a few things to get planted, if the weather would just cooperate a little. I mowed the yards too, before the rains came again. Maybe I'll get out there and take some pictures...the rain is supposed to clear away tomorrow afternoon.

  About time for bed, got a busy day ahead tomorrow.  To sleep...perchance to dream...

Namaste.