Nice day today...we got the laundry done, hung the sheets on the line, and David picked a 'ton' of strawberries....

The strawberries are coming on very strong, and very big! David picked them this afternoon, and I stemmed them while he made jam, and delivered some to our neighbors who look out for our place when we are gone. We froze several quarts, and will give a nice amount to Dave and Carol. We still have plenty to eat fresh, and they will need to be picked again in two days! I love it when we can grow so much great food!

Sad morning today....with the sun out, we had two pretty little birds fly into our picture window. One of them broke its neck and died immediately. The other one lay in the grass, shaking, so I picked it up and sat it on the porch, hoping it would recover. Well, it sat there, and wavered now and then as if it were going to fall over, but stayed upright for at least an hour and a half. I had checked on the Internet to see what can be done to help, and the article I read said to leave it alone, possibly put a big strainer over it so it is safe from predators, or put it into a shoe box where it would feel safer in the dark. But, I decided it was so hurt that moving it might cause more damage, so I just let it sit there in the shade. At first it seemed to take huge breaths, shaking it's whole body. After about an hour, it did seem to be having less trouble breathing, but it still nearly fell over a couple of times, but righted itself. Finally, after all that time, I looked out and it was gone. I checked all around the porch to see if it had fallen off the edge, but no...it was really gone. It had to have flown away. The article I read said that even if they can eventually fly, they can still die from internal hemorrhaging, so I don't know if it will live or not. But, my sadness disappeared once the little guy had left on his own. I am going to move the bird bath to a couple of feet from the house so if they fly off of that, they won't have enough momentum to hurt themselves, even if they think our big windows are the 'sky.' I'll keep searching for some kind of material to put on these big windows to prevent them flying into them. We lose a few birds every year...it breaks my heart...

I could not identify the species of bird these were. They were both 'fawn-colored' on their backs, with pale yellow bellies and a dark 'mask' across their eyes. They had tufts on their heads and the tips of their tail feathers were bright gold-colored. I will have to ask Carol Hansen, our family bird expert. Maybe she is familiar with them...

Tomorrow I go get my eyes checked. It's been two years, and I'm hoping my cataract is not yet bad enough to require having it fixed just yet. 

So, a good day today, and a not-so-good day as well... Life is certainly a mixture of happy and sad...

Ce le vie...