Hummingbird!

I have a hummingbird!!  I guess mid-March was NOT too early to put out a hummingbird feeder.  It was up exactly two days before I saw him at it.  This isn't a picture of him, but this is what he looks like.  He's much too schitzy to wait around for me to take a picture, but he's definitely a black-chinned hummingbird.  He's the only hummer I've seen at the feeder so far.  I hope I get more, but I'm glad to have him around.  So fast!  And so fun to watch.

It's cool and rainy today.  So far, no serious rain, just little spritzy, spitting rain.  I'm hoping for more.  And it's supposed to rain tomorrow too.  If it does, everything poised to bloom will bloom.  The azalea I planted into the ground next to my patio is covered with buds!  I was shocked to see that because it looked so bad last weekend when I planted it, I was just hoping it would survive.  I never expected it would bloom like crazy, but it looks like it's going to.  I guess it likes being in the ground.  I'll take pictures when it blooms.

We had a serious storm system go through here last week and I did not get so much as a drop of rain from it.  Mother Nature is taunting me.  That's why I'm grateful for today's misty stuff and am hoping for more rain tomorrow.  I've seen one tiny little patch of blue bonnets this year and they should be blooming about now.  Rain would help.

I went shopping this morning and picked up this pretty metal shelving to go on my patio where that old stove used to be.  I wanted something to put my gardening stuff on to keep the patio neater and have it all handy to use.  Since I had to be out anyway to get cat food and run by the bank, etc, etc, I stopped by Garden Ridge.  I could come to love that store. So many cool gardening-related things.  It was interesting getting this shelving home.  It's just over 3 feet wide and the shelves are about a foot and a half deep.  Luckily the shelves fold up and then the sides fold in, but it's fairly heavy.  I could have gotten a smaller one, but I wanted this size, so I just man-handled it into and out of my Subaru.   I like it.

I went to the eye doctor last week because I had a bunch of bright light flashes in my left eye a couple weeks ago and now have what they call a floater.  Something floats across my vision in that eye and blurs it momentarily.   Turns out I have a detached vitreous in my left eye.  The lining around my fluid (vitreous) in that eye has pulled away from the retina.  They don't do anything for it, it's just now detached.  Weirdly, other than the floater, which they say I'll get used to, my vision isn't affected by having a detached vitreous.  I had it checked while I was there and it's the same as it was 2 years ago.  I did get scolded though for waiting two weeks after the light flashes.   Apparently bright light flashes like that are a symptom of retinal detachment, which is serious and will screw up my vision.  My eye doctor is sending me to a retinal specialist to check out that left eye anyway, and be sure its' okay.  

The cardinal pair is on the sunflower seed bird feeder.  They're actually one of the reasons I got that feeder.  They struggled with the other feeders, which are really made for small birds, but they can sit on this one and eat sunflower seeds to their hearts content.  I saw my first female cowbird of the season out there this afternoon.  Last year I had a bunch of those.  The cowbirds I don't so much care about, but I hope I get redwing blackbirds again this year.

Thought I'd end today's post with a picture of Zoe in her usual weekend place.  This was taken before I moved the aloe outside, but she likes to sleep in this chair.