Bird Watching from our Kitchen Porch

 I was playing around with my camera in hopes that ~~

Someday I'll get a great hummingbird photo.

Yeah, I know these aren't the hummingbirds ~ yet.

I just liked these two photos.

I need a new  thistle feeder.

A squirrel chewed a hole in the bottom

of the one pictured here.

They didn't bother it last year ~

so I was surprised to find a nice pile of

thistle seeds underneath the hanging empty

feed sock ~ which was shortly after refilling it.

I'm still trying to get a decent photo of the hummingbirds.

Part of the problem is that the feeder is in the shade.

Our recent weather hasn't helped either.

It's too cold and wet lately.   It's June 1st (as I write this)

and it's raining, hailing, snowing in the mountains,

  and very windy here.   It's 30 degrees below normal (85*F.)

for this time of year.  I'm not complaining.

Because I'm loving this extended spring weather.

Soon enough we'll be faced with temps above

100 degrees which is normal for our summer.

Back to the hummingbirds.

They started getting comfortable with us being out

on the kitchen porch,

 when the weather was nice ~~ for awhile.

      I'm going to keep

trying to get a georgeous photo,

but it will have to be when it warms up again.

I'll try moving the hummingbird feeder out

from under the porch eave and into the sunshine

for a photo shoot.

   It's June already.  

 We're still using our wood stove. 

Yesterday we had a thunder storm

with  one crack of lightning so close it made the telephone

ring once as it hit.    That was a bit scary. 
OK, alot. 

My jasmine is just about to bloom,

three weeks later than usual.

  It's been a really strange spring.

Sunday I'm going with my cousins

on the Shasta Lake Garden Tour and Tea.

There is rain in the forecast for Sunday.

We've never had to worry about being wet

and cold  while having tea (outdoors) or

visiting the gardens of 6 or 7 homes. 

It will be interesting to see how the gardeners have coped

with all this wet weather trying to get ready for the tour. 

We'll have to take umbrellas,  nah,

how would I take photos one handed?