Hummers - Sept. 2010

I was looking through some pic's on my cell phone and found this.   I must say, I was pleasantly  surprised since I forgot I even had it.  I think at the time I had more time.  LOL  BTW - this was the third attempt to post the clip.  On my desk top its great and in my Vik's pics file.  From there to here it's another story.  I'll keep trying.  :/ (Just loaded it through You-tube crossing fingers lol)

We've had 3-4 hummers that stayed with us for two winters now.  This past winter it was mild but the  previous to last we did get into extremely cool temps even had deep freezing and the little hummers were in 18 degrees and less.  With the wild chills it was rough but these little birds are very tough.  In fact the Palo Verde trees  in the clip froze back so much we lost large portions of the tree.  Since then one has come back and we've planted a new tree.  The links are a great place for kids and adults to learn state symbols and identifying hummingbirds. 

We have been getting many back not as much as 2010 - I'm hoping :)  and of course we also have the orioles that share.  Hope you enjoy ~

More cool links:

Hummingbirds Species (you might not believe the list - amazing)
World of Hummingbirds
Exotic Hummingbirds

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Matthew 6:26-30 ESV

And Enjoyable Morning~

The day before my previous post we knew that we were in for a day of blowing dust.  "Blowing dust," a term also used by the NOAA  and a term NO ONE here looks forward to - that a day of blowing dust, as I don't have to imagine as we live through them - no one would.  LOL  But, it is/can be a more common occurrence here than some other places.   We had a slight reprieve you could say and nothing was show or "blowing" for that matter.  So I worked in the garden as shown in the previous post.  It was a beautiful day overall - nice temps etc.     And, "BD,"

It was just late!  Yep - showed up while we were trying to sleep - - and lasted ALL night long.  :(  NOAA also reported that we were to have rain for the next two days (it only last morning :(  ).  The morning after the "BD," I rose to a calmer, quieter, over-cast, spring showery kind of day.  It put a :) on my face!   I was also "BLESSED" with watching humming birds and orioles.  We have at least 2-3 different species of each, more on that later.   Any who I was able to catch a few short clips on my cell phone of a couple female hummers.  This is a first through a window.  The weather was perfect for this - all the birds seemed to be enjoying the shower - we sure were.

I would like to apologize for different background noises you my hear it wasn't a planned thing.  You can hear the hummers. :)

I couldn't decide on the videos I wanted to share so I uploaded those you see ~ 

Here is a really cool site I just found on Arizona: Beetles, Bugs, Birds and more . .
Also Birds found in Arizona here ~  I believe I have a possibility of three different Orioles; Scott's, Hooded and Bullock's.

Doing Some Gardening ~

Yep - Doing some gardening here! Okay, still learning the desert gardening thing and I'm happy to say that everything, that was supposed to - and some, made it over the winter.  I'm pleased.  :)  Having a milder winter this year helped.  Especially when I wasn't out there as much as I would have liked.   You know that there is always a before and after?  In gardening, as most everything, you don't always share the before pics - only the after "prettier" pics.   Here are some before(s) for you.

Weeding the soil from grass runners is the worst!

Some herb growth past couple years~

If you've left a tatter or two~

Of course, the pictures aren't the pre-before, before(s) lol :)

In front are strawberries I separated and rescued.

The strawberries were planted two seasons ago.  Last August was soooo hot!  I couldn't get out early enough in the morning to do any thing and way to hot in the day; you'd just say forget it.  I pretty much left it except to water and harvest what was ready.   So the "milder winter" allowed me to go out and weed (de-grass) the strawberries.  I literally had to dig them out to remove the roots (long runners) of the grass!  This well give you an idea what it was like.

This bit here took most of the day :(

As you can see roots of grass down below.

There are strawberries in there!

Bermuda Grass root!

Each time they break they make more!

The collapsible garden container at the top and the plastic (10-15 gal) is full of the stuff!  What a job :/ to say the least.  I know there are easier ways of dealing with unwanted weeds and mostly grass however, I don't want to use anything that wouldn't keep our garden organic.  I also wasn't sure how well the strawberries would do after separation and they did have some blossoms on the plants before I took all the grass out and as irritating as the grass was it kept the plant safe through the winter.   How funny is that!  lol   We also had a slight freeze and lost the blossoms but the plants over all are doing well.   Here is a picture of last years growth and I'm hoping this year they will produce as well.

2011 strawberries - you can see the grass coming through.

I took so many pictures of last years gardening adventure though I was so busy I didn't get to post any.   I'm hoping this year I'll be able to share more of what I'd been doing.   

Sophie still loves the garden!

 I still have many things to plant and a long hot summer ahead.  The boots I bought sure have had a work out and are the easiest things to deal with.  Slip them on and off as I come through the door.  I'm still hoping to put my feet up soon ~

Just to let you know we have some grass that I do leave ~

FYI

Bermuda Grass or Wire Grass
Types of Grass / for lawns
Burnout Organic Weed Control  Just saw this and I'll have to check into it.

If you are a gardener and as you are taking care of your garden remember to take care of you. 

And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.  Isaiah 58:11 ESV