Our charm of Humminbirds

Did you know that a group of hummingbirds is called a charm?  I did not either.  But that is what we have.
Over the last several weeks we have noticed an increase in the number of hummingbirds that have been feeding at our two feeders on our back deck.  We were used to seeing about 4 or 5 birds at a time and usually they would be chasing each other away from the feeders and around the trees in our backyard.
Like I said we have had an increase to those before seen numbers.  We now estimate that we have about a dozen hummingbirds coming around.  This has caused the need for us to increase the number of times we are required to refill each feeder as well.  We are now filling the small green feeder 3x each week and the large brown one once a week and they still run dry.

These birds sure like our home-made sugar water!   

About two weeks ago while my best-friend M was visiting I looked out the window and for the first time saw four birds all sitting and drinking from the feeder at the same time.  Previously the most that could share and eat at the same time was two. I was amazed.
Since then every evening at just about sundown they all come in to feed.  About 12 of them!  It is so fun, and a little scary to watch them buzz around swooping and diving at high speed.  Another bit of trivia for you, Hummingbirds can fly at up to 35 mph!  Who knew!
Nathan and I often go out and sit on our swing while Jasper wanders through the backyard exploring each grass blade and weed that he can find.  We sit and talk about the day and watch the sun go down and the hummingbirds fly.  It is one of my favorite ways to end the day.

If the birds continue to increase at this rate I think that we will need to invest in another feeder or two next year.

Nathan took all of the photos on the right last Sunday night.

I took this video tonight to prove that we do actually have about a dozen birds.  Right about the 1 minute mark they really start crowding the feeder.  Good luck trying to get an accurate count, these birds are speedy.

Button, Button, who has one of our Buttons?

As another way to spread the word of our desire to become adoptive parents we now have buttons available on our blog for other bloggers to post on their blogs. 
I have to admit prior to creating my own buttons, the concept of blog buttons was pretty foreign to me.  I had seen cute buttons on other blogs but I had not known what their function was or how to use them.  I am still learning. 
For those of you who are new to blog buttons here is one bloggers definition of what a blog button is: http://www.mommymentionables.com/mommy-blogging/blog-button/

After hours of internet searches and many unsuccessful attempts I am now the proud creator of three of our own "hoping to adopt" blog buttons.  You can see all three on the right side-bar of this blog. 

Please if you have a blog 'grab' one of our buttons so that others who see your blog may learn about us as well. 

Thank You.

Happy Tuesday!!!

Watermellon for Horses

Last night while grocery shopping we picked up a watermelon to give to Nate's horse Buck.  Buck and his buddy Budger (Nate's fathers horse) love watermelon and we wanted to give them a little treat.

Nathan cut it in half so each horse could have their own piece. 

They were very excited and vocal when the smelled him walk up with the fruit.

Just because we brought two pieces doesn't mean that they didn't try to both eat off the same half for a while.

Buck finally was able to brake a small piece off for himself and it was funny to watch him try to break it into smaller bits he could swallow.

Budger was a pro.  He figured out how to use his lower teeth to scrap the red center off the rind. 

Buck eventually got tired of fighting Budger for the small pieces and went over to his own feed trough, only to find to his surprise there was a whole other half waiting there just for him.
The watermelon ended up all the way at the bottom of the hay as Buck tried to eat it so Nate was a nice guy and fished it out for him so he could reach again.

 Nathan hand feeding Buck a piece of fruit.  Buck is a very shy horse and doesn't like to be around many people.  He only comes willingly close to Nathan and our 5 year old niece Katie.

While they were eating we noticed that Buck had thrown one of his shoes earlier that day.  So Nate and his dad trimmed up the hoof so it wouldn't get damaged.

 Finally after the watermelon was completely eaten and the hoof trimming was done, Nate did Bucks very favorite thing.  Nate turned on the hose and sprayed Buck down with water.  We always tease that Buck is half-moose because he loves water.  He is constantly splashing the water out of the trough making a puddle that he can play in. 

Buck spins around and around as you spray him. He loves being wet all over.
As you can see Budger wants no part of the water action and he stays well away from the reach of the hose.

Friday Night = Date Night = Fishing

Yesterday we made it out to the lake to go fishing for the first time this year.  We had tried on other occasions to go fishing but those trips never made it all the way to the lake. One time we ended up stuck in traffic in the canyon for over an hour before we finally turned around and headed for home.  I am happy to say this time we were successful in our travels.
 

Nathan getting the tackle all set-up.

It was a beautiful day to spend outdoors.





Proof that I 'can' bait my own hook.  I just prefer not to get my
 fingers covered in stinky power bait.



Relaxing, watching the water and our poles.



Those of you who have seen our adoption profile on itsaboutlove.org
will recognize the photo we recreated here.  I have to say it is pretty freaky
having a craw-dad that close to your face.



Nathan, never serious when we take picture.



Beautiful ending to a great day.