Rough week

I tripped and made a mess of my leg.  And then there was an all-day conference.  Today was really the first day I was able to enjoy the outdoors.  I was fascinated yesterday by the orchard spider in the azalea outside the kitchen.  It doubled its size since I last noticed it.  It was hard to get a good angle on the critter.  Yesterday was also very windy and some bugs were blown against the windows.  

Today was breezy, warm and sunny, and just delightful outside.  The mountain mint was getting ready to bloom.  The gladiolus were competing with the roses for redness and the milkweed matched the daylilies for orange.There were yellow daylilies too.  And there were yellow goldfinches.  A male goldfinch and a male house finch got a little testy.  

Blue jays rejoiced that I refilled the barkbutter dishes.  One snatched a crop-full while I sat next to it.  A bluebird ate seeds.  A night heron flew over, changed its mind, and flew back.  A skink almost eluded me and a tiger swallowtail got completely away.  Bees and wasps were busy as always.