Check out the hummingbirds fighting!

I managed to capture this great little video of the activity that has been going on all day outside my window. 3-4 hummingbirds at a time are fighting over the feeder, mostly females. All of the ones in this video are gals - very fiesty gals.

See how they fan out their tailfeathers, to make themselves look big and menacing. They sometimes hit the window or bang into the feeder when fighting. I sometimes feel bad that they are fighting, but it's just the way that they are. We have 9 feeders out in our front and back yards, so it's not like they are starving. But this one seems to be the busiest, although fights break out now and then at each of the other feeders. Maybe this one is popular because it's up on a 2nd floor window with lots of tree branches nearby. You can see them sitting in the branches watching the feeder for invaders.

The video is 1-1/2 minutes, and I thinks it's pretty cool. I am now a wildlife photographer/videographer.

That weird orb/UFO that you see is the ceiling light behind me, reflected in the window.

And the winner is . . . Talented!

So I put the names of everyone who signed up for the drawing on little pieces of paper, put them in a box and pulled out a winner. And the winner is Kate! Thanks to everyone who signed up. It was fun to put together this giveaway, and I'll do another little goodie box giveaway like this again.
So, being the nosey gal that I am, I checked out who this Winning Kate gal was and found out that she is a talented artist, with several shops on etsy.

Check out these super cute and fun Flappers Eloise & Ramona at http://www.flapperdoodle.etsy.com/




And her Movie Star artwork at http://www.silentsandtalkies.etsy.com/



Plus you can Check out Her Profile - for information about her other shops, and the shops of her talented family!

Hydrangeas make me happy

I had a grumpy moment yesterday and the hydrangeas cheered me up. My parents have a Summer rental at the shore. Most rentals are handled by the realtor, but some my Dad does himself. They are mostly friends-of-friends and he never makes the people pay up front, he lets them pay the day their rental starts (I know, but it's his house, so it's his way)
Anyway, I clean between tenants on Saturdays and I spend the weekend in the efficency cottage out back. The people renting the house this week have been renting for a few years and they know that I'm staying out back and that they are supposed to pay me. Do they bring the rent money out to me? No.
So Sunday before I leave, I go knocking on the door to get the rent. I'm feeling grumpy, because I shouldn't have to chase these people down for the rent. No one answers the door - but I can hear the tv! I knock and knock, but no one comes to the door. So I go stomping down the porch steps bitching and complaining in my head, and I pass the garden. That's when I catch sight of my pretty, pretty hydrangeas. Instant cheer. So I cut some to bring home with me, and put them in a pretty vase on my desk.
These are my favorite colors for hydrangeas - pale lavender, blue and green, I love the varying shades.



I'm going back tonight for the rent. All day I've been trying to figure out how to let them know that I'm pissed, without being rude.

***Update - the rent has been paid, and I was very polite.