Back at the Aerie

A busy couple of days since our return from the west.

I needed to cut the grass. After three weeks away it was a bit brushy. Terry did some food shopping and the laundry before cleaning up the flower bed by the front door.

Then the vegetable gardens needed weeding. Got one done on Saturday before the loss of fluids had me feeling lightheaded and woozy. That caused me to call it quits. This morning (Sunday) I got another weeded and finished the third this afternoon.

Everything needed watering. We received only 1.25 inches of rain over the three weeks we were out west. The long term forecast doesn't promise much for the next week, either.

******

Saturday I was surprised by and surprised a black bear who came out onto the lawn in the middle of the afternoon. It was our friend the young male. He's about 3+ years old and looks to be around 250-300 pounds. Which is plenty big enough from 20 yards away. Luckily, he's pretty shy and took off with little more than a few shouts. He didn't go swiftly, but steadily, which was fine by me.

******

This morning I woke at 4:30 AM still feeling the effects of the dehydration. The birds were pretty darn active too. A very loud Indigo Bunting was followed by an equally loud Eastern Towhee. They were followed by a persistent Chester the Cat imploring someone to get up and feed him--and the girls too, if you must. So I was up and about by 5 AM. If they double team me again Monday morning it might be time to get the shotgun out--or send Chester and the girls out to catch some birds.