PICTURES! Not so many words this time!
Well, since I have worn us all out with the sheer length profundity of the last few posts, I thought I’d give us all a break by lightening the h*ll up sharing these lovely pictures.
Most mornings I take my coffee out to the deck, still in my nightgown, sporting a bed head ponytail and trailed by the Three Yappers. Once Phoebe and Thea figure out these isn’t any food in it for them they wander off, but Pip the Squeak, bless his scrawny, loyal little soul, glues himself to my side.
**I’m usually curled up on the love seat across from this chair and if Russ joins me, that’s where he sits:
**Here’s a close-up of that pepper plant. I love it, though I got greedy and woefully overcrowded the pot. Looks great, though, don’tcha think, all glossy green and jalapeno-y?
**From my cozy vantage point, accompanied by Pip the mouth breather, I can gaze at all of my flowerpots and deck boxes. They are looking a little end-of-summer tired (who isn’t?) so I enjoy them all the more because I know their days are numbered.
**Russ brought these dried chili peppers back from Santa Fe, he just loves them, says they remind him of his time there.
But as I serenely sip my coffee, there is a constant commotion going on over at the hummingbird feeder. OK, I will tell you the truth– I am the biggest pusher in the neighborhood of what is apparently the hummingbird equivalent of black tar heroin. When I first hung the feeder, I innocently mixed up the red nectar with a bit of a heavy hand– you know, the ‘if some is good, more is better’ philosophy. Before I knew it, I think the little suckers abandoned all of the local feeders in favor of mine, because I’ve got the hard stuff. They line up at the feeder, all jittery and wiping their noses with their sleeve, jockeying for position and elbowing each other out of the way. (Wait– do hummers have sleeves and elbows? Whatever, I’m trying to paint a picture here.) There are avian bar fights breaking out all over the place, and once they get all hopped up on nectar they start dive-bombing the Yorkies. I promise sincerely I never planned on turning them into junkies (“First taste is free my little ruby-throated friend, heh heh…”), but the entertainment value cannot be denied.
**Is there such a thing as hummingbird rehab?
So that’s my morning routine (on a good day)– tell me yours!
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My morning routine doesn’t have near the drama. I drink coffe, put on my make-up and sort of come up with a plan of action for the day’s work.
oh yes I also play peek-a-boo with my cat.
Did you know that there is a local nurse whose name just happens to be Peeka Boo. And she does work in an ICU. They don’t let her answer the phone.
I am always a day late and a $ short. Came in to post to your last blog (which I did – and by the way it was award winning! both your blog and the comments) and then I discover this new one! I love your deck! Don’t you just love those mornings out with your coffee? I try to sit on the back patio but some days I just can’t help myself and must sit in my wicker rocker on the front porch with coffee, newspaper and my little Zoe. Of course, where I sit always depends on what I have on for “jammies” ’cause I’m not changing until my coffee and the paper is fully read. Love your plants and your “junkie” hummers. We didn’t get around to putting out feeders this year but the hummers seem to love the hanging petunias and are always there imbibing. Love those peppers! You are using them, right?
As ‘Maxine’ said….. I”m out of bed, and I made it to the keyboard wshich is maybe three feet from the bed). What more do you want?
You wanna hear about MY morning routine??? Oh boy. It’s pretty pathetic. I don’t like to even talk about it. But I will.
When I first come awake, I reach over and feel the bed to see if my husband made it off to work. Yep, he’s gone. And I smell his after shave wafting from the bathroom. At least ONE of us is with it! Now, I just gotta get my bones moving. I put on my ratty old “duster”. (I once swore when I was young that I NEVER would be caught dead in one of those insipid flowery things! I shouldn’t have said that. NOW I probably WILL be found dead in it.) I stumble into the kitchen and put water on for tea. I painfully manuver the stairs (torn ligament in my ankle and arthitis in knees) to go down to Alanna’s room to see if she’s alive. (Sugar lows, you know.) She’s breathing…..color’s good. I go back up and make something for breakfast. I look at the diabetic diet on the fridge and see what’s allowed for breakfast—–2 carbs, 1 protein, 2 fruits, and 1 teaspoon of fat. I swear a little. Resist the urge to spit. Make one piece of toast, 1 tbl. peanut butter, some sugar free jam, two small fruits, and a cup of tea with stevia. I take this into the living room by the recliner. Go back and get a glass of water. Turn on the heating pad and put it behind my back to loosen up those stiff lower back muscles. Wrap my ankle so it won’t hurt. Take my diabetic pill, my blood pressure pill, and a baby aspirin in case I have a heart attack in that ratty flowered duster——so I won’t be found dead in it. I thank God for the pitiful little bit of food I’m allowed to eat, I reminise about breakfasts of long ago with biscuits, sausage gravy, scambled eggs with cheese and parsley, and fried apples. Then I thank God I’m still alive. Turn on Good Morning America and eat my breakfast. If I hesitate at any moment while eating, I may drift back off to sleep, so no dawdling. I’d go out to the deck to do this like Tori, but it’s too bright out there! The SUN’S out there, for heaven’s sakes! There’s a screened in porch off the kitchen that’s more shaded, but there’s a chipmunk family living underneath the porch that like to torment me. I took a picture of one last week sitting arrogantly on the step and just waiting for me to come out so he could say, “Na na na na na na! Can’t catch me!” I’d post it, but I don’t know how. I HATE CHIPMUNKS. And I don’t need their attitude first thing in the morning.
Well, anyway, about the time that G.M.A. is over, I’m coming out of my night coma, and realize there’s no getting around it—–I HAVE to shower and get dressed and DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING! Oh wait! I can go check out my computer and see what’s going on at this blog and a few other places …..and stall a little while longer.
You can tell I’m getting up there now in years——my favorite bookmarks on my PC are MedMD, The Diabetes Foundation, and DoYouHaveAlzheimers.com! Next, it’ll be Lawrence Welk Online.
Now, isn’t that pathetic? I wish I could say I sashayed out to the sun-drenched deck with my mocha latte, sat in my chaise lounge, and watched the birds playing merrily around me—–like in that Disney “Cinderella” movie. But it ain’t so. It’s more like “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”.
Linda – that’s NOT a pathetic morning routine1 It is a routine for you and if it works for you that is A OK. Even in your post about what you would choose us to believe about your abysmal mornings = it sounds wonderful to me! Any morning that you can awake and have tea/coffee and again acknowledge God’s greatness is a Great Morning! I love Chipmunks and love when those little boogers run (literally) across my feet.
Enjoy your mornings!
Gracious, Linda, how am I expected to follow after you and sound the least bit exciting? I know there’s another way of putting that but I’ve already moved on to having that cup of coffee on the deck. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Whether I do or don’t, one thing that is constant: my little Lucy is right there with me…..and I am in my nightgown….unless I have company. In which case I put on my clothes even before my shower because seeing an old woman first thing in the morning in nothing but her nightgown can be the reason people were advised to take a small baby aspirn every day.
About those humming birds….did you know they fly across the ocean to warm climates every year….and then return to the very same feeders the next summer? Positively amazing, at least to me, when you look at those tiny little things. No doubt, Tori, they are bringing back with them all of their families living in other countries. Next year your feeder may be known as the International Gateway to Pure Sugar for Hummers. And you will be asked to speak at the White House. (sounds a bit as if I went straight to the deck and forgot the coffee)
Oh no! Is there an immigration problem at the hummingbird feeder too? When will it end?
Sadly, my hummingbird feeders are empty this year. Oh, I have the good stuff in them, just no visitors, unless you count the bees.
Love your deck!
I tried to get my husband to look at the pictures of the hummingbirds, but he got caught up in the picture of the chili peppers.
I don’t know why this should be interesting but my morning routine looks like this:
I wake up about 5:30,I GET UP about 6:30.I make my way to the kitchen dodging the Beagle and St. Bernard that share my space. ( NOT my idea,BTW.) I find a mug large enough for all the coffee I’m gonna need–no dainty little cups will do. I put my neck wrap in the microwave to heat and take 2 Advil,wrap the thing around the back of my neck and wait for the Advil to kick in and the vertigo to lessen.(Major TMJ issues.) I power up my laptop to start reading the daily issues of all the on-line newspapers I read, mostly from places we have lived before. About 7:20 I call my son to wake up. He usually gets up fairly quickly, but has been known to fall asleep in the shower,so he requires monitoring.At some point he comes downstairs and glares at me while asking ‘ Where are my shoes/jeans/socks,etc?’
to which I always reply: ‘Well,the last time I wore your shoes I put them right back in your closet.’ He doesn’t find me all that funny first thing in the morning. When he has finally found all his items to be appropriately dressed, we head to the car. A few more questions,such as ‘ Did you brush your teeth?’ or ‘Do you have your homework?’ results in at least one more trip back in to the house.He says I nag. Once in the car he perks up and becomes more talkative.As we approach the drop-off place at school,I have either: 1.)rolled down my car window and threatened to ask a cheerleader if she thinks he’s cute, 2.)blinked my headlights at the Gothic kid who is moving like a snail in front of me or 3.)given the teacher directing traffic a high-five in the drop-off line.Needless to say, Matthew is bounding out of the car and into the school door. It’s nice to see that kind of enthusiasm for education! (I’ve never really asked the cheerleader anything but he seems convinced that I might.)I return home,laughing to myself, and wait for the inevitable phone call telling me he forgot his gym clothes.
Awesome deck Tori!!! Oh my, where do you find these characters though… I don’t know if I should be, but I’m laughing hysterically! You all are too funny!
I just got home from a jazz fest concert this evening (it’s late) so it might not be that great of a morning, but I’m too fired up/wired to sleep (Kim Waters sax “stuff” is still in my head-awesome!!)….
The alarm sounds at 6:30am – the mornings are a little cooler in PA now, so I may head out to the deck with orange juice and perhaps a donut or peanut butter toast in hand. All summer I’ve had a cardinal attacking my black suv in the mornings. So I go out on the deck sometimes to chase him away.. He thinks it’s his one huge mirror!!! Did I forget to fold my side view mirrors in… if I folded them in, the cardinal doesn’t always come, but if I forgot – by the time I get up and out to the deck he’s got my vehicle all “pooped-up”. I just don’t know what the attraction is to my vehicle… it’s been entertaining but come on!!
Well, I usually head for the door around 8am and hit the road for Harrisburg and an 8:30 start time… The drive in is kind of fun this time of year because school just started this week and all the “munchkins” are at the bus stops or I see the yellow buses rolling down the road. There is a little game I play in the garage where I park (it just adds entertainment to my mornings) It is amazing how people are creatures of habit. Big huge parking garage, but this small portion of about 8 parking spots gets you lined up for an easy out onto the lane leaving the garage. You don’t need to back out or deal with approaching traffic. So there is usually the same 10 cars jocking for those 8 spots… If i’m late one second I don’t get that spot. Mostly in my office my 8:35 – 8:40 (oops late again!) In a couple minutes my co-worker will pop in my office with his coffee in hand and we chat about what went on in our lives or with our families last evening and then we prepare for what work needs done that day… Well due to the Labor Day holiday our President is shutting the place down at 11am so I only have to work 2 1/2 hours but I guess I better think about getting some sleep anyway…
OH Tori, All of those beautiful peppers are just asking to be made into poppers and chili!!
My morning routine is not very exciting…
On school mornings, I wake up at 6:00 am. to wake up my 13 y/o ( she NEVER hears her alarm – I’m seriously considering getting that cool Helicoptor alarm clock – you know, the alarm shoots off the propellor and you have find it and put it back in place to make the alarm shut off!!)
My 16 y/o is already up and hopefully having a good hair and clothes day – makes for a much better morning . I then still proceed to my sons room to make sure he is awake – forgetting he left for college last week.. ( I did remember today – so proud of myself LOL)
I then throw lunches together,grab some breakfast – no coffee here… clean up breakfast dishes, start a load of laundry and pop on the computer for a few minutes before the 1 y/o that I babysit arrives at 7:30.
On weekends, I wake up a couple of hours before our first volleyball or soccer game and have some breakfast, start more laundry, go for a quick walk and off we go!
Ok, this is turning out to be even more fun than I anticipated! I am getting a real sense of who you are now that I can picture how you start your mornings. It’s like a Rorschach test!
Keep ‘em coming.
If you are the dealer for the hummingbirds, I must be the dealer for the Cardinals. There must have been a dozen of them on my feeder yesterday. And when it’s empty, they let me know by the racket they make. One of these days I’ll hopefully get a picture.
My morning routine – up at 6:00, so I can have a little quiet time before the 8 year old drama queen wakes up. (I laughed when I saw BrownEyedGirls comment about the 16 year old. I have the same issues and we haven’t reached the teen years yet!) I try to get one cup of coffee in before we kick into gear getting ready for school. Unfortunately it is too hot to sit on the deck most days. (Why is Rome GA hotter than Atlanta? Small town vs. big city – you would think it’s the other way around.) But at least I can watch the birds from my desk in the kitchen.
2nd cup of coffee, get ready for school (hoping for a drama free morning), and out the door by 7:40. Back home by 8:00 and hit the ground running. Not a very exciting morning routine, but maybe someday I’ll get to sit on the deck and enjoy my coffee out there. The birds probably won’t be too happy though.
Ok, so I do have one little tidbit of my morning. Actually, it begins the night before when I make a 32 ounce glass of good strong coffee with Spenda and put it in the frig. Then all I nheed to do is stagger to the kitchen, open the frig door, pour in some Silk and start my caffeine feeding of the morning. Cold and ready! Summer and winter! It is for the antioxidant benefit, you know.
OK my morning routine – do you mean on a workday or weekend?! LOL I don’t know if you actually want to know what my mornings are like before I go in to teach 120 kids. Oh well, I guess I’ll share.
Let’s see – after waking up about three times throughout the night (after dreaming I’m in the classroom choking the life out of that kid that was irritating the life out of me the day before) and looking at the clock to see how much time I have left to actually SLEEP before that aggravating alarm goes off at 6:15am (every minute of sleep counts), I finally will turn over and see that I have exactly 1 minute before the alarm actually IS going to sound. And God help it if it does because if I had a hammer, there would be no clock LOL. (A morning person, I’m not!) I get up and sit in the bed approximately 2 minutes and wonder if the school will call and say we have a 2-hour delay due to fog so I can catch at least another hour of sleep (Hey I can dream right? And it does happen on occasion) before I pull my sorry butt out of the bed and get dressed. By the time I am tying my tennis shoes on, I am at least halfway awake. By the time I make it to the breakfast table, I have to be sure to grab my lunch from the frig and put it with my bag or I’ll forget it and pass out around 2pm due to low blood sugar. I eat my breakfast and try to be civil to any member of the family that attempts to speak to me. LOL Then I rush out to my car, jump in, throw the bag and food on the passenger seat, buckle my seatbelt and I’m off for my 40 minute commute (one way) to school. By the time I get to Winfall, I’m usually awake and trying to make sure I’m actually ready to see these teens face to face with a smile.
Summer is better though – I can sleep in and rest and get up and do as I please.
Well, I am the host home to squirrel junkies–I get up around 6 each morning and slowly wander out to make sure they have food in their feeders (2 of them since they have gotten so greedy and were having squirrel fights) and make sure they have one ear of corn on that thingy you stick the ear of corn on.. The squirrels are jonesing and are usually sitting on the edge of the fence waiting for me..They are no longer skittish or scared of me—it is kind of the other way around now–if that food is NOT in its place, those little devils can actually become a bit violent and aggressive, so I feel like I may need to be on the watch out for a major squirrel attack if I am not quick enough….After I give the squirrels their “fix” for the day, I wander back inside for a coca-cola (don’t do coffee) and the newspaper….Then I usually spend a little bit of time watching the squirrels go crazy over all the food—No kidding–those things are WILD!! Oh yeah–we have 1 hummingbird–no-where near as beautiful as your hummingbirds, Tori–but I could take a picture of some feasting squirrels that would make ya weep—nothing much major after all that—I’ve already done “the get the kid ready for school” thing and the “get ready for work” thing-the kid is grown and I am retired-so now I am free to enjoy my days and if I need to take a nap after making the squirrels happy–so be it–I take a nap-I have only been reading this blog for a week, but you guys have grabbed my interest and I really enjoy reading what each of you have to add to Tori’s blog..I have NO idea how I got here, I don’t have a blog and don’t anyone else who has one–I don’t even know how to find blogs, I usually just lurk here– read and go on with my day….but this is the 2nd time I have replied.WOW!
Yay Tammy! Keep coming back! We had a ton of squirrels at our old house, and they made me decidedly anti-squirrel. They ‘re rats with good PR, my old friend used to say! But they ARE funny to watch.
meb– we used to have a cardinal at our lake cabin that dive-bombed one of the windows again and again until it bloodied its beak. They are very territorial– and stupid!
themema– i do love my cup of coffee in the morning but I have never been able to do the cold coffee thing. Madi does sometimes, but I like it so hot it almost burns my lips off.
gracelynn, I totally wake up right before the alarm every morning!
You take really beautiful pictures. Your deck looks wonderful, I would much rather spend a relaxing morning there than in my usual routine which goes a little something like this:
Alarm goes off at 5 am. Hit the snooze button till 6 am. Get up at six (late – really need to start getting up at 5) Jump in the shower, rush through a coffee, dress, then get the kids up. The rest of the morning is spent wrangling kids into the clothes, make sure they have all their gear for the day, and then get them to where they need to be. Get to work by 8:15 (late again!) Promise to get up early tomorrow morning. Repeat.
(Thanks for posting on my little blog by the way. You made my day!)
O.k. Tori, Meb, anyone – Let’s network here… trying to find out how I can keep this crazy cardinal from attacking my vehicle every morning! I’ve watched him dive bomb my windows, my mirrors, my nice shiny black vehicle. I love God’s creatures and always thought cardinals were very pretty but now, I ** I ** dare I say it… I hate this little guy! I’ve tried to chase him away with the hose (one time at 7 in the morning-in my bath robe) only ended up entertaining the neighbors, I bet… I fold in my side view mirrors (when I don’t forget), that seems to be the main attraction, and I even had a rotted out tree removed from my yard (not because of him) but I was sure he was nesting in it… nope, he’s still back! My cousin offered to send one of his friends here with a pellot gun to pick him off – but I’m not into violence, expecially when the blood shed would be all over my black shiny suv. Either that or the missed shots!!
Easy! Get a cat, but put a bell around it’s neck so it can chase the bird off, but not catch it and eat it!
Or….cover your car with mud so it’s not shiny anymore and it won’t attract the narcissistic Cardinal! Go mug bogging or something. I think the cat is easier and cleaner.
I was going to suggest a car cover; but that would be too easy. How about going to a pet shop and bringing home another cardinal. The idea being his or her attention would be taken off your shiny black car. But then, what would you buy: a her or a he? Shucks, buy a whole bunch of them and they all will be so busy getting to know one another or you can sell your car and donate the money to someone writing a book on why cardinals like black shiny cars.
Thanks Linda B. and Barbara for the advice… I did think about borrowing the neighbors cat or even getting a cover but that’s not actually “too easy” – that would just be a pain. Takin that thing off and on all the time… na! in my heart I would love to have a garage but that ain’t happening any time soon. (One can dream though)
This cardinal is red so I do believe it is the male gender. The female cardinal is brown (I believe)
I don’t know – I do believe this is not just a “me” problem. I’ve just never seen this before. I know there is only ever one cardinal at my vehicle when ever I look out, but I think there is just a plethora of these “dive bombing” birds around this area, this year, for some reason. As I drive through other neighborhoods I see towels over side view mirrors and mirrors bagged! Is there something in the weather this year or what? Happy holiday!
Rockin Robyn
Yes , the females are brown. I actually just talked about that to my Sunday school class this past week. The male birds have such beautiful colors and the females are grayish or brown- plain and ordinary. The kids wondered why the girls aren’t beautiful . I recently learned at a bird sanctuary that the females are plain so that they can hide from prey while protecting their babies. God is so clever :o)
Oh my goodness, I did know that the male birds are colorful and that the female birds are dull in color….for the very reason of being hidden from prey. Somehow that formula became a little distorted for humans. At our previous home, there was one year when bluejays would dive into our glass doors on the lower level of our home….but not into those on the upper level, even though the doors both were on the back of the house. You’ve heard the expression, “It knocked the p..p right out of him?” Well, it litterally did knock it out of those birds. But they kept on flying into that glass door. We could hear them hit the glass. Then I started closing the drape over the door and this slowed down the dive bombers. I hope it is encouraging for you to know that this happened only one summer….but all summer long.