They are back!!

The hummingbirds arrived yesterday!! We've had a feeder up for about 2 weeks now just waiting for them. Yesterday morning I was sitting at the table when I heard the familiar buzz and there he was--beautiful little jewel!! JMM put up the second feeder because there will be more coming through. Before the summer is over we will have 4 feeders up. Good thing I bought a 10 lb. bag of sugar.

All is well--the swallows are back and building their nest under the eaves of the porch and now the hummingbirds. I am so thankful for these beautiful birds.

Sleep Study

I have an appointment tonight for a sleep study. I have used a CPAP for the past 4 years and it has helped me so much. Now it is time to do a re-titration to make sure that it is still at the correct setting and check out a couple of other sleep problems that I have. It is not as easy as hopping into bed at the sleep center for a good night's sleep. To begin with, there are all the wires attached to your scalp, chest, and legs. These are annoying enough on their own but, oh my, what a problem it is if you need to get up and go to the bathroom as I usually do in the night. The technician has to detach the wires from the monitor, bundle them up so that you can carry them with you, and then reattach them once you get back to bed. Then there is the not-sleeping-in-my-own-bed problem of pillows and temperature and light and someone watching you while you sleep. It's a wonder that anyone sleeps at all during a sleep study.

However, I must say that having the CPAP which allows me to get a good night's sleep is worth every bit of it!

Defiance

I watched a really good Netflix movie this evening, Defiance. It is the true story of Tuvia and Zus Bielski who led a group of Jews into the forest of BelaRussia for 3 years during the Nazi invasion and occupation. By the end of the war, the group numbered 1200. Amazingly, after the war the brothers immigrated to New York City where they operated a trucking company for 30 years. Just an amazing story.

Curtains

I am leaning toward making the curtains for the living room and dining room myself. I just don't want to spend the money that it would take to have custom draperies made. I've made curtains before and it's not that hard. I will make simple lined rod and pocket curtains. I will get the measurements today, look for hardware at Home Depot, and check out fabric at Cloth World.

BTW, I can cross the ceiling fans off my WTHIPO list. They were installed yesterday and if I say so myself, they look perfect. The WTHIPO list item for April will be replacing the cracked window.

The Sham Recovery

Robert Reich and I have our differences but he is right on the mark about the "recovery":

http://robertreich.org/

Spring

Oh my, Spring has arrived and my garden is in shambles. I never even got around to pruning the roses much less ordering any new roses. JMM has been out this morning pulling weeds. He left one giant thistle just to see how big it will get. Our three gorgeous plumeria are dead from the unusually long hard freezes we had this winter. The lavender is fine and we did put in 6 more; I'm tempted to turn the whole bed into lavender since it thrives in our climate, requires little care, attrracts bees and hummingbirds, and smells devine. Roses and lavender--heaven on earth. Got to get my gardening act together.
The goldfinches are gone but we have seen the first barn swallow. No hummingbirds yet but one feeder is filled and hung so that any hungry hummingbirds on their way back from Guatemala can refresh themselves.

Census Irritation

We received our census form today. Essentially there were 4 questions :
1. Names
2. Age / Birthdates
3. Are we of Hispanic heritage?
4. What race are we?

I really wish that 1/2 of the information collected was not about ethnicity/race. I think it is irrelevant; we are Americans.