Do You Feel Lucky?

Today was a very good day for working in the yard. It was a
little windy, but the temperature was just right. Didn't need a
jacket or a sunbonnet.I got a lot of work done in my yard, but
things grow so fast during this time of the season, things will
need redoing again next week.I don't know if my body will hold
up for another round. Pop complains about me killing myself
over the yard and flowers.I do it every year. It's not like this
was the first time.I remember for many years, when I was still
working, and the time would change, it would stay daylight
longer, and I would work in the yard until 10:00 at night. I would
be so sore the next day, I felt I could not possibly get out of bed,
but as usual, I did, and all was fine.

I worked with my pergola today. I have had it for about 10 years,and most years,it gets neglected. My brother,Jerry, stayed with us for a little while and he helped with a lot of building projects.I sure miss not having someone to build whatever I want or need to be built.That is one reason I am so glad I found E & H Cabinets.They will come in handy for building little things for me.They do custom building of cabinets and the like.


Right now I am having trouble with my Purple Martin set up. The wind has been so bad, I can't put up my big apartment house on the pole that I had planned to use. Howie, our friend and neighbor, has Martins, and he says the house doesn't need to be that high.We had only used that pole originally, because it was already there for the CB antenna, but it was a pain to get the house up and down from the tall pole. I don't have a hoist system for it.(But, I would love to have one someday. I'll put that on my wish list.)I guess in a perfect world, you and your spouse would love all the same things and you'd have no problem getting all the necessary things needed to get the job done. Pop and Howie are hashing the situation over as to what we need to do, and they have decided to wait another day and put the house up on a really tall cedar post, and attach it to the corner of the shop.It would be much easier to raise and lower it, when the time comes to clean and maintain the house, but now the question is, Will the Martins come to it?They are a picky lot. It is unreal, all the tricks I have tried to get them to drop in and stay.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch......Howie went home and another neighbor friend, Steve, stopped by, just in time to assist Me and Pop in putting the Martin house up on a 15 foot cedar pole. We decided to attach it to an existing post at the corner of a dog run,that use to hold our latest, but deceased beagle,Zoe.I was a little leery of him attaching it to THAT pole since my wisteria is just now in bloom and more so than it has been in years. Nevertheless, since I know the wisteria is so hardy, I agreed to let him put it there.It's nearly 9 o'clock P.M., and the Martin house is up.I really do believe they should like it there. Only time will tell. We will have to wait till tomorrow and see if they drop by once more. I did put nesting materials in several of the gourds and in the house nests. My sister, Vicki, sent me a link on Martins, and that was one of the tips to try to draw them in.Another was to smear some mud around the entrance holes, but I never got to that before putting them up. This business of trying to lure Martins in to our site is hard work. Who would have thought. Some folks have no problem attracting them. They just come. Then others have to go to extreme measures to lure them in, and sometimes, nothing works. Maybe this will be our lucky year on attracting the Purple Martins to our home.We should know one way or another, soon. You'll be the first to know if they move in, so stay tuned.