Hummers, Hosta Flower & No Curtain Yet!

A rare, split second two hummingbirds share the same feeder

A rare, split second two hummingbirds share the same feeder

I am still dragging my feet on making the curtains for the Casita’s new door window.  It’s because I don’t have enough fabric to do what I want to do, and I know I will not be happy with the result.

Spotting the enemy

Spotting the enemy

What I want to do with my brown and white striped fabric is make deep pleats so that the pleats will be solid brown, with the stripes visible on the rest of the panel.  However, I am going to have to make shallow pleats that will show a white stripe in the top border.  It really shouldn’t matter since they will only be up at night for privacy.

Anyway, I will have to get them done this coming week because we are planning to go camping July 22.

I had not planned to put up my hummingbird feeder this year since we hope to be gone so often.  But the other day I was sitting out on the back deck when a hummingbird flew right up to me and hovered in my face.  I thought he may have remembered that there was a feeder there last year.

Another brief moment of two hummingbirds at the feeder before the battle ensued.  :)

Another brief moment of two hummingbirds at the feeder before the battle ensued. 🙂

The hosta is finally blooming again!

The hosta is finally blooming again!

So I went inside, boiled sugar water, let it cool, and rehung the feeder.  The next morning two of the little birds were back performing their aerial dogfights, running into each other, chest bumping, and all the other hilarious, mean things they do to keep the others away from THEIR feeder.

I might have considered the hummingbird “telling” me to fill the feeder a fluke if it weren’t for another episode a few years ago.  At that time, we kept the feeder out front where we sat in the shade in late afternoons.  One day I heard the most insistent chattering.  I looked up, and a little hummingbird was looking right at me, jumping up and down on the branch, chattering angrily and loudly — pitching a temper tantrum, it appeared.

So I went inside, filled the feeder, and as soon as I rehung it, the little hummer made a beeline for it.

spiny puffball-sm

Lycoperdon americanum. One of my finds last week. It would have been edible if I had found it sooner.

It’s so funny to realize that such a tiny bird can communicate and tell me what to do!

My hosta has not bloomed in several years, probably due to the drought.  But this year, to my surprise, it’s blooming again!

The main reason I haven’t posted in the past week is that, since our drought is in the past, mushrooms are popping up everywhere!  I spend hours photographing them, taking spore prints, processing the photos, poring through my books and the net trying to identify them, then posting them on my mushroom board for ID confirmation.

So far I am thrilled with how well I am doing at IDing them.  I almost always get them in the right genus, and often get them down to specific species.  It’s like solving puzzles to me, and I really love learning those little guys’ names!

Lake Seminole at Eastbank is GORGEOUS!

I remembered the lakefront sites as having no trees or privacy when I was here before.  WOW!  Can't believe how badly I mis-remembered it!

I remembered the lakefront sites as having no trees or privacy when I was here before. WOW! Can’t believe how badly I mis-remembered it!

Today there was a light overcast all day which kept the temperatures down and also made it possible to take photos at midday.

eastbank3When we were here before, all I remembered was that we had absolutely no privacy and that we felt we were on-stage in full view of several RVs in the next loop.  And our patio area had no shade.  We were camped between two groups who were camping together and who constantly called and walked across our site.  I couldn’t wait to leave.eastbank4

When I walked through the park today I was stunned.  It looked exactly as it did before, but what a difference in my perspective!  Maybe I didn’t feel well during our previous stay here.  Or maybe I wasn’t in a great mood.  In any case, this place is stunningly beautiful!

I’m sure we’ll be back sometime, but next time I’ll choose a lakefront site again.  Just not the one we had before.  🙂

Walkway from road to Loop A

Walkway from road to Loop A

But for the time being, our site tucked way back in the corner is marvelous for us.  I am reveling in the privacy of being able to read and lounge outside without feeling like I’m being watched — even though our front site is clearly visible from two other RV’s across the loop, it just FEELS private.

I was even able to let the dogs off leash for a while today.  Sunny always instantly obeys voice commands (except for Don’t Bark!).  Sheba usually obeys if it suits her.  But today, every time she would wander away from the campsite, I’d whistle and she would instantly come.  One time she went behind the truck and decided to take off down the street.  I called her, and she hesitated for a second, deciding whether to obey or not.  Then she decided to keep going.  But the instant I whistled, she raced back toward me.

Part of Loop A

Part of Loop A

I gave her a big treat… and then tied her up again for a while.  🙂

I found my first edible mushrooms of the season this afternoon — spring agaricus.  They are white mushrooms with free gills, with a sheath-like ring.  The gills turn from pink to brown as the mushroom matures, and leave a dark chocolate brown spore print.  They have a pleasant mushroomy scent, and there is no yellow at the base of the stem and they do not bruise yellow.  I kept them and took a spore print, just to be absolutely sure of my identification.  But I didn’t eat them because the grass was so green.  I figured the lawn had probably been fertilized and I didn’t want to eat fertilizer.  But it was a thrill to find my first good mushrooms of the season!

Flowers along the bank between the boat launch and the campground

Flowers along the bank between the boat launch and the campground

We took Sheba down to the boat launch and let her play in the water.  She wanted to go out deeper, so Ron waded out, shoes and all, with her.  One of our camping neighbors told us he took his dog down there and threw sticks way out for him to retrieve.  If I weren’t paranoid about alligators this far south, I’d do the same.  But that will have to wait until we are farther north out of alligator habitat.

It’s been a gorgeous day.  I’m so glad we decided to come here!

Sheba at the boat launch

Sheba at the boat launch

Tent sites by the boat launch

Tent sites by the boat launch

Spring agaricus

Spring agaricus

Spider hunting ants under mushroom cap.

Spider hunting ants under mushroom cap.

A larger spring agaricus

A larger spring agaricus

Maybe he's enforcing the No Wake rule? :)

Maybe he’s enforcing the No Wake rule? 🙂

Sunset from our campsite

Sunset from our campsite

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