Springtime on the Porch

I love this time of year. The earth is greening; flowers are blooming, birds are singing, and the temperature is not too cold, not too hot for the most part.

I saw on Facebook a couple weeks ago that people hereabouts were seeing hummingbirds. So, I had two very small hummingbird feeders that I put out to see if mine had returned. The little feeders don’t go where the big feeder goes. So, I put them out, and one was consumed by ants, while the other seemed to disappear to evaporation. I saw no birds.

Then, one day, I was passing by the kitchen window where the feeder normally hangs, and I saw one. I hurried to the cabinet, found the big hummingbird feeder, filled it and put it out. My friends are slowly returning. It’s so much fun to watch the little bundles of energy as they hover around the feeder.

This morning I was looking out the window while I made my coffee. There, sitting on the tomato cage below the feeder, was the prettiest, chubbiest little hummingbird I’ve seen lately. It did not have red around it’s neck, so it may have been one just passing through, not one that summers here. I’ll keep watching.

I bought petunias to plant at my home and office. I am never sure how many I need, and I usually don’t plant until about Mother’s Day weekend. But the weather had been so warm, and many of my pansies were looking pitiful, so I went ahead. Well, I think I got carried away with my order. Anybody need a hanging basket?

I may be able to use them all, I’ve just been hesitant to dump the pansies that are still looking good. Once I do, that will free up at least three planters. Of course, I think I have nearly a dozen plants left. I don’t know how I estimated so wrong, except I didn’t realize when I ordered them how big they were.

When I get smaller plants I put three in a basket. These are big plants, and one fills up the basket. Especially when you figure it’s going to grow and expand. I’ll figure something out.

I love sitting on my front porch and watching the sun set. It’s a beautiful view. I praise God for the beautiful vista he has provided. And, I also thank the late Bill Bailey who sold us the property where our house sits. Bill was a good man, and I think we found the perfect location.

When Jimmy and I were planning to be married, we began looking for a house to begin our life together in. I wasn’t moving to his home in Stockbridge, and felt it would be superior to find a place that was ours together rather than him moving in with me.

Jimmy loves the outdoors, and had no objection to moving to Monticello where he had nearly an hour’s drive to work. It was worth it to be in this great county.

So we looked and looked. We couldn’t find the right house. Then Bill offered to sell us some land and build us a house. We jumped on the offer. I asked my dad’s brother who is an architect to draw up some house plans, which he did, and then Bill built the house.

It’s been home now for nearly 18 years. I told one of the contractors if they had built the porch first, they could have skipped building the house. Obviously that’s not true, but it is a nice porch to sit on.

So, if you ride by, wave…not that I can see you, but you can bet there’s a good chance I’m sitting on the front porch passing the time.