We've had quite a rainy week, although fortunately no big, flooding downpours, but after today it looks like it's going to be clear sailing for a while. 

Looks like next week Saturday it might get to 87F?!

                                          

In between rain-showers I still managed to get some walks in, and was able to get a few shots of the pretty little birds that have returned from the south.

   

I love these Lazuli Buntings, blue is such a special color on a bird isn't it? They'll (hopefully) have 3 or 4 eggs and will hang around until September.

This next bird that's hanging around the rivers edge, is a Bullock's or Northern Oriole:

  

They also winter in Mexico and come here to breed around May. 
Funny enough I took a picture of a nest this winter and didn't know from which bird it was:

                                

I now realize it's theirs! 'Deep, pendant baskets' says my guide .. check! (complete with some incorporated fishing-wire!)
Besides insects and seeds these birds love fruits, including oranges and sometimes grapes.
Apparently they will readily come to a dish filled with grape jelly, so when I go grocery shopping this afternoon I'll pick some up!

'My' screech owls and their brood have been a thrill to watch for the last couple of weeks, but I'm afraid they have 'flown the coop' (or barn in this case) because I haven't seen any of them for a couple of days now ..

                    

 

Aren't they the cutest? I'm so happy all three have made it!

The guys are still working on the last of the electricity and other small bits and pieces. 
Since this doesn't take all three of them, Austin could start working on trimming trees together with Sam (the owner), who's still here.

              

They were working on the bottom branches with the tractor and makeshift 'basket' and Don took the tops with his big boy toy.

This all gave James time to figure out how much roof and siding he needs, and trying to get bids from suppliers.
It's quite expensive stuff so you don't want to make a mistake in ordering ..

 

He could use a bigger 'office' for all the paperwork, 

but he's making it work!

And than there was this:

 

He so badly wanted his treat, some chicken baby-food, but that flame ..

Our sweet baby turned 17 last Friday! Who'd thought? Deaf and diabetic, he has traveled all over the US, lost some teeth, got his ear ripped and is a little stiff in the hips, but he's still with us.
He's fun, sweet and a trooper and I hope there will indeed be 'many more'!

The RV by the way has him beat and is 20 years old by now, and not too surprisingly every now and than something 'bites the dust' ..

This time the water-heater sprung a leak, or a crack, or something, and water found it's way down and out, and started dripping below the RV.

      

Yeah, unfortunately that's not patch-able, and a new one has been ordered already. $425, cha-ching!

It'll arrive somewhere next week, and although we still have (cold) water, I'll be happy to have my warm water back! Maybe we'll be lucky (nah, we?) and it'll get here sooner ..

Fortunately we can shower and do laundry in 'the house' next door.

And last but not least .. it's official now:

My flights to Amsterdam for June have been cancelled.
I guess we all knew it was coming, but it's a disappointment nevertheless.
Delta still flies to Holland from Atlanta and Detroit but you have to have a 'legit' reason to enter the country (either a deadly illness or death of close family. Let's knock on wood!).
As long as I didn't hear anything, and with things changing almost every day, restrictions easing up and even being lifted, I still had some hope .. oh well ..

I'm now hoping for August or September .. we'll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime I think I'm going to ask for a refund instead of a voucher, that way I can fly with any airline when things are opening back up.

 

Here's some local wild flowers, well, mostly wild but all local,

just in time for mothers' day!

 It definitely was a mothers' day to remember:

Oh yeah, that one ..

On Saturday we drove to Grangeville where we met with Pat and Sam, to visit yet another property they own over there.

 

The canola fields were starting to flower. In a couple of weeks this whole 'prairie' will be a bright yellow!

The reason for going, was the fact that there's a lot of old 'stuff' laying around the property, and they'd like to preserve some of it to use as accent features in the new house.

                   

There's a lot of old wood from collapsed barns and rusty metal from some old cars ..

 Faded glory ..

Wagon wheels, door handles, old farm equipment, anything is fair game!
I think the plan is to move some of the wood fairly soon, but to wait with the metal until Ronnie will come over in August, since he's the one who has some specific ideas about using it ..

So far we had beautiful weather, but we're having a little more rain at the moment and according to the forecast we're going to have a lot more of it in the coming 2 weeks.
It's probably a good thing since we're a little on the dry side ..

                            
These are apricots, from the only such tree on the property. 
It is heavy with fruit but dropping some also, and I'm afraid that is because it is too dry. Let's hope enough stay on!
I've bought some tomatoes, zucchini and cilantro, which are looking great but of course I'm watering them:

Cilantro

I sowed some (leaf) lettuce in all of these pots too, right next to the plants.
Hopefully some of it will come up!

I also couldn't resist buying a beautiful hanging basket with trailing pink surfinias, and the wild rose next to the RV has exploded with hundreds of yellow flowers, like it does every year according to Pat!

The birds are busy defending their territory and, I expect, sitting on eggs or maybe already having chicks ..

A Chuckar (partridge), such a beautiful bird! They can have up to 40 (!) eggs over the summer, laid in clusters ..

  

A Lazuli Bunting and a female Lesser Goldfinch (I think).

Lately I've been reading about a disturbing side effect of the Covid-19 virus ... Corona-kilos. 

It's a thing!

No clue though as where they're coming from ..

It's a mystery!?

Like I keep saying, my brain is still too befuddled at the moment to do anything too intelligent, but besides reading and going for walks I manage to do some puzzling.
I just finished this one, it's a fun one .. except for that cotton field at the top!

 

James, of course, is totally not affected by anything that's going on (he doesn't really think about it, or so he says), and has been productive as usual.
It doesn't look as spectacular as any of the previous work, since a lot of it is done under the floor and/or in the walls, but the electric is mostly done, and the water lines and the plumbing pipes are almost in ..

Tomorrow the AC/Heating guys will be here to start working on putting in all the ducts.

In the meantime, Pat and Sam have been collecting some stone and rocks from the back of the property, which are going to be used around the fireplace.
You can see some of them in the picture below ..

It's going to be a puzzle  .. but fun to do!

Also, Don has delivered a load of freshly milled wood, that he cut from an old tree up in the canyon, which he took down last Fall. 
It is going to be used inside as well, but needs to dry a little more before it can be used ..

Well, there you have it, another exciting week in the live of the Hess's! 

To be continued 

The hummingbirds are back! This little beauty is a Rufous Hummingbird and he's fiercely defending 'his' (our) feeder against any intruders!

And since we're at the topic of birds, here is a shot of one of the baby Screech Owls, who already have started to leave the nest for some short test-flights in the safety of the barn ..

                                        

                        They're growing like weeds!                                 

Once again I've climbed yet another hill to get a different view of the neighborhood! 
This is a little further up the canyon, where you have a great view of both sides, this is looking to the left...

And the next one is .. yes, you guessed it .. looking to the right!

 

As you can see, the Lupines are starting to flower, as well as the Wyoming Paintbrush (on the left) and the Elegant Death Camas (on the right):

        

About the latter, although certainly beautiful, the Elegant 'Death' Cama contains an alkaloid called zygadenine, which is even more poisonous than strychnine. 
It causes problems with the heart rhythm and can lead to death from heart attacks and convulsions. Yikes!
It killed many an early pioneer who mistook the bulbs for onions, and is also a noted killer of livestock ..

                       

Talking about livestock,  I found these three girls happily grazing in 'our' meadow (fortunately not in the area that I found the flower).
Turns out they're our neighbor's, who broke through a fence somewhere and went for 'greener pastures'!

                                                       

(I sort of can see why the earmarks are necessary, but do they really need to cut their ears that savagely on top of it? Ouch!)

Cinco the Mayo turned out beautifully sunny and warm, and we decided to have our dinner outside!

It was our first 'al fresco' meal, as well as the inauguration of the table James had made from some 'scrap' wood and placed in the shade behind the RV ...           

 

I'd made shrimp tacos, which were very good if I say so myself, but Merlin preferred the sweet corn .. of course!
(which he shouldn't have because he's diabetic but hey, it's Cinco de Mayo!)

 

And the job? Well, the windows are in (minus the triangle-special-order ones), and it's looking good!

The framing is pretty much done now, and James is letting two of the guys go,whom he hired extra for that specific job.

We'll continue with a crew of three for a little while, and are probably going down to two after all the electric and plumbing is done.

 

And at last just a little word about the virus (since I'm getting pretty much fed up with it). 

New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and New Orleans have 'flattened the curve' as they say, and they're predicting that now the rural areas/states are going to get hit!

Since infections were low from the get-go and have stayed that way in certain states (Idaho!), some are already lifting certain restrictions which, together with the better weather and start of the tourist season, might cause a major (the word is 'explosive') rise in cases.

Wonderful!