Busy Bird Bistro

It was finch hour at the bird bistro this morning when I looked out there. I took a few pictures before the acorn woodpeckers swooped in and cleared them out. They won’t stay away long though. They know how to keep a respectful distance until the woodpeckers fly away. It can be quite an entertaining scrum. The finches outnumber all the other birds combined so there must be a certain amount of safety in numbers….
Pretty soon the squirrel will arrive . He is so intent on performing the acrobatics necessary to get to the seeds that he doesn’t seem to notice what the other birds are doing. He sits on top of the squirrel baffle to rest up before going back in….The last to arrive in the evening. Will be the tiny goldfinches.

I went to the store with John partly to help him out but mostly to check out what they have. I’m beginning to suspect John of saying they ‘didn’t have’ things if he couldn’t find them or forgot to get them.

‘Our’ Oliver’s is the smallest of three other sister stores in the area but they cram a lot into it, including a deli with salads, fresh cut and sliced charcuterie items and all kinds of prepared foods,. As with every other store in the county, there is a huge wine section and fresh bread from many local bakeries in the area.The produce department has the first heirloom tomatoes of the season as well as locally grown peaches, apricots and plums. There’s also a butcher (several, in fact), a fish counter and a huge selection of cheeses with two cheese assistants to help with selection and cutting to order. We are very lucky to have such abundance and such a nice store to buy it in.

I’ve now made a Greek salad with farro, shucked the corn and sliced the zucchini from our garden to be barbecued and topped with butter and Parmesan.

I love the simplicity of summer menus, not to mention the cooler weather. That means it will probably be downright cold at the coast tomorrow, but we’re used to it. NorCal beaches are much more rugged, less accessible and cold than SoCal ones, but also much more beautiful.