Yet another Steller's Jay

Let me describe our deck. It is between our dining room and our master bedroom on the second floor. There are no stairs down so it hangs above the reach of many ground walking creatures including deer. So with that picture in mind, picture me walking out on the deck to feed the birds, looking down and seeing a mother deer and her fawn. I am sure this is the same deer I've seen many times. Lately I've taken to tossing her apples from the old trees so she is getting to know me a bit and becoming more tame. So there she was with her baby nibbling on the weeds we have in among the garden plants. Really there was nothing there I was going to miss, so I tossed her a peanut. The jays were not amused. They started to scold. I tossed her a couple more and they started making more noise and getting more agitated. So I stepped away from the peanut pile, the jay's pile, that I'd been throwing from, and they swooped down to make sure that there were none left to throw. That's when I got this fellow as he grabbed and took off. Boy was I happy about that as he looked so blue and beautiful and the light was hitting him perfectly. Take a look at the large version to see how great he looks. It's one of the younger ones I am sure so its feathers are not very tattered yet.

I am delighted that I was able to start the day that way because the rest of the day was all about working. Doing a bunch of wash. And more importantly, continuing to work on getting the downstairs apartment ready. The sitting room looked so open and inviting until... I started to empty the closet in the bedroom and move all the stuff out into the sitting room so I could decide what to do with it. Sigh. So now there is a big mess but the bedroom closet and both book cases, the desk and the dresser, are ready for our daughter to move in. Yay. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the stuff. Sigh. Some I've already put in bags for Village Books and Goodwill. The rest are there waiting for me to get to work again. But not today.

Soon I'm going upstairs to shower and dress for tonight's concert. Garrick Olsen will be here playing the Brahms Piano Concerto. I am really looking forward to that. And a group from the orchestra will be playing the Bach Brandenburg Concerto #3. I have a special place in my heart for that one since a group I used to sing in, Tudor Rose, did a Swingle Singer like version of the last movement. There were nine of us women, one on a part. I was the very top part. We sang do-be-do and di-be-di and it was a gas to sing. And really hard to stay on your part. But so much fun. Of course tonight it will be a first class group of instrumentalists playing it the way it was meant to be. The orchestra is also playing an overture by Mozart. I love Mozart too so it will be a wonderful concert. Before that we're going to the talk by the principal cellist. Happy days.

Did I mention cooking dinner for Arvin in time to get in the car and arrive at WWU by 6:30. That too. A very busy day.