Birdbath..

I never did get around to buying a real birdbath but the one I improvised last year seems to be doing the trick. 

With all this ridiculous heat, I need to water the new plants every day. This morning I hosed them down individually, but felt bad for all the other established plants that were not getting as much TLC; they too were struggling. I was ready to go back in to AC by that time, so I decided to at least put the sprinkler on for them - not a very effective strategy as most of the water probably evaporated before it hit the ground, but it made me feel better! AND the birds loved it. that falling water brought them out of hiding and I even caught this robin having a great time and making a splash in my faux birdbath.  So cute. 

That was early morning. The day went downhill after that. My neighbour Elaine dropped in for coffee and we both had been a bit concerned about strange goings-on at the house across the street. Pat who lives there is a single fellow who occasionally has buddies come over to watch a hockey game or play cards, but he doesn't get much company other than that. So having guys sitting on his front step in the early hours of the morning  and various people coming and going and others going in and out of the house was most unusual. Perhaps if we had taken a closer look, we would have noted that one guy who showed up and stayed was wearing a handgun in a holster, but we didn't. That would have explained a lot. We finally went over and asked. And as we had feared, Pat, who has had serious heart problems in the past, had died in the night. Age 41. So sad. I still can't believe it. Our street is only one block long, so we all know each other and have for years, so something like this really hits everyone hard. He was so young....

A really sad day