La Quinta, California: After exercising, we tackled a few projects around the house. Dave washed a few windows, I tidied up the courtyard from the wind storm and went out to our "orchard" to see how the fruit blooms are coming along. The recently fertilized plants are all sprouting new leaves and a ton of flowers. No scurvy predicted in this house. I'm most excited about the orange tree, as we have never had fruit from this newly-planted tree.
While snooping around in the mature lemon tree, I saw a nasty-looking blob and initially thought it must be a caterpillar nest... unless a caterpillar nest had two tiny mouths reaching out. A hummingbird nest!
It is easy to see there are two babies in the nest, but my much-taller window washer thinks there may be three. So happy we keep the hummingbird feeder (on the opposite side of the house) filled with fresh nectar.
The rest of the day was a bit more relaxed. Cleaning up the back patio (did I mention dust?), but just a bit of cooking. My main goal this week is to use things from the freezer, as the kids are coming soon and I have ordered fresh salmon from Pure Food Seafood again... so must make room.
A packet of Salsa Chicken Chili was thawed for our Thursday soup night, and I made a salad. The appetizer was yet another rendition of a teeny can of smoked tuna from Fishermen Direct in Gold Beach, Oregon... this time prepared as a dip with cream cheese, jalapeno, lime juice, cumin, roasted red pepper, cilantro, red onion... and maybe a few things I can't recall.
This rendition of the smoked tuna was just as good as other versions. The smoked fish is just so lovely, you basically can't go wrong.
Just a salad... but with the last of the micro-greens from our CSA box. As the "dirt" from the micro-green "garden" is void of sprouts now, tonight I sprinkled a bit of radish seeds (that I use for sprouting) onto the dirt. It will be fun to see if anything comes of this little agricultural experiment.
A full and very busy day - with just specular (85 degree) weather. We were able to enjoy cocktails AND dinner outdoors! Until my next update, I remain, your ornithological correspondent.