So Sad

It seems that our summer visitors have begun to leave us. There are fewer males, both hummers and orioles. Those still here are feeding like crazy though. The hummers try to double their body weight before they head south - that's a l-o-n-g journey for such tiny little birds!

The hummers seem to have a heightened need to guard their food source. This little bully guards from the front, from the rear, and seemed to win this particular battle!

Art in Bayfront Park in Duluth, MN, was a very nice show. The "breeze" coming off Lake Superior was a bit much at times, but the setting is beautiful. On our never-ending quest to find the odd and unique on our travels, we stopped at the Spam Museum in Austin, MN, and Deke Slayton and Bicycle Museum in Sparta, WI.

Our next show will be at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon, IL. We haven't been to this show in several years and hope to see old friends while making new ones. Then we'll head off to the HummerBird Celebration in Rockport, TX. Rockport is on the flyway for the ruby-throated hummingbirds as they head south, so it should be quite fun. We'll miss our fellow artists at Silver Dollar City this fall, but we have new places to see!

Hummingbird fact for today: Leaving your feeder up does not prevent the migration of the hummingbirds. They migrate according to the change in light.

A New Adventure

We'll be leaving soon to set up shop in Silver Dollar City for two weeks. Terrie and I both have mixed emotions about this. Being in one location, setting up and tearing down only once, will be nice. Talking with people visiting Silver Dollar City will be nice. I've never actually created and worked with an audience, though, so this will be a totally new experience. And of course, we do not know what to expect as far as sales. With a big show in St. Louis immediately following, we don't want to sell out. Yet, we do want to sell as many items as possible. Talk about inner conflict! So if you are out and about, come see us in our 1800's costumes. It should be fun.

The show at the Cedarhurst Art Museum in Mt. Vernon, IL, was a good one. The coordinators treat the artists very nicely. Big crowds browse and buy throughout the weekend. The nicest moment came from a local photographer. He bought a feeder last year and came back to our booth this year to add to his "collection". He takes a lot of graduation pictures, and he said our feeders in the background add to the ambiance. Wow. What a nice thing to hear.

On the home front, we're still waiting on the contractor to finish up a few little things. The new carpet will be the next big project. That is a matter of having the time at home to have the house torn up for a couple of days. Right now we just don't have the time to be unhooking and unplugging and moving furniture when we need to be getting ready for the upcoming shows. Ah well..............eventually. Watching the footage of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ike makes our earlier storm damage pale in comparison. Our hearts go out to all those affected.

Hummingbird fact for today: Hummingbirds have about 1,500 feathers.