Finally! Yay!

Spotted a male Ruby-throated hummingbird at the feeder on the front porch this afternoon. YAY! Females generally arrive about two weeks after the males.

Hummingbird fact for today: The 17 species of hummingbirds that have bred in the United States and Canada represent approximately 5 percent of the world’s hummingbird species.

Where Are They??????

Have heard that hummers are back at the Lake of the Ozarks. Several people have them in their yards and at their feeders. We have yet to spot one here at our house :-(

Hummingbird fact for today: As migratory birds, hummers are part of the Earth’s circulatory system, transporting energy and other resources between tropical and temperate ecosystems thousands of miles apart.

It's Hummer Time!

For those of us who don't see hummers through the fall and winter months, NOW is the time to get your feeders from storage, clean them, fill them, and hang them outside. Add a few fluttery red ribbons around the feeders so that migrating hummingbirds will come investigate. Once they find food, they might just decide to stay in your yard!

Areas to the north of Missouri will also start to see hummers soon.

We had a great time in St. Louis last weekend at the Art Fair at Queeny Park, presented by the Greater St. Louis Art Association. We will be at Art in the Garden at Wenwood Farm Winery on April 18. Then the first weekend in May we head off to Artsfest on Walnut Street in Springfield, MO. We've also picked up a few new wholesale orders. Unfortunately, with Spring comes yard work as well. And we've not had time yet to completely finish all the repairs from the trees falling on the house last spring! There's just not enough hours in a day.........................

Hummingbird fact for today: Lanny Chambers, who tracks the progress of the spring migration of Ruby-throated hummingbirds, reports a sighting on March 26 in Forsyth, Missouri. You can watch the migration progress at http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html

What an Amazing Trip

Terrie and I never cease to be amazed at our wondrous country! The shows we did in Henderson, NV, Litchfield Park, AZ, and Tucson, AZ, weren't that great, but driving across our great nation was astonishing! Oh, we met wonderful people, both customers and artists, and sold feeders and other items, but seeing what is in our great country overpowers any and all shows.

Highlights were the Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson where we sat in the hummingbird aviary for about 3 hours. We saw two different species on nests and several species of hummers flitting about and were just in total awe!

On the way home we drove through the White Sands National Monument and were again in awe. We had a chuckle in Roswell, NM. We absorbed the history in Dodge City, KS. Seeing the ocean off the California coast reminds us that there IS a greater being. Being with family reminds us of our ties to the past and to the future. The United States of America is a fabulous country and the people who "fly over" miss so damn much! From ocean to mountains to desert - from grasses to sauguaro cacti to scrub to wilderness and timberland - think of how our ancestors felt when seeing these things on their treks across the land in their wagons. It boggles the mind!

Now we're back in Missouri and gearing up for spring and summer shows. Needless to say, we found glass in our wanderings that is just waiting to be turned into functional garden art. And we're ready to create! After we catch up with 4 weeks of mail...........

Hummingbird fact for today: Using pesticides on your garden is NOT a good idea when you have hummers.

On The Road

What fun we are having! Headed out to Ventura, CA, first. On the way we stood on the corner in Winslow, AZ (yes, there really is a corner). Then we spent a week with my son the Naval Flight Officer and his wife. It was great to get to know Kate better and marvel at what a wonderful man my son has become. From there we headed to a show in Henderson, NV. Turned out that it was an extremely small show with only about 1,000 people coming through in the two days. We met a marvelous lady who has led a fascinating life. Additionally, she liked my work and bought several pieces!

Then we went to visit Terrie's mom and husband in Yucca Valley, CA. This, too, was a great week. Left there for a show in Litchfield Park, AZ, a suburb of Phoenix. We met some wonderful artists, sold some feeders, and enjoyed the great weather. Terrie managed to hook up with one of her girlfriends from high school (Lexington, MO, class of 1970). From Phoenix we hit the back roads heading to Tucson. Again, Terrie tracked down another high school chum and I was enlightened (to say the least) about some of my wife's dubious activities when she was younger. We had a great visit and then headed on down to Tombstone. Terrie indulged my passion for airplanes and we spent a day at the Pima Air and Space Museum. I plan to indulge her (and my) passion for hummingbirds and visit the Sonora Desert Museum. Then we will get ready for the 4th Avenue Spring Fair in Tucson this coming weekend.

Road trips are great! As Terrie has observed, it seems that 90% of America's population is concentrated in about 10% of the space. There's a whole lot of nothing out there in this great country of ours and we all need to take the time to see it.

Grandson #3 was born this past Friday. Terrie says it is only fitting that her son have 3 sons spaced just two years apart because paybacks can be hell. It also reminds us of the fact that God gives babies to young people because we old folks have lost our patience.

Hummingbird fact for today: Over 340 species of hummers exist in the Western Hemisphere, with about 20 species visiting North America at some point in the year.

Hurry Up and Wait

This is probably the toughest part of the year in an artist's life. The spring and summer shows set their deadlines for applications between Nov. and Mar. So we hurry up and complete applications, take pictures, resize pictures for each application's requirements, write checks for jury and booth fees, and put them in the mail. Then we sit and wait. And wait. And wait. Some of the shows provide a "notification by" date, but then they don't adhere to that date. It is totally exasperating not being able to plan our time and (hopefully) income.

We did learn that we will once again be at Silver Dollar City, this year in October, with the Best of Missouri Hands. That was really a fun gig. I had to create every day, out in the open in front of people. At first it was a bit intimidating. But people are so open and asked wonderful questions and we had a great time with the interaction. We're looking forward to October!

Little Izzy misrepresented herself. At first she was all snuggly and cuddly. Now that she's familiar with her new home, she's acting more like a cat - independent and rather haughty. She and Ozzie are becoming friends and playmates, so I guess she just doesn't need her humans as much as she did when she first arrived.

We're just about ready to head west. We've got tons of garden art packed and I'm still working on creating new pieces. Looking forward to seeing my son's home in Ventura and visiting Terrie's mom. I think Terrie's son might be a bit upset. Grandson #3 will be born (via c-section) while we are gone. It can't be helped though. As I stated before, we have to submit applications to shows and then sit and wait to see if we get in or not. We happened to get accepted to three shows on three consecutive weekends that happen to be in March. Terrie is a "hands off" mom/in-law/and grandparent though. She doesn't believe she should intrude in their lives and if they need something, they will let her know. I think her son is secretly glad that his mom is busy with this new art life - because if she was bored, she could be a real pain. She's disappointed she has to wait to meet grandson #3, but she's also excited about this trip we're taking.

We're "teaching" a community education class on hummingbirds next week at the local high school. That should be a fun evening!

Hummingbird fact for today: The hummingbird has the largest brain, relative to size, of all birds, at 4.2 percent of total body weight.

Winter Doldrums

It had to happen. A major winter ice/snow storm is forecast for this week. Temperature won't be above freezing for several days. It's bad enough feeling "trapped" because the roads are bad, but we also live in constant dread of the electricity going off. Since most everyone at the Lake has a well, this means no water in addition to no heat or light. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the forecasters are way off the mark.

Terrie got rid of that pesky tooth last week. She's still hurting some and her jaw is still swollen a little. She doesn't handle annoyances well, and this annoyance is getting very tiresome for her.

On the bright side, things fell into place this week for a trip to California in March to see my son and Terrie's mom. We were accepted into three shows along the route. We're really looking forward to this extended road trip. And we think we'll do pretty well at the shows. A new wholesale account opened up this week. Oak Creek Canyon in Scottsdale, AZ, will soon have Ozarklake hummingbird feeders in their two stores. So although the weather is depressing, we have something to look forward to and have a reason to be busy creating.

Hummingbird fact for today: Though the smallest of all North American hummingbirds, the Calliope hummingbird migrates over the immense distance between Mexico and western Canada each year.