our new outdoor pets

Since Charlie died, Mae has been talking a lot about getting a new pet. I think this obsession can be explained as follows: 10% Mae trying to cope with the loss of a pet, 20% her fascination with pets in general, and 70% trying to understand the concept of allergies. It all stems from the first conversation we had when I told her that Charlie had died and was not coming home. When I said we wouldn't get a new bird right away, she asked if we could get a doggy. I responded, "No, dogs make me itchy." She asked if we could get a cat and I told her the same thing.

A few days later, she springs this bit of trickery on me:

Mae: Mom, do cats not make you itchy?
Me: Cats do make me itchy.
Mae: Mom, do dogs not make you itchy?
Me: Dogs do make me itchy.
Mae: Mom, do fish not make you itchy?
Me: No, fish do not make me itchy.
Mae: ... Can we get a fish?

We have had this same conversation DOZENS of times in the last couple months. Replace "cat/dog/fish" with every other animal you can think of. Goats? Turtles? Pigs? Giraffes?? Thank goodness I have allergies or we'd be shopping for a whole zoo's worth of animals. (For the record, if it has fur I assume I'm allergic to it.)

Resisting adding a new pet to the family has been slightly easier with this addition to our house.

I've had this hummingbird feeder (thanks, Mom & Dad!) for a while but couldn't figure out where to hang it up. I finally noticed an old bracket hanging outside the big window in our kitchen. I was able to reach the bracket from the extension ladder and hang a length of chain from it. With a cup hook attached to the end of a long dowel rod, I can hook and unhook the feeder from the chain to refill it. We have almost constant hummingbird visitors, and they go through a cup of sugar water in about 3 days! They are very territorial and I love watching them fence each other mid-air. En garde!

They are entertaining, low maintenance, and I don't have to clean up their poop. The perfect pet. Plus they don't make me itchy!

Here's the other addition to our house that's making me happy. New shutters! I ordered these black vinyl shutters from Home Depot, and Dad helped me install them when he visited a few weeks ago. It took us all morning, but it went pretty smoothly with two people and his hammer drill. Well worth it... they make me so happy. Thanks, Dad!

Here's the before photo. New shutters, storm door, door paint, handle set, light fixture. Just ignore those overgrown bushes... they're next on the list!