PRETTY PURPLE

What a nice, quiet, lazy weekend it has been. I did a couple of loads of laundry, and that was the extent of anything even slightly resembling "work". After last weekend being so hectic, it was nice to have absolutely nothing that had to be done.

I spent a whole lot of time watching hummingbirds and taking pictures of hummingbirds. Yesterday was windy, gloomy and cold outside which made them very active at the feeders. I rarely looked up at the window without seeing at least one.

At one point I came out of the kitchen and noticed a little fluffball on a feeder, so I grabbed the camera. As I watched her, it became obvious that there was something wrong with her. I took some video and posted it in some hummingbird groups to confirm my worst fears. Unfortunately, it looks as though I was correct. Somewhere she must have gotten the bacteria or fungus that they can get from dirty feeders. I'm assuming since I haven't seen her since yesterday afternoon, she probably did not last through the night. 

She was a pretty little thing, and my heart is broken.

I post this depressing bit of news because I feel the need to inform anyone who either feeds them or is considering feeding them. If you put up feeders, do not buy store bought nectar. Take a few minutes and make it yourself, using one part regular white sugar to four parts water. In this prime season, I will mix 2 cups sugar with 8 cups of water. I stir it while I heat it just until it starts to boil. Once it cools, I fill my feeders and store the leftover in a sealed container in the fridge. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks using this method. 

Your feeders must be kept clean and the food replaced every few days, daily if the weather is hot. If your food is starting to get cloudy, it's going bad and will make your birds sick. They won't recover. Absolutely do not, under any circumstances, add anything to make the water red. It's unnecessary and unhealthy for them. They are attracted simply by a small amount of red on your feeder.

On the other hand, if you do want to start feeding them, get a window feeder for whatever room you spend the most time in. It is so much fun to watch them all day. Even though I needed a winter coat to do it yesterday, I did go out and hold the feeder twice yesterday. I got a lot of fun action. Over the past two days I've had a lot of them feeding while I held the dish, and several of them stopped and sat on my finger for the longest time. 

It's just the most amazing thing to feel the breeze from those little wings and to feel those tiny little feet standing on my fingers. They are amazingly inquisitive and brave and will fly up in front of my face to get a closer look or stop eating to cock their heads to look at me. It's one of my favorite feelings in the whole world. Seriously. They are miraculous little birds.

Sorry I rambled, but once I get in hummingbird mode, it's hard to knock myself out of it.

I did this mani right after I got my Mundo de Unas stamping polishes and was just dying to try the light purple. Photographing this mani I think was the most difficult one I've ever done. It took me two days to finally get both purples to show their true purpleness.

I started with Cult Breakwater and used the Bundle Monster BM XL03 plate and Mundo de Unas #16 Lilac for the stamp.

I love purple. I love light purple. I love Bundle Monster. I loved this mani.

The only thing I didn't love was trying to photograph it.