Bare ruin’d choirs, where late the sweet birds sang

The sharp shinned hawk family prevails. They roar through here regularly. They always seem to come up out of the canyon and perhaps they hunt all along it. I watched two apparently both chasing the same thing, or just playing. They both suddenly dived into the bushes at the side of the house and after about 20 seconds one, then the other took off westward into the neighbor’s yard, unfortunately out of my sight. I’ve taken down even the empty bird feeders, er, bait stations, because small birds still land on them just to check.

The middle third of my property, the downhill part, going south. Across the pond, er, creek, is the uphill part. And it’s steeper than it looks. I have to take a picture of someone down there to really show what it’s like.

Finally, August 23 and no hawks for a few days. I think it’s time to try putting up the bait stations er . . . bird feeder and cross fingers.

I’ve found a wonderful nearby food stand with lots of lucious veggies and fruits. Absolutely delicious small cantaloupe I cut up and froze along with the peaches already there. I was going to dry the peaches but they were so juicy and sweet, I decided to freeze them instead. I haven’t made a peach pie in a long time, but last time I did, it was memorable.
Today I finished a melange of veggies, onion, pepper, mushrooms, patty pan squash in Rogan Josh from a jar with yogurt and pieces of chicken.
I’m also roasting eggplant on the grill and it makes a wonderful base for veggies. M’Weec cleaned the bowl and enjoyed every morsel.

Awwwww
Still life with basil.
Why do they always want to be in that room, and in that particular location?
A near neighbor sitting about 3′ in the air at the top of the bush catching rays next to the house. I’m told she’s a red racer but I haven’t found a picture of a red racer, or any snake in Oregon, with a red stripe. There are rattlesnakes here and they are the only dangerous snake in Oregon, I read, but few live near me, . They do have a (rubber) boa here though.