From the title of this post, you might surmise that I am somewhat distracted because I have a lot on my mind.  Well, I am quite busy at the moment getting ready for our upcoming trip along the east coast, which is why I am a bit behind on posting….

I do love this month and it’s cooler temperatures, pumpkins and the beginnings of holiday decorations.  In fact, the other day I was on my way home for a consultation for a friend of mine when I drove by the ‘cactus house’ in our neighborhood.  I call it the ‘cactus house’ because they have a lot of cactus in their front garden.  Now don’t get me wrong, I do like cactus, but not as the main plant type in a garden.

Okay back to what I saw in the front garden of the ‘cactus house’.  In the center of the garden there is a beautiful Organ Pipe cactus.  Well, the cactus is not what caught my attention….it’s what was crawling on it…..

Holiday Decorations

Can you see it?

Yes….that is a scary spider crawling up the cactus.  Believe it or not, cacti are often used for holiday decorating.  Wait until you see what people do for Christmas here in the desert.

My second topic has to do with the weather….

Last week, we had a huge storm blow through.  We are used to strong storms during the summer monsoon months, but generally not in the beginning of October.  There were tornadoes in the northern part of our state while people in our area received a lot of rain and hail.

I always have trouble capturing rain with my camera.  But the rain and wind was impressive.  We had about 2″ total that day, with four different thunderstorms hitting us.

Okay, now for my last topic…..

Like many of you, I have a hummingbird feeder that hangs outside of my window.  My kids gave it to me for Mother’s Day.  I love seeing these tiny birds fly up and take a sip and then leave again.

Whenever I am in the kitchen, I am usually on the lookout for any activity outside of my kitchen window.  Well, the other day I saw movement and my hummingbird feeder was moving and turning.  I was sure I had a little visitor and so I grabbed my camera….

I couldn’t see my visitor clearly, and so I waited for the feeder to turn my way….

At this point, I began to see more of my visitor…..

 Well, she is definitely not a hummingbird.  This little sparrow was absolutely determined to get some nectar out of my feeder.

Despite her efforts, she was not able to figure out how to get any food out of those tiny holes.

I should probably fill my regular bird feeder with birdseed 😉

A Few of my Favorite Things……Hummingbirds