Tuesday: #2 Daughter and Son-in-Law-to-be and Hummingbirds

Yesterday evening my wife called a family meeting, and outlined what she wants us to do for the rest of this month, through #2 daughter's wedding in early September. She went into some detail, including two task lists: one for the morning, another which could be done at any time - daily. What it all boiled down to was that she was going to be quite stressed enough over preparations for the wedding, and (reasonably enough) wanted help.

I see her point. Among other things, she's making the wedding dress.

Last Thursday, I stayed up late, so there would be someone to let #1 daughter in. She was in another town, on job-related business. When she got back, I learned that she had a house key. As Manuel said, in Fawltey Towers, "I learn! I learn!"

Friday, my son came home from his three weeks (about that) at the farm. He was glad he'd been there, and glad to be home. He also was quite excited about his new (PDA, I think: some hand-held information technology gadget). My youngest brother-in-law had driven the two of them down here, and stayed to work on our front door.

Saturday, #1 daughter reported that the "neighbor lady" had called her. Our neighbor had seen Giol, #1 daughter's rabbit, outside. We'd had the garage door open, to provide some ventilation, and he'd gotten out of his enclosure inside the garage. He's gotten rather good at that. #1 daughter located Giol, waited for an opportune moment, scooped him up and returned him to his safe, if somewhat dull, enclosure.

Also on Saturday, I learned that my son was impressed with the size of the mosquitoes in the Red River Valley of the North. I know what he means: the ones we've got here in central Minnesota are rather puny by comparison.

Saturday night, Giol got out of his enclosure again. This time the door was closed, so he didn't get outside. We discovered his accomplishment Sunday morning. He obliged my wife by nibbling on what she gave him, but wouldn't eat for #1 daughter. My wife noticed that Giol wasn't doing his "happy dance" when she came with his food.

#1 daughter was quite concerned. Not being interested in food is emphatically not normal for that rabbit.

Then, she discovered that Giol had gotten at a bag of rabbit pellets. There was a substantial portion left, but he'd probably gone through at least a day's worth of food during the night.

No wonder he wasn't all that hungry.

Monday evening, at 6:33 a hummingbird came to the feeder and stayed for several seconds, dipping that beak into the sugar-water mix several times before flitting off. I'm quite sure there have been other visits: the 'nectar' level was down considerably since the last time I filled it.

Today, I took the feeder in, cleaned and refilled it, and put it out again. I also washed a few dishes with the water I'd used.

#1 daughter is off to Alexandria to get some of her own business done: this month's installment of a comic strip she's producing. Our scanner is temporarily on the fritz, so she'll be using the one in her apartment.

I returned a wireless router to Wal-Mart this afternoon, and got a full refund. That's good news. The unit was 'left over' from the time my computer's network card failed. While I was there, I had a talk with Ron, in the electronics department, and may have found a way to get my scanner working again.

Now, daughters #2 and 3, my son, and son-in-law-to-be are in the living room, having what sounds like a great time with a Wii #2 daughter bought with part of a sort of windfall: an insurance settlement from that head-on collision she and my wife were in.

As for me, it's late and I need sleep. 'And so, to bed.'