At the Feeder...

House finches visit this feeder in flocks, and the blackbirds rarely bother them, now that I've found out about safflower seeds. Safflower seeds are more bitter, and it seems that the Red-winged blackbirds only like the sweet sunflower.
The American Goldfinch is another regular I'm glad to see back. This one came by himself a few times, but now often brings his lady-friend. Hopefully more will catch on and come in huge flocks now the that the bullies are gone.
Hummingbirds are something newly attracted this year, and to my surprise there are at least four humming around the house regularly. They're cheeky and brave little things too... they don't mind people watering plants near the feeder, and one often sits on the perch for minutes on end, like this one, and chase off the others that come by!

In the Garden...

The storms and power outages have passed and the crops have all survived the beating winds. In fact, the first lettuce harvest went into last night's salad.

Soon there will be peas too. I spotted a few blossoms on the climbing stalks this morning. This year two boxes were planted with peas, but I think there are never enough peas. Thankfully, there are lots of pollinators flying around the garden (this hummingbird sits still longer than a bee).

And the hot-weather loving cucumbers have finally sprouted!