Manda, it's exciting for you and Gena to start seeing the tomatoes from your little garden. I actually like pulling weeds, when the ground is damp and soft, but I think not so much in the mud! I had to smile about the amount of weeds. I never heard of measuring them by the gallon but hey, it makes sense!
Robin, it's hard to know your kids are hurting or sick and there's nothing you can to help them. I hope the injuries from the tree are healing and that the reaction from the vaccine will be gone soon.
Poirot, I know there are flies around all summer but I usually notice them being worse in the fall. I just thought it was odd that mine showed up on the window the way you described yours. I can't imagine how any got into your house, with all the barriers you have on your windows. I hope you are feeling better by now.
Kat, thanks for your kind thoughts about my migraine. They would have lasted all day if I hadn't taken a prescription pill. I'm just hoping it doesn't come back tonight because I can't keep taking the pills. Yes, stress can cause migraines but I'm not stressed about anything that I know of right now. A haircut sounds good! I laughed about your lady finch telling you she was ready. Right before I read it I'd been looking out my windows and watching a cow, standing at the bird watering pan. I've quit filling it since the cows moved over here last week because they drink it faster than I can fill it and besides, the birds have quit coming up for feed so I quit putting that out too. No use feeding the raccoon that was coming up at dusk to eat what the birds left. So this cow just kept standing there. She'd look down at the empty pan, then she'd look up toward the house, as though she was expecting me to come out and fill the pan. I don't think so! She'd drink all of it in one or two big slurps.
Squirrel, mesquite trees are blooming right now. Much of Texas is covered with them, including my pastures and my yard, and I've definitely tested positive to them and just about everything else that grows around here so pollen is always a suspect. I've only realized over time how much allergies and migraines can be connected. But I have so many migraine triggers (food, smells, light glare, etc.), it's hard to know what to blame and often there's no way to eliminate the offender anyway.....I just remembered, they've been harvesting wheat in the area. That can be a problem too.
I do have screens for my windows but all of them are in storage except for one. There's only one window in the main part of my house that I can open so I have a screen on it and open it only occasionally, if things get too smoked up from cooking. My last allergy doctor (I went to many from my teens to my 50s) scolded me repeatedly about living with open windows, especially for sleeping with them open. He said never, ever open a window between 6:00 pm and 9:00 am because that's when the pollen is at its worst. I had no choice at the time.
I wouldn't open windows much anyway. About 10 years ago I had all new windows installed. Nice, expensive name-brand wooden windows. The screens that came with them are a joke. They are flimsy and barely clip in with little do-dads, one on each side. I can see daylight around them in places and it's no problem for wasps and dirt daubers to get through, not to mention anything smaller. In the sunroom I had built across the back of my house six years ago, I have "fixed" windows across the back (so no screens needed) and roll-out casement windows on the ends. So there are only screens for the casement windows. Those have to go on the inside so the windows can be opened out. I don't use those either. They are of the same quality as the ones in the house. All expensive windows. In the guest house I had done a couple of years ago, there are three windows, which came with the building so they're basic, inexpensive metal windows. They're single hung so the screens only cover the bottom half and can't be removed. They are of the same quality, if not worse, than the screens for my house. I have to assume this is a universal feature of modern windows. But hey, at least the windows in the guest house open and close easily.
If a bird uses it again, 