B brought my ladder over after work, and although I didn’t get the screws all the way in because it was dark by the time I got up there, and I’m nervous on a ladder more than six feet up even in broad daylight with someone holding the bottom of the ladder, so I couldn’t make myself lean, especially toward the rock-bordered pond. If I’m going to break something important, I’m damned well not going to do it on the third hoce of eight that need to be put up! Anyway, it’s about 16′ up, which is plenty, and that ladder kicks ass! It was pretty expensive, but it’s got 23′ of useable length, and it’s rated for 300 lbs, which I’m pretty sure will hold me and a bird house. With that much height, I might be able to get to a suitable location for a bat house so Herb, Fran, and Anthony can have a place to sleep this spring. Anyway, I’ll have more daylight tomorrow, so if I can muster the ‘nads, I’ll finish installing this one, and move the first one up higher. For now, though, it’s holding, and I won’t have to carry it up the ladder tomorrow.

I’m not positive, but I think Wren Manor had either a guest or a potential guest this morning. I heard a little noise and looked up to see a small, brown bird go “doot!” onto the edge of the roof, then take flight. I’m outside now, but don’t hear any tiny snores coming from that direction. Maybe he’s reading an ebook on his Kindle Fire. I hope someone really is using it, or will.

In non-bird and acrophobia news, life finds a way, even if it’s the seed of a full sun flower, growing in the shade. This is one of last year’s tithonia  (2014, not this summer), growing where I dumped the stems last fall.

Pretty, and since it’s protected by the trees that shaded it so it didn’t grow very tall, or bloom until now, the frost we had last night didn’t damage the flower.

I was also right about the pond leak; I left the waterfall off until today so the silicone could (hopefully–it’s not warm) cure, and the water didn’t drop at all. We’ll see whether I got the leak, though. God, I hope I did; my birds love that pond!