EMMM-ETTTTT???

We toddled off to the hardware store this morning and ordered an air conditioner. It will be here in four days. Four hot days. We bought a "cobra" mister, which is a plastic attachment for the garden hose. It emits a fine spray, looks like smoke. It's very pleasant to sit near, and have that cool mist blow over your hot self.

Salvador and I spent the entire afternoon outside. I sat in the shade and read and he slept. He wasn't too sure about the mister but once he caught a drift of mist across his face, he figured out that it brought coolness with it. From then on he'd turn and wait for the breeze to bring it back his way again. He'd lift his head slightly, close his eyes and lean into the mist.

It is too hot to cook, so we're living on salads and cold food. And lots of fruit. I bought a kilo (2.2 lb) container of strawberries and we've almost finished already.

There's one particular pair of quail who hang around and visit the feeder several times a day. We call them Emmett and Maud (don't ask). They are both quite small, she has a limp which makes her walk with a little hop. I wonder if they haven't nested, or perhaps a predator got their eggs? They never seem to be gone long, where all the other quail are gone all day and only come around briefly to eat first thing at dawn and then in the evening.

Emmett is very protective of Maud. He stands guard while she eats, and when another male quail came too near her a few days ago Emmett flew into a rage and beat the snot out of the other guy. Quail fisticuffs!

Maud has made a little dust bath hole at the edge of our driveway, and Emmett stands by while she has her bath, throwing dust every which direction and rolling around like a puppy. If he bathes he does it elsewhere, but he struts up and down saying, "Chuck, chuck, chuck," while she is busy with her toilette.

A few days ago they got split up somehow. Maud paced back and forth in front of the trailer screaming her head off, in great distress. She eventually flew to the top branches of the cherry tree at the front of the trailer and called and called. She was so upset she let me walk right up to her. She looked me straight in the eye and screamed, "EMMMM-ETTTTT???" After five or six minutes I heard his answering, "Chuck, chuck,". She flew from the tree to greet him and they had an emotional and noisy reunion.

So, I'm gossiping about the neighbours, but we do enjoy them. They eat us out of house and home but they are far better entertainment than a movie.