Tuesday morning we discovered that our blueberries were under attack by mockingbirds. The plants are completely surrounded by bird netting, but the little rascals land on the ground at the bottom of the netting, lift the net with their heads, and walk right in. It's almost like the net isn't even there. So we spent a short time Tuesday evening putting down sticks and boards to hold the net to the ground.

Wednesday morning (apparently feeding time) the mockingbirds returned. After 3 seconds of searching, they found a hole and proceeded to have a picnic. I watched from the swing. It must be the blue color that attracts them. So I made a trip to Lowe's and bought 60 feet of half-inch PVC. We attached the bottom of the netting to the pipes and clamped the pipes to the ground. When we finished, I couldn't find a single hole that any bird could get into. Additionally, Nancy went to the Dollar Store and bought a bunch of American flags, which she hung, foil side out, hoping that their motion in the wind would be a deterrent.

Thursday morning we awoke to find another mockingbird feasting on our blueberries! I still don't know how he got in, but there he was. We chased the bird off, and I took the picture above. After that, Nancy hung the rest of her flags on the other side. Friday morning and this morning were bird free. The really good news is that the blueberries are starting to ripen and boy are they yummy. On the other hand, I'm not sure we can get inside the netting anymore!

At 7:30 last night the power went off. No storms in the area...the power just went off and stayed off for 4 hours. We spent the evening reading to each other using a flashlight. It was the first power outage in this area in almost 10 years.