King...

...of the flock, or at least he LOOKS like he should be the king. I put the last of my columns of hot seeds up today. The previous one, which had mealworms in it, lasted forever--I don't think the birds liked it as I rarely saw birds on it, and it finally fell to pieces after the snow and wind we'd had, so the holder has been empty for a few weeks. This one, however, has cranberries in it and seems to be a hit. The European Starlings as well as the house finches were all over it!
Today was the day Tom's been dreading: having to go to the clinic to have his labs drawn. I hated to see him so worried over whether he'd be able to walk that far and if he'd have enough oxygen, etc., but I wasn't a nurse all those years for nothing. I called to make sure they had wheelchairs at the main entrance (they did), and I started helping him get ready and dressed an hour in advance so that he had plenty of time for rest breaks. I had the car as close to the door as I could get it and a chair positioned in the sunporch so he could rest after coming down the two steps. I pulled right up to the main entrance of the clinic, parked the car and ran in for a W/C while he waited in the car; wheeled it out, helped him in, put the oxygen tank on the foot pedals between his feet and off we went. All very well orchestrated, if I do say so myself. We were in and out in 15 minutes, and while it tired him out and he's sleeping on the couch right now, he was both happy and relieved that he made it without having any breathing problems. He does NOT want to do this three times a week, though--can't say that I blame him.  He has a video chat on Wed. with the Dr. and can talk to him about it then. :)