Birds and stuff

We have a Carolina Wren family living in one of the hanging plants in front of the house. It was most interesting to see them get the nest done. First, they did a little excavating, pushing dirt onto our foyer. Then they made the actual nest. It sits down in the dirt, so Helen will not water that plant and the plant is wilting away. She took the plant down and looked inside for just a moment and saw two eggs. Carolina Wrens are very cute and perky and we can frequently see them with a bug of some kind. They are welcome here. Another fascinating thing is that they can fly up to the stucco walls and grab on, hanging to the side of the house.

Yesterday Helen spied another kind of wren under the motorhome. I cot on a pair of coveralls and inspected the underside from stem to stern, but I did not see any trace of a wren, a nest, or any stray grass or twigs. I felt pretty sure that the wren didn't actually live under there. Earlier today I saw one of the Carolina Wrens in front of the house and when it saw me, it dashed under the motorhome, where it was protected. I'm certain that it was one of the pair in the flower pot. Later Helen said she saw another wren back under the motorhome and we really don't want to transport any birds cross country (Right, Sam?). So I donned my coveralls once more. Being under the motorhome is no problem as there is plenty of room, especially since I lost some weight, but moving around on the concrete is nasty on the knees and elbows. Again, I found no evidence of birds or nest, but I will admit that there are places the cannot be seen from the ground. Helen was not appeased. Taking TWO bright lights she inspected the underside and found no trace either. I think that when the birds are spotted, the head for the close security of the motorhome.

On another note, I worked on the dash air today. It's one of those things that you think of when you're on the road when it's hot, but after you're home and get unpacked and all, you kind of forget about it. In my search for the bird I opened the hood where the A/C fittings are and I remembered that I wanted to check the system. I connected my gauges and had Helen run the engine up to 1700 rpm. The pressures were very low compared to what I'm used to seeing on a car. I called Winnebago, but the service technician couldn't give me any real information. He suggested adding a little freon at a time until the temperatures were where I wanted. With the compressor in the rear and the evaporator up front, I'm not sure that I would ever see the cold temperatures that I'd like. In my Jeep, I cannot keep the A/C on maximum cold even in the hottest weather and I don't expect to see that in the Winnebago. I did add freon 134A until the pressures got to an acceptable range, high and low, and found that the cold air coming from the vents inside were considerably colder than they had been. After the trip to MA, I will try to check the system again before venturing back to Mexico.

Next on the agenda is washing the motorhome, starting with the roof. If you don't get the roof, the first rain washed all kinds of dirt down the sides.

Later.