We were having lunch in the Vermont town of Brandon today – we went up there to drop off our wool at the Vermont Knitting Mill to be processed into colored yarn and roving for Maria – and as we were leaving the restaurant, Maria spotted some ceramic birdbaths in a hardware store window.

I have been wanting a new birdbath for some time, our old cement one was seeming dull and ponderous to me, and it didn’t retain water for more than a couple of hours. The only creature I ever saw drinking from it was Flo the barn cat.

Maria, who often complains that never knows what to buy for me, said she wanted to buy me one of the birdbaths. I said that would be great.

I chose Navy Blue, of course – she jeered at me for this, there was red and  teal and green – and we came right home and dug up a small spot in the back garden and put the blue birdbath there.

We rolled the heavy old birdbath out to the road on a hand  cart and some couple in a big van pulled over instantly and asked how much I was asking. It was free, I said, and he and his wife were absolutely stunned – we don’t often hear that word, he said – and they carted it off happily.

it was time for a change. I love this color and it holds water for a long time. I think the cats cannot get to the birds if they come by for baths, they can’t make the jump through all of those flowers.

I love it.