Hummingbirds and other less interesting things (like romance)

Hi it's Mitchell writing blog for once!

I've been pretty busy at work, unfortunately an assay that was working fine when it was last performed before lockdown by someone no longer in the lab wasn't working for me last week. But now it's working! And it wasn't my fault (which was my first assumption when it failed)!

This week we've had a few more items arrive, we now have enough plates and stuff to actually use our dishwasher! Although we don't have any dishwasher tablets so currently I'm still doing it in the sink (Emily's note: Emily is still doing it in the sink) (Mitchell's note: I did it one time and then she washes it too quickly).

We also had a flat pack dining table and chairs arrive which would have completed our basic furniture set, unfortunately it was missing parts for the chairs and rather than send us new parts we are having to return the whole table. We haven't tried to fit it all back in the box it came in yet but I'm not looking forward to it.

Last weekend we were up to a few different things, on Friday we had another game of tennis and it turns out shockingly I still suck and we actually lost a ball somewhere in a hedge.

Missing: one tennis ball

Saturday we did several little shopping trips. One to get a hummingbird feeder as we've had several pop by our balcony and just look at us and prior to this we still hadn't managed to get a good picture of one.

Emily's note: over the last week we've had a flurry of hummingbirds come and feed! Apparently they're quite territorial and I've seen a few fights break out already.

I picked up a load of bike stuff (helmet etc) so now I can actually cycle to work! It's walkable distance so easily cyclable and saves me a few minutes (although it is very hot). And finally we went to a Trader Joe's just to get some snacks and treats as we'd been told they were good. Emily was very happy with all the food and we got some trail mix and chocolate milkshake made with oat milk along with lots of other things to try. 

We ended the evening with something close to our anniversary tradition of subway, wine and a Disney movie. Although the wine was in normal glasses and the disney movie was on Disney plus rather than a DVD from CEX. It is now approximately 8 years since we started dating! ❤

Peach wine from Trader Joe's and very little furniture

On Sunday we went for a pre-breakfast hike around our local wilderness park. We were so busy talking about things that we took a wrong turn on the way there, despite having been twice already! But we made it and took a short walk to admire the views before it got too hot. We popped into starbucks on our way back before cooking up a good breakfast of pancakes, veggie bacon and strawberries. We also tried some of the exotic fruit we'd picked up at Trader Joe's the day before, rambas, which turned out to be quite similar to lychees and very sweet. I wasn't especially fond but Emily liked them.

In the evening we went to our first drive in cinema! We arrived quite early to get a good spot, but the screen was high enough that it would have had to have been a huge car to get in the way of our view. We watched Black Widow and the whole experience was so much fun! We'd brought our snacks from Trader Joe's, but there was also a snack bar there. We think next time, we might bring a whole takeaway dinner to eat as there are no restrictions on food. 

Waiting for the sun to set and the movie to start

On Friday we did another game of tennis which I'm trying to establish as a weekly thing. I didn't check as I handed out the rackets and turns out the racket Emily has been using is much nicer than mine! I was playing much better and Emily only a tiny amount worse but she did ask to swap back so I'm not making this up! (Emily's note: it's heavy)

On Saturday Emily drove us to Hidden Valley nature reserve and we walked around a little trail and did a picnic lunch there by the nature centre. At one point a sprinkler near us turned on and starting turning slowly towards us. We assumed it wouldn't spray over the picnic table, but this was a mistake, we just managed to avoid getting completely covered and I just got a little sprayed. All in all a fun outing.

Trails and views

I did not make it unscathed

We're taking the rest of the day as a chill day and I'm just about to sign and send off the form which means I officially start working as a postdoc and get more money!

Best wishes from the newly wealthy Dr Mitchell (which is now on my contract) and Emily (who has fallen asleep straight after coming in from the walk)