“Okay, one thing to cross off my list for tomorrow. Of course, two would not go to waste. When they turn thirteen, we’ll get them each one.”

That left Ginny with a smile as she put the phone back down.

“Hey, Grandma,” Addy called from the far end of the central flower bed. “Come see.” She beckoned with a “hurry” hand.

Ginny slipped on her garden shoes and headed for her granddaughter, who was beaming in delight. When Ginny was nearly there, Addy pointed at something in the thickest part of the little Japanese maple, a close tangle of leaves and branches that looked more like a bush.

Ginny leaned closer. A mama chickadee glared up at her, daring her to come closer. “Oh, how wonderful,” she whispered and backed away. “How did you see her?”

“Her mister brought a dark blob to her and then flew off with an empty beak.”

“Isn’t that pure wonderful?”

Addy frowned. “She’s low enough for a predator to get her. Wish we could put a screen all around her. I want her to hatch her eggs and teach her babies to fly.” They looked up at a bird yammering. “That’s him. He’s not happy with us.”

“Being yelled at by a bird, definitely not my first time and probably will be many more.” Ginny dutifully backed away. “I wish we could move her to one of the bird houses for safety but…” She locked arms with Addy. “We will do as he says.”

“We could leave a tray with mealworms on it so he doesn’t have to work so hard.”

“We could surely do that. You go get some worms from the feed house and I’ll figure what to serve them on.” She rounded up an old pie pan and, with a piece of duct tape, fastened it to a wooden stool she kept in the garden shed for when she needed to sit down.

“I brought sunflower seeds too.” Addy returned carrying two of the cheap plastic bowls Ginny kept for general use. They set the stool under an overhanging branch, not far from the nest. “You think he’ll find it?”

“All we can do is try. Birds are pretty smart.” Ginny stretched her shoulders and heaved a sigh. She should go clean out the greenhouse, now that all the plants were out of there. A lot of “shoulds” hung around. This was Thursday and the party was Saturday.

Ginny should make a formal list; she kept randomly thinking of things. “We need to go buy special plates and napkins tomorrow at the party store.”

“I think Mom already did. I have an idea, though, of something special.” Addy pulled her phone out of her hip pocket and hit one number. “Mom, did you already buy party plates and that kind of stuff? Okay. Thanks.” She clicked her phone and shoved it back into her pocket. “She did.”

“That solves that. Now what was your special idea?”

“We could roll out chocolate cookies and bake them real crisp. Soften some ice cream and form it in circles and put them together for ice cream sandwiches.”