a Magnolia bandit in my yard

A bandit wearing a black mask surprised me on Queen Victoria's Birthday! As I wasn't expecting to find him there on my back deck when I looked out the back door window, he startled me. But I think I startled him, too. From behind the hops and the yellow dogwood, he just suddenly appeared on the railing. He looked right at me and then left like a shot. But he was there long enough for me to get a good look at him so I would be sure to ID him. And, the black mask was a dead giveaway. There aren't many who wear black masks, that I knew.

I had gone into the back porch after setting the dining room table with four of my Royal Standard MADE IN ENGLAND bone china coffee cups and saucers with the small blue forget-me-not pattern that my mother gave me for my birthday once years ago (maybe my 40th?). I had already brewed a pot of loose leaf Twinings CLASSICS EARL GREY TEA, and it was almost 4 pm. -- time for royal tea in honour of Queen Victoria.

What else to do on a rainy holiday Monday afternoon but take up a bit of silliness? Of course, if you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I am not a monarchist, so celebrating a Queen's birthday, a colonial queen to boot, is not exactly a regular habit of mine.

But Monday being the second day of steady grey, drizzly rain, and chilly weather on a long weekend meant to signal the start of summer, and Monday being what in Canada is called Victoria Day in honour of Queen Victoria, and as every now and then I have to do something silly in order to stay sane, I decided to have some British tea (i.e. one of the crops its colonized) in British fine china cups (did they appropriate the process of china, too?) with a slice of cake at 4 pm in the afternoon. I had some willing accomplices: one of my friends, one of my sisters, and my only husband. They were all game for the tea party, albeit some of them (e.g. my husband) more of a a captive audience than a willing participant.

I was so excited when I saw the little bandit! I had never seen him before, not in the city, not in the woods, not on a trail, nor in the neighbourhood. So I did not know his name, but I looked him up and sure enough, there he was. I had no idea if he'd been in my yard before. But he was gorgeous! I just had time to note the black mask across his eyes and his beautiful yellow breast streaked in black. And that he was no bigger than a tea cup!

magnolia warbler