Today I continue my quest in creating and posting one block a day of the fabulous That Town And Country Quilt by the lovely Susan-Claire Mayfield. This is day one hundred and ninety-five of that project.

This quilt block shows a variety of colors of hollyhocks. The stalks of the flowers are green stitches, while the bodies of the flowers are different colored fabrics: orange, maroon, and yellow. One flowe rbody has pen marks for the pistles, and on that flower there is drawn a beautiful hummingbird. The hummingbird is drawn with different color pens with its wings out. — Click To Enlarge

When you live in a windy place, it’s hard to grow hollyhocks.

They are so pretty and showy despite their poisonous nature. However, today’s star is the hummingbird.

We have some fun facts about our little feathered friends.

The hummingbird is the smallest migrating bird. They can travel up to 500 miles, and they do it alone! Hummingbirds are the only bird that can fly backward.

They cannot smell but have excellent color recognition.

They seem especially attracted to red or orange, which, of course, is why hummingbird feeders boast those colors. The average weight of these little darlings is less than a nickel.

Their little legs and feet are only for perching, and while they can go sideways on a perch, they cannot walk or hop.

Hummingbirds can drink twice their weight daily, and they do it by shooting their tongues in and out 13 times a second.

They lay two eggs at a time that are about the size of jellybeans.

A flock of hummingbirds is called a bouquet, a glittering, a hover, a shimmer, a charm, or a tune.

There are over 330 species. Varieties found in North America include Rufous, Anna’s, Calliope, Broad Tailed, Ruby-throated, and Black Chinned.

Now wasn’t that fun? Hummmmmmm.