Missing in Action

This is how the day began around 6am. The sky was beautifully lit with red clouds. It’s in the low 70’s, feels almost cool. I saw both moorhen parents swimming about, but not one baby sighting.   Yesterday my friends Christine and Richard came over to hang a duck box in hopes that the Black bellied whistling ducks might come back.  I showed Christine the moorhen nest and only an hour earlier there had been 3 eggs. As we stood there, all eggs were completely gone, not one broken shell in sight. Then we saw the culprit, a big black crow flew down and began pecking at the nest. Immediately we knew where the eggs had gone. I have not seen the baby in days, I hope it is hiding.   This is a picture on the day it hatched.
Now I am trying to figure why the baby and mama crane are coming without the father? For 5 days now they have come to eat birdseed and Papa crane is not with them which is very unusual. He has been a good daddy for the years I have lived here and NEVER left the baby and mother. This is highly suspect. Do you think maybe he flew to Argentina to find a soul-mate??? I am thinking the worst, that something has happened to him. The baby is taller than the mother. Last night he came and did his goofy dance before they fly across the lake for a good nights sleep.
I am hoping the father will find his way back soon. As for me, I am going back to bed, only slept 3 hours so far, time to get some shut eye. I am living in a vampire time zone, the sun comes up, I go back to get a couple hours of sleep…

Black bellied Whistling ducks

Looked out at a dark sky crawling in from the west, then went about getting desk cleared off while trying to get bills in order when I glanced out and saw some weird ‘birds’ flying up on cut off tree tops.  Ran out to take a few pictures and luckily they did not fly off as my camera lens immediately fogged up when going from air conditioning to the really humid heat.
Came in and Googled ‘Florida ducks’ and found them to be black bellied whistling ducks, I had never heard of them or seen them.  They were so cute with their long, baggy pink legs and soft gray colored heads.  They looked like book ends on my cut off pine tops.
Then they just flew off, they stayed long enough for their publicity shots, then turned toward the east, away from the storm and headed over the lake and were gone. Oh they made it look so easy to just decide to fly away and go visit another lake,  There was no traffic, (unless you are flying high enough to tangle with airplanes,)  and on a dull day like this, not many flying birds going places.
The wings moved like the mallards as wobbly propellers.
So even though it is dark and rainy, it is always another fun day bird watching while paying the bills in between noticing the ‘bills’. I did see those black bellies, but maybe next time they will stay long enough so I can hear them whistle…

The Moorhen Saga

The moorhens have chosen to nest in the weeds that sit about twenty feet from my seawall. The female built a nice nest and I reported a few weeks ago that she had 5 eggs. 

Last Tuesday one hatched and the baby was swimming around and enjoying newly hatched life and an hour later, it was gone. Never saw it again. On Wednesday, a new moorhen chick was hatched.

This baby is still alive, and it is a great ‘hider’. As soon as I approach the bank. The moorhens squeak and the baby hurries away to the reeds to hide. The Father gets upset and comes running in to either be near the chick or to cover the nest if the female has chosen to go swim near the baby. This again is a wonderful scope of nature. The moorhens are very protective parents.  The three other eggs have not shown any attempt to hatch, maybe with all this heat and a warm feathered behind sitting on them so much, maybe they have become hardboiled…

Oy – it’s so hot the lizards are melting

The heat is bad – “how bad is it?” it seems the lizards are melting – or wearing protection.
The flowers are wilting under the mighty swell of

sun. I went over to the Lake Mary Farmers market which is very shady.  Not many people this morning. This was to be a debut for the artists who wanted to rent a table and I found one artist willing to pay.
There will be a new grocer on the corner of Lake MAry blvd and where the town hall is. It is the same man who has vegetables and fruits in a booth on Saturdays. The name of his place is Morris Market and he opens this coming Friday.

Yesterday I ventured up toward the zoo and stopped by the marina. Drove back toward the Palms, maybe 1000 feet and to the right of the driveway a few hundred feet to the right is the marina building.

The building looked pretty quiet and the little business building next to the Palms Resort had ‘ for rent’ signs. A sign of the time for sure. Ususally I see birds there, but nothing was there. I wanted to photograph crows and there wasn’t one in sight. I decided to go to the zoo.
The drive along Lake Monroe was quiet, even the water seemed too tired to wave, (that was a joke).
I turned into the zoo which is a few miles from the marina. Surely there would be some crows at the refreshment stand.
The zoo had a lot of small kids using the water park. The snake room was air conditioned and a refuge. They keep it colder so the reptiles will look perky.
But outside, the alligator was not anywhere to be found and the croc was hidden beneath his water hole. The cats looked like my Frankie, panting and hot. After I made the rounds I stopped and got a pretzel and drink and sat down. I made small bits of the pretzel and tossed a few out and waited, nothing, no birds came at all. I stayed ten minutes enjoying the shade and drink, but not one bird took me up on my food offer. I walked back to my truck and came home. The birds are staying to themselves these days. The sun is singe-ing their feathers.
Back on Abbe’s lake things are quiet except for my moorhen, a couple of her eggs have hatched. Will save that story and pictures for tomorrows blog.

Comma Gallery Visit on Tuesday

This was the view  from the back parking lot of Comma Gallery. Loved it!  Pam and I had to go check out what is new at Karen Carasik’s amazing place at 813 Virginia Ave, Orlando Florida.

Pam has only been in town about 18 months and had never been to Comma, so I told her let’s check out the wood cut block exhibit from Charles Turzak and the very allegorical paintings by Patrick McGrath Muniz.
When we walked in through the back we were met by this painting– I apologize for not knowing the artists name, but it was a terrific piece of work. Below that skirt are very strong calves and everything except the skirt & heels screams masculine.
Further into the gallery were oils, acrylics and other media from the perspective of art crafted by world class artists past and present. One of my favorites is Grady Kimsey, he constructs very interesting figures and collages.

Also something new is all the wonderful jewelry by local artisans. The gem stones and variation of color and metals made the case sparkle.  Other works look like this to give you a feel for the place:

(that’s me in the mirror taking a photo of a Harolde Garde painting, the framed face above me. )        The colorfully blended abstract was painted by Karen Carasik.
The woodcuts by deceased artist, Charles Turzak were so well crafted, they each had historical significance.  There are a limited number of prints of them at Comma, so better hurry to buy that special one ASAP!   My favorite was Lincoln with the axe. Pam liked Carl Sandburg the poet. Loved Turzak’s art deco wood cuts also. Below are the tools used to make the amazing cuts. I can’t imagine the patience it must take, what detailing!

The other featured artist was Patrick McGrath Muniz, I will leave you with some of his fantasic irony and suggest to any of you artists in need of a space, there is one for rent at Comma — how can you lose elbowing with these heavy weight artists! Hurry before it’s taken. Call Karen (407) 894-4505

Go to Comma and see the fine details of McGrath Muniz paintings to appreciate the satire associated with them;

Now go pay Karen a visit. She has volumes of knowledge about all her artists. Go learn a thing or two and buy something; a beautifully hand crafted bracelet, a book on Turzak’s wood cuts or any of the fine art for sale inside the gallery and support the arts.   http://www.commagallery.com

Enjoy the works of:

john Wilton -  Lynn Polley
Stephen Bach -  Bernie Martin
Karen Carasik – Grady Kimsey
Tom Sadler – Barbara Perrotti
Sally Evans – Glen Hovis
Robin Maria Pedreo – Jim Casey
Elizabeth St. HilaireNelson
Camille Pissaroand,  and
Grayson Conroy

			Grady Kimsey	Camille Pissarro
			Bernard Martin	William Platt
			Sandro Natullo	Georges Rouault
			Elizabeth Nelson	Tom Sadler
			Barbara Perrotti	Maria Saraceno
			Barbara Phelps	Kathy Steckler
			Pablo Picasso	Terri West

Thursday’s storms came and kicked butt

Well, maybe not a butt, but a tree for sure. This tree was down on Lake Blvd. a street over.  

Luckily for the owner it missed the house! These summer storms can be produce some big gusts.

Earlier I was thinking about mowing because the clouds started covering the sky. I figured feeling 100 degrees without the sun would be better than feeling 105 with the sun. But as I was thinking about it, the rain started. This storm came fast, and the rain started slammin’ down and the wind was strong. So much for that idea. I watched as lightning struck all over the place.
That tree fell at the right angle. It was a laurel oak which has shallow roots. The tree knocked down the power box too.  The owner said it was sparking like mad. She was without power obviously, but not for long, the power company guys were out fast and were restringing the line when I drove back from running some errands less than an hour later. She also mentioned she had 5 tree guys giving her bids.
the day seemed muggy and gross. The sky stayed gray and threatening. Luckily we all had electricity over here. My friend Beda about ten miles away lost hers and suddenly was realizing how addicted she was to the blogs, emailing, twittering, you tube and all these things that require electric. I know that feeling well – you just take for granted having electricity, try living for a week without it in the heat of the summer after a hurricane and you can only plug in so many things to a generator.
I told Beda we are all now geek slaves to the system, all the little kids are into texting and even six year olds have their own cell phones!  I am trying to figure out how to do a photography web site, but am not saavy enough to try this on my own, I might have to hire a Web designer. It makes me realize how much I need to catch up on while these little kids pass me by! We are now so indebted to technology in order to push our products to the world. Just look at Iran! Despite kicking out the foreign journalists and shutting down the computers by the Ayatollah, the protestors can show us the dissent via youtube and texting and twitters, the Revolutionary Guard can’t stop the technology revolution!
Earlier I had gone to Sanford and stopped by the marina. See all that debris looking stuff all over the ground? Those are midges! They were swarming all over the place. They are also called ‘blind mosquitos’ for some reason. they don’t bite, but instead will swarm all over. It’s terrible — they get in your hair and eyes and if you open your mouth, you have a organic protein meal! I walked near where the ducks were, but the bugs were too terrible. Even the ducks were hiding under the crawl space of the building.
I had to leave,  those midges were too much to take. When I got home the single twin sister Pekin was down near the lake and quacking for her sister. No cranes today, but did have a couple black racer snakes get into striking position when I walked toward the lake. Seems that scary sky had us all on edge…

Wednesday and absorbing the heat

Today the news said it would be 94 and feel like 104 degrees, that was no lie. It is hot and the sun seems like a deep fryer and it’s only June! The flowers are beautiful after a great thunderstorm last night. They were closed yesterday,
but today they were full bloomed and smelled so wonderfully rosey! The roses had small bits of purple on them.  All around the yard, flowers looked happy. I do water them a bit in the morning and in the evening if there is no rain, otherwise they would fry under that hard light and heat.

The sandhill cranes sat under the camphor tree for a long time taking in the shade. The father was really panting a lot as was my old cat Frankie. I actually think she might have been experiencing heat prostration as she looked way too lethargic on the porch  and I could see her heart beating rather wildly. I brought her in and put her on the cool counter and she drank a lot of water.  I was kind of worried her heart might give out, but after a while, she did perk up.   So remember to keep lots of fresh water out there. I keep it, but poor Frankie looked like she was almost too tired to drink so watch your older animals. 

The cranes stayed a long time down by the lake. The baby was first to buckle and sit down.  then when the parents finally sat down, he got up and went over to give his father a hard time. He would jab his father in the rear and then touch beaks.

Finally they all relaxed and then finally flew off. The Moorhen is also a pretty smart, she built her nest up high on the side so as to shade her from the sun as she nested.

Tonight I tried fishing, but only got greedy turtles trying to find bread. One is so bold as to come up and take it out of my tackle box, so I keep it up on a plastic chair now as not only the turtles, but the ants swarm inside the plastic bags once they sense food. Ringo looks at the turtle with amusement, but does not bother them. Fishing sucked, maybe it’s too hot. If there was no breeze off the lake tonight, I would not have thrown out a line. No use standing down there sweating profusely and ending up like Frankie prostrate on the ground, no one would notice me!
Finally Ringo and I gave up and walked back to the house. I picked some small rose buds to put in a shot glass.
Ringo and I were glad to come inside and absorb that nice cool air. No thunderstorms tonight. All is quiet around here. I came in to blog, Ringo passed out and then was treated to a massage from my son. We all have our ways of dealing with the heat, that’s for sure!

Casselberry Art House – Exhibit from the Sanford Seminole Art Assn.

We have always enjoyed going to see art exhibits at the Casselberry Art House. Though I have not been there in over a year since I exhibited with Womens Caucus for Art. So we were surprised to pull up and see massive construction all around.  The land around the house was completely torn up.

We walked past the Police dept. and saw the old building with the Administrative offices was demolished. But there beyond the dirt and mess was the cute house with the red door and tiles by the lake.
I don’t know the history of the Art House, it was a private residence at one time and now is home to a wonderful gallery where there are not only exhibits, but they have all kinds of art classes as well. Call (407) 262-7774)  they will give you the information.
The work on display was from The Sanford Seminole Art Association, an art group turning fifty years old this year and I understand they still have some original members among the seventy or so of them. This exhibit highlights 19 of the members.
Inside there is a variety of media from paper sculpture to small Mexican boxes with adorable figures inside called nicchos. The watercolors, oils, mixed media and photography mingled well on the textured walls within the gallery. The art was well highlighted by the diminishing sun filtering through the windows making it feel cozy. The room and artwork melded together in a wonderfully symbiotic vanilla feel.  All the colors and textures placed on the walls complimented the space. 

As we left, 3 Pekin ducks came waddling up the path toward the front door as if they were ready to tour the room and give opinions on the works of art. When we trudged back through the construction on our way back to the truck, we noticed what a great area it will be when all is done. there will be a very long and winding pier  and it also looked like they would have a playground.  The trees and fountain give it such a picturesque setting.   They will hold their jazz festival out there in October. It will be a wonderful place for their venues. We are lucky that Casselberry and Seminole County keep up their interest in Art despite the economy.  The Sanford/Seminole exhibit will be there till June 26th.
I will be anxious to come back this Fall when all the work is finished.
On the way home, Adam pointed out a used book store in the Albertsons shopping center on 17/92 and 434.  We thought we would go have a look. It is called Best Used Books.  The light was on, but we saw on the door it was to close at 7pm and it was about ten after. The owner waved us in and told us to look around. We recognized him from many years ago, he has had 3 separate locations.  It had so many books and places to look we knew we just had to come back, though Adam quickly found a couple things to take home. I have bought many books from his shops before, he has a wonderful selection. I asked if he was selling through the internet and he said no. I would guess that would be quite an inventory you’d have to update and quite a consumption of time having to constantly list and pack books for selling. If you like used book stores, he has a quality shop, I could spend hours at these kinds of stores. My dream always was to have a wonderful huge library room at home with a ladder to the second story stacks, with shelves and shelves of wonderful books to get lost inside of. Unfortunately, the dream has not quite materialized yet and my library room is only a couple book shelves that doubles as the dining room. When I get that winning lottery ticket, I will get a house on a big lake with a big library and have poetry readings and meetings of some type, even if the cats are the only ones in attendence…

Trees gone in 2 hours

WOW! I have had trees removed years ago, but I was impressed today! My neighbor had SAIASI TUIKABA Tree Service (phone # 321-422-9994) come to take down 2 dangerous looking pines. These weren’t just small pines, they had to be over 100 feet tall. The crane operator pulled up and maneuvered through to the backyard and they successfully avoided all the flowers on the property.
They extended the boom and the climber got on the ball and away he went to the top of the pine that is only feet from Kim’s house.

Way up at the top, he tightly bound the straps to the tree and lowered himself to go for the cut. Once he made his notches with the chain saw, the tree was lifted away by the crane.

Then of course, after the crane lifted it very carefully and expertly over the house, it was put down and two more sections were cut and belted and in a matter of 45 minutes, that tree was just a stump to be ground. The second tree was just as smooth, I was a bit closer on that one. This 6′ plus guy was power lifted again.

Again he followed the same steps, knew where to notch and the crane operator was right in lock step with the climber. It was flawless.  Each tree was cut into 3 sections. They lowered each section to the ground and another man began the task of dismantling the limbs. There is still quite a lot of tree to be cut into log pieces.
We neighbors watching on the ground all felt like applauding after the ballet between the coordination of the crane operator and the climber. And look closely at the photos, it’s like finding Waldo up there — he looks so small.  I didn’t use the longer telephoto because I wanted to get better perspective using the shorter lens. But one thing for sure, this tree service was completely professional and fast.  They will begin clean up tomorrow.
Some of the neighbors like keeping all their trees. They feel if the tree goes down during these storms and hurricanes, , well, that’s what nature does sometimes and that’s why we have insurance.  Not me, I saw the houses around here where these huge pines had fallen right through roofs and luckily no one was killed. But why not do a preventative maintenance? It makes you feel so much more secure when you know that a ton of tree won’t come through your ceiling while you wait out a hurricane.

For you tree huggers, we here in Florida get trees coming up wild all over our property. I had 7 trees removed 3 years ago and now have many new trees coming up to take their places, (no more pines ever.) We have the option to buy another tree of some type if you want to replace the pines.  I have lots of new crepe myrtles,  camphors that I love, but are not native. And I planted a red maple and lemon tree near the lake.  Those of you who love trees, but frown on taking healthy trees off your property, I am glad you are braver than I am through the hurricanes. I love trees too, but when these weapons of mass destruction wave their weighted boughs over your house with the raging wind, and the rain saturates the roots making them weaker,  then to me it’s a no brainer,  put more trust in you doing the right thing — sometimes Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humor…    P/S – Must make mention of another very effective  and competent and caring tree Service, Davey Tree Service - they also do mowing.  (407) 331-8020 – call and ask for Chuck Daum-  Davey was kind enough to donate their services to the Audubon society this past June:
MAITLAND, Fla. — …A local tree service pitched in to help the Audubon Society on Monday.

The chainsaws were roaring out front while the bald eagles calmly perched in the back.The Audubon Birds of Prey Center is a champion when it comes to the rescue and rehab of Florida’s feathered hunters, but tree-trimming work is not part of its expertise.At about a month into hurricane season, clearing out vulnerable trees and branches is important.”We have all native plants and very old oak trees on our property, so it helps us to be prepared,” Katie Warner of the Audobon Society said.”Couldn’t think of a better organization to support,” Chuck Daum said.Daum, a manager with Davey Tree Service is an Audubon member. After he saw tree trimming in the organization’s newsletter as a wish list item, his company donated a crew for the day.”Some of the groups don’t have the budget to do this kind of work, so it was a perfect fit. I’m looking forward to making it an annual event,” Daum said.

One of those days…

I’d call it a day of nostalgia. I had connected with a long lost friend on Facebook two days ago and it got me looking at old photos today which spiraled into  ‘mind-reversal’ thinking about the past.
Earlier I had to go into my Safe Deposit box at the bank looking for a Title and came across my great-grandmother’s wedding ring dated 1879 inside. So I took it home and put it on my Papa’s gold watch chain that I always wear around my neck. I get a lot of memory ‘tread’ thinking about my Nana and Papa, Louie and Rose who were the most fantastic grandparents in the whole universe!  They don’t make them like that anymore.  AND suddenly I got hungry thinking about my Nana’s cooking, that woman made gourmet food all the time. Oh, if only I had paid attention and watched her cook, oh never mind, I would weigh 400 lbs…

Later while fishing, my mind was directed away from the mooching turtles and onto the lone Pekin duck who sat on the bank looking for her long, lost twin sister. It seems the other twin female duck has become a groupie for the Band of Brother mallards. Poor single girl left behind, she is so missing her sister who was last seen following the mallards to places unknown. But all is okay as the missing Pekin twin and the BOB entourage will be back in the morning, they always seem to come back for breakfast.

Looking at the duck sitting there watching the lake for a sign of her sister, I thought about how I miss my only sister too,   it’s  not really fair when someone close to you commits suicide. I am still angry more than sad. Yep, I still want to kick her ass for being so selfish and yet I know she was just desperate.  I am sorry for what what she will miss though.
As for me, I am very content right here on earth, I’m not anxious to follow in my sister and mother’s path, plus I don’t have their addictions. I am so lucky to have about everything I want, the best kids, supportive family, terrific friends and neighbors and a camera that screams for me to take photos. Now if I could only win a big lotto and not be such an insomniac I’d almost have it all!
I have a better appreciation for what can be taken away by the many losses I have experienced over the years, and there have been a lot. But that’s enough of the crappy nostalgia, lets focus on better things.

WAIT —  let me  back up again to around 6pm tonight when there was a knock on the door. A man about my age stood there and asked if I was me. yes, I said, so he handed me a phone number and told me to call my best friend from High school back in Ohio as she could not get a hold of me, (I recently changed phone numbers). I asked who he was and he was someone she dated years ago and had remained friends and happened to now live in Sanford. So I took the number and called but she was not home. So of course I do what I normally do at that time, go fishing.
I stood there thinking back to high school and beyond. Fond memories flooded over me! I just smiled at all the different things I thought of.  But I grew bored of fishing–not a thing was biting except mosquitos and white flies — oh, yes, and of course the turtles, they are such pests. But as I was about to go inside, I saw the sun getting lower and thought I’d do a sundown chase. So put my stuff away, grabbed the dslr and hurried over to Kohls where my vantage point is. I drove through the back of the parking lot and parked. Tonight I saw a funny sight, someone was grilling food right outside the back door of Kohls. People would pop in and out the door and fiddle with food on the grill. I must admit, it smelled divine. The grill fumes and the feel of about 90 degrees made for more long lost summer memories.
I took some shots of the sun as it began to leave.  And it was quite dramatic as this wall of clouds looked like a curtain half open on nature’s stage. It was really breathtaking.  Then I looked up to see the clouds and noticed one in particular that kind of scared the crap out of me.  Whoa, that looked like a mushroom cloud!  It made me think about life in the early 1960’s. I can remember watching some show during that time showing a little girl looking out her window and a nuclear blast occurs complete with actual stock footage. The father grabs her and they venture out. It showed the grocery stores being ransacked and there was no food, so I suppose there was no good ending. As kids of that era, we would have ‘drills’ in school in case of war. We were told to sit under our desks covering our head with our hands because this was how we would survive a nuclear bomb. Today we simply use duck tape to survive, (ha ha).  REMEMBER FOLKS DON”T LOOK TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR HELP!  That was a scary time with Kruschev beating his shoe on the desk of the UN and the Cuban missile crisis.

After leaving the parking lot. I went out on the road neat the Bentley Elementary school and saw Derby Park. The sign pretty much said it all. They actually hold weekend soapbox derbies. Now growing up in Akron Ohio, that was the big event each summer, though I am embarassed to say I never saw a Soapbox Derby race except on television, but I did see the Goodyear blimp– ah, more memories.     As I made my way home I smiled a lot thinking of various stages of my life so far as I approach 59 – WHOA where does time go? I really can’t complain about much except I lost some people too fast and some not fast enough.  All the crappy things that have happened actually do make one stronger, and being ‘mature’ you can be obnoxious and people forgive you because “you’re old”.
When I got back inside the house again I found some other photo albums and melted away into fun times. I was so focused I forgot to call my friend.
Every now and then, you just have to go back, think hard and analyze all the things that have happened to make you you. (is that too confusing?)
One day I will have to organize all these photos and put them on CD’s, that’s the way to really preserve for posterity.
And look at the time, 3:38am and I am still lost in retropsective thoughts about retrospective thought, wonder what I will dream about tonight, or actually, what will I dream about this morning? Either way, day dreaming or regular, I am enjoying it. I’ll end this with some good Lewis Carroll quotes, because I adore his thought process…
If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.
Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things  before  breakfast.

No good fish goes anywhere without a porpoise. Lewis Carroll

The baby bath – sandhill crane baby bath

Woke up and the sandhill cranes had come for a visit. Keep in mind the baby is just about 12 weeks old and he is a monster!  (That’s him in the middle.)  His head is so funny as he is losing his baby fuzz.  He’s going to tower over the father. The funny thing was how he loves the water.  The baby crane saw the ducks at the lake,  and hurried in their direction to assert his machismo. He scattered them off and jumped in for a bath. I followed from behind and watched the baby as he had the best time waving his wings under the water and making the drops scatter. He would groom and then wave those wings and dunk his head. Then finally about ten minutes later he came ashore spreading his massive wings to dry.
For all the other babies we have had on the property over the years, not one would go in the water deeper than it’s knees if it did not have to. Usually just to drink and of course when they were too young to fly and would swim across the lake. but never have I seen one that spent time having fun like this. Plus he is already flying, it took the other baby cranes much longer to fly, a lot longer! But I will let the photos speak for themselves…

the full moon is affecting the ducks

The full moon is affecting the ducks. This morning I found Carbs on the porch! He never comes that close when I am outside. Frankie the cat sort of stared at him and hissed.

Carbs ate the birdseed at the stump and settled under my budding, Myers lemon tree for a morning siesta, while the Pekins sat under the plastic fishing chair closer to the lake and one had layed an egg.

And all seemed peaceful and hot as hell and humid, and the nice start to the morning, when all of a sudden, there they are — the damn band of brother mallard/mix. The bullies of the lake appear on shore. There are 3 of them and one of me. I side track one away from Carbs while the Pekin ducks are chased in the water by the two others, of course they go right on top of one of the sisters and

rape-mate. The other one chases Carbs and I ran and ran, finding Carbs being jumped on by my house first,
and I chased the mallard off and poor Carbs is not a fast enough runner, (and neither am I, and frankly I had pajama bottoms on and did not want to run through neighbors other than Kim who understands I sometimes have PJ’s on in the morning), 
though the orange is Kim’s house where poor Carbs is getting dominated again. And then I chased them off and the last I saw was all three of the band of brothers being mean and trying to rape and dominate poor Carbs through the neighborhood.

Poor Carbsy! That mallards would hop on top at every stop – (excuse the poetry pun.)  I hate those creepy mallard brothers!  They come out of nowhere, pillage and leave.  I have to figure out how to trap those damn bullies of the lake. I’d take them out to another lake in Orlando or somewhere one by one just to get rid of them and maybe when they are not together, they would not be so mean.  And it makes me so mad that I can’t even keep up with a duck, they are pretty fast, or maybe I am really out of shape and I think its the latter.  AND–what do I do with that nice fresh duck egg? It might be the spawn of Hell!

Tuesday — watching the crows gather

It’s hot out there, really hot, but felt like running up to the used bookstore in Sanford.  Wanted to rumage around the shelves and see what was new. I stopped by the marina to see if anything was floating around, water was flat and nothing visible, not even ducks swimming. So I went toward the businesses up on the “island”.  I can’t figure out how this concrete slab is considered an island, I have been to Sanibel, that’s an island, but then again in Florida, we call drainage ditches “ponds”. Anyway, the familiar ducks were out and about and do seem to stay all together. I saw the one with the hair standing up, and I saw the baby ducks which have grown. I also saw a duck walking around with a broken wing.   It looked kind of pathetic. When I walked up to where the ducks live, suddenly it looked like a mass march toward the human.  When they realized I had a camera and no food, they ignored me. I still did not see one muscovy anywhere, even at the pond that is across the street.
The City of Sanford has built quite an elaborate exercise track and have lots of new playground equipment.
The osprey in the nest are flying now. I took a few minutes to watch
them fly from post to post.
Upon returning home, I checked the little mother moorhen on her nest. She has at least 5 eggs now,

I got a bit worried as the crows began to gather, and they were digging away on the property.  About five crows bossing each other around. One was digging and digging and I watched  to see what it would extract.

Turtle eggs! They had found a hole, 

and I shooed them away and took the shovel and got the only two remaining eggs and buried them in the garden so the birds would not bother them. Those birds were rather snippy about that, and finally left. Now I am going fishing. I hope something is biting, last night didn’t catch anything, if fact, I put down my rod and my son and I went for a walk. Now ask my son how annoying it is to seriously walk with someone who wears a camera around her neck, he will gladly tell you…(wait, when I look at that hole, it looks more like snake eggs, might have to let the crows have their raw omelets)

Guess who stopped by at 6:45am…

CARBS! Carbs the duck was by the stump this morning looking for seed. What a surprise! It was good to see him, he ate then waddled away not even waiting for the Pekins who were not far away. Hope he will come more often. I will have to go by the marina to see if there are more muscovy ducks up there now.
I had another surprise last night — a moorhen has built a nest in the cattails and tall grass about twenty feet from the bank. She used bent cat tail leaves as the base or kind of platform  and built it up with nesting material.

It holds two ‘hen-size’ eggs that I can see, though they say usually there are 5 or more. I only see two. It takes about 27 days to hatch so I will keep an eye out.
Outside it is HOT and it is only morning. When I was out at 6:45am it was already humid and hot and when the sun breeched the homes across the lake, WHEW! That stare down was no competition, I got out of the suns way!
Today I might get the boat my neighbor does not want anymore. I am so hoping I get it, my son and I have big weeding projects for our area of lakefront.  And that’s today so far, got a long way to go yet and temperature is supposed to hit 93!!! I will be in most of the day!  And here’s a face that popped up last night while I was fishing – the mooch – oh, that’s a duck feather stuck to its’ chin. then there is always Ringo and how he deals with the heat…

Woodpeckers galore

First of all, the lake is up another inch and 1/2, and I suppose it will continue to rise little by little as we are now having afternoon thunderstorms daily, the way it used to be in summer. It is very humid – like a steam bath today. I went to check the lake and saw the baby woodpecker sticking his face out of his hole, and of course I didn’t have a camera at that point. But I hear babies inside and there is also a Great crested flycatcher that has new babies. I have never noticed the  Flycrested  before.
There are lots of  woodpeckers lately, they are all over! As soon as I put seed out in the morning, my male woodpecker is right there always first! He does not seem that scared of me taking his photo anymore.
And it’s not just the small red bellied woodpeckers, it’s the pileated too.
The woodpeckers are all over jackhammering trees. The pileated are here in pairs, maybe looking for some real estate.
Another thing I noticed was a bee that had fat orange ‘barrels’ around it’s back legs. I have not seen a bee like that before and it is not bags of pollen, I don’t think anyway.
Yesterday put a humming bird feeder out, but have only seen one hummer the whole time I have lived here, so maybe, maybe not – I promise, you will be the first to know!!!
UT OH —
How fifteen minutes makes a difference, take a look – AND,
we have our first tropical depression forming in the gulf, YA WANNA KNOW TROPICAL DEPRESSION — YOU CAN”T FISH CAUSE IT”S LIGHTNING! Here we go again, will post a daily water meter reading…

No fishing AGAIN — Rain AGAIN

Okay, going a little stir crazy around here! No fishing again! Here we are at the end of daylight, (8pm)  on Sunday and officially the rain total is 19 and 1/2 inches of rain since last Monday AND  it is raining outside as I type. We did get some sunshine outside earlier, but the sun was so blinding and hot, I could not fish. And as it got later, the rains with flashing lightning came in too close and socked us AGAIN! I am thankful that we do not have the flooding many places in Daytona and up the coast had. Saw too many homes with water inside houses and streets that were mini lakes.
The worst thing is the fireants! They have made piles all over the place. I was putting bird food on the stump and my foot and ankle became surrounded and I was taking lots of bites before I could wipe them away. Even when I stood down at the lake, fire ants were everywhere. They bite you putting their whole body into action and leave red dots all over your feet and ankles and I have even had them crawl up my pants and bite me on the thighs! They are little and angry and pack a big punch in their mandibles!  Let’s hope Monday is better – even my sunflower looks like it has had enough being battered for a week by almost 20 inches of rain…

Obituary for Church: Goodbye old friend

This is the last photo I took of Church just two nights ago. He would come out and share the cement with Ringo watching me fish.  He was old, perhaps 17-18 or even more. He was a stray when we found him hungry in our driveway as we were about to move in 1995. We packed him up along with our stuff and our two other cats. I had him immunized and neutered and brought him into our new home where he fit in just as if he had always been there. The vet thought he might be 4 years old back then. He was the cat that resembled “Church” in the movie Pet Cemetery, so that’s how he got his name.
In the past months poor old cat has been shrinking and acting old. Last night he did not eat and he is usually the first one talking in the morning for the food. This morning I put the food out and he had no interest, didn’t even meow. I took chicken to him and he ignored it and went back to the corner and curled up. I knew it was time to take him in to the Vet.
I got there at 8am when they opened and when I signed in the clip board, they ask the reason you are here. I left it blank and could not put even the word, was it death? Termination?  The guy at the desk asked me why and I told him the purpose.  He put us in a room to await the vet who was not due in till 9am. I sat petting the drooling ,old, purring cat as the clock over the door ticked away each agonizing second of his remaining life.
The smells of the vet perk an animal’s interest and they know instantly they are not in a normal environment. Church looked up at every door closing, at each bark, at the noise of the techs behind the doors and still he purred and rubbed his head hard against my hand. We spent that time reflecting on old times, he let me do all the talking. We laughed about his old nemesis Terra the bull terrier and how they would get into big spats and Church seemed to know just when Terra was going into the show ring and the day before the show and he would make sure Terra had some nice big scratches on Terra’s face and nose, the cat had a sense of humor.  Church was a good “mouser”, he liked bringing a gifts home.
He leaves behind his adopted sisters, Miss Sealy and Frankie, (also strays) and his brother Ringo. He leaves behind Abbe and Adam and the memories a good cat should. Church was a gentleman at all times, even when Sealy would smack him repeatedly, he always let the girls have their ‘opinions’.
A good cat will never be forgotten, and neither will a bad one, we have had our share of both, but for a stray, he came into our home with respect and love and we will miss our Church.

Another day of “a whiter shade of pale”

Here it is another day of gray and rain threats, nothing I can do about it and I really don’t even mind it. Somehow it seems like a dreary day you would veg out and listen to Procal Harem or Led “Zep’ – oh I am so 40 years ago aren’t I?
But after three days of ice-cream cookies and junk food, I had to get out.  I ran some errands and did even stop by the marina.
There was nothing floating around in the water and only a few fisherman and very little wildlife, still no muscovy ducks. I did see a couple mallard duck mothers and their ducklings, one had almost a dozen ducklings,  I thought her brood looked well disciplined.  The wind was not as brisk as it had been the past two days of driving rain. The marina waters were pretty calm

There were a lot of homeless people sitting around the park which is always sad to see. Also saw some vultures
looking bored.
I came home and attempted to go fishing, the wind was built up again and there was no use in bothering after several casts came floating back. There was a huge yellow rat snake that I saw and he saw me and he went right over the seawall and into the water. he swam out to the lily pads and did a big loop and came back to the other side of my property, back to dry land. The sky looked like it was trying to build some momentum, even Ringo didn’t bother coming out with me which is unusual. The heron family is long gone, the mama never comes to fish anymore, have not seen her since before going to Tampa almost two weeks ago. I do see one of her babies down near the channel that leads from our lake to the next. I have not seen the crane family in almost two weeks.
Tomorrow I take my two photos to the Gateway Center for The Arts for an upcoming show called “Abandoned Houses” – other than that, I am working on a dream series of work to go with some of my poetry and hoping to present that somewhere for an exhibition. Art is never quiet once it infects you, it squirms it’s way out of you and then you must find it a home just like you find a pet a home. Someone has to fall in love with it enough to buy and take home. The best part for the perspective art owner is that the artwork does not have eat, crap or have to be neutered, so there, now go buy some local artists’ pet project!

American Idol Robbery

photo credit: Reuters

I rarely watch anything but cable news, but got attached to American Idol contestant, Adam Lambert, the guy has mad mad singing skills and his range is awesome! He outdid everyone and I was sure after his songs last night and the ones showing his ability with Kiss and Queen tonight, I was sooo sure this would be the American idol, instead the public picked a very nice and humble kid with a voice that anyone hears at a Karioke bar. I was shocked, the difference between those two could not be more evident in the way they both sang the same stupid song written by Kara last night. Adam was born to be on stage, the kid has powerful lungs and is a pleasure to listen to. I don’t understand unless it might be in part due to all the “gay” hype – sometimes people don’t see the talent, they see someone who might be “different and scary” -  such a narrow view of true life!
I am really perplexed that a winner such as Adam Lambert was out voted – he will definitely be a winner to me and I will buy whatever he puts out there. I have not heard any voice as powerfully beautiful and controlled as his lately, the best and most talented did NOT win!  Boy did the voters get this season wrong – where’s my Haagen Dazs, I need comfort…
P/S water level up again we have gained 5 more inches since yesterday = 15inches of rain! Now go listen to the link I shared below and cry me a river for who should have been the American Idol!

listen to them both sing to Queen’s we are the Champions
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33ROaNpi4vQ

Top 8 Adam Lambert Mad World STUDIO RECORDING Full Version

10inches and comfort food

It stormed most of the night! So far we are up almost ten inches. The funny thing is, at a point where there was no rain this morning, I went out to garden a bit and pick up downed tree limbs because you get stir crazy after three days of incarceration. So I transplanted a few canna lilies and the ground about five inches down is dry as dry can be!  It’s just as sandy as if no rain has ever fallen. It is another day of rain and what can I say, same old same old, but at least it is helping with our drought!  The only visitors have been the ducks and regular birds.

Okay — so how does one get through the days of liquid peril that assault us? Comfort food of course. 
The best is the new Haagen Dazs ice cream “Five”!!!! OMG it’s amazing and it has fruit in it so I am counting that as a fruit suppliment in my daily diet as I count the nuts in the Payday. The cookies count as needed carbs of course. And it does give comfort when the weather is blaring all day long with lightning, thunder and storms all around us and the repeated warnings. It’s all one can do to make it through the day besides petting cats…