Temporarily Homeless, But Relocating

We had four sizable trees taken down recently. There were three water oaks and one huge hickory. It was quite a noisy undertaking.

When the last one was down, we discovered a three and a half foot gray rat snake in our back yard, all but still. It had really good camouflage. It finally slithered into a perennial bed that has plenty of cover.

If you click on the pictures, you can see how emaciated it was. Hope it has found some food since spring has begun.

The Late Bloomer

Late in the fall, a parent at school brought in two chrysalids of giant swallowtails butterflies that she had discovered on her very thorny citrus tree. One hatched within a reasonable time. The other appeared dead for weeks. And then one day in February, we had a butterfly!

The top and the underside are so very different. 

Our patience paid off.

The Boy Visits Our Garden

We took the boy out to see the vegetable garden. He liked pulling up carrots, cutting broccoli and breaking off collard leaves.

Love this picture below of the guys sharing the load of the bounty.

More Training

That same trip to St. Marks, we  hiked down the dike  in front of the lighthouse. At low tide there are always discoveries to be made.

Training Up the Child

There had been a recent prescribed burn down at the lighthouse when we were last there. We took the little hike around the visitors' center.

The new grass was already breaking through the charred ground. 

A nice snake skin was a great find.

But we also came upon a nice, medium-sized gator, that was the king of his very own, tiny sinkhole.

One For the Life List

On a recent trip to St. Marks, B and I added a bird to our life-list. Now to say we have a life-list sounds like we are much more serious birdwatchers than we actually are!

It was B who spotted the bright little vermillion flycatcher as it fed on tiny insects above the wetlands.

Posing Peacocks

One morning on my country drive to school, my eye was drawn to the top of a high oak, where the sun had already begun to warm the frosty morning. There, perched, was a snow-white albino peacock. It is all of six feet in length. 

Since that time, I have seen it and its colorful friends roosting many mornings. One Saturday morning, I made the drive specifically to photograph this unique sight.  This time, they were in a pine. Because this is across the pasture, I brought along the tripod so that I could zoom in with more clarity.

I am not altogether sure if the bird below is a female (peahen) or if it is a guinea. 

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A Pair of Bobcats!

A week ago, our grandson who is almost four, said we should all go down to St. Marks for the afternoon. It never takes much to get us on board with a trip to the lighthouse. This time, our son took their big SUV that will hold all of us. It is so nice to be able to go together and talk about the same things we are seeing.

It was a pleasant afternoon but we had no idea of the thrill in store for us on the return trip. We always check the sand spits off the side of the road where we have seen single bobcats before. This time, it was our daughter-in-law who spotted the spotted cats first. And, my goodness! There were TWO of them together!

If you click on each picture it will enlarge and you can see much more clearly.
This first kitty is much more spotty.

In the one picture below, both bobcats are in the same shot.

Mailbox Monday: Old Ironsides

This is a serious mailbox. I particularly like the tin roof. I wonder how many snakes or bats have found their way in the slot. 

Mailbox Monday: Texas A & M Fans

I got the decoration and missed the mailbox!

Reveille is a collie and the mascot for Texas A & M.

The 100th Day of School

Last Thursday was the 100th Day of School. Primary grades really get into such things and use it as a teaching theme to learn about numbers 1-100. I decided I wanted to do something different this year. I stopped by  Dollar Tree and picked up packages of 9" balloons. B helped me blow up (with our air!) all but 14 of them and put them in leaf bags and stuff them into my car. The next morning, I attached most of them to the wall with push pins and blew up the rest. Each student made a  hat that read "100 Days Smarter." I took individual pictures with the balloons as the background and emailed them to their parents.  At the end of the day, each child could choose one to take home.  

Donating

For Goodwill?

Good grief!

Mailbox Monday: Octobox

Mailbox Monday: Friendly Folks

My Kind of Guy

While shopping recently, I noticed this mannequin that had been posed leaning. They had him leaning to the right. I actually lean to the left--something I am attempting to correct by thinking about it during the day and trying to straighten myself.  It is a complicated hip-spine thing.

Please understand my leaning cannot accurately describe my politics.

Emu on the Loose

One morning in December, I was driving my usual country roads to school when I spotted an emu walking down the side of the road. This is a picture of terrible quality. A little video is somewhat better, but I don't post videos here. We travelled along together for further than I expected and then cars came up behind me and I had to be on my way.

Once at school, I shared this picture and the video with the folks in the office. One of the workers said she had heard that there was an emu on the loose and efforts to catch it had resulted in a broken arm! She notified the sheriff's office and they were able to catch it that morning.

Tea Line

B and I recently had lunch in the tiny town of Monticello, Florida, located east of Tallahassee. First, it is not Jefferson's Monticello. The c is  pronounced as an s, as in cellophane. On this Saturday, the lunch cafe was crowded, popular and more than adequate on a cool day.

I was amused by the line on the plastic glass:

It'll Get Cha Goin'

A Quiet Place to Think

We visited one of the main libraries on the Missou campus. It was a place our son had used when he really needed to focus without distractions. 

This part of the library was where you could expect complete silence. 

In the lobby, was a unique vending machine that offered all kinds of study supplies.

I have never seen anything similar. 

Shakespearean Grocery

I came across this sign in a grocery in Columbia, Missouri. As a lover of cheese, it spoke to me.

Harold's Doughnuts

Our last morning in Columbia, Missouri, our son took us to Harold's, a local doughnut bakery. What a treat! The fresh doughnuts were wonderful.

One long wall inside was a chalkboard. I encourage you to click on the picture below and examine the donut flow chart. It is a hoot.

The bakery was having a fundraiser for some charity and had invited local businesses to create gingerbread houses that were being voted on for the best. Here are some:

Chances are rather slim that I will ever return to Columbia now that our son has his PhD and has moved to Colorado  to live and work. But if I do, you can be sure I will look for Harold's.