Cabbage Damage

B came upon this chewed cabbage in our garden. The clues were there to know what animal had been munching on it.


If you look at the closest leaf,  you can see the teeth print and a print of the roof of the mouth of a deer!

Let Them Eat Pie

Our son had requested that we make ice cream for Easter. We were glad for the idea as it was plenty warm for it to be refreshing.

To go with it, we had the most delicious apple pie I have ever tasted. I know that I have never made such a beautiful  pie. Julia Child would have been proud of this pie.

Mailbox Monday: Gator Country

I guess if you have to do it, you are dealing with the right end of the alligator; butt, personally, I'd rather not get that personal with an alligator.

Rat Snake Round-up

I was weeding my way into the middle of our butterfly garden out front on Saturday when a large snake and I surprised each other. I sucked in my breath and said, "Big snake!" Once it came out where I could see it a little better, I knew it was a rat snake. I find such comfort in being able to identify our common snakes. We have come across more than a few moccasins in recent years and I like to know what I'm up against.

B was away and our neighbors across the hedge heard me and confirmed that it was indeed a big snake. I was glad for our neighbor to take the snake down to the wetland across the cul-de-sac. That is certainly not to say it will not come back if it has found our yard to be welcoming.

I estimate that the length was about five feet.



Thanks, neighbor!

Getting a Boot Job

Some women who go through mid-life crises go for plastic surgery  or buy fancy cars or take a cruise. I've just had a boot job. No, I spelled it correctly.

A number of years ago my sister was going to go hiking with a boyfriend and some of his friends. She didn't want to wimp out and so in preparation, she bought some VERY nice water-proof hiking boots. Long story, short: the boots lasted longer than the boyfriend and she ended up giving the boots to me. I have thoroughly enjoyed them and have even loaned them to my daughter-in-law for mountain trips. They fit me better than they do her and she eventually bought her own.

Well, recently, I noticed that they were beginning to lose their soles. This is not going to keep the water-proofness, now is it? So I took them back to the store in town where they came from---in their original box with the store's name on the price sticker. With little said, the owner shipped them back and the company replaced them with new boots. When I asked how long it would take to hear back from the company, the owner said about three weeks. I joked and said, then I would  have "Easter boots." Sure enough, they came back just in time, so we took this picture of my Easter outfit and my new boots.

 

We Have Issues

Apparently, the new software for blogging and photo editing is  not "what you see is what you get." Honestly, that alligator had a head when I  posted it!

So, in the meantime......I will be saving drafts.

SNB

Wildlife On the Wakulla

While the manatees were definitely the highlight of the trip, we did see other wildlife when we went paddling last Saturday.  We only saw a couple of alligators, but we also encountered four snakes----two of which were moccasins, one was a dead rattler and the other was unknown (and unseen by B and me.) Of course, there were plenty of turtles, in sizes from plate-size to tiny.

 

 

A deer came down to the river to drink.  There was the expected variety of birds. We heard many prothonotary warblers, and I thought I saw one (in bad light) fly down the river for a  bit before it disappeared into the dense vegetation that lines the banks. Several anhingas were drying their feathers in the sun, including one that marked its territory with a serious squirt that landed right between two of our canoes when we were having lunch. (His tactic worked and we promptly relocated the canoes out from under "his" tree.) There were red-shouldered hawks screaming in the woods. Once we heard a  barred owl. There were some ducks that looked like scaups to me.

The water was clear and we could see mullet and bass;  one bream was caught.

 

We also saw sheepshead and a blue crab.

It was a beautiful day: one to remember for years to come.