birds, birds and more birds

Living out in the country has it's perks.  There are a lot of birds here!  Across the road is a pasture and we see cows everyday.  Of course that means there are cattle egrets.  

Black and White Ibis, Wood Storks, at least one Eagle and one Crested Cara Cara.  I've seen Belted Kingfishers on the wires over the ditches and canals.  Usually see the Herons and Egrets fishing in the canals.  Kestrels and Hawks too.  Not sure about the hawks and what kind they are.

This Northern Shrike hangs around and I see him almost daily. Miss Amy tells me that the Shrike is a Loggerhead Shrike, so I stand corrected! The Great Horned Owl is rarely heard now.  I expect they're off in a remote area nesting.  

We put up the bird feeders a couple weeks ago and I've been waiting for the little birds to find it.  Of course the grackles and red winged blackbirds are here daily.  But yesterday this Painted Bunting showed up!  This little guy and a male Cardinal get to eat their fill when the grackles fly off.

Oh, the Fox Squirrel eats his fill too.  As heavy as he is he has managed to climb right to the top of the feeder.  The first time I saw him trying, he kept sliding down the pole! Rarely see any seeds on the ground so I'm sure field mice and other critters are gleaning their fill at night.

Jim saw the doctor and he's coming along nicely in his recovery.  The muscles in his chest are still tender and it will take a while for all this to heal up.  Whenever he overworks the lifting he is in pain for a few days.  Just need to tie him down!

Tired

Do you ever get tired?  I don't mean from physical activity...but tired of everyday chores?

I get tired of doing dishes, making the bed, cleaning.  Fixing nutritious foods rather than eating the meat, dairy and fatty packaged foods I've grown accustomed to.

I know this will pass, but I wonder, do you get tired too?

All is right in the world

grape?

I'm not sure what this is....Sonsearae and I were wandering around out back sneaking up on birds and listening to critters rustling in the palmettos.  

When I started looking into the greenery I spotted Anole lizards and then I saw this

My first thought was wild grape!  But is it?  

If you know what it is, let me know.

Have you seen anything new that piques your curiosity?

Bucket List and Boat Show

What's the 5th thing on your bucket list?  Do you even have a bucket list?  

I've never made one and at my age I wonder if I should.  It's like making resolutions for the new year....why bother if you know you'll never accomplish them?

Last Friday we went to the Boat Show in Stuart Florida. Considering how close we are to the east coast I'm willing to bet they have several boat shows a year in the area!  I have to admit there were a lot of boats.  Mostly fishing boats which don't interest us but they sure can be pretty.  We saw some red ones, aqua hulls on some, lime green, light blue on others but mostly boring white especially topside.  Of course boring white makes them easier to spot on the water.  There were quite a few ski boats too along with pontoon boats.  We looked at the pontoon boats then we graduated to live aboard boats.

this was a pretty wooden pleasure craft.

I cannot begin to describe the gorgeous boats we saw!  Huge, plush ocean going crafts designed for easy living with guest and crew quarters.  It would be easy to trade in our rig for one if we could afford it!

We toured several of these from the big, to the more like we could live on one.  

I was to busy looking and didn't take many pictures.  Besides on land and in the water they were packed like sardines and getting just one boat in the frame was difficult

This boat was across from the wooden boat above and as we came along side of it I snapped this picture of the portholes.  As you can see, this boat isn't white and it was lovely from the outside.

After the show we stopped in at a local place for a bite to eat and drink.  Fish tacos and beer hit the spot!  The weather was perfect with lots of sun and breezes...good thing, because we both wore jeans and had we stayed much longer we would have gotten overheated.

Saturday we were going to check out the Greek Festival in Port Saint Lucie but put if off until Sunday.  Just hung around the house reading and in my case doing chores.

Sunday we headed for the festival around 1030 and I guess we should have waited to leave until after lunch.  When we arrived they were just setting up and although it smelled good the food wasn't quite ready.  We checked a couple booths and inside the hall.  Saw some really interesting Russian and Greek crafts.  The music hadn't started yet so we decided to leave.

We headed to Stuart so we could get some lunch and go to the farmer's market.  Our lunch at Spoto's Oyster Bar on the river was tasty.  I had a taco salad with a beer and Jim had fish and chips with a bloody Mary.  For entertainment we watched the water, some osprey's fishing for their dinner and some boats passing by.  The view was great and we decided to have coffee and dessert, the key lime pie was huge and oh, so yummy!

Never did make it to the market!  Oh well, there's always next week.

Monday we took Boo to the vet.  He needed some flea medicine and had to be checked first.  He's doing well except for his teeth which he'll get cleaned on Friday.  Hopefully they won't have to pull any.

Back home it was laundry time!  I stripped the bed and got the washer and dryer going.  Then Sonsearae asked me to go shopping with her...I said yes.  Then thunderstorms moved in and the power went out.  It was still out when I left and Jim said he'd take care of the machines while I was gone.  

The power was off a few hours and Jim napped and boy did I have some catching up to do when I got home!  Made a simple soup for dinner because I bought some yummy bread.  

Had more rain throughout the evening and apparently the night.  Lost power again but I slept through it all.

What are you Reading?

Today I looked in the mirror and saw an old lady!  Way past time for a haircut.  So I didn't figure Jim would be doing anything outside (chilly and windy) and informed him I was needing a haircut. Bless his heart, he shaved and said let's go.  We did have lunch out and while I was getting 'younger', Jim strolled around Bass Pro Shop.

That's all we did today.  Once home Jim napped and I read for a bit then played Monopoly on my tablet.


What I'm Reading: Eat Right, Live Longer by Neal Barnard and for some reason you can buy it for a penny on Amazon from a third party.

I periodically read books of this nature to keep me on track with healthy eating.  Sometimes it's easy and other times I just chuck it all and have Popeye's chicken for lunch!  I do like my veggies and have no problem eating them and fruits and other goodies that are good for you.  So far my quest to stay off medication is working.

How about you?  What are you doing to stay healthy?

Farmer's Market

On Sunday Jim and I ventured out and headed to Stuart.  First stop was lunch at the Crafted Keg.   When I was out and about with Sonsearae we passed it and I mentioned it to Jim.  Their menu isn't all that great but they do have an impressive list of beers on tap.  Of course we had to try some.  Jim got a flight of five dark beers and I tried a Winter Solstice.  We both enjoyed our choices.

Afterwards we drove through downtown so I could point it out to Jim.  Very eclectic and difficult to drive in our big truck.  We passed a farmer's market and eventually found a place to park.  The area was packed with all manner of vehicle and people.  

The venue was right on the river and isn't very big.  The market portion supposedly closes at 1300 and that's when the music starts.  There were folks sitting everywhere.  We stopped and listened for a bit and enjoyed what we heard.  I also bought some veggies, cucumbers, radishes and zucchini.

We strolled on the boardwalk along the river passing city hall, a couple restaurants, a museum and a park.  Nice way to spend a Sunday.  Next time we need to leave a little earlier so we can really check out the market and perhaps sit a spell listening to the music and enjoying the breeze off the river.

Winter seems to have crept into most of the US.  Even here our temperatures are cooler...but not uncomfortable.  Looking back a few years to 2011, we were in south Texas and it was cold...read about it here.  I still have the cactus, but it's not blooming.  No buds but it's green and healthy.

Where were you in January 2011?

I hope wherever you are tonight, you're warm.

Movie and Moon Rise

Have you seen this movie?  Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

We watched it on Netflix and I must say it was pretty good.  Full of the action we both like.  It was based on the characters created by Tom Clancy.  Jim and I have read most of the Jack Ryan books and enjoyed them.  Of course Alex Baldwin and Harrison Ford played Ryan in the American movies.  With Kenneth Branagh directing and staring in, I'm sure this was a British film.  

What I'm reading: From the Ashes by Jeremy Burns...finished this today and now Jim is reading it.  

Did you see the full moon?  Sure was nice to see.  For a change we had clear skies.  Then the clouds moved in and by bed time we had a gentle rain falling.

Today has been cooler, only getting into the low 70's. We had a big salad for lunch.  I made a loaf of herb bread and we enjoyed some with our afternoon coffee. 

Life in the fast lane....

Not!  Hope your new year is off to a good start.

I finally put up a hanging bird feeder because I've seen a pair of cardinals flitting through the back yard.  Of course that means we have grackles, ten, twenty, thirty at a time.  They don't fit on the feeder actually.  One tries and sits there for a minute or so.  Eventually I want my feeding station set up but I haven't quite convinced Jim to do it.  Sonsearae and I think we could attract the owls so they can take care of any mice that would hang around.

Have you ever seen a black ibis?  We have a flock of them here and they're quite graceful.  I think it's the glossy ibis seen here.  Haven't been able to get close enough for pictures so I can better identify it.


Coming together is a beginning,
Staying together is progress,
Working together is success.
Henry Ford

What I'm reading: From the Ashes by Jeremy Burns