Vacation?

 

This has been one of those weeks. trips back to the house, the trailer having to go in for a leak and then I fell. Never start walking while you are taking photos, especially when you are on a step and forget. I am a bit scuffed up and might have broken a few things so I will give it a few days and see what still hurts in a few days.

It is hard for me to type with braces on so I am going to keep this short with a few photos of the good things about our trip so far. I hope everyone is having a better week than I am, lol.

Our site, a nice large grassy site.

Watching the sun set.

Watching the moon rise over the ocean.

The lighthouse at dusk, beautiful colors in the sky.

Walking the beaches, Bean loves the dog beach.

Lots of birds and most are in motion. This Piping Plover stopped long enough for a shot.

And our beach finds, a bit of glass and art objects and lots of beach toys that are left behind. The boys love seeing all the goodies when we get back. That is another bad thing, the boys and Ivy are sick, so they cannot come down.

Another day it was a boogie board and beach shoes.

And our strangest find, one Field and Stream rubber boot at one end of the beach, and as we walked back down, we found the other at the other end, so we took them. Not sure if they fell off a boat or a boat went down,  But they are in new condition, just too big for us. 

Enjoy your weekend and I hope that nothing but good things happen to you this week.

Weekly Wanderings!

 

As usual the week went by and I still have a million things that didn't get done. Most of the week was spent, repacking the RV and getting things done around the house. We did get to spend time outside, which is always my favorite thing to do.

A day with the boys is always the best. We took them to a park that has a bike path, so Nick and I got to enjoy riding together, he loved it.

There is also a playground, so Alex got to have fun with Grandpa and Nick joined in after our ride. Anpd then we stopped at the ocean for some fun in the sand.

My favorite thing was playing with Alex in the waves, every time a wave washed over him, he would jump up and down and laughing. It is such a joy to see him having so much fun.

And we spend time at the ocean, beach combing. While there I enjoyed watching the Common Terns, while they dove for fish. They are amazing aerial acrobats.

And a lot of life in the inner marsh.

I also did a bit of shopping. I found the perfect lantern to hold glass and with a set of tea lights, I now have a night light for my bathroom.

If you are looking to do a little decorating inside or out, the craft stores have some really great sales, right now. I was able to get two new bird houses, for only 10.00, a piece.

I also love backyard birding. I have not seen any Cedar Waxwings this year, but I finally found them. They are hiding in the back area with other friends, enjoying the Mulberry trees.

And we seem to have a lot of Robins this year, my yard is covered in them, especially after a rain. You can see the different colorings on these Robins, the young ones haven't gotten all their color yet.

And a new visitor this week, my first sighting of an Orchard Oriole. I hope he comes back to visit again and I can get a better shot. I hope everyone had a wonderful week. I may do an extra posting next week since we will be on vacation and of course I will be taking lots of photos.

Friday Finish!

 

I was able to finish a piece this week. It seems I have so many plans for the week and it is gone before I get half of it done. I always love getting the new stitchery from Kathy Schmitz, something fun to look forward to each month.

This year she is doing a theme for the yearly contest, making sets of pillows or small quilts with the designs, so of course I am going with pillows. She offers wonderful prizes at the end of the year and this is the first time I can actually enter with what I make.

I added lavender to it, I think it makes nice gifts and I also plan on selling off a few things this year. I thought it looked off balance so I added the words, I do wish I had thought of it, before I put it together, then I could have done nicer lettering.

We had a nice day with the boys. I had gotten a raft for Alex, but hadn't found one for Nick. So we bought his over and they loved playing with them in the pool. Nick had to show me how well he is riding his new bike, he loves it and hopefully we can get to some bike paths and ride together.

We also got to spend some time at the beach, when Bill got home. The tide was coming in this week but I found some nice goodies for my collection. We also had some threatening storm clouds, roll in, but luckily they went in the other direction.

And glass is not the only thing you can find on the beach. This is a skate, some places use them in place of scallops by using a special cutter. Two had washed up with the waves, not sure why.

We also had a day with fog rolling in. I love how it looks as it moves across the bay.

At home I have been enjoying a few new young birds that are coming to visit the feeder. This is a young female Downy Woodpecker.

And a young female Cardinal. I also set up a jelly feeder and saw my first Oriole today's so hopefully I can get some photos of them, when more come.

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather and getting outside more. One more week and we take our Anniversary vacation. We are staying close to home since it is hard for Bill to drive long distances. I was lucky enough to find a cancellation for the state camp near the beach, so we will be spending the week there.

Camping Month and Birthdays!

Well, the month is over and the last weekend, which is the one we looked forward to, was a washout, so we came home early. For me, camping is being outdoors and if I am stuck inside for 3 days, I would go nuts, lol.

We did get to spend one day before we left, so at least I got in one more paddle and time enjoying the wildlife. It is amazing how many birds and animals live along the waterways.

I was able to find a new nest and  get a shot before I disturbed her enough, to leave the nest. I would think the blackbirds would be used to all the boaters who paddle and fish on the pond.

And here is another Redwing Blackbird couple, she was not going to take that worm to her babies until I left the area. The male just makes a lot of noise and hopes I will go away.

Since the weather was on and off that day, we took a ride to the observation deck and spotted this Hummingbird high in the tree. There were a lot of birds, but they move too fast and hide in the bush, so that is a hard area to get shots.

And I tried to get some shots of the birds near the waterfall, but the rain was blowing into my window, so I couldn't get a clear shot. I decided to make a montage with a saying, for them. 

And since we came home early, we had a little party for the family, Ivy, the boys and Bill, all have birthdays this week. Nick got his new bike, which was too big for him, and since they couldn't take it home, we offered to drop it off the next day. In the meantime, I had Bill take it back and get one a few inches smaller. I rather have him ride a bike that makes him happy than one that he is afraid to ride. Once he got used to it, he was riding like a pro and smiling, that was all I needed to make my day. Alex loves space and wants to be an astronaut, so we got him a play mobile spaceship, play set. 

While we were there, I noticed a lot of activity in their backyard. I guess I don't need to go far to find birds, I can just sit in their backyard.

I spotted a robin, bring dinner, only one baby in her nest.

  

On the side of the yard, another nest, this one a Catbird. She had two smaller babies in her nest.

I also caught a Blue Jay, who was kind enough to pose for me.

And a few of the other visitors to his yard. A Downy Woodpecker, a Carolina wren, one of the neighbors chickens came to visit, a Chipmunk and lots of bees. It definitely was a lot easier than taking photos from a moving boat. 

I hope you all had a wonderful week and a weekend filled with joy. 

Friday working on and camping!

 

It seems this month went by fast and the end of the month is here, last weekend of camping at this campground. The good thing is, I might get more done now. I have been working on a project that I was hoping to finish for my Daughter in Law's birthday this week, but still working on it. The good thing is, we postponed the party till next week so I may still be able to. 

I plan on doing a nice floral print border and making a wall hanging with it. The design is by Kathy Schmitz, one of the patterns I got with my winnings.

Most of my time at camp is spent on the water or going for walks with Bean. I just love hearing all the birds around me, I just wish they would sit still. Even so, I was able to take a few photos last week.

I was finally able to catch the Baltimore Oriole, and hopefully I will be a closer, clearer photo one day.

I also enjoyed watching the Great Blue Heron, fishing. That is until, another larger one came diving from the nearby trees and attacked it, and chased it away. I guess that was his fishing spot.

And I always know when a Blackbird nest is nearby, the males yell at me, the minute I get close to one. Not the smartest way to keep the nest a secret, lol. Most just yell a lot, but the one near the bridge, has decided to dive bomb me, when I paddle by.

One day we went for a ride and decided to come back along the fire road and stopped at Hells Hollow Pond. We were lucky enough to come when a family of Geese were swimming nearby.

And another nesting pair, Mallard ducks. Today we got to camp early, so I was able to get some photos and spend time outside before the rains. I will save those for next week. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend and find something that you love to do.

Friday this and that!

 No finishes this week, I did work on my stitchery, but forgot to take a photo of my progress. It seems I spend the weekend at camp, come home, do a million things to catch up and then a few days getting ready to go back to camp, definitely need to organize my time better.

I did get out for some nice paddles last weekend. Even if I cannot get photos of all I see, I do enjoy the solitude of being on the water and just watching the natural world around me.

I was able to finally catch the Great Blue Heron, he doesn't like to be bothered and when some paddlers got too close, he went up to the treetops. 

The next day I was able to catch him fishing. I can only get so close before he takes off and the pond always seems to be windy, so hard to stay still myself.

I enjoy watching the Hummingbirds in the area, they are all about and my neighbor has a bunch of feeders, so I was able to catch one at her camp.

I was also able to catch a different angle of the Hummingbird mom on her nest. 

While on the river, I spied a nesting Redwing Blackbird. They do not like it when you come near, so I was very quiet and took a few shots without disturbing her. 

I also spied an Eastern Kingbird along the river.

And the two Goslings are growing.

And since we are inland most of the time, I just had to get out for some beach time. The bad thing was, our favorite spot is open to camping, so we went to the other side of the island.

And I was lucky enough to find a few nice pieces of glass and pottery, unusual for that beach but I hit the tide just right. I hope everyone's week went well and you enjoy some time to enjoy time outside.