When I was a child a very long time ago, we lived on a farm.  We had a small bathroom (thankfully I’ve always enjoyed indoor plumbing), but there was no bathtub or shower.  Baths were reserved for Saturday night when a round galvanized steel wash tub was brought out for the weekly ritual.  When I got older, I could go next door (a two-family farm) to my grandparents’ house and use their basement shower.  Did you have ”bath day” as a child? 

I figure it must be Thursday baths for the ducks and grebes, as they were all in a splish-splashy mood when we were at the birding center Thursday.  An American Coot:

A Green-Winged Teal had been bathing, and had apparently entered the spin-dry cycle:

A very enthusiastic Least Grebe:

Here is a Moor Hen who is determined to get all those tricky hard-to-reach areas:

And the Ruddy Duck was doing a little grooming.  What good, clean ducks!

On a quilting note, I’m making good progress on my beach scene skinny wall hanging, and hopefully I’ll have a picture so I can participate in Design Wall Mondays again!

–Sue

Well, that title pretty much covers my life lately!  Well, to be accurate, I would have to include hot-tubbing, potlucks, crafting group, eating out and parties in general.  Have I mentioned that we are having a lot of fun in Texas?  Well, we are!    Decent weather, great people, lots of fun things to see and do. 

Today was a better day than forecast, so we went to the birding center and Paradise Pond.  (By the way, in the mile or so between them, there’s a quilt shop!)  We saw some new birds added into the “duck soup” at the birding center.  The first is a little guy (compared to the ducks).  He’s a Least Grebe, and of course I happen to have a photo:

He is recognizable by his golden eye and the narrow bill.  The grebes aren’t good at walking because their legs are so far back on their bodies, but they are excellent swimmers and divers.  Doesn’t he look like the back part is just missing?

In the same area was a Ruddy Duck:

He really stayed close to the reeds.  He is one of the stiff-tailed ducks.  They use their tail as a rudder when they swim under the water.  They are also identified by their white cheeks.  Their bills are blue when it’s mating season.  In some pictures his bill looked more blue than others, but mostly at the base.  Cute, isn’t he?

Then, moving on to not-so-cute…

was this Turkey Vulture.  There were three of them, mostly sitting atop this big pole.  (Gotta win the lottery and get that really good camera with the monstrous lens that’s on my dream list!)

And for the quilty part — I’m making a skinny runner out of Eleanor Levie’s book, Skinny Quilts & Table Runners.  Actually, mine is a wall hanging, not a runner, and it’s a beach scene.  Here’s a picture of the pieces laid out together (it’s been changed a zillion times since though) with a picture of the pattern…

I’ve since picked up the fabric for the “sand”, but the quilt shop didn’t have any “sky” fabric.  I should be able to get that Saturday when we go to the quilt show in Rockport.   (A quilt show!!!  The fun just continues.)

–Sue

PS:  In a month or so, I will hit 100,000 visits.  I think I feel a give-away coming on!

Usually the males of various bird species are the gorgeous ones, and the females are … brown.  This female Green-Winged Teal Northern Shoveler wears brown very well, and I think she is so stunning…(see comment by Leigh, I originally mis-identified this lovely duck)

that she is this week’s puzzle (see? she’s all quacked up):

-Sue

Monday I made the short trip to both Paradise Pond and the Leonabelle Turnbull birding center.  It’s always a surprise to see what birds are there — or aren’t there.  Last week Paradise Pond was teeming with Great Blue Herons, Black-Crowned Night Herons, and Ibises.  This week there were turtles.  Lots and lots of turtles.  It was a warm sunny day, and anywhere there was the slightest bit of a log protruding out of the water, there were more turtles!  In case you’re interested, these are Red-Eared Sliders.  In the third picture, you will see the tell-tale red marking on the turtle’s head.  The largest ones are pretty close to the size of a dinner plate.

Then I made the 2-minute drive to the birding center.  No big birds at all.  From a far distance, I did see three of the Showy Egrets, and I saw one Tri-Colored Heron, also a little too far away.  Lots and lots of ducks, just like last week.  It was a calmer day, however, and with the bright sunshine, a lot of the ducks were taking a floating nap, like this Green-Winged Teal:

We sometimes see Moor Hens, but they are usually walking along the shoreline, in and out of weeds, and I haven’t been very successful in getting a good picture.  Today this guy was having a nice swim:

And a picture of a Northern Shoveler:

The water was so much more calm this week, it made for some nice reflections.  The next time I go, the weather, the birds, and the water will all be different.  It’s always an adventure!

–Sue

When it’s time for a puzzle, I’m always wishing I would have saved a good picture for Wednesday.  This week I found one that I took on Sunday that I hadn’t posted.  This is the same Great Blue Heron that was primping and preening.  All the turtles and birds were soaking in the rare (lately) sunshine.  Here he is as a puzzle (this cut is pretty easy):

– Sue

Telephoto Tuesday — Yesterday I showed you some of Paradise Pond.  Only a mile or so away is the Leona Turnbull Birding Center.  You can click here for an aerial photo/map of Port Aransas, showing the birding center, and a small box to the upper right is Paradise Pond.  (If you hover with your cursor on the boxes, it will show the names.)

Usually we see a larger variety of birds at the birding center, but Sunday it was pretty much all ducks.  I did see a Roseate Spoonbill flying in the distance and landing in a marshy area, so they were hanging out down out of sight.  I think the ibises and herons were all at Paradise Pond.

The birding center is a very large area dedicated to hosting the migratory birds that travel along the Gulf coast.  It’s a fun place to visit, because you never know what you’ll see.  There is a long boardwalk on one side of the water with an observation tower in the middle.  Here is a picture from the top of the tower.  DH is at the far end of the boardwalk:

To the left (I think it’s south, but I’m usually wrong!) is a pretty wide open body of water with some marshy areas beyond:

And to the right (north?) is a mostly marshy area, home to nutria, many kinds of birds, and an alligator (I think to keep the nutria numbers under control).  Sunday I saw a hawk circling around for a meal, but I couldn’t get a decent picture.

And in the water we saw a number of green-winged teal (here is Mr. and Mrs. — aren’t they cute?):

blue-winged teal:

and this crazy northern shoveler who thought he was an otter.  He would swim totally under the water, kind of snake-like.  He is totally saturated, and it gives him kind of a crazed look.  I like this picture a lot!  Doesn’t he look a little psycho?

I’ve got my walking shoes on, and I’m off for an afternoon of shopping in the “big town”, Corpus Christi.  The excitement continues…

–Sue

That’s where we are, and loving it! A week has slipped by so quickly, but I do have an almost-completed top to show for my time here. It will be kept under wraps for now, but I can tell you it’s in autumn colors, easy-peasy, and I’m pretty pleased with the results.

And speaking of PLEASED, we were beyond thrilled to go to Paradise Pond on the other side of the island Saturday. If you’re a regular reader, you may remember that this part of Texas has been suffering through drought conditions, and our favorite bird-watching spot, Paradise Pond, was totally dried up last winter. It was still dry in October. Last week we had 4.2″ in a 24-hour period, and –TA-DA — just like magic, our pond is back! Some before and after pictures…

So exciting to see Paradise Pond looking like a pond again!  And even though it had only been a couple of days, there were many creatures we love to see that were celebrating (in their own quiet way) having Paradise Pond back as their hang-out!  The turtles, sunning themselves:

Great Blue Herons enjoying the sunshine in the trees.  Many were preening themselves.  Doesn’t this fellow’s feathered cape look magnificant?

A trio of  American White Ibises:

And most exciting of all were the two Black-Crowned Night Herons we saw venturing out into the daylight.  You can tell he’s nocturnal from those red eyes! 

Tomorrow I’ll share the ducky photos from the Birding Center.

–Sue

I can’t say “Wednesday’s Puzzle”, since it’s already Friday!  I was looking through some older pictures, and started going through my Yellowstone pictures from July 2008.  What a wonderful visit that was, althoughh my photos don’t to justice to the beauty of Yellowstone. 

This is the Lower Falls, 308 feet tall, seen from Lookout Point. And here it is as a puzzle:

–Sue

I’m looking for a couple of craft/sewing ideas for a group of ladies to do in a couple of hours.  Previous things we’ve done are making pillow cases, little zippered bags, quilted postcards, placemat purses, and little pincushions on a golf tee that inserts into a spool of thread.  Here are a few photos from previous “craft days”…

I’ve had a request to repeat the placemat purses, and I figure there are a few people who will want a refresher on the pillowcase pattern.  I found a new little zippered bag pattern with some beading (optional) on it that would fit the little reading glasses.  We will do postcards again, with new, better techniques.

Now I’m looking for a pattern for a reusable market bag.  There are a zillion patterns out there.  Is there one you tried that you liked (and the pattern is free and online)?  Not that I’m asking for much here…

but as long as I’m asking, is there another easy project that comes to your mind that would be fun to throw into the mix?

Help!!!

–Sue

It’s almost 11 am, and were are still 7.6 degrees below zero, only expecting a high of zero today, and a high of 5 above tomorrow.  I hate being this cold.  I got out my big Columbia parka to wear today; I don’t think it’s been out of the closet for at least a couple of years, maybe longer.

We are heading out for the third day of our four-day paint-a-thon at DS#3’s double bungalow.  We are hoping to complete the painting on the one side by day’s end tomorrow, but we keep falling short of where I expected we would be for the day, and we didn’t get home last night until after 11 pm.  The real workmen (as in “paid”) will be back Monday morning doing their sanding, varnishing, grouting, installing countertops and kitchen flooring.  The work just goes on and on.  But not for us.  By tomorrow night, we’re done.

It could be worse — we could be working outside!

–Sue