It’s been a fun and busy time — today is our “crafting day” and I have 20 people signed up to make a little cover for the purse-sized tissue packet.  I made three different ones from three on-line patterns, and none of them fit the current size of the tissue packs, and they all gaped open.  When I have time, maybe I’ll post the tutorial for my “new & improved” version.  They are such a simple little project, so I hope all goes well today.

And I bought a new camera!  Hopefully this afternoon I will have a chance to go to the birding center to try it out, side by side, against my old one.  Details to follow.

But for today, here is a puzzle for you (and for me) for a red-eared slider.  He just had his eyes and nose out of the water, and he was HUGE:

–Sue

Or did you play duck, duck, goose as a child?  We see a lot of ducks down here in coastal Texas, and the day these pix were taken, they were hunkered down against the sharp breeze, enjoying a nap.

What really caught my attention, though, was this picture:

Yes, it’s true, ducks close their eyelids.  If you look closely, you can see the bottom eyelid comes up to the top.  Another interesting fact is that ducks have a third eyelid (like many other animals and birds) that closes over the eye from the side.  It’s called a nictitating membrane.  They can see through that third eyelid, which is a good thing when they are flying or diving into the water.

Here you can see it’s a female Northern Shoveler.  Isn’t it interesting how the spots on her beak kind of match the spots on her feathers?  She looks very coordinated and “put together”, so I guess animal prints are still “in”.

Here is the male Northern Shoveler she was hanging out with.  These ducks look a little manic to me — I think it’s the golden eye.

–Sue

DH and I went back to the birding center today.  He missed seeing the ‘gator yesterday, and we thought we might be lucky and catch a glimpse of him (or her) again.  (By the way, I read on line that at least a couple of years ago, there were two alligators:  “Boots” and “Bags” — get it?  Alligator boots & bags?)  No such sighting today, but this was almost better!

We could see where he had traveled!

These channels are probably a couple of feet across, and quite deep!

In all the dozens and dozens of times I’ve been there, I’ve never seen ruts like this in the water.  Don’t care to ever meet this guy when he’s hungry!

–Sue

I know I’ve said it before, but you never know what you’ll see at the Leonabell Turnbull Birding Center in town.  Some days the birds are few and far between; some days they are almost performing for you.  Some days you see things to make you realize it isn’t always a walk on the beach to be a bird.

The first things I saw were four Black Vultures circling high overhead.  Makes a person stand up a little straighter, trying to look healthy and fit.

After I took this photo, I looked down at my camera, looked back up — and they were GONE!  It was a little Alfred Hitchcock-ish.

I spent some time photographing some ducks that were in close (tomorrow’s pix) before I got to the observation tower and saw the alligator!  We saw him once about four years ago and hadn’t seen him since.

He was making himself quite at home, probably having a little nap, out on a point that is frequented by all kinds of birds.  There are a few ducks hanging back along the water’s edge.  What I noticed after I got this picture up on the computer is the cluster of roseate spoonbills in the tall grass towards the left of the alligator.  I was just hoping the ‘gator didn’t have any pink feathers stuck between his teeth.  I zoomed in on the alligator, but his head was hidden:

Someone there said they heard the ‘gator is 15 feet long, but they were estimating he’s more like 20 feet.  I don’t think it really matters.  He was BIG.

There’s more than one kind of “bird lover” that likes to hang around the birding center!

–Sue

I did a random-number generator “drawing” for the winner of my 100,000 visits / Beachy / Wish-You-Were-Here give-away.  I added all the comments from the five days, which totaled 70.  Did a drawing from 1 to 70, and the winning number is…

Lucky Number 13!  Oh, my, somebody from the first day!   

Congratulations, Kerry!

And a BIG thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my blog, whether you entered the drawing or not, I truly appreciate every one of you. 

I will be posting some bird pics later today.  Wouldn’t you know it — we haven’t seen the alligator for almost four years, and only hours after our out-of-town guests left yesterday, GUESS WHO I SAW???  Anyway, I’ll post about it later today.

Congrats, again, Kerry!  I know she’s a Minnesota girl and could use some virtual beach time!  Well, Minnesota has miles and miles of beaches, but they are only being frequented by snowmobilers and ice-fishermen and -women this time of year. 

By the way, Kerry has a fun blog.  She’s an excellent photographer, pianist, scrapbooker, mom and homemaker.  Be sure to drop by!

–Sue

and Last Day to enter.  Yes, you can enter again today even if you entered a comment on a previous day.  Just be sure to enter on this posting.  The drawing by random number generator will be tomorrow (Saturday).

Even though it’s rainy today here at the beach, we’re going to put on a sun-shiney face and finish describing what’s in the give-away bag.

So far we have a spiral notebook, a sachet packet, a wristlet purse, an ornament, notecards, and an exfoliating peppermint foot soap.

The last of the items are the absorbent car coaster (my friend Pat gave me a couple of these one year, and they are pretty neat).  Great in the warm weather when your cold drinks *glisten*.  (We refined girls don’t say “sweat”!)  And then there’s a yard of turquoise fabric with some tiny little swirls highlighted with a touch of gold.  I liked this fabric, and it reminded me of water.

There you have it, that’s the entire Wish-You-Were-Here package!

And DH will be so thrilled when he sees this, but I love this picture.  This is a good memory of warmer times at the beach, but hopefully we will be walking barefoot in the water soon!  (And doesn’t he have great legs?)

Be sure to fill in your e-mail address on the comment form.  (Thank you, Cindy, for taking care of that!)  And you don’t need a blog to enter…

–Sue

NOTE:  In yesterday’s comments, Cindy #2 didn’t fill in an e-mail address in the space provided when you make your comment.  Nobody sees that e-mail address but me.  Cindy, if you leave another comment, please fill in the e-mail address, or click on “contact me” at the top of this page and e-mail it to me. 

Welcome to my blog and my give-away! 

Most of the country has had such, shall we say, less-than-desirable weather this winter, I thought it would be fun to have a beach-related give-away!  Today is Day #4 out of 5 days, so be sure to stop by tomorrow for another chance to comment and have an extra entry in the “drawing”!

Comment on this post for a chance at the prize package (even if you’ve commented previous days — you’re allowed one comment per day).

So far, I’ve described the peppermint foot scrub, the wristlet, the shell-inspired ornament, and the flamingo notebook.  All things I love and I’ve bought for myself!

Two more items in the photo are a seashore fragrance packet (I’ll ask you if you’re sensitive to fragrance if you win — it’s in a zip-lock bag for now), and a box of sea shell note cards, blank on the inside.  Here’s a photo of what I think is a female Ruby-crowned Kinglet, peeking up at me:

Good luck!

–Sue

Welcome to Day 3!!!  I am allowing you to make one comment entry into this give-away each day, Monday Thru Friday this week.  Each day I’m describing a couple of items in the picture.  So far, we have the wristlet purse and the sea shell-styled ornament. 

The pink spiral bound book is a lined notebook with flamingos on it.  Nope, I’ve never seen a flamingo down here, but we do see the Roseate Spoonbills.  Close enough!  Right below the notebook is a bar of peppermint exfoliating soap for your feet to get your tootsies “beach ready”!

Leave a comment on this post for an entry in the give-away, and you will have two more chances to enter:  Thursday & Friday!  “Drawing” by random number generator on Saturday.

Good Luck, and thanks to all of you for visiting!

–Sue

Here are two Texas bird pictures.  The pelicans always fascinate me:

And another favorite, a Northern Shoveler:

Click here to get to the give-away post.  You can enter the drawing once per day this week — drawing on Saturday.  Be sure and make your entry HERE!

–Sue

I’m so glad you stopped by to Day 2 of my give-away.  My give-away is running Monday through Friday, 2/19/10.  Each day I will have a give-away post; leave a comment on that day’s give-away post for an entry in the drawing (which will take place Saturday).  You may enter once each day.  At the end of the day, I will close the comments on that day’s particular post.

Port Aransas, Texas, has lots of boutiques and shops around town, and I’ve been on the lookout for some beachy prizes for you.  I’ll tell you about a couple of items in the picture each day.

My most favorite thing is the wristlet purse in a sage-y green with gold accents.  I actually bought one of these in red for myself.  It’s a great little bag to grab when you’re going out to dinner or doing some shopping and don’t want to carry your heavy everyday bag.   love, love, love it!

Sitting on top of the bag is a shell-shaped ornament that would look great on a tree, in a window, or — lots of other places.

Leave a comment on this post for an entry in the drawing (one entry each day).  Good luck! And I’ll share a pelican picture to close off this post:

–Sue