Camera Time

Not a lot to say. Not much going on. I just wanted to share some of my latest pictures. 

Enjoy!

Another Day on the Boat

I didn't take many pictures this time but I wanted to blog it anyway just to have it for all down for future reference.

 Here we go right out of the marina. Captain Mikey at your service!

He's smiling here. You notice those sunglasses and that shirt he's wearing. Yeah, well, before the end of the day he had managed to lose both!

We started off pretty well. Went straight under the Sanibel Causeway to some small islands. We snagged lots of little catfish, several mangrove snappers, a pinfish and of course that big Red Drum. The snappers had to be 10 inches to keep and all but one were only 9.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed.

So we found a little cove-let in the mangroves and tied up until it passed. Did some fishing in the rain.

And just as it was letting up we had two dolphins swim right past us not ten feet away. They were rounding up fish and splashing away. 

Here's the Red Drum. It's one of those slot fish which means you can only keep them if they're not too big and not too small. Well, I can tell you this one was just about right!

We pulled into the bay just before we got back to the marina and attempted a bit more last minute fishing. (More small catfish) Just as I was casting a dolphin came up out the water right in front of me. I mean right in front of me! In fact I was halfway through the motion and ended up casting right over him. That was COOL!

So we are home and sunburnt and tired and stinky. I snapped one more picture of the Century Plants. This is week 9 since we first noticed them and a full month since they have stopped growing so much upwards and more outwards. When will I see flowers?

We also have a tropical storm blowing through the area the next few days. I hope the masts will hold up in the wind.

Back to Life - Wildlife

Well, some of it is wild...

 Elby's new Cat enclosure so she can get outside, eat some plants and dig in the dirt.

She took to the tunnel pretty quickly. She is in and out constantly.

He's giving me a wink because he has a surprise for me.

Yes, two little baby Kowls (kitty Owls)! So cute!

And lastly, my century plants have certainly grown. How tall do you think they are? 15 feet or so? They still haven't bloomed although the buds on the stalks are coming out. Maybe next week?

Experiment - Failure or Success?

Whew!

 It's been well over a month since my last blog and there's a reason for it. I took a full time job.
What?

Yes, Wal-Mart has finally arrived in my small town. They were hiring, we could use some extra income about now so I thought what the hell? How bad can it be?

I've worked for Wally World on 2 separate occasions but I have never worked store level. And I've never heard a good thing about store level either, especially since Mr. Sam died. So I was thinking maybe this would be different and I took it on as sort of an experiment. Would it be as bad as I had heard? Or would it be different being it's a small town and a fresh start?

Most of you already know the answer. I worked 8 full days before I had to politely tell them to shove off. I won't go into all the details here but if you are interested I could talk your ear off for hours. Let's just say, in all my Wal-Mart careers, and all the different jobs I've taken on, and in all the different managers and supervisors I have worked for, I have NEVER been treated so shoddily, so indifferently and so rudely! 

And 95% of that was from upper management.

So, is it because it's just how things work at store level or is it because they are so far away from the home offices that they are deathly afraid to lay off the kool-aid? 

I don't know. Maybe my experiment was a failure. I really did have high hopes it would work out and I could go back to work pushing boxes and having some fun. Or maybe my experiment was a success after all because, well, the premise was spot on.

Either way, screw 'em. I've a backlog of nature like pictures and stuff to share.

My Century plants have decided to bloom. From what I've read these missile-like masts will grow 20 to 30 feet tall before they flower. After that, the plant dies. I've been taking pictures once a week to follow its progress and I'll put them all together later after it blooms.

  

Also booming is one of the queen palms. This stuff is as soft as silk and the bees are all over it. 

Mike got busy and built this cat stand out an old ladder for Elby. She loves it.

He even personalized it for her.

Pond stuff: Jeremiah! I love to listen to him at night, croaking for all he's worth.

And Red Ear wandering around the small pond.

A nice shot of a daytime half moon and my mood is improving.

After several weeks of intense bullshit it's great to feel somewhat normal again.

Comments are welcome. See ya'll next time!

Tiki Shakers, Crazy Birds, and a Bridge

It's been an odd winter here in SW Florida. With all the rain I think the animals have all gone a bit crazy. 

This vulture is just hanging out on our "fountain" by the pond. But I've seen odd behavior from all different kinds of birds the last few weeks. It started with owls coming in 2 months early and lately the blue jays have gone crazy, showing up in flocks and making a racket. A pileated woodpecker, one of the shyest birds here has been flying back and forth right over my head. I don't know what's going on. Maybe it's just signs of spring.

Dusty has a voracious appetite for stuffed animals and I like to find them cheap. I managed to acquire a huge box of childrens toys for just $4 and inside were plenty of play things for her to rip apart. Some of them were beanies and I had to rip a seam to get them out. I don't mind having to sweep up the fluffy stuffing but those little plastic bits have to go.

I ended up with quite a double handful of those beanies and decided I needed a project to re-use them, somehow. So I gathered up some other things I've collected that were just waiting for me to find a use for; Pringles cans, packing peanuts, googly eyes, some really cool tiki guy stickers.....

And this cardboard outline of a crazy looking bird!

Meanwhile back to nature.

A few shots of birds I managed to catch here and there.

Mike is busy with his own project again. He's by the pond measuring and cutting and pounding in old metal fence posts. I wonder what he's up to.

And more than just crazy birds my fish are acting weird. There's a school of about 20 of them with their noses up out of the water.

Usually this means they are oxygen starved although some have said they are breeding. The other fish in the pond seem fine, it's just this group. I don't know. I think these are the tilapia but they're very hard to see.

I needed a closer look so I went fishing.

None of those fish shown were interested in biting but I did manage to catch 2 perch, 2 catfish and a small bass. Look at this guy. No, look at Dusty looking at this guy. She absolutely loves to go fishing.

SQUIRREL!!!!!

Back to our projects. We are making some progress. Yes, I broke out the paints. It took 3 coats to cover those Pringles cans.

And Mike has the makings of really nice walkway over the low spot on the pond.

What's next?

This Kite! He knows when I have my camera and swoops low when I don't. So far this is the best one.

Taken through the window, kinda swoozy but I liked it.

Here we go, the finale!

 I call these my Tiki Shaker Cans. I put different materials inside each to make mini hand held maracas. One has those plastic beanies, another has beads and some packing peanuts, another has jingle bells, and the last has a handful of tiny washers. Each makes a unique different noise.

And I painted my Crazy Birds. 

And Mike pulled the walkway and the dock over and attached to this bridge.

Now we have a different view of the pond.

See ya'll next time.