It is the spring and I am getting some great pictures. Today I got an alligator. It is an American Alligator that almost went extinct a few years ago. They are back strong now. He was in the bay and I walked about 15 feet from him in the water. That was really dumb but I felt like nothing would happen to me and nothing happened. The waves were pretty choppy so it was hard getting a good picture of him. I snapped several pictures of him and then some men got involved and lassoed him. The cowboys got the rope around his neck and another one was able to grab his tail. They dragged him into the sand.

Within minutes there was a crowd of 40 people around. He was snapping and rolling and the guys were trying to control him. I was telling them to get the kids away and to let him go. I saw a police officer a block away and so I jumped on my bike and told him what was happening. He said it was not against the law. I pointed out to him that there were children running around the alligator but he was young and flustered as he turned away trying to ignore it. I then rode my bike to a neighbor’s house and told him to go down there and rescue the alligator. By now they were poking it with sticks, etc. This was a baby alligator. He was probably about 6 feet long. When he is an adult he will be 15 feet long and weigh 1.000 pounds. Right now I doubt he weighed more than 250 pounds and he was ungainly on land but a swift good swimmer in the water.

I couldn’t hack watching it anymore so I came home. The cowboys were feeling strong and brave showing off to the crowd.

Here are some pics of the poor baby. I will go down at sunrise tomorrow and I hope he is long gone an d does not try to get so close to humans ever again.

This is a really rare bird. It is obviously a Kingfisher but I don’t know what kind it is. It flew like a Ringed Kingfisher and had the same colors but it is not a Ringed. There is no ring around it’s neck. So I sent it to our local bird watching club and they might know what kind it is. There are about 30 different Kingfishers that have been seen but there are no pictures of them. So maybe this is going to be a first.

I had been sitting in this spot for about 20 minutes meditating and not moving. I suspect since I had my big hat on that blended into the brush I was unseen. As a result he landed close to me and I got off about 5 shots before he left. His wing span was about 30 inches and he had a loud squawk. So if you know his name give me a holler.

This one was near him and I had my eye on her for about 15 minutes before she decided she had enough of me. She is a Snowy Egret. They are a dime a dozen here. I was actually out looking for a Roseate Spoonbill. Since Katrina they have been a dime a dozen here but I have not seen any this year. Ike may have convinced them to go back to Florida. I visited all my old haunts and no sign of him or hardly any of the big sea birds.

As you can see our old fishing pier was taken out by Ike. It goes out a quarter of a mile and a lot of fish were caught off of her. I don’t know when or if she will be replaced. So I just rode around in the woods along the trails.

I then got back on the road and I and a guy in a pickup stopped for this huge snake. He was at least 10 feet long. I had my camera on macro so it is not a good picture. The guy’s motor was running and the snake quickly went under his truck and got into the front hood of his truck. I don’t know what kind of a snake he is but he was very long. Certainly taller than me or the guy standing across the street. He also was a quick mover.

The last picture I got was a turtle. He was pretty far off and pretty big.

If it is not raining tomorrow I will go out again. Hope you all are having a good day….

Cheryl

I got up before sunrise and was outside looking for pictures. I was on my recumbent bike peddling down the road and began chasing two deer. Deer and other wildlife cannot tell you are a human on a recumbent bike and will stop to get a look at you. In this case I was downwind so they saw me before I saw them. Even with that they stopped to get a look before running off. I chased them for 3 blocks along the bay and was only able to get two presentable shots. I got a lot of other shots but in the dark if they were running it turned out to be a blur.

After I got the deer I went down to the bay and took pictures of the sunrise and birds. I then went half a mile up towards the main road and what to my wondering eyes should appear? A quail standing in the grass watching me. I again ride right up to him and snapped his picture. I believe this is the first time I have seen quail in a residential neighborhood. They are good to eat.

I swung by the chemical plant that is less than a mile from my house and got a picture of that. It is totally out of place being so close to the ocean and in a residential area. We fought it for years and we fought them building the port right next to us but it all depends who the local politicians are and basically we got sold out after a 15 year fight. The people with the means moved to another area on the bay hoping to not be affected by the changes. Most of the families in our 300 house subdivision stayed.

Well this is pictures of my photo bike ride and I will go out later today and get other pictures….

Look at this gecko.  I was walking on my deck and he had another gecko’s head in his mouth.  They were fighting and I could almost hear them snarling at each other.  I ran in my house to get the camera to snap some very unusual pictures but by the time I got back out there the other gecko was on the other side of the deck snarling at the winner.  The winner ate whatever they were fighting over and I still got a rare picture because the winner had so much work trying to get the prize into his belly that he could hardly move.  These are not monsters but tiny.  He is about 6 inches long from head to end of tail.  I now have an overpopulation of these things.

The neighbor did not want the raised planter.  She is always lamenting how she missed gardening now that she cannot get down on her hands and knees to weed, etc.  I guess she just complains in order to exercise her mouth because when given the chance to go do her gardening again she turned it down.  So I will make use of my small back yard behind the shed.  I have used all my other space.  I decked out my entire area and have a 30 foot by 4 foot flower garden along the side.  I can always convert it to a potato or bigger vegetable garden later.  I have used every bit of scrap treated wood I have been able to find that is in good shape and added onto my deck to the point that everything is decked out now.  After the hurricane people have been collecting on insurance and throwing out perfectly good lumber.  That and I tore apart my daughters deck or a portion of it for the fencing after they sold the back half acre of land.  She has that decking and they will expand their deck along their side of the house. 

Now my decked runway between my house and shed is 45 feet and the width varies from 5 feet to 12 feet.  I then built a garage/shed for my bike and that is 5 feet by 9 feet.  My bike is almost that big.  I have the raised portion of the deck and the sides up.  I now need to build the door and the roof.  Today I am building a ramp that is 8 feet by 6 feet.  I need to get my bike up on the platform and it is to hard on my back to try to lift it.  I have done it many times and can’t continue.  There is to much threat of injury to my back.  The pictures look pin cushioned and they are due to the camera angle.  You can tell I used all kinds of sizes of treated lumber and some pretty new and some old.  Treated lumber is supposed to last 50 years even if it is underwater. 

Scattered through the long narrow remaining back yard are a few pieces of useable left over lumber and PVC pipes.  Don’t ask me what I am going to do with the PVC.  I don’t know yet but in front of the house I have a lot more of it.  It is all good new left over piping from construction jobs in the neighborhood.  Now you know why I have a huge strong box on the back of my bike.  The kids used to be able to ride in it but also I can pick things up and bring them home.  The kids turned into giants.  I will find a good use for the PVC pipes.  Nothing goes to waste and everything has a use.  Now I need to find about 30 treated 2X4’s and I will have what I need to do the raised planters.  I bought the plastic planter boxes at Home Depot yesterday and now laid out over $100 on the project.  I already had about 15 other planters around that will be used.  I will do what is called  square foot gardening.  In a raised planter your production is twice as much as it would be if you were to plant it in the ground.  So theoretically this 5 foot wide (actual 3 foot because I need 2 feet of walking space) by 50 foot long space will grow enough to feed a family of 6 and that is what we have here.  The plants will be raised enough that you will weed them standing up.  The width of the planters will be 2.5 feet and underneath will be shelves of plastic containers for storage of outside equipment.  I have five 18 inch wide by 3 foot high nice Rubbermaid 4 drawer chests to hide under the planters.  They will be hidden with a fence skirting along the bottom but unknown to anyone else the fence will have inside accordion hinges that open and close. So whatever is in the drawers will be waterproofed and sealed before going into the chests.  The chests will not be on the ground but will have a platform built on the ground for them to sit on. When I get to that part I will need 50 foot by 3 feet decking.  That is 30 eight foot decking boards.   I just checked the price of new treated boards and it would come to $300.  Throw in the bottom braces under the decking and you are getting up to $400.  Then the 50 feet of fencing is another $100 and then the planter box lumber prices will be another $150.  A total of $650.  My budget is about $200 so I will get the raised planters in first and begin growing my vegetables.  Slowly as I find lumber along the side of the road in the neighborhood.   I will get the bottom framing done and then the fencing.  I already have accordion hinges but not enough of them so I will have to pay for those and I have plenty decking nails left for the job.  Sorry you all had to read this part but I was trying to figure out my construction materials and the price….  Maybe the PVC pipes can be used to hold hanging plants along the top.  The fence is 8 feet high so at 7.5 feet I can have the pipes coming across for holding the hanging plants or the racks for things like tomatoes to climb up instead of having them climb up the fence.  OK... I have that one figured out….  Enough already…

I am Reprinting this Article because it is very important information. Stay safe everyone and Happy Mothers Day.

People who venture into the woods or fields should be aware of a very serious, but underreported, threat to their health, the deer tick. Deer ticks carry and transmit Lyme disease and a half dozen other serious diseases. Deer ticks can be found in most parts of the world. They are very common in Central Wisconsin which has a large population of deer, their preferred host. Thanks to the anti-hunting nuts and poor government management practices deer can found in residential neighborhoods, including large cities.
Most people are familiar with the dog or wood tick, a large, easy-to-spot tick that feeds on human blood and is very ugly when engorged. It is however, relatively benign. The deer tick is especially dangerous because it is very small, smaller than a match head. Their size makes it very difficult to detect on clothing or on your body.

 Two years ago I was bitten a number of times while clearing land for our retreat. It was prime deer tick habitat; heavily wooded, high grasses and lots of deer. You may not know that you have been bitten by a deer tick (unless the tick is still embedded). It will however sting like a bald face hornet – and for a good 24 hours.
After I started developing the symptoms I put two and two together and did some Internet research. I suspected that I had Lyme disease. I had the classic bulls-eye rash on my hip; it looks like the Target logo. The primary symptoms were extreme fatigue and body aches. After years of outdoor work and practicing yoga I could barely get out of a chair.
I went to the local clinic. The NP took one look and said, “You’ve got Lyme”. She said she had got it earlier in the year, her husband the year before. I was given antibiotics. The symptoms went away  within three days. I thought I was cured.
The following year I was not the same, better, but still lacking energy. Over the last year I have experienced the same deep fatigue as well as many other symptoms. I had previously been very healthy. The symptoms come and go and express themselves in a variety of ways. Reported symptoms include heart, lung, visual and mental problems – it can be fatal. It is one bad bug.
I cannot say for sure what the cause of my problems is or recommend a treatment. Lyme disease is poorly understood and often misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. It is a complex issue and requires much research into the subject. Most physicians are Lyme illiterate; they don’t have a clue about the disease. One place to start is with a Google search for Joseph J. Burrascano, Jr., M.D. for information from one of the foremost Lyme experts. Also see http://www.turnthecorner.org/lyme-disease-quick-facts.htm for more information.
Prevention is the best medicine. When we have been in tick territory we do a complete body check in the evening – head to toe. Ticks prefer the torso; I have been bitten in the center of the back, hip and groin. I was recently bitten under my arm, my wife under her breast. Ticks live in tall grass, especially along human or deer paths. They are most active during the spring and early summer. A powerful tick repellent should be used around the ankles, wrists and neck. I wrap my socks with wide duct tape – sticky side out, to trap ticks; it works, but is no substitute for a full body check.
It is reported that if you remove the tick within 24 hours of being bitten the disease will not be transmitted and not all ticks carry the disease, this may be wishful thinking. If you do get a tick follow these instructions for removal: http://www.lyme.org/ticks/removal.html
Note that dogs can get Lyme. There is a dog vaccination available.
I urge everyone who visits or lives in areas with a deer population to exercise constant vigilance for deer ticks. If you are bitten you should consult a physician familiar with Lyme disease. Failure to do so can lead to serious long term consequences.- Bill S.

http://survivalblog.com/

Our local library has been closed since Hurricane Ike slammed into it 8 months ago. Not only did I use it but my grandchildren used it every week. Their school was across the street from it and after school they would go there to study or do research. They also used it for a place to go when they waited for their swim team to start or when they needed a ride and were waiting for a parent. It had a big bathroom that accommodated them switching from their school clothes to their swim suits. It was a safer place compared to the school parking lot. AT the library there was always a library worker keeping an eye on them. It is now gone and the replacement won’t be built for another 3 or 4 years.

On another note I saw this raised garden at Sam’s. I loved it but decided I could build that for pretty cheap with the left over treated lumber, etc that I have around here. I would not have the fountain in the middle. The fountain did not come with this price. As you can see when you look at the picture there is just not much to the deal. Without a fountain I could have it longer and not as wide. The bottom can be shelves underneath with doors for added garden storage. There would be a side for climbing plants and across the other 2 long sides I could put hanging plants. I need sixteen 1X2 treated boards, my boxes would be made out of the remaining fence material I have and I have plenty of hinges. I would need the screening material and that would about do it. I would build it on a deck and I just enlarged my deck so that is almost done.

OOPS..give up the idea of shelves. Underneath it needs to be able to drip. Depending how difficult it is I can then go build one for another neighbor who would give her right arm for such a thing. She has a wheelchair and a scooter. She could wheel her scooter in it and work on her plants. It would be at the right height that she could reach everything. Watering it may be a problem for her. I will have to run a double hose deal on her outside faucet (I have an extra one in the shed) and have an attachment at her height for her to reach the hose with a nozzle on the hose that she can turn on and off from the raised garden. (I also have an extra nozzle like that) Her middle section will have to be wider for her to prevent getting sprayed when she waters the top plants. Her gate would have to be a swinging gate that has a simple hook lock on it. Then there could be a place in it for all her gardening tools. I figure with what I have lying around here and the extra stuff I would need the cost would be about $150.

Now that I am writing this and thinking about it I think I will only build her one and me none. She would take great joy in gardening and she would most certainly be overjoyed to share the produce and the seeds she gains with her church people. I would have a steady stream of fresh vegetables from her and in my yard I can plant the under the ground types of plants. Things like carrots, potatoes, etc. Better yet, I would let her look at the picture and have her design it on paper for me to build. She could come up with her own measurements, etc. She would know what heights to use for her beds as it may be different from something I would use. She is always asking me what I am going to do with all this treated stacked lumber in my yard so she will not feel like I am spending a lot of money on it. I could even put a compost bin out there for her garden. Of course it would be quite small and that is all you need for something like this. Now this is exciting…..It is dark and looks like rain today. I will wander over there later with a printed set of pictures of raised garden beds. I will Google it and find other designs also.

I can tell you right now where she will locate it. She has a huge side dining room window that she can see everything from. She will want it right there where she can keep an eye on it and it is already built up with pavers so she can wheel herself over to it easily. Very cool idea!

Well I will let her come up with the cool ideas and do the building at my house and bring the various sides and pieces over there to assemble. I would rather build it in the shade thank you very much! I will let her come up with the cool ideas and let her know I want one but I don’t want the daily work involved in maintaining it which is true. Her church people will go nuts over it and they will be bringing over the right kind of dirt, etc.

Well enough already. As I work on it I will take pictures….. Neat and inexpensive project that will give someone else hours and days of joy, and give me a steady supply of vegetables and medicinal plants. Happy Mother’s Day neighbor….

Later….It is my house cleaning day..

The first car I ever bought brand new off the shelf was called a Fiat. I paid about $3,000 for it and at that time it was more expensive than an American made car. I liked it because it was small and I thought cute. My husband was trying to be supportive but I could tell he would have preferred that I buy an American made car.

The next morning I went out to start it and it would not start. The dealer came and got it and brought it back in the afternoon good as new. Unfortunately it had many mechanical problems over the next month and it finally went back to the dealer permanently. I knew that a car from Italy would not make it in the climate I lived in. I ended up with a VW which ran until the floor boards rusted through and IO thought one of the kids would forget and put their feet on the floor of the car and be instantly dead as the car rolled down the road at 70 MPH. I lived in St. Cloud Minnesota at the time and due to the winter salt on the roads you could tell a northern car but the rust on it. We did not have the special stuff you pay hundreds of dollars for now to undercoat cars.

Now the American car companies have crashed and burned and the news is both Orwellian and Kafkaesque, coarsely propagandistic and twisted at the same time. Chrysler, we are told by our president, will emerge stronger, better, more wonderful than ever, etc.

Really? Based on what? Sadly, the company has almost no new models in the works, and has partnered up with another failed auto company in Europe which is essentially propped up by another government (Italy) keen on saving a relative handful of high-profile unionized industrial jobs.

All of that is for another blog….

  It seems we all shut our eyes and took happy pills and just switched the TV channel. Where are we proud Americans? The only real American car still standing is the Ford. On my father’s deathbed he told me to never buy a Ford. For the life of me I don’t know what he had against Ford’s but I suspected he was able to see into a different dimension or some such thing as he gave me his last words. I never bought a Ford. This caused me to reflect on other advice given to me by my father but I won’t go into that now. He has been dead now for almost 40 years and he died at the age of one of my living children. A very young man in today’s standards.

My father did no die a rich man but everything he had was paid for. He died in his prime and was just beginning to make enough money to take a vacation. As a child we never went on a vacation and as an adult I never went on a vacation. It just was not a big deal in our family. Before my father died his wish was to see Madeline Island in Wisconsin. That is about as spiritual as he ever got. Madeline Island was the stronghold of the Ojibwa Indians for many years. I guess he wanted to kind of go back to his roots. My mother drove him to Wisconsin and they drove his Chrysler onto the ferry and took the 10 minutes drive around the island. We laughed at the humbleness of his request to see his ancestral homelands but as I matured it became very meaningful to me in my life.

It helped me to move back to our ancestral homelands and I stayed for 10 years. I lived on the mainland of Lake Superior in Bayfield Wisconsin and could look out of my huge living room window facing the lake and daily I could see Madeline Island. One of my grandchildren is named Madeline.

All of this rambling brought me to this point. This is what happens if you don’t stay focused on the point. I guess you all don’t get to read my rant on the Big Three today.

There is so much of importance to write about and here I am rambling on memories. Like in the front page is “Appointees Gave (Governor) Perry $5 Million”. Houston and Chicago seem to have a lot in common. The home of Enron!