Here and Around Town...

What's been happenin' in the hood lately? Not much.

We've had a few rainy times, some windy times, and gray skies intermingled with partly cloudy/partly sunny times. The humidity is high. But, we both go out in the morning to do some walking. Usually we drive to a city hiking trail and enjoy the people and the wildlife that way also.

Places we've ended up are our norm...

One day, the jetty and the gulf.

Here, I enjoyed the company of a young guy who was more than willing to have his picture taken of what he snagged at the end of his fishing line!! Ready? Well, wait, here is a bit of our conversation:

Me: "Did you just catch that?"

He: "Ya. I want to catch a sting ray now after this!"

Me: "Seriously? Okay...did this fish give you any big fight?"

He: "No, it was easy reelin' 'im in!"

Me: "Can I take a picture of you with your catch?"

He standing up and showing his fish Great White off....

Bud and I went home and watched "JAWS"

Me: "We need a bigger boat!"

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Another day in the week...

The two of us watched Jurrasic World this week, also. Bah. Same ol' same ol'. Just different people. Same outcome....young kids at the dinosaur park, leaving to go off by themselves, oh oh...running into some monstrous killers on the loose...here comes a macho man and a googly-eyed aunt who reminded me a bit of Jill St. John from decades ago...anyway, the two save the day. End of story. Blah, blah, blah. This following image, tho, is as close as I could get to the DNA of the jurrasic creatures of the world according to Mr. Jaffa. Oh and another thing that just irks me...everything in Hollywood has to be politically correct any more and it's so darned obvious....you have each of the human race, black, white, asian, latin [mexican or spanish], female/male lead, disabled [even if they have to use a 'token' extra in the background]....all in one movie. Continually. I guess it's all to try and keep each race happy and not suing. What happened to a good, entertaining story line of yesteryear? Okay...'nough of my running of the mouth, here is my Jurrasic. I call it Jurrasic on a Fence:

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Third time's a charm?  This was another day...

What started off as a typical day driving again to the islands to walk. This time along the Charlie's Pasture North [a raised boardwalk along the salt flats that has many, many fresh water ponds scattered for a couple of miles to each side of the trail]. I noticed a couple of guys coming toward me, and I also noticed a bird cage in one of the guys' hand. Another conversation ensued.

Me: "You two are going to band some birds?"

Guy: "Yep, Wilson Plovers."

Okay, this gave the light bulb in my brain a work out!

Me: "I recently found and photographed a Wilson's Plover in this area that had been banded. And I sent the photo off to the Banded Birds Website in hopes of finding the bird's origin. The bird I found was tagged and banded at Charlie's Pasture North...was that you who sent me the information?"

Guy: "I'm Dave."

Me: "That WAS you then, I'm sure."

Me: "Okay, then...good luck. I just saw two Wilson's about 50 yards back."

Guy: "We'll try and catch 'em and get 'em on record then. Thanks."

After we got back to the park's cotillion, I scouted the men out far away from us now about 1/2 mile, and snapped their photo with the zoom and NO tripod. I was happy that the photo came out somewhat clear...

Me to you: "Notice the black and white bird between Dave's Legs as he steps? That's a Black Necked Stilt."

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Later that day, after stopping at another birding refuge, where I practiced with my camera's personality a bit. I spied a Snowy Egret way off in the distance. I wanted to test the new "Bird Watching" mode on the camera, so I focused on the egret and pushed the shutter button down. Automatically it takes 5-7 images in sequence without continually pushing the button manually! Awesome. At least I thought so. Until I got home and uploaded the egret images onto my computer. I was in for a surprise and some more chit chat. This time with Bud:

Me: "Wait 'til you see what the camera's zoom picked up."

Bud: "Okay, I'll be there in a sec."

Me: "Remember the egret far off in the distance at Leonabelle's Refuge? Where I decided to practice on the Bird Watching mode?"

Bud: "Ya."

Me: "To my surprise, I picked up something that I just KNOW you'll like."

Bud: "What, you saw the alligator in the water somewhere in the vicinity?"

Me: "No. Wait for it...." "Wait for it...."

I clicked on the Window's preview and let 'er rip...

And 'rip it did!'

Me to you: "I swear...if I'd only known what was 'laying in store', I would have stopped the action!! And, if you ever have visited my bird photo blog recently, I posted an image of a bird image smeared on the boardwalk. Honest, I'm not obsessed like you may think. But, I'm married to a man who can stand at the cat litter box and watch THAT action and the look on his face shows enjoyment. Good gravy...are ALL men that way? After living with him for nearly 50 years, I begin to notice these things of all things!! Wait for it....wait for it"

The reaction I got from Bud was just what I expected.

It made his day.

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Cleaning up my act...

Okay, so after that photo 'phiasco', I'm thinking I should probably clean up my act a bit. So, here is what I share:

I had a challenge this weekend. Since we had been working on the hall bathroom with wallpaper tearing down and then repainting the walls and changing color schemes, we both showered in the master-bath each night. The tub/shower was so clean compared to the tub flooring in the hall bath. I scrubbed it with Ajax...wouldn't even budge the soap scum!! Tried Bath and Tile spray...nada!! So, off I go online and typed in 'how do I get soap scum and grime off the bottom of my shower stall?" Of course there were different answers for different finishes. I read this one and it made sense!! Tried it....and I could kiss the feet of this blogger who suggested it. It worked like a charm!!! After all, what is shampoo supposed to do? Yep, get rid of the oil in your hair...made sense, and I have found a new way to keep it clean. Inexpensive too, compared to all the shelf products in a store.

Shampoo and Vinegar!!

I again have TWO clean shower/tub stalls now.

:mix half and half shampoo and vinegar...wipe on the porcelain finish...wait thirty minutes and clean with a non-abrasive scrubbie. Awesome: