§ Anni's HodgePodge...

Once again, since I've been staying home for the most part to stay out of the heat and getting caught in heavy rainstorms most mornings recently, I have made do with playing on the phone [a jigsaw puzzle app], watering plants on the patio, reading, and drawing some. The other day when I was out checking my flower crops, I noticed the incredible clouds that were storm clouds brewing...the higher up in the sky they go, the more moisture will fall...somewhere! I had my cellphone in my pocket so I snapped some photos. Also, once again, I took photos of some flowers blooming in the yard [and bushes]. When I got back indoors I thought I'd attempt getting a very short video of the newest 'gift' I bought for our daughter, Irene. She collects pigs [she has a hutch in her home filled with pigs, pigs, pigs!] This one I couldn't resist. In fact, I've been tempted to keep it for myself...but, I won't. I have enough collections going as it is!! Need to get it to UPS so they can package it and ship it to her!! In the meantime...this is just a few seconds long:

here is a still in case the video doesn't load and 'bobble'...

The morning sky:

Recently, after I uploaded and installed a new puzzle app on my phone...when it starts to get too hot outdoors, I come in to cool down and I usually end up reading my book [a new one I found on Olivia de Havilland -Melanie on Gone With the Wind from 1939] She recently passed away at the age of 104. Speaking of collections, I have tried to find over the last 30 years or so, biographies on all the main characters from that movie...I have Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Hattie McDaniels, and have been searching for a couple of good ones...one on Olivia and another on Leslie Howard [Ashley]. I finally found Olivia's Biography-Autobiography published just after her death. It's a good book. Full of Hollywood gossip and tidbits of her early acting career at the age of 16.
Okay, where was I? Oh ya, puzzles. Our puzzle table was torn down and stored for when Erik came to Corpus in May. We probably won't put it back up in the library until all our yard work is done. So, with this app I can get my 'puzzle fix' and I can choose the grade of difficulty. I choose 275 pieces. It's a VERY GOOD app. Many, MANY free puzzles to choose. Altho, it eats up a lot of battery! Maybe 3 to 4 puzzles before the phone's battery is near exhausted. Here are screenshots from the phone's app...

Same ol' flowers, different days from the last time I posted:

To close off for the day, I have to mention that we decided to do some electrical work ourselves. Luckily Bud did this kinda stuff in the Navy aboard ship. But, that was 60 some years ago!! Give or take a few years. A lot has changed. Arthritic hands and knees, eyesight not so good, etc. etc. But, we conquered the job and saved ourselves over $300. We [mostly Bud] tore our fluorescent kitchen light apart and replaced the ballast behind the bulb casing!!! An hour's job for a professional electrician, it took us 3 hours of up and down the ladder, trips to Lowes in the rainstorms, sore neck breaks often...etc. etc. But, it's now done. I haven't put the light fixture's cover back on yet as I need to get back to Lowes for a new light tube. One's very weak and needs replaced before I put the cover up...why put it all together when another job will come all too quickly!!

...and to continue showcasing my Trolls...

↓ My 18th Troll Share ↓

TROLL DOLL COLLECTION Holiday Themed Mr. and Mrs. Christmas LARGE Soft Scuplture circa: 80s?

§ Let's Go to Africa!!

On Tuesday Bud and I finished our last jigsaw puzzle for the season. It took us a long time to get the elephant trunk figured out! Most all those pieces were the same colors and markings were nearly identical. It was like a game of chance. Since now is the time for us to be outdoors, working on our yard and getting it all trimmed out, cleaned, before the heat and humidity set in. Which reminds me, we want to get a new back entrance/exit door; I need to call around and do some research on contractors to get that worked out before the mosquitoes hatch. lol

The last puzzle done is titled: "Wild Sauvage" which is all African animals. Here is the completed photo and some close up images...

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§ Audubon...

I mentioned jigsaw puzzles. Well, before the icy cold front moved in, Bud and I finished the Audubon one [below], and began another over the weekend. The new one just started is more animals. Bears, hawks, herons, wolves, owls and reindeer. But, this is the one recently completed...

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All you Northerners probably think I'm such a wuss.  You're right.  I am.  But, you have to remember, sub-tropical cold and wind chill factor is so much different that the dry cold y'all experience.  Our 40° is like your 20°!! Looking out the window just now as I sit at my desk, typing, I see three vultures soaring high up in the winter blue sky...something musta died in the frosty air. 'Tweren't me tho!! It has been said that it could be the first sign of a human nearing the time of passing when...their feet get icy cold...I have on my thermal soccer socks. My feet are toasty warm. I am alive and kicking.

I have a lot more in store for nonsensical posts. Stay tuned.  I just may get out my sketch pad.

§ Late Start Today...

As I wait for the fog to clear out before I go driving to any park to do my daily walking, I thought I'd do a post on the jigsaw puzzles we've completed in the last few weeks. Beginning with the Lady Out On the Town...

Then, a country scene of horse and buggy...

Next up was the most challenging of all for me and Bud. The old world map of the state of Texas. Wow. The three rivers' [Rio Grande on the west, Red River between us and Oklahoma, and the Sabine River on the Arkansas/Louisiana] borders were quite nasty being so typical of the flow and uneven banks!! And to top it off, this puzzle had all the all similar cuts of most puzzles, it also had some unique cuttings and extra long pieces. I learned a lot tho, of this state we live in now. So, it was a GOOD challenge...

The last one we finished in a morning! It was only a 300 piece, and very easy to put together. Once it was done, I told Bud, "This is a keeper". I'm gonna glue it and get a frame for it for the holiday seasons in the future.

It's now glued with puzzle glue using a small paint brush, and drying on the workbench in the garage. Next, to find a picture frame for it. I'm thinking maybe a gold frame with a green matting to give a safety feature keeping the 'tacky glue' from touching the glass...

Okay, the fog is lifting, the sun is trying to peek out, so it's off I go birding! A very late beginning to my day. By about three hours. There will be little bird activity I'm sure since it IS late in the morning.  I may not get home 'til after lunch. Bud will have to eat alone at home if he decides to not come along. I'll either skip lunch, or find some take out and eat at a picnic bench or maybe even the car.

§ Two's Finished....

News Flash: Tuesday morning we had frost on the lawn and the neighbor house across the street [the whole city] was cold! 33 degrees on our thermometer. Supposedly, it's gonna get colder as another cold front drops this far south.

Bud and I finished the 1500 piece puzzle. It took us a long time working on it off and on over the last few weeks. For me there were quite a few 'snags' that were challenging. The white center peacock most of all. When it's a puzzle that has that many cut pieces [quite small in size], the one you want most of all to fit...it is elusive...hidden; and frustration sets in, we quit for the day!! But finally, the last piece was put in. We tore it apart after taking a photo of it while still on the puzzle table. We debated whether to fold up the table in its casing and not work on one for a while, then changed our minds since we had no family coming down for the holiday. Why not work on another? We started another the very next day. This one we have the framing up and done, now I like to separate all the pieces and lay 'em out. By separating them [all one tip, then two tips, and three, four tips and the last grouping is the one with NO tips.] It takes a lot of time, but in the long run, easier to find the exact piece we need.  That'll take another day or two before we proceed.  It's of a woman in the 1940s Out on the Town.
Here is the last one, of the peacock, finished:

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The other 'finished' subject is the book I read recently. Where the Crawdads Sing  Most all bloggers had such positive reviews on their blog posts, so when I found the book, I was more than happy to grab it and read it. Tho, it did keep my interest [only with the promise of a surprising ending] throughout the entire book...I was still a bit disappointed in it. For the first half of the book it was more or less [in my opinion] nothing but a coming of age teenage fantasy romance after being abandoned. Of which I have never cared for that genre ever. But, I got through it, mainly 'cause of the Biology background of her fascination and love of the swamp, birds and shells. The author, tho, was a bit too 'flowery' in her descriptions and detailing...she got carried away. For example [and this is my own words, not hers]...His hair was curly and unkempt, hanging in his eyes, blowing in the strong wind from the squall along the swampy outlet and the intermittent sunlight sparkled and danced like animated lights on the strands giving it a golden luster as salty sweat dripped off those tendrils escaping from his red woven hat during the heat of the day. Okay...too much? Yes, I think so too, and I know I am guilty of such at times. In Creative Writing I was taught to be sucsinct and little words to get the thought across to the reader. What's wrong with His curly, unkempt, hair dripped sweat from his woven hat. The author over-killed with text.
Now the 2nd half of the book was a bit better. By now, I was used to her style of writing and mostly ignored the over use of adjectives!! It became more a mystery which it promised. All in all the 2nd half made the book worth reading in its entirety. But I probably won't read another book of hers. Oh, and the surprising ending? Not really. This too was typical. Movies, books, and TV mysteries end nearly the same. 

 

I do have a question tho, that will remain unanswered..."Why was evidence kept all this time?"  Hmmmm.

§ Generic Things...This and That

NOTE: Three...count 'em THREE tropical storms developed Friday. Wilfred in the Atlantic, Alpha made landfall in Portugal of all countries, and BETA could make landfall as Cat One in or near Corpus Christi! But, it may go a whole different direction...it's a bit unsettled as I type this up.   Flooding is sure to happen with many inches of rain (predicted 6-21 inches). So, I may not be online at all for days. I do have a few posts pre-scheduled long before these storms showed up.

To begin, since I don't do emails other than family ...it just takes up too much of my time and I don't want to be on the phone or computer all day...this is for Ginny [or anyone else interested]: Amazon is not the only site that has jigsaw puzzles. I wanted to tell you that there are other businesses online that have them. Here, most are unique to those found anywhere else. Lately, tho, with this pandemic, several puzzles are "out of stock"...but you can still visit the site and request their free catalog. My sister and I buy puzzles from BITS AND PIECES often [anywhere from 300 pieces to 1000+]. Prices are reasonable, staff is courteous, reviews are always positive. AND you don't need a credit card or PayPal. They accept money orders and checks as well!! When you open the site, go to the search button and type in a category. For instance "Cats"...Everything they sell [not just puzzles] will come up for viewing and/or ordering. Christmas, Halloween, Dogs, Fantasy, etc. Just choose your own theme. Or, just click on jigsaw puzzles!

 

puzzle seen here is courtesy of Bits n Pieces, not my image .

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I can't say if it's old age, or just so anxious to get outdoors in the cool part of the morning or what, but I drove the 30 miles to Port A the other day and stopped at my first birding area.  Parked the car...reached over to the passenger seat to get my camera...and NADA.  I forgot to put the camera in the car!!!  It was still on the hutch at home, being charged for the next outing!  So, I just walked, birded with the cellphone [which the photos taken are so distant, you can barely see the subjects spotted!].  Other than getting my steps tallied up and getting fresh air, the morning was a bit wasted in regard to birding.  Once I got to the jetty [a favorite spot for dolphin watching and taking in the ships passing through] the fishermen/women were out in droves, the channel was quiet for ship traffic, and the county or port authorities were busy with two barges loaded with granite boulders....they are working on refurbishing the jetty breakwater that was damaged three years ago with Hurricane Harvey!!  I was mesmerized watching the heavy equipment operators moving the granite [weighing TONS EACH] into the channel.  I took a video of a couple of them being placed precisely where they were mapped to go.  If you wanna watch the 2 minute video, click here.  Keep in mind, even tho they look mini-sized they are about 6x4 feet or larger!!

...and here are a few photos off the cellphone from that same morning:


They are all of Great Blue Herons


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One more thing, then I'll let you go. I found this book at Barnes and Noble the other day when I stopped on the way to the grocery store, for Bud. A book he ordered had arrived, and I picked it up for him. I was gonna be out and about, so instead of having them deliver it, I figured I might as well. Good thing. I found an autobiography of Helen Keller! She is a subject of interest to me ever since seeing the movie The Miracle Worker with Patty Duke from years past.