The HANDFUL

Rain, rain, rain and then more rain, then snow; oh, and let's not forget that terrific wind along with the beautiful upper 60s one day then cool and in the 30s the next. Little sunny but cool then dreary, dreary, dreary. Yep, Spring has sprung in the Midwest. Not a complaint just reporting observational information cause I believe this is much better then hot and buggy! Our trees are starting to bud, I've seen some tulip and daffodil leaves starting to poke through. I started my own cilantro and basil in a recycled milk jug so here's hoping that pans out. I'd like to get some veggies going just not sure in what manner I want to do it. And, unfortunately, my thumbs are not green!

I have not seen the bluebird around lately but gracious we have had plenty of robins and black birds in the yard along with sparrows. With all the rain it seems they are enjoying a worm smorgasboard out there. Won't be too long we will need to get the hummingbird feeders out. Really hoping the bluebirds show back up!

Pretty much just life going on as of late. It makes for long days and short nights on some occasions but that is what makes it life. Gonna enjoy it!

UnFOURgettably 4 Friday!

We've had company this week...

Oh the fun we've had, park hopping, picnicking, going to ball games, bike riding, rock painting, White Grill, pumpkin shopping and painting, garage sailing, pizza dinner, swingset playing, Grave Digger driving, hummingbird watching, tractor peddling, McDonald's Filet-O-Fish lunch, around the lake walking (or being carried if you are 4!), and so much more! We love it when you come to the Meadow. Already looking forward to next time!

Stay safe, stay well... 

UnFOURgettably 4 Friday!

We have birds again! Hummingbirds that is; so we are good with that. They were MIA for several weeks but they are back. Three so far. They were getting along pretty well then one little guy has gotten a bit territorial. He's been quite a stinker to the other two. Just sits and guards it from the atop the hook. They are so entertaining to watch, we love it. We've been watching from inside but hope to be able sit outside near the house in our patio furniture.

Stay safe, stay well and watch the birds!

UnFOURgettably 4 Friday

I'm sure you are just as thrilled as we are to have a bird update. 

Rest assured, we are NOT giving up...but we back to doing battle with the birds again. The robins have now attempted to make a nest IN THE SPIKES. Then we have two little wrens who have found their way under the gutter guards and tried to make a nest in the gutter itself. These birds are certainly persistent that is for sure. And our two fake snakes and owls have not deterred anything! Except maybe the hummingbirds because it has been a few weeks since we have seen those little guys.

UnFOURgettably 4 Friday!

Oh, my, Man vs Bird continues...but we have a new weapon in our corner. Bird spikes. Hoping for less bird activity under the patio cover. If you missed the original posting on this, it is HERE. We like birds, really we do! We just DO NOT want them nesting under the patio cover. We have tried several things from a rubber snake to an owl to shiny hanging things. Nothing seems to work and we were forever cleaning up nest making attempts. It was time to get serious. This is our final hope...well, maybe not but I hate to think of what we will need to try next.

In other news we are staying safe and staying home...within reason. Hope you are doing well. Of course, we are missing those up North.

Stay safe, stay well, stay home when you can!

UnFOURgettably 4 Friday!

Still living the safer at home life on our end. Missing that Northern crew like crazy. I think the Bee has grown 4 inches. I continue to read and work puzzle as well as watch TV to pass the time. We take drives every few days and with pooled resources we are stocked with provisions and feel we are doing quite well. Continuing to practice social distancing and good hand hygiene. We have also taken to wearing facial coverings, our buffs, not masks. They are hot, don't stay up all that well but they serve the purpose.

In other news it is Man vs Bird at the Meadow. Birds have been an issue since we moved in. They have wanted to nest on our outdoor light fixtures so we placed a deterrent and that has worked well.  We also got a rubber snake. Now they are trying to nest on our back patio in the guttering. They also attempted to nest in the new garage guttering. Handy dandy products to block them have been working on the new garage. As for the porch we moved the rubber snack from the front porch to the back and we have even purchased an owl. Neither seem to be working all that well. What has been working is our persistent knocking down the nest in progress. So every morning it has become my ritual to go outside, usually in pajamas, no less, to knock down the beginnings of a nest. Lately the maker has been a bit outraged and lets us know. It's been funny, but not. I feel bad, but I DO NOT want a nest. They poop all over as they fly in and out so NO NEST wanted! After my initial knock down MiRV takes over. We keep tabs all morning; going out to ward off more nest making attempts and knock down what might have snuck through. It's a tough battle!

The mess we wake up to and the start of a new nest nearly every morning...

 We knock it down, clean it up and watch for more action.

It's been quite serious trying to deter this nest making!

Stay safe, stay well, stay home!

Wild & Three Thursday!

We are in Joshua Tree National Park! WOW! Neat, neat little place. We snagged what we thought was the last spot, then as we are walking back to the iron ranger we notice a spot with people but no tag. After inquiring, no they aren't camping, they just stopped to picnic. Really, in the campground? There are plenty of picnic stops, I just don't get it. We moved to that spot since it was a bit bigger and move level for sure. Sweet!

And those Joshua Trees, well, you might get a Dr Seuss feeling while looking at them. But fun fact...they are not really trees! I know! Google it, it's true! Since I was so underwhelmed at Big Ben National Park last week it was good to be impressed again. Part of my poor assessment could be weather related. It was windy, really, really windy. And due to rains and foggy weather we were unable to do some of the major hikes we were planning. However, the reality is we will probably not make a return visit to BBNP. Park staff was not very helpful or friendly and the park itself seems tired. Back to Joshua Tree...lovely park. Though not a fan of their new all reservation campgrounds. At least two of their larger campgrounds have gone the route of must make a reservation to get in. Not good, not good at all especially for people like us. We were fortunate to snag a spot at White Tank which is still a first come, first serve. We ended up staying two nights. As we made our way through the park we checked out one of the reservation only locations. Nearly empty! Ugh, that really makes me ruffled. we encountered this reservation only type campground in Michigan earlier this year and we are just not a fan. Especially when the walk in sites are ALL full and the reservation sites are going unused.

Anywho, as I mentioned in another post we are making our way to California to meet up with the Daughter. We were fortunate to get a visit in at Guadalupe National Park. However, due to high winds we were unable to hike.That was a real bummer for MiRV as he had hoped to hike the high point. Speaking of campgrounds, GNP has one....well they are calling their parking lot a campground which IMO is stretching it. What you really have is a semi flat parking lot that they call  a campground! LOL It most certainly is not. But at least you get to stay right in the park. And in all honesty we were thrilled to snag one of only two spots open when we rolled in. While we were there we trekked on up the road to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. How cool is that place? FYI you can go on your own self guided tours. So don't fret when you check the website and it says all the "tours" are sold out. Those are the park guided tours and you can still go on your own self guided tour during park hours. You set out and just explore on your own on the designated paths or grab an audio guide for $5. It's pretty awesome. Disclaimer: It does stink at the natural entrance from all the bat droppings!

We also stopped by White Sands National Monument, twice. Even rode down the dunes a couple times! Then we headed on into Arizona where we made a little side trip up to Saguaro National Park. It was incredible. The number of saguaros was totally overwhelming. I have never even seen that type of cactus in person before so to see so many in one spot was WOWSA! The coolest thing there was seeing the little Mexican elf owl in the abandoned woodpecker hole.What a treat that was. So cute. We really enjoyed the drive through this park and the friendly staff. Another impressive stop has been Organ Pipe National Monument. The campground here was quite nice. Not crowded at this time of year...even though there are 200+ sites. There had solar showers and a beautiful sunset as well as sunrise on our stay over. I would return here in a heartbeat. Though it's quite a drive to get down there I think it was worth it. In hindsight we probably should have done more then one night. Make sure you leave the light on and the hood up for pack rat deterrence! Seriously!

Still looking forward to seeing the Daughter and family in a few days for a week of beach life. Meanwhile we are gonna enjoy a little more time at Joshua Tree before meandering on that direction. Looking forward to the night sky tonight, they say it is quite the view. I'll let you know.

Altamira Oriole Sighting

I'm not sure but we may be crossing the line.

Crossing the line from bird lookers into bird watchers. It's crazy, I know, but it might be true! I was totally stoked when we spotted the Altamira Oriole this afternoon. This bird is elusive, he swoops in and out and you barely know if you caught sight of him or not. That is until today. We not only caught sight but we were treated to seeing a pair. They were nestled in the tree to get out of the wind and they were gorgeous. It was as if there were two oranges hanging from the tree and that is why it caught my eye. I knew we weren't in a citrus grove so what were those orange blobs....OH MY WORD, it's the Altamira Oriole and there is not ONE but TWO...this is awesome!

That's one of the orioles!

#OWT
#BirdWatchers

Bike flats

So the other day at the Resaca de la Palma State Park we rode the bike trails, it was fun. Lots of fun, not too much sun, a few birds, an ocelot, turtles, jumping fish, lookout tower. Fun! Fun that is until someone got a flat...yeah, that was me. THANKFULLY, we were back at the visitor center. The park was open but the visitor center was closed so we had to park outside the gate. This was fine, we rode in. Leaving only one of us who rode out. I walked my bike back since it had a flat back tire.

Walking it back...

Honestly, it wasn't bad. In fact, it could have been so much worse. We could have been out on one of the trails. THAT would have been quite a long walk back. Anyway, we are steering clear of some of these so called bike trails since the long thorns of the trees seem to be invading our tires. While MiRV made it back and we thought it was only my tire that was affected. However, when we found a park with a little shade to perform the flat repair both of my tires were now flat and one of his was. He pulled out 7 thorns from one tire. Geez. But he's really good at flat repairs so it's all grand! And we picked up a bottle of Slime tire repair goop! Should be all good now!

 Flat tire repair at the park in Edinburg, TX

Bird Lookers

I can't believe we have become those people...well, not really but sort of we have. We are not true bird watchers as we do not set out on excursions for the primary purpose of watching birds (yet...) but when we are out and about we do look for birds! It's fun! We have made a few stops that are known birding areas and we take our looking glass with us on walks and hikes. Without a doubt we have definitely enjoyed the sightings in this area, so colorful and there are a few varieties that one can only see here without traveling to South America. The Kiskadee and the Green Jay. We spotted them before we ever learned their names! That's pretty awesome in my book, so we have become bird lookers!

While at Falcon State Park while hiking we spotted several colorful birds and had no idea their name. After stopping by the RecHall on our way out of the park we got a quick education from one of the volunteers of the Wildlife Refuge from up the street. She was so gracious and helped us to learn a lot in just a short time. Then while at the Bentsen State Park we encountered another volunteer who shared her knowledge with us as well. We feel so smart now...you know what they saw a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I think we are on the edge of that! 

 Green Jay from South America

This guy is MiRVs favorite. He caught a glimpse of him while we were at the county park and I was a tad bit jealous as I did not get to see him. Then while we were at Bentsen we saw a dozen or more of them. They are quite brilliant in their coloring and extremely mobile; it was not easy to get their photo! The Chachalaca is a large chicken like bird that we have also seen but quite common here since they are from just across the border in Mexico. They are noisy and often take over the feeders and they were even hanging somewhat upside down while eating, funny to watch and see.

Mr & Mrs Cardinal

The Cardinals are so red! I mean we have Cardinals in the Midwest but these guys are quite vibrant, more so than I remember in our part of the woods! Anyway they are flitting around everywhere in the parks here and quite fun to see. 

Lastly, the Kiskadee, again, one that migrates up from South America. Incredible bright yellow with little mask over the eyes. They are just beautiful and fun to watch, they scold and chatter to each other a lot, some might say they are too loud and obnoxious at they call back and forth but I thought they were just very social and they are my favorite so far. We also saw an oriole that has a gorgeous orange breast but we didn't see him in time to snap a photo. Maybe another day!

The Kiskadee! And as a bonus the Cardinal was in this shot!

We are back in the city after a few days out in the boondocks. We took a little field trip farther west to check out a state park and some longer term parking options. Found out that cell signal is either NON EXISTENT or you are pinging off the Mexican towers and will be charged outrageous fees for using said towers. We were certainly thankful for wifi at the Ranger stations! Even so we are considering returning even if it is a little off the beaten path it felt safe. The night time temps are what's holding us back as we would be opting for no hookups. It's been quite comfortable on most nights without heat but when it drops into the low 40s I am partial to a bit of warmth from our Alde; though snuggling works as long as it warms up during the day. We also need sunshine to keep our solar going and so far it's been sort of hit and miss on that. The weather is certainly NOT consistently sunny so doing a bit of circulating (driving) is good for supplementing our solar!

#OWT

#birdlookersgonewild

Black Squirrels, Dolphins, Caracara's oh my!

We have been so blessed with what our eyes are able to see. Often times we do not have the real camera and our phones just can't quite capture it so it's just for our eyes only! It is a feast to see! Some of these amazing animals are just incredible and a real treat that you just cannot imagine nor often explain to others.

In the past few weeks we have seen the rare pink spoonbill (roseate spoonbill), the caracara and black squirrels. Really cool. Of course I always enjoy the dolphins and since we have been back near the coast we have seen them three times already. Seeing them on the Lower Colorado headwaters the other day they were the most active I've ever seen and the most in number it was awesome. The birds are neat to see as well but we are not really birders in the real since of the word. Usually we don't know what we saw til after we tell someone or someone tells us and we realize, oh we saw those or oh that's what we saw! Still, lots of fun seeing!

Wish I had pictures to share, but I do not...


#OWT