All is Well

All is well on our home front.  Isaac turned out to be pretty much a non-event here at our house, thanks to its westward track, but certainly was a major event in other places. 

The shuttered house got to me after a while and my dear hubby agreed to take a few panels off so that light could come in and I could see out.  Of course, by that time, we knew that our weather wouldn't be bad and that it would be safe to do so.  

My sincere thoughts and prayers go out to all those folks affected by this storm. 

One of the good things to come from this storm, at least from a birder's perspective, was a collection of southbound migrants along the coast.  They reach the coast and due to the inclement weather over the gulf they can't continue their trip.  Therefore, they are gathered in our area.  Birdlady and I met up with Mz. B and let our noses lead us.  On the way to the meeting point, Birdlady saw frigate birds, so those were our first targets.  Now, I'd never seen frigate birds before, so I was excited at the prospect. 

Magnificent Frigate bird 

These are normally seen only around the Florida Keys and do not venture to the Gulf Coast except when blown up here by storms, such as Isaac. 

We saw more and more of them all along the sound.  When we went to some friends' house to check out the birds in their yard, Mr. D.  quickly herded us to the pier to look at the large number of birds roosting in the trees just down the way.  There must have been 50 or 75 of them in the trees.  And all along the coast, more were soaring on the currents.   All total, I bet we saw at least 150 frigate birds that day and reports from Dauphin Island show they were over there as well.

Now, after that excitement, we trooped inside Mr. & Mrs. D's home to take a look through their front windows.  My, what a sight to behold.  Their naturalized yard and water feature pond were being thronged by warblers of all kinds!!   I've never seen so many different little birds in one place, and I didn't even have to trek around to find them!!  We sat or stood in air conditioned comfort.  There were warblers of all kinds -- Kentucky, Worm eating, Hooded, Yellow Throated, Prothonotary, Yellow, Canada, Cerulean, Black and White, Parulas, American Redstart and Blue-winged.  There probably were more that I didn't see.  The Canada Warbler was a rarity, and I had never seen it or the Kentucky warbler.  The bright colors were magnificent as they fed, splashed and bathed in the water.  Of course, we had the usual yard birds -- cardinals, chickadees, titmice, woodpeckers of various sorts, doves, wrens, brown thrasher and pewees.  We also had blue-gray gnatcatchers and one yellow billed cuckoo.  This was a real treat and we took our sweet time viewing them.

I have no pictures of all these lovelies.  My camera just won't reach far enough to do them justice, particularly shooting through the windows. 

After we left there, we headed over toward the shore to see what kinds of birds were there.  We didn't even get to our first stop when Birdlady and Mz. B. spotted a struggling bird right on the edge of the road.  The vehicle was quickly turned around and they both jumped out to rescue the bird before it was hit by a car.  Getting soaking wet from a sudden downpour, they scooped up the bird in a towel and got back in.  Birdlady held the poor bird in her lap as we headed back to Mr. & Mrs. D's to get a box to transport it to the wildlife sanctuary.  Turns out that the bird was a Greater Shearwater, a pelagic species, a bird not seen near land except when blown there by the storms or for nesting.  The poor bird was checked out and found to only be exhausted from a three day battle with the wind and no time to feed.  He's in good hands and will be released as soon as he's had a chance to recover and may, in fact, already be gone.  

Mr. & Mrs. D. went over to the beach immediately after we left and found many of the pelagics there.   This is a very infrequent occurrence.  Birders look for these unusual events to bring visitors to the area.  

I'll leave you with a prothonotary warbler that I photographed a couple of years ago in Louisiana. 

Prothonotary Warbler

Y'all take care. 

Oh, Happy Day

We're still in the area subject to the influence of Hurricane Isaac but, thankfully, just the outer bands of weather.  Therefore, we took the shutters off the back door this morning and the light streaming in was like a shot of sunshine straight to my soul!!!  It felt like bindings were loosened from around me.

When we put the shutters up, we were expecting to receive the brunt of the storm and planned to evacuate.  As the track shifted westward our forecast changed and we decided to stay home.  Since the shutters were already up, however, we left them there.  

Shutters ready to go up.

We go through periods of clouds, blustery winds, rain and then back to sunshine.  So far, we've had very little rain and no unusual winds.   

We'll sit tight until tomorrow and then all the shutters will come down. 

While it can be frustrating to deal with all the uncertainty, I try to remind myself that its better to be prepared for what doesn't happen, rather than be unprepared for what does happen!! 

Stay safe everybody.  

Y'all take care.  

Just a Bunch of Stuff

I am still alive and well, but that wouldn't be evident from my posting schedule. 

Shutters ready to install

We're in the middle of storm preparations and have most of our shutters up.  We'll finish later today and then head out tomorrow to stay gone until the storm passes.  They are so unpredictable and, although things are looking up for us, it won't be over 'til its over!!!

Got home from our trip to find that the front flower bed is now practically a jungle, thanks to all the rain this summer. 

The bleeding heart vine gave my neighbor fits by continually falling over.  He finally got it propped up using shovels and pitchforks!!  Now, I would've just whacked that thing back into submission, but he wouldn't do that.   It pretty much smothers the variegated shell ginger that is behind it and is gorgeous.  Danged ginger hasn't bloomed worth a hoot in all the years its been there.  I think maybe twice in at least 10 years.  

See that sago palm?  I detest that thing but it's nearly as tall as the roof now.  It grew a bunch over the summer too. 

The only flowers left in that bed are a couple of pentas, but they are hanging in there. 

While we were away, we enjoyed fresh produce from the farmers' market.  Our favorite was the tomatoes.  Just before leaving Vermont to come home, I invited our "neighbors" for dinner and made Paula Deen's tomato pie.   And fresh corn on the cob directly from the farm just up the hill.  Oh, to die for!!! 

Paula Deen's Tomato Pie

Since it rained that afternoon, we had to shift our dinner over to the campground pavilion so there'd be room for all six of us, but we made do.   Besides, how fancy can you get when its pretty standard campground etiquette for everybody to bring their own dinnerware and flatware?!?  The friends did pitch in a salad and dessert.

Shortly before leaving to come home, we took a little day trip up to the town of Newport, Vermont, where we had some wonderful muffins at The Bake Shop.  Then we took a stroll around town a bit and down to the harbor. 

It was such a gorgeous day. 

Y'all take care.  

 

Trekking and Trying

I love to trek out into the hinterlands trying to find wildlife and birds.   Since moose are indigenous to Vermont, I figured I'd make an attempt to find one.  Hubby and I spent most of the day up in the wildlife refuge.  Didn't see one single moose!!!   We saw about five sets of fresh moose tracks, but not one moose!!   It had rained the night before, so we could easily tell the tracks were very fresh.   

We loved the day out, though.    We took a picnic lunch and something to drink and off we went.   Had our lunch on the tailgate of the truck.   After we left the refuge, we just went exploring the area.

Earlier in our stay, we went over to the Victory Bog which is the origination point of the Moose River which runs behind our campsite.  

This place reminds me so much of Alaska.  

We didn't walk any of the trails that were there, but that's another story. 

We have enjoyed our stay up here, but it has not been all sunshine and roses.  Hubby experienced some medical issues that resulted in an ambulance ride to the ER and then a couple of weeks of uncertainty and anxiety, including another visit to the ER.  Thankfully, he's doing very well now.  

We've also experienced some mechanical issues with the RV.  We suffered a burned out motor on the front awning, which is still under warranty.  Finally got the motor replaced, only to have that one promptly burn out too!   Turns out the manufacturer was supposed to send us a new switch at the same time, and they didn't.  So, it cost them another motor and the second time they sent the new switch.  So far, its working okay. 

Now, if we could just say the same for the awning over the slide outs.  The spring in it broke. We got it replaced and thought it was working fine.  However, Hubby was worrying whether it would wind up properly, so we did a test.  Didn't work.  The spring needs to be tightened up.  The repairman who has done all this work does a good job once he gets here, but getting him to show up is enough to make you pull your hair out.   Says he'll be here at 9 a.m. and you're lucky if he shows up that day at all!!   Heck, it might be two or three days later when he shows up.   He's the only game in town for on site repairs, though.   Try dealing with that kind of aggravation at the same time as Hubby is having health problems.  A very trying situation. 

Y'all take care.  

More Lovely Flowers

I am continually amazed at how fast time seems to fly by.  Seems we just arrived in Vermont a few days ago.  Now, we have only a few days before we leave for home after having spent two months here!!!  

Our campground has been a joy.  We're at Moose River Campground in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.  In addition to the beautiful Moose River at our door, the grounds have some lovely flowers. 

There are no fancy plants here, just tried and true varieties that thrive in this good soil.  Aren't these lilies just the most gorgeous things.  A day or so later, the other three buds opened too.  

These are all in addition to those lovelies posted in I Love Flowers.  

We've enjoyed a time of mostly wonderful cool weather and that is why we came. 

Y'all take care. 

Happiness

We sat outside tonight in the cool air.  The flames leaped high and showers of sparks swirled every time new wood was thrown on the bonfire.  The colors against the night sky were blue and gold and red and green, swirling and turning and rising before burning into nothingness. 

As we sat there mesmerized, the singer's voice poured over us like honey, bringing back memories from days gone by.  A dance or two reminded us of how we met.


The individuals gathered there in that large circle joined hands to express our love for America before bidding goodnight.  

What a  perfect evening.


Y'all take care.  

Thanks to my Readers

I know that I don't thank all of you, my readers, enough.  I do appreciate all of you.  I also am pleased that some of you take the time to leave a comment.  I read each and every one of them even though I may not respond directly.  

Again, thank you so much!!


Y'all take care.