Serenity

Not exactly what it looks like out there right now, but we're grateful that it appears Hurricane Joaquin is going to bypass us!

Just Another Day at the Beach

I think maybe tomorrow I'll start telling you about my second out-of-state trip that I took in July, but for today I'll share a few more local pix:

A Grand Day Out

Some friends are down visiting for the weekend and we took them out on the boat yesterday. We love sharing the beauty of this area with friends and one of our favorite things to do is to see the Shackleford Ponies. We really lucked out this time as we were able to get a good look at a very new baby.

 Cape Lookout National Seashore has some really good information on these wild horses here: Horses of Shackleford Banks Click on some of the links from that page if you want to learn more.

Baby was so incredibly adorable and even put on a show for us...excuse the jerkiness of the video...it's hard to keep it steady when using the zoom and no tripod.

Another Fine Day

A wee ghost crab peeking out of his hole

The Ingenuity of Squirrels

We have an area in our front yard that's evolving into a little serenity garden...We've recently put up a reed fence and planted caladiums, hostas, and elephant ears. This is also the area where two of our cats and one of our greyhounds that have gone on are buried and last year we bought little markers for them. Anyway, we've also put up one birdhouse and a couple of bird feeders. The birds are happy...so are the squirrels! Squirrels are pretty ingenious little buggers. One of the feeders is "squirrel-proof"....but that isn't stopping them from trying!

The white "stones" are the pet grave markers; the big wooden cat was a Christmas present & is carved out of one piece of wood!

Some friends made the dolphin and the seagull...

That's the "squirrel-proof" feeder with a bird in it

One of the culprits sneaking up there...

...making his way over...

...thinking how best to try this venture.

 I haven't caught it yet, but LoML's seen them actually hanging over the top of the feeder trying to figure it out. I think I'm going to have fun sitting on the swing (not pictured as I some how forgot to get a picture of it or the rest of the plants....maybe next time) and "spying" on the wildlife.

Cape Shots

A few shots from a recent trip to one of my happy places:

Stop & Shoot

...pictures, that is. How amazing of a place do I live where I can stop on the side of the road on the way to work and take pictures like this:

It was a solitary dolphin. Because of previous sighting there I suspect it may have been a female scouting out the area for a place to have her baby.

 

You may not get to see dolphins on your drive, but I bet there's something amazing if you take the time to look.

Osprey!

I love ospreys. They're amazing birds. This past weekend I was helping walk part of the Neusiok Trail as part of a Backcountry Horsemen of the Croatan work day and was able to see a nesting pair. Here's the nest from a distance. It's in a fabulous tree and is quite the impressive nest!

Both "mom" and "dad" were wheeling around and fussing at us for walking too closely to their tree.

 While it's blocked by the tree, you can still get a sense of that impressive wing span:

For some cool facts (to include: they mate for life and both raise their young) see wikipedia's page:
on the Osprey

Backyard Bunny

I can't swear to it, but I believe this is the same bunny that has frequented our back yard for years. He or she hangs out just outside the fence...wisely! Certain greyhounds have been known to bark at said bunny - who doesn't even bat an eye as he/she knows they can't be gotten from there. I noticed this bunny back when we had Phil, our dear brindle boy because I thought it was cute that our wild bunny was also a brindle!

Is That You, Peter Rabbit?

Look closely, that's the barn bunny my friend's daughter is trying to get close to. In the top photo he's right behind the fence post that's in the center of the shot. In the second he's mid-way between the two posts on the left-hand side of the picture.

 

Random Natterings

Admittedly, my blogging is still sporadic. Some day I may fully come to terms with the crazy, frenetic pace of my life and the fact that I can't possibly cram everything in that I want to...or think I can...At any rate, since I've been neglecting you (the two of you out there that I know check this thing!) I figured I'd bombard you with all sorts of random shots...

The fascination with the Purple Martins continues:

They gathered on the roof at Sammy's house

Love the tail shape!

A coup! Capturing stationary and in flight!

LoML & I went over to Cape Lookout Saturday...I can't resist taking pictures of seagulls...this guy was very interested in whether or not I had any food to share:

Flight

On the way over there we always slow down at this particular buoy to check on the osprey family. These birds are truly magnificent! I'm pretty sure they mate for life. I know they like to return to the same nest each year to raise their offspring. They had two babies this year...the babies are now almost as big as mom & dad! One of them is in between here...lying down and looking directly at my camera..the other is behind the parent bird on the right...if you look at his (?) breast you can just see it behind...

Some day soon I'll tell you all about Buster. He's the beautiful English Pointer that my parents rescued...He & Gwyn got to meet up on a walk on Sunday and we had a marvelous time. He's still underweight, but they're working on that and he's getting stronger by the day!

Finally, one of my dearest friends shared a recipe with me for chilled cucumber avocado soup. Made it Sunday night and ate it last night. It was fabulous! Here's the recipe: Chilled Cucumber Avocado Soup

Squirrels!

Loving my new camera sling-strap (more on that another time) which is making it easier to have my camera with me on dog walks! Now I can document sights like these:

Why are these two racing around this tree?

Aha! Bird feeder!

It's a reach, but I can do it!

How often does one get a shot of a squirrel and a tv in the yard???

Just liked the sky..