Thought I would talk about two different things today.  First thing is this car.  The one in the picture at the top of the page.  (sigh) I love this car.

It's a 1956 Chevy Bel Air.  (sigh again)  I have no idea why it appeals to me so much but if I could choose ANY car, of all the cars ever in existence, this would be the one at the top of the list.  I love the two tone, I love the white wall tires, I love the chrome trim, the hood ornament and the chevy emblem on the front.  I love the roundy headlights, the snazzy grill, the big old steering wheel and the bench seats.  And it's all absolutely ridiculous!

Why?  Because I would never in a zillion years be able to drive this car!  And for three really good reasons.  First, it's standard shift.  I never learned to drive standard.  I barely learned to drive at all, frankly.  Several people have tried in vain to teach me, but I guess I'm just not coordinated enough to manage clutch and shift. Clutch OR Shift I may have eventually figured out but not both.  This car is standard.  I suppose it could be made automatic after the fact, but that would ruin the car. It's a classic. You should never mess around with a classic.

The second reason I would never be able to drive this car is because I can hardly see over the dash and steering wheel.  A very nice man, who was very amused as he observed me oooo-ing and aaahhh-ing over his BelAir, allowed me to sit in his.  I was tickled to bits.  I gingerly slide onto the seat, squared myself behind the wheel, sat up very straight and then burst out laughing because no matter what I did, I only just barely saw the hood of the car, no road at all.  The seat would have to be raised somehow. 

Which brings us to the last reason.  I not only cannot see over the dash and wheel, I also cannot fully reach the pedals!  LOLOL  The seats would have to be raised and blocked forward!  Which means, since it's a bench seat, that the entire front seat of the car would be raised and blocked forward which in turn means that only very short people would be comfortable sitting in the front seat of my car LOLOL  !!

Good thing I wasn't planning on buying one.  But I will ogle them whenever I have the opportunity to see them.  Tim and I walked over to the annual Venice Car show this past Sunday and spent a few hours wandering around admiring the 200+ vehicles on display.  It was awesome!

It's odd how much I enjoy that particular car show because I'm not a car person per se.  I don't care what I drive as long as it's reliable.  And if you asked me to describe someone else's car I would only remember what colour it was and how many doors it had. 

Most cars today look very similar to me.  I'm sure if I knew (or cared to know) more about cars, that I would notice the subtle variations but unless I see the model/brand of car written right there on the automobile, I have no idea what sort of car it is.  It could be a Mercedes, it could be a Toyota.  To me they all look pretty much the same.

And heaven knows that engine talk goes right over my head.  I'm not stupid, I understand how a combustion engine works.  I also get the whole Electric car thing and the hybrid car concept.  Beyond that, I do not know and I'm not especially interested.  

But I know what I like, and I like older cars.  They had some style, some panache, some flair.  They were interesting, they were wildly different and new ideas meant not just a new type of engine or safety feature but also a completely new look!  I hear commercials touting new looks now, but it is rarely true. Very Disappointing.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm all about safety features.  Yay safety! Fuel efficiency is important too naturally.  But gosh I miss interesting looking cars!  Fun looking cars!  Unique ideas and features!  Apparently, there is no way to mesh Fuel efficiency and safety with fun and interesting.  And then make it affordable.  LOLOL  Oh I am hilarious today!

There were six Chevy Bel Airs at the car show on Sunday, each one was a different colour and not all of them were '56s but close enough to wow me!  I was satisfied for another year :)

Now what was that other thing I wanted to mention?  Oh yeah.  You remember recall that this past Monday  I posted on Facebook that I was blocked out of my blog construction site because somebody reported it as being dangerous and/or unsafe (insert eyeroll here)?  Well, Tim fixed it for me the same day.  He did it without complaining, with no, probably deserved, remarks about how untechie I am and he did it quickly.  He is my hero. For a thousand different reason on a thousand different days, but still, he is, as always my hero. Charging up the hill to my rescue, once again.

Thank you also to my son Corbin  who sent suggestions on how to correct the problem.  Another hero!  Tim had already wrestled it to the ground by the time I read his excellent ideas, but  I appreciate it anyway, and if Tim hadn't been available to take care of the problem, I would definitely have tried it!   Thank you too, Corbin!

I admit that when I saw that big red screen with the "Thou Shalt Not Pass" warnings all over it, I panicked! Oh no!  I'm being forced to do something against my will!  They are keeping me from my blog construction!  The world is coming to an end!   Much like Chicken Little , I leaped to an unsubstantiated conclusion that I would never be able to get back into the site or write on my blog again!  Oh NO!  

One really good thing I learned (other than to not panic about such things) is how much I would miss writing the blog!  Every once in awhile, it crosses my mind that I've been writing this thing for a number of years now  - since October 2016 in fact!  And perhaps I ought to think about working my way to an end point.  But I guess it's still too important to me to quit.  At least not yet.

So anyway, those were the two topics for today.  My favourite car!  And, I'm sorry I made such a big dang deal about not being able to write my blog on Monday.  Sorry about the over-reaction. 

Have a Wonderful Easter Weekend!  Hope the Bunny brings you goodies!

Be forewarned, this is another kittyboy update!  If you are not interested in yet another chapter in the lives of Brysco and Wyatt, feel free to go on about your business. I bear you no ill will. Those of you still interested, please read on (and on a peronal note,  Yay!  so happy you wanted to read more)

The three remarkably similar items in the above photo are supposed to be toy butterflies attached to cords which are in turn attached to sticks.  If you look closed you will notice that one has no feathers, one has two tiny remaining rather bedraggled feathers and the last one has larger, less molested looking feathers.  These are the kittyboys most favourite toys in the world.

We bought the first one on a whim.  It was at the checkout register at the local pet supply place where we buy kittyfood.  The stores had, rather cleverly, put a bouquet of butterfly toys right there at the checkout with a rather inexpensive price tag dangling enticingly.  At the last second, we added one to our pile of cat food cans.

When we took it home, the boys went wild for it!  They displayed none of their usual cautious circling and sniffing of something new in the house.  Instead they went straight for the attack.  The Butterfly Must Die was their rallying cry and they proceeded to ravage it.   It was completely featherless in less than 24 hours.  We thought that once the feathers were gone, they would lose interest and well, that was $5 bucks poorly spent.  Oh well, live and learn.

But instead, to our surprise, they continued to beg to play with the butterfly.  Which involves a human (usually Tim or myself) holding it tantalizingly above them, moving it back and forth quickly on the floor or making the butterfly appear to swoop and dance through the air.  The crazier and wilder the butterfly moved, the better they liked it.

They crouch on the ground "behind" something, eyes wide and dark, whiskers forward, nothing moving but the tip of their tails until suddenly they pounce on the poor unsuspecting butterfly.   Other times they leap spectacularly into the air with flips and twists, totally unconcerned about where they might land.  They will race through the house at top speed chasing us as we  run, "flying" the butterfly behind us like a flag.  And the kittyboys cannot get enough.  They will play until they are exhausted and collapse to the floor, panting, sides heaving, and still, the instant the butterfly twitches, they are up and ready to play again.

 They get so overexcited by this butterfly game that I have had to teach them how to take turns.  It took awhile for them to grasp the concept but they do pretty well most of the time now. I will play with Brysco for a few minutes and then say, "its your brother's turn now" and then I play with Wyatt while Brysco catches his breath and watches intently.  Then I switch back to Brysco and Wyatt takes a break.  Mom doesn't get a break until the game is over.

Usually the game is over when either I need to get back to whatever I was supposed to have been doing in the first place or Brysco has done one of his truly amazing leaps into the air and grabs the butterfly with his mouth, lands and then refuses to give it back.  When I drop the stick, off he marches, butterfly firmly in his teeth, stick and cord trailing him, as he takes it to Tim.  Every single time.  Yesterday when Brysco tried to deliver it to Tim, the office door was closed so Brysco left it as the door as an offering.  Occasionally when Tim is too  busy to do the usual pets and praise when he delivers his butterfly, Brysco will take the butterfly into the KittyBoy hideout (which now lives in Tim's office) and hides it there.  I am convinced that Brysco is laughing while I search the house over for the toy later. 

Which is why we now have 3 butterflies.  Well that and Tim is an old Softie when it comes to these guys.  And that is also why, here and there throughout the day, Tim will take a little break from his workday, come out and play Butterfly with the boys. The boys love it, Tim loves it, he certainly deserves a break and it's good excercise.  Win/Win

I tried to get some photos of the kittyboys mid-air leaps and catches during the butterfly game but it turns out that I cannot play butterfly and take photos of it at the same time.  But then, I am also the person who struggles to chew gum and walk at the same time. oh well.  So I had to settle for more low key butterfly play for the photos.  Maybe one day soon I will get my camera out while Tim plays with them and try (TRY) to get some action shots.

And that's it for this kittyboy update!  

What's new with you?

When was the last time you visited a County Fair?  It had been a LOT of years for Tim and I.  I think that the last one was when we lived in Connecticut which means it was at least 18 years ago!  Whoa!  That's a long time!

For all I know you are all County Fair aficionados and attend them on the regular.  Maybe you are the sort of people who buy the multiday passes! Who knows, maybe you are the folks who work at the fairs!  Awesome!    We don't seem to be any of those people.

So I wasn't quite sure what to expect when we went to the Sarasota County Fair this past Sunday.  Surely, in nearly twenty years, County Fairs must be very different than what I remembered.  I mean, everything in the world has changed dramatically in two decades!  It's all so techie now.  

I have fond memories of fairs, the sounds, the scents, the ambience are all so very ripe with excitement and anticipation that nothing could possibly stand up to the nostalgia of it all, right?  I was prepared to be disappointed. 

And that didn't happen at all.   Most of it was exactly as I remembered!  How is that possible?  I do not know but I was delighted by it all.

We arrived just before the doors opened and we made a bee-line to certain areas so that I could get photos that were relatively crowd-free.  Here are a couple of black & whites just to keep the sentimental nostalgia going:

The crowds surged in behind us and that level of electric excitement and noise is essential to the atmosphere so I couldn't begrudge it.  

The next thing we did was to just walk around checking the place out.  There were plenty of rides, most of them the ones I remembered from years ago like the Tilt-a-Whirl!  That still is going strong!  Merry-Go-Round, Roller Coasters, Bumper Cars and Ferris wheels - check,check, check and check!  I did have to laugh about the one Kiddy Ride that had cars shaped like cartoon alligators.  Hah!  Only in Florida:

The Midway was huge!   The memories were all there:  of the barkers trying to get people to play the games, the sounds of the darts popping a ballon or a ball knocking over pins or the ring pinging against bottles, the big eyed kiddos trying to throw a pingpong ball in the goldfish bowl or net a plastic duck and their excitement when they "win" a prize, the fellows knocking themselves out to get a prize to give to their girl, the rows of stuffed animals of every shape size and colour dangling from the ceiling just waiting for their turn to be given away.  And of course, the bright lights and even brighter colours were everywhere!

Food?  You betcha.  The fragrances wafted throughout the fairgrounds and mingled in a way that shouldn't smell good but it so does!  Mostly bad for you foods, naturally.  I think that is key for a successful fair.  But surprisingly there were some healthy choices as well.  Loads of fried everything you can imagine too, naturally, including, gator on a stick.  Can't miss that option!

We debated quite awhile before finally making a selection or two.  Snowcone or slushie?  Soft Pretzel or Donut?  Cheese Curds or Loaded Fries?  Decisions Decisions Decision!

​We visited all of the buildings as well which means we got to see a few animals:

I was a tiny bit disappointed to learn that most of the animals had already been judged, sold and moved on out. There were just a few left but I got as much mileage out of those few as I could, I promise you!

There were also building housing crafts and hobbies that very fun to visit.  Not only to admire other people's cleverness and creativity but to talk too the hobbyists and crafters and learn more about how they do what they do!~

There were so many things I did not take photos of and now regret it, like the shell art, the quilts,  paintings and sketches,  crocheted everything, and wood crafts.  The only thing we didn't see much of, which I do recall from county fairs past were the baked goods, jams and pickles, Produce in general.  Do you remember fairs having the Largest Pumpkins or best looking Eggplants?  Yeah, I do too.  

There were multiple fun houses which I genuinely considered attempting to find my way through (but ultimately decided against) but it was great to see the lines of people waiting to find their way through the mirror mazes!  We didn't go on any of the rides either and that is mostly my fault. I get too dizzy and dizzy is not good.  But I can enjoy watching other people ride the rides!  Sometimes I opt to  live vicariously :)

There was a huge section of stuff to buy.  Everything from cowboy hats and sparkly belts to old timey wooden tops, to massage chairs, hot tubs and freeze dried candy (!!) and everything in between!  How does anyone resist?

In New England they usually have things like Tractor Pulls and some guy with a chain saw making little statues of bears out of stumps  and neither of those were present.  I admit, I kind of missed that.  But otherwise, it was so very nice to go back intime for a few hours and re-visit a genuine old County Fair.

We came home a wee bit sunburned, with a bag of old time candy (yum!) and some new memories of a good old time!

​

Guess who had a birthday last week?    If you said, Joy, you would be correct!    I asked her what she wanted to do for her birthday, because,  if you've been reading me long enough, you are well aware of the birthday rules (hint:  the birthday person gets to make all decisions) and she wanted to go for a hike.  Well that's easy!  We can do that!

I had to work on her actual birthday so instead we hiked the next day.   Which means this photo safari will be the called, "The Day After Her Birthday Hike".  

Once again, in keeping with the birthday rules, Joy chose where we hiked and her selection was a brand new place,  Thaxton-Scherer Preserver.    We knew very little about it and sometimes that is part of the fun.  Foolishly we assumed (and we knew what happens when we assume) that it would be a relatively small place and that once we finished up there we would move along to a second hiking spot. 

HAH!  Six miles later we dragged our weary butts to the car, giggling at our foolishness all the way.  It was a terrific hike in a beautiful new place that had well marked trails, bathrooms (!!) and decent parking.  Hard to ask for more than that.

Here are some photos that show some of the highlights:

First of all, thanks to the time change (and I wont' rant about how much I hate it) it was a little, oh, I hesitate to say dark so instead I will say, not very light, how's that?  But it was a pretty place that started out with a trail that circumnavigated a pond.

As the skies grew progressively lighter, we began to see birds:

The worst part of this preserve was it's location which was kind of trapped between two highways.  It was awhile before we stopped hearing the drone of traffic. On the other hand, there were plenty of distractions like beautiful botannicals:

But the thing I was most impressed with were the trees.  I am a big fan of trees, pretty much all trees, but there was something very special about this place with areas of pine trees that stretched back as far as we could see.  It felt a little like something out of a child's Fairy Tale. I kept expecting to see Hansel and Gretel skipping through the forest.

As always there are some rando's for you. My most favourite category:

So there you have it, the Day After Her Birthday Hike wherein, we celebrated the birthday of the living person I've known the longest, my hiking partner, my sister and my friend.  She is an avid baker of cupcakes, a brilliant sewer of quilts,  the owner of giant cats and a master photographer.  I was delighted to share another photo safari with her.

Happy Birthday Jo!

​

We celebrated spring here this weekend!  Yeah, I know it's a little early according to the calendar and some places are still battling winter, but here's it's absolutely gorgeous.  Cool mornings and evenings and lovely warm days of blue skies, sunshine and Flowers!

Sunday Tim and I went North to Felt's Preserve. Well we actually just went for a drive - a no place in particular, absolutely no destination in mind, we went for a wander and somehow ended up at Felt's.  We haven't visited it in a very long time and honestly I wasn't prepared for a real hike.  I was wearing white pants (not good in a forest unless you want them to be dirty) and sandals (terrible hiking footwear).  So we vowed to just walk a little bit and only on well tended, clean trails.  Luckily I pretty much always have my camera on hand.

And of course we ended up walking farther than we intended, got dirtier than expected and stayed longer than we probably should have.  And I have zero regrets.

Here is some of what we saw:

This is going to be like a first reader, mostly photos with very few words.  They do say that a picture is worth a thousand words so if that's true you can count the imaginary words that might have accompanied each photo.

There wasn't a huge variety of birds but I got a variety of photos of the few birds that we saw.  (does that make any sense?)

​Blue Jays:

Cardinals:

Indigo Bunting:

Mourning Doves:

So that was it for birds.  There were loads of birds, but of a limited variety.  And that's perfectly fine!  There was more variety in the flowers and other botanicals:

Lizards too. This is three different lizards and most of them were hanging around a sign about bees which was kind of funny.  False advertising?

The insect variety was impressive !  And these are just the ones I actually managed to get photos of!  There were loads more:

We were tickled to find some turtles basking in the sun by the pond and a few scampering squirrels that held still long enough to get a shot:

So I guess that's it, at least for now.  We will continue to enjoy our beautiful springy weather, which I confess is a tiny bit sneezy and a whole lot pollen-ish.  Whatever you have going on, weather-wise, enjoy!  This too shall pass.

​Hugs all 'round

Guest Hostess!  Wow!  That sounds fancy doesn't it?  Well in truth, it kind of was :)

Awhile back, my friend Debbie asked me if I would do a favour for her.  Of course I would.  The favour turned out to be helping out at the annual Venice Area Garden Club's annual garden tour. At first I hesitated...what exactly does "helping out' entail?    Hostessing is all they wanted of me and I suppose I could do that.  Probably. 

So of course I said Yes with the following caveat., "And I hope I don't embarrass myself or you"  I was assured that I would be fine.  As the date approached, I started to get nervous.  I didn't want to do a poor job of it. I'm not a member of the club y'see and I don't know much about Florida gardening.  What if someone asks me a question?  Yikes!  I am the sort of person who, especially if doing a favour for someone, always wants to do the Best Job Possible.  My Dad always said to do every job as if you were signing your name to it, no matter if you are taking out the garbage or scrubbing the bathroom floor, do it in such a way that you are proud of the results.  

I have always tried to live by that rule.   I seriously work hard at never (or at least rarely) half-assing anything.  I really and truly make every attempt at being my best self and doing the best job possible at everything I do.  And since I knew nothing about my role, very little about the garden club and absolutely nothing about the home to which I was assigned, I guess I can be excused if I say I was a little nervous.  Debbie reassured me that I would be fine.  And I am grateful for her faith in me.

The woman in charge, Linda, reached out to me and the others working at the event via email and kept us apprised of the goings on .  She was amazing with her level of informational detail and I was very grateful.  But it's still not the same as actually being there and having done the job.  The great unknown y'know?  

Since I am not a member and therefore do not own the official uniform which member are required to wear, I was told to wear black pants and a white top which to me always looks like waitstaff.  But sure, I can cobble that together.  Actually the memo said black pants, shorts or skirt and white top.  So I perused my closet.  I do own one pair of black shorts.  They are old, have at least one bleach stain and the hem is getting a little raggedy so, nope, I wouldn't be wearing those!   So I looked at my black skirts. I have two but they are both very "business" looking which makes sense because they are leftover from my working days. And quite honestly, one of them is now a wee big snug.  I can get it on and zipped but I'm not positive that breathing would be an option. Soooo long pants it is!

I knew I would be slathering myself with sunscreen of course, and wearing a hat so I fiddled around with hair-friendly hair styles for awhile.  On an average day, when I am just doing housey and yard stuff or hiking with Joy I don't much care how I look.  And that's exactly how I appear - as if I don't much care.  On this occasion, I would be representing an organization - one I honestly don't know much about - so I absolutely wanted to represent myself and them well.  Therefore, I made much more of an effort than usual.

Next up was walking over to the address to which I had been assigned to find out how long it takes to get there.  I knew that parking would be an issue so one less car is a good plan.  So I timed myself there and back, averaged the two and then added a few extra minutes just in case.  In case of what I don't know, but as we were instructed to be there no later than 9:30, I left at 9:00 exactly.  30 minutes is more than enough time.

Finally the big day arrived.  I was as ready as I would ever be.

I showed up with a nervous smile exactly as planned, a tiny bit early and the place was already buzzing with activity.  I attempted to jump in and "help" wherever I could.  Eventually things were very nearly in place and the boss, Linda, took us on our own private tour of the garden before assigning us to our places.  I was on ticket desk. The desk was actually a card table but ticket table doesn't sound quite right.

The instant we were officially "open' (actually before we opened - there was already a crowd by opening bell) an absolute torrent of people showed up.  It was like Niagra Falls.  They just kept coming!   I kept wondering where do all of these people come from?  There were no breaks, there was no pause, it was just a steady flow of humanity.  Most of them quite pleasant.

To my relief, and surprise, I picked up on what I was supposed to say and do rather quickly.  I sold tickets, answered questions, directed people and kept track of the things I was supposed to keep track of.  I smiled and greeted and tried to be as charming a hostess as possible. The time flew by.

Later that evening, I got a lovely e-card from the boss thanking me (and everyone else of course) for our efforts.   I was so impressed that, as tired as she must  have been by the end of that day, she still took the time to send those ecards.  Very sweet.  I am also sure that everyone involved in this yearly event was glad it was over and absolutely exhausted!

If I understand correctly and I think I do, the money raised by the Garden Club goes to a scholarship program.  A Very Worthy Cause!

So that is the tale of Sam the Hostess!  Kudo's to the VAGC!  Awesome job ladies!  I look forward to finding out how much money was raised this year.  (It'll be in our local newspaper soon - which is one of the things I love about a local paper)

​Hope all of you had a spectacular Weekend too!

This will be a super quick post as I am about to run out the door in just a couple of minutes here.  Today I am acting as Hostess at a Garden Tour, which is something I've never done before!  I'm sure I will be writing about it next week.  

But in the meantime, the Kittyboys and I wish you all a wonderful weekend and hope you have some fun!  The Brysco and Wyatt are Experts on fun and available for consulting. As long as your idea of fun is fighting over a toy mousie, playing with a ball with a bell in it, watching birds or other basic kitty shenanigans.

​I leave you with a few photos and my very best wishes!

We are smack dab in the middle of our busiest time of year here in Florida.  While we do have visitors, guests and tourists year 'round, March seems to be the most touristy of all months.  And us locals know this. We adapt to it. We are prepared for it. And mostly, very honestly, for the most part we not only don't mind, we welcome it.

And in the way of gracious hosts (and that really is what we are) we are, mostly, patient and forgiving and helpful.  We either avoid going to restaurants altogether or we go in off-hours.  When stores are super crowded, we patiently wait in the long lines.  We give endless recommendations and directions to bewildered strangers.  We offer to take their photos. over and over again and again. And we do it without complaint.  Most of the time.

It's important for us to be considerate and empathetic to our tourists because, we've been tourists too!  We have been the ones who clog up the smooth flow of traffic and create long wait times.  We have been those camera wielding tourists who gaze around ourselves in wide eyed and sometimes open mouthed wonder at our surroundings.  We get lost, we drag our suitcases behind us and we ask for restaurant ideas.  We have been those folks who collapse into bed in exhaustion at our hotel at the end of an over-excursioned day and then bounce back full of energy and excitement the next morning.  Yup, that was us.

Tourist destination places like ours know how to cater to guests, it is the area's lifeblood. Visitors are partly what keep our shops and eateries open.  Some of what continues to fund  beautiful parks and beaches and flower bedecked sidewalks is the money that Tourism bring in.  There are always a ton of events planned for tourist season too and we local residents enjoy those events just as much as the visitors.  So you see, it really is a sort of symbiotic relationship.  And we all know it.  After all, part of the reason why so many tourists want to visit us is the same reason the rest of us moved here.  Venice is Wonderful!

But, and here's the big but, there are ways to be a welcome visitor and there are ways to be a miserable visitor who makes locals dread tourist season.  We see both.  We vastly prefer the former.

Being a good tourist is largely about courtesy.  Those of us who live here full time, greatly appreciate a courteous tourist.  Occasionally we get a tourist who is rude, insulting and nasty tempered.  While I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, (maybe they are having a really bad day?)  I am far more likely to help out a tourist who is polite and appreciative than one who just yelled at me.  Seriously, we have all had moments with visitors that are so bad my first thought is just "go home. you aren't happy here so just go home."

Here are a few of the not so good tourist examples: 

Tourists,  are you aware that the rules of the road are not suspended just because you are on vacation?   Just in the past week we have witnessed far too many people turning right from the left lane (or left from the right lane), blowing through stop signs AND red lights without so much as a tap of the brakes and nearly mowing over pedestrians crossing the street,  Another big one is when someone just stops their car in the middle of the road to take a photo, just to "run into the store quickly" or they are waiting for a parking spot.  Literally stopping their car in the middle of the road thus backing up traffic for blocks!!!! 

Another "bad tourist, very bad" moment that we see far too often, is people dumping their garbage on the side of the road, or on the beach, or in our parks and preserves.  Nature is not your garbage can!  I cannot even count the number of times I've seen stuff just tossed out of car windows as the side of the road.  Geez People!  Of course we end up picking it up because we don't want to live in a place with garbage lining our roads and in our yards.  We shouldn't have to.

Speaking of yards, tourists, please recognize that a lot of folks live here. These are our homes, our actual real homes.  This is not Disney Imagineering.  Please stay out of our yards and if your doggie plants one on our property, please please clean it up.  I know you are on vacation but there are some chores you still have to do. That's one of them.

One of the most surprising exchanges that I ever had with a tourist was at the museum.  He came in and was greeted as all of our guests are, with a smile and a sincere welcome and a bit of information.  He grunted at me and walked away before I finished talking and that's fine. Rude, but fine.  He cycled through the entire museum in record time. When he was in front of me again, I asked, as I do most guests, if he had any questions.  He said, "Yeah, is there anything fun to do here?"  I responded that there were a lot of things to do in the area and rattled off a few.  He cut me off and said, "No I mean something fun"  I asked what sort of things he had in mind and he couldn't really tell me what he thought might be fun, he just knew that none of my suggestions were correct.  He then went on to tell me that I was an idiot, the museum was boring and he hated Venice and would never return.  He slammed his way back out the door as I thought to myself,  " Please be a man of your word. Dont' come back"

Along that same line, some tourists seem to think that they should get preferential treatment over locals and the reason they always give is because, "We are bringing money into your town"  Well guess what, the people who live here full time(or even part time) also bring money into this town so....not impressed.  I have witnessed far too many blantantly rude, unkind, attitudey, superior and downright snotty moments from tourists and while I don't' suppose any of us are going to challenge you to a duel over it, it's really so unnecessary.  We are all happy that you are here and hope you have a wonderful time,  but don't expect us to kiss your butt!

So you see, it's really mostly just a matter of courtesy and consideration.    Be a Good Tourist, have great adventures, get out there and see the world!  Have a GREAT time.  But please remember while you are out there to be your best self.  I promise to do the same when I visit you.

That's Joy in profile on the left  and me from the back on the right and, quite obviously, we were out tramping through the forest with our cameras again.  Clearly, therefore, this is yet another Photo Safari Report.  I'm calling this one the Really Short Hike, because, due to time constraints, it was indeed really short.  I suppose other folks might have chosen to just not go at all but we really miss it when we have an off week so we made it work.  Joy wore a watch and checked it often and  gave ourselves a hard stop time then headed for the trails.

This was very nearly called the bluejay hike because we saw nearly so many BlueJays! It was as if they had taken over the world!  They are easy to spot because of their colour and size and they tend to be a little chatty.  Hard to hide when you are that loud!

Also saw quite a number of woodpeckers.  I know they are one of the birds I frequently post  here but this time it was two woodpeckers together!  And that part was unusual so I happy snapped them over and over.  Generally I just take one shot and or maybe two to be certain that the first one was good and then move along, but this time, they just kept looking cuter and cuter and well, I couldn't stop! So this is the same two woodpeckers, just multiple photos of them. I couldn't choose one favourite! 

Let's see, in our brief hike we also saw a hawk. In fact we saw him three or four different times but I only captured him once. He kept moving because he was being harassed by other small annoying birds. Poor thing :

And there was a very cute little grey bird whose name I've forgotten so let's call her, Agnes.  She looks like an Agnes to me.

Flowers are just starting to bloom  which is evident by the thick layers of pollen EVERYWHERE and of course the ACHOO! But that means I did get a couple of flowers.  Some old ones, which I think are still beautiful even in their dried state, and some new. Those yellow trumpet looking ones were EVERYWHERE!

And never fear, I do have Randos today!  Huzzah!  Even a short hike will provide a few uncategorizable shots:

For such a Really Short Hike, I was shockingly filthy when I got home.  But that's fixable.  It was a great photo Safari, if brief and I think we got some decent photos.  We definitely had a good time.  

Now get out there and have an excellent Weekend!  See ya'll next week