As you can see the Christmas Tree is up and decorated.  Before Thanksgiving?   Yes.  We took a look at the calendar and were shocked at the realization of how little time there is until Christmas.  So much to do and so little time in which to get it all done!  

Today, November 26th is less than a month until Christmas Day!  Yikes!  We are only 2 days away from Thanksgiving and right now just  4 days outside of December.  Holy Cats!  Then, just to make things more interesting, somehow, nearly every weekend day between now and Christmas is already spoken for.  What the what?  Not quite sure how that happened, but there it is.  Things seem ot have gotten away from us so in a desperate attempt to get control back, we put the tree up over the weekend.

There was a little trepidation with regard to the kittyboys.  As you may, or may not, recall, last year they were so excited about the tree that they literally broke it.   They loved the tree to death.  We were smart enough to only put unbreakable ornaments on it (thank goodness) because every night they undecorated the tree.  Every morning I redecorated it.  We had to pluck errant kitties out of the tree repeatedly and despite our explanation of how they are not fruit and therefore do not belong in trees, they persisted.  After Christmas once the decorations were safely repacked away, we threw out the broken tree.

To be fair it was a super cheapo tree.  We bought it on sale at Big Lots and I believe that it was the cheapest tree of it's size anywhere and it's longevity actually surpassed our expectations even without cats as part of the equation.   We bought it our first year here and as we were fully invested in the myriad renovation projects that our (at the time) new to us home required, we spared very VERY little for a tree.  The old tree was never intended for the weight of, even at that time, 6 month old kitties frolicking amoungst its branches. 

So this year, buying a new tree, had us debating.  what if the boys haven't grown out of the Christmas Tree destructo phase?  We didn't want to invest a great deal of money in a  tree that may or may not survive the season.  On the other hand, what if they behaved like perfect little kitty gentlemen and leave the tree alone?  We didn't want to be stuck Once Again with a crapppola tree for years to come.  Decisions decisions decisions.

So we checked out all of the local places that might possibly have fakeyfake Christmas  trees at a variety of sizes, shapes, colours and price tags.  We saw many!!!  And one of the first things we learned was that, much like everything else, the cost of Christmas trees -even artificial ones - has skyrocketed.  Dang.  Well it is what it is so we ended up with one that wasn't the cheapest one available but also not the most expensive. We came home and set it up and left it undecorated just to see what those little fellers were going to do.

Turns out that after sniffing it thoroughly, they have mostly left it alone.  Well Wyatt did have to be reminded a time or two that Christmas tree lights are not edible.   Brysco mostly just likes to lay underneath it. And they both love to just gaze at it at night when the lights are on.  Great!  So next up was decorating.  All those enticing little bits and bobs just dangling, practically begging a kitty to play with it.

To be on the safe side, once again, we put Only Unbreakable ornaments on the tree and no garland.  More kitty sniffing followed shortly thereafter.   To our great surprise, they have mostly left it alone.  We have seen a few paws tentatively touching, but very gently.  I have picked up exactly 4 ornaments now and replaced them which, compared to last year, is nothin'.  We did have to to get after Wyatt a few times when he insisted that the tree lights were edible and we insist even more firmly that they are not.  Once we saw a few branches bobbing rapidly but never saw which kitty was the culprit.  Still, especially compared to last year, we are impressed with their maturity and restraint.

 Things went so well with the tree that I went ahead and very bravely put up a few other house decorations and those have been completely ignored. I mean not even kitty sniffs!  Maybe they haven't noticed them yet?  Not sure what it's all about but it seems as if the decorations are safe. At least so far.  It's quite the departure from last year's and I'm not sure I fully trust it yet. But, what's life without risk eh?  The tree is up and decorated, the house is as decorated as it's going to get and we are ready for the next thing on the gotta-do list!

In case you are interested, here are some of the other decorations:

oh and one more photo, this is Brysco absolutely mesmerized by the lights on the tree.  Totally get that one.  I feel the exact same way.

​Anyway, Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day on Thursday and we'll catch up next week!  Hope your Turkey Day is fun and delicious!

I have no idea what Joy and I were looking at  in this photo but we seem to be deeply interested in whatever it was. hah!

This will be a short post, just FYI.

​Last week, we bundled up a bit and headed out hoping for a few good photos!  Sooo yup, another Photo Safari Report.   I will call this one the No Botannicals hike because truly there were not, which is unusual.  Actually as it was very breezy and chilly, we really didn't see much by way of birds either.  There was one very brave (or stupid) butterfly that was so buffeted by the wind that he couldn't get a grip on anything and was just tumbling through the air.  Poor thing.  But it was still a good time,  as always.

We headed to Lemon Bay Preserve once again, hoping that we would finally see the eagles that we kept hearing about.  The trail near the nest is of course closed so they aren't unduly disturbed but it's such a wet mucky trail anyway, that I cannot imagine too many people even trying.

I'll share what I got though it wasn't really impressive.   To our surprise, from a distance we did finally see one of the eagles who was perched near the new nest. He or she was just barely peeking over a pine branch heavy will sprills.  They are unmistakeable! 

One of my favourites was a family (or perhaps families?) of Ibis in the water of a creek. 

Saw a giant woodstork in a tree glaring at us.  How dare we??  (not sure exactly what it is that we did but we did promise to never do it again!)

I did capture a small variety of other birds as well. Honestly not too many.  Some still at Lemon Bay and a few others at the Rookery which we stopped by on the way back.

As this is Thanksgiving week and therefore kind of a strange and busy week, we will not be hiking so there will be no Photo Safari Report for a little bit. But I will be writing about other things for sure!  

Hope you enjoyed the No Botanicals Hike and please stay tuned.  Who knows what I may write about tomorrow??

Want to talk cars for a minute or two?  I only have enough knowledge about cars really to carry a conversation about them about that long, heh.

The above car is my ride.  Originally it was some unknown person's car, then it was Tim's and now it's mine.  Most of the time it gets me where I need to go and that's all I need in a vehicle.  We all know that I don't enjoy driving and therefore do it as little as possible.  Usually once a week to the grocery store, occasionally to the museum, the vet or  the library.  Once a year to my Primary Doctor's office for my annual appointment.  That office is actually off island (gasp!) and it is the One and ONLY time every 365 days that I drive over the bridge, white knuckling it the entire time.  The rest of the time, I walk.  I like to walk and since we are lucky enough to live in a place where so any things are walking distance, I take good advantage of it.

The car is about 18 years old, bless it's little combustion engine, but obviously this Ford has a lot of heart because it's still doing it's job which, again, is all that I require.  But given it's age, there is some maintenance that has to happen now and again, and that happened just a couple of weeks ago.  I was sitting at a red light and while waiting for the green, happened to notice the sticker in the upper left hand corner of the windshield that had the date of my cars last oil change.  I won't tell you how long ago it was. Suffice it to say, that it was embarrassing.  Though honestly, as little as I drive, I'm not sure how often an oil change really needs to happen.  

How can I explain how little I drive? Hmm.  Let's see.  Well the gas tank gets filled about once every three months ish.  Sooooo not often.  Anyway, so I made an appointment very locally (on island) for the oil change, prepared myself to hear the speech about doing it more often, and duly delivered the auto in question on said day at said time.   They promised to change the oil, filters if needed, check tires and whatever else happens at normal intervals.   Tra lalala  I went about my day expecting to get a call at some point that the car was ready to roll.

Oh a call came all right, but it was not good news.  Not only did the car need new brakes desperately  but also new tires.  They weren't just bad, they were devastatingly bad.  So that was a very expensive oil change. Yikes!

   Obviously I am not a good car owner.  I am very bad at car maintenance. Which is odd because in general I am a good care giver.  I took excellent care of my children and I continue to take good care of Tim.  And with the Kittyboys,  they get their exams, nail trims and vaccines  as needed.  If medication is necessary it is duly delivered.  I dole out healthy food and instigate exercise,  playtime and cuddles  in equal amounts.  I take good care of our house and my potted plants and lovingly nuture relationships that matter to me.

The car, on the other hand, is just not something I ever think about unless I need to drive somewhere.  I guess I put it in the category of this silly thing that I bought about 7 years ago for Joy's birthday.  It's a little Happy Birthday dodad that lights up!  Joy and I have been passing it back and forth for years now on each other's birthday and even though I've never changed the battery and at this moment couldn't even tell you exactly where it is (so obviously I'm not coddling it) every time we hit that "on" button, it lights up and blinks and flashes  in a generally obnoxious  happy birthday sort of way.  I suppose how I treat cars too.  Shame on me.

I don't' even wash my car.  It's lives outside and it rains often enough that it gets a good rinse on a regular basis.   I am not inside of it long enough or often enough to junk up the inside either so the interior is practically pristine.  I know  people who faithfully, loving detail their vehicles weekly.  I admire them, but I am not them. 

This bad car attitude, auto negligence perhaps, is not new to me.  I have been this way with every car I've ever owned.   From the first car I ever bought - which was a very bottom of the line Fiat I purchased in college that didn't even have a radio in it  - to my favourite big blue Jeep which I actually choose myself - to the car I currently drive (whenever I have no other choice) I am very lassez-faire.  I would say shame on me again, except that in this case I actually feel no guilt at all.  Which is very odd because in general I feel guilty about everything all of the time.  But only from July 9th 1953 forward.  Anything before that date (my literal birthday) is on somebody else.

Cars to me are a means to an end.  When I am feeling kindly disposed toward them, I at least appreciate them as a mode of transportation.  When I am not being as kind, I refer to them a necessary evil.  They are expensive to purchase, to maintain, to fuel and to insure.  I am very uncomfortable behind the wheel and honestly do not wish to put in the energy required to wash and wax and whatever else a car might need to look sharp.  I honestly just don't care about them.  I am a terrible person.

In general I think most cars these days look pretty much the same. I have to find the little emblem to know who the manufacturer is.  There is no pizazz like cars of the past.  No flair, no fun, no snazz.  I still wouldn't enjoy driving it, but at least an older car, like an old Chevy Bel Aire for example, had some style so it had visual interest.  Nowadays they are fuel efficient  and very very safe, which are both very good things I know, but dang it has made for some boring cars.

I'm sure, if you are a car person, you will tell me that cars look nothing alike now and to your educated and interested eye, it is absolute truth.  But to my jaded and ignorant eye I see only a few types of cars now.  Sedans, convertibles and SUV's.  And to me, everything in each of the categories looks remarkably similar.  And I know it's very superficial of me to make how cars look to be a big deal. I would apologize but as I said earlier, I don't care enough to bother.

How I wish I could say that I learned my lesson and that from this point forward I will pay far more attention to my vehicle and not let it fall as far behind in it's care as I obviously did this time ' round.  But that would be a lie and I don't like to lie.  

And that's kind of the end of car talk from me

Yahoo, I'm back online!   For those of you who didn't happen to see the post of explanation, I was having some terrible computer issues for about two weeks.  It was a constant struggle to get online and then stay online.  Initially I attributed it to post hurricane gnarliness (which was I'm sure at least a part of the issue) but as time went by and it not only didn't get better but started to get worse,  I had to call in the big guns.  That is, Tim.  at that point my computer had literally locked me out.  I kept getting a message saying that my password was incorrect.  It was not incorrect.  But ok, I'll play your little game and change the password, no big deal.   And then it decided that my email was incorrect.  It is not incorrect.  Annoying and baffling, both!  The few times I was able to actually get into my computer, within a very few minutes it was default to first a pink screen, then a green screen and eventually, the white screen of death.  Oh dear.  Tim did his due diligence and the diagnosis was - terminal.  Oh dear, so sad.  And worse, so expensive. Dang.  But here I am now, back with a new computer and all is, once again, well with my world.

I had a number of ideas for blogposts while I was on a forced blog vacation but I thought for my first one after a bit, I ought to do the Photo Safari Post because it was almost two weeks ago now and I'm beginning to forget!   Soo very quickly, while I still have two active braincells, here we go with the Gloomy Day Hike.

It was indeed a very gloomy day,  so grey and dank in fact, that a few times we got sprinkled but not full on rain so we kept going.  We are intrepid like that.   I had to add light to nearly every photo so just fyi, every single picture I'll post here has been edited but mostly just to lighten them a bit.

As is not unusual on such a weather weird day, mostly what we saw was birds.  Birds don't much care about the weather.  They live outside so I guess for them it's just another day.  Thank goodness for us or we'd have no photos whatsoever!

I'll do a few smallish groups so you aren't overwhelmed by long slideshows.  Here is the first group.  The most unusual is the large group of vultures which by the way, is called a Committee.  I can see why!
​

Second group.  Those roseate spoonbills are just the bees knees, especially on a grey day:

Last batch of birds:

Ready for a change of pace?  How about a few botannicals?

And then perhaps a few random things that don't really fit into any other category:

And then my favourite shot of the entire day, mostly because it's unique, something I've never captured before.................The County Sheriff's airboat in action!

I guess that about does it.   It's possible that I forgot something but, oh well.  Meanwhile, I hope, for the first time in two weeks, you enjoyed the Gloomy Day Hike Photo Safari Report!

I promise, the next post will NOT be of a hike (though there will be more of those to come - I promise that too)

Hope everyone is doing great!  hugs all 'round  from Joy and I
(Joy on the left, my hand on the right )

Happy November 1st!  It's a whole new month!  And as we edge toward what little is left of 2024, how about another Photo Safari Report?

Still working with limited options of where to hike post hurricane, Joy and I drove to Lemon Bay Preserve. We were correct in assuming that there would be wet spots that would curtail our endeavors boooo!  It prevented us from finding the eagles which had once again been reported in the area. This super mucky and wet trail heads toward that section.  Dang.  We saw no eagles.

But Luckily there were enough other dry, or at least dry enough, trails to keep us happy and occupied

Not positive what the reason was, but mostly what we saw is birds. Birds birds and more birds! Wow!  Obviously, therefor this will be the Lotsa Birds Hike.  If you are not a fan of birds, this would be the part where you exit and do something else for a few minutes because most of today's photos will involve birds.  Not all, but mostly.

It wasn't just the sheer quantity of birds that we marveled at, and we did!  It was also the wide variety of types of birds.  Awesome.  There were times when we could just stand in one spot cameras up, shooting, and every shot was of a different kind of bird. It was weirdly wonderful.

​Here's some of the birds we saw:

And then of course there were also these guys :

Hard to believe but there were even more birds than this, I either just didn't manage to get a decent shot or I was too busy admiring and forgot to snap.  It happens.

​Saw the cutest bunny while we were out though:

Unusual for me, I didn't take a lot of botanical shots.  I guess I was so mesmerized by the birds that I forgot to keep an eye out for them.  Between looking up to find birds and looking down to make sure I don't trip over anything, my time is fairly divided as it is, y'see.  Heh.  But here are the few I actually did capture along with a butterfly and a squirrel coz I had no other category to put the squirrel in.

oh and one butterfly (or moth?) wing. Just the one.  So sad  but so beautiful

That about does it for this Photo Safari Report.  Hope you enjoyed the Lotsa Birds Hike because we surely did!  Hope to have some new and different photos for you soon :)  

​Meanwhile, have a Great weekend! Do something fun!