My first real life alligator at Bank's Lake

Wouldn't you know it? The first time I see a real life alligator, I don't have my camera with me. Yesterday, I met a very nice young couple at the Bank's Lake National Wildlife Refuge, where Gizzy and I visit often. He was fishing from this pier and ended up catching a baby alligator (about 1 1/2 feet long.) Thankfully, the young lady took a couple of photos that I received in an e-mail from her today (5/18/09) so here they are: I got to touch my first gator ever (he felt like a cool tire) and I got my photo taken, but have to wait to receive it from them. They were preparing to move into their new home togehter on six acres of land, located in the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. She has horses and he drives a Harley. What a life!!! They invited me to look them up if I ever make it out that way. I do believe that I will stop by and say hello the next time I take another extended road trip up north since I love the mountains and enjoy exploring placed I've never seen. (I've never been to Tennessee.) We exchanged cards so that she can send me the photo and to keep in touch. Turns out she has an Etsy shop too. Here it is, if you want to look: Cre8tive Creations Gizzy barked at the little gator that was making those throaty baby grunting sounds. Good thing momma gator wasn't nearby or else ... (I've heard some stories!) The little fella got the hook removed from his mouth and then released back in the water. He'll probably never, ever will bite another earthworm with a hook on it. Today, Gizzy and I went again to Bank's Lake and even though it was not very sunny, I still managed to get a few scenic shots. This is a Water Lilly. They grow abundantly in the lake right now. I took a couple of pictures of us From the deck, we can watch people fish and the boats pull in and out of the dock. It is a nice breezy day, just the way we like it. Not too hot and just right for being outside. This little green lizard was sitting on the fence of the deck looking down into the water... watch out little fella! Just another look around - I still can't get over those cypress trees growing right out of the water like that... Gizzy slowly waddling towards the car. He really loves being outside, but I believe he's always relieved to get away from this lake because he senses the alligators in there and he's never quite comfortable when we're walking on the deck, close to the water. (Did you know that dog is one of the alligator's favorite foods?) This is the Outpost that my friend runs. I visit her periodically and we chat while sitting outside on the bench (no dogs allowed inside) while I usually knit or crochet. Gizzy loves to watch the people as they dock their fishing boats in and out of the water, or walk up to the Outpost to purchase their crickets and worms.

No More Homeless Animals Day Celebration!

On Saturday, April 11th, 2009 was our town's 3rd Annual "No More Homeless Animals Day" that we celebrated at Roquemore Park with live music, a bake sale, pony rides, reading of poetry and the handing out of various awards, one of which was given to Chestnut Village, the apartment complex where I live, for helping to raise funds to get our stray and feral cat population spayed and neutered. Here's the certificate: After a few initial threatening rain clouds, it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day and everyone had a fine time. It was a small crowd (about 30 people, not counting the musicians) but we're hoping the event will continue to grow with every coming year. Here is the awards ceremony in recognition of folks in the community (public and private) who have helped in an effort to control animal population in our city. I enjoyed the music, especially the song about "Homeless Jimmy who lives on the street" (even though it made me cry) and I'll never forget the "My little Artichoke heart" song that still dances in my head. We had some poetry readings (this one is about the Rainbow Bridge) I also read my own poem that I wrote about the disappearing honeybees called "Falling" I am a Western Honey Bee, I work both day and night, collecting honey from a tree and plants to save my hive. Sometimes my fellow worker bees get lost, I don't know why. When I return to my colony they are nowhere in sight. What is this thing called CCD? What is a bee to do, but keep on working busily making honey for me and you. I heard it in the willow wind, it whispers to us all: "we've been around for millions of years, don't let the last bee fall!" We had a bake sale and I brought my crocheted and knitted items that I was offering for donations. I raised about $35 and all together, we made over $150 during those four hours in the park on Saturday. My neighbor's daughter brought her two horses to provide "pony" rides for a donation and even some adults got in on the fun: ABOVE is a little movie clip on how to get on a horse once you had a hip replacement (I had two of them) I really enjoyed this event, especially because now we can have our homeless cats spayed and neutered. We're implementing the TNR program and have already established a couple of feeding stations - away from the apartments - so that we can set our traps next month when the mobile Vet comes to our town. I also won a prize for getting the answer correct for this question: "How many marine animals lose their lives every year due to plastic?" (the answer is: 30,000) I won this cute little kitty air freshener - a toy dipped in soy wax with cinnamon scent. Not only does it look adorable sitting there, but it also makes my apartment smell very nice. When the scent starts to fade away, all you need to do is to blow some hot air from a hair dryer on it to reactivate the scent. All in all it was a very successful fundraiser and I'm glad to have been a part of it. I believe everyone had a very nice time. I hope that next year, this "No More Homeless Animals" Day Celebration will draw an even bigger crowd! Some came just to eat... and to look good!

Talking Gizzy and our new floor!

Just a little movie clip of me and my Gizzy being silly together and our new floor that's vinyl, but looks like wood. I'm so glad to be rid of that old, dirty wall-to-wall carpeting that was in the apartment before. Now we can just mop and go! (or go and mop, as the case may be!)

My cat, Middi!

Since I talk so much about my dog, it's only fair to mention my cat, Middi, also, because she's a smart and brave cat who has earned her way into this house...and I secretly think she's partly responsible in keeping the bugs away that are ever so abundant in humid climates like Southern Georgia and Florida. She adopted me in spite of the dog, who absolutely hates cats. Thankfully, she's smart, streetwise and good natured, so that she can always find a way to avoid him. I also have the apartment rigged so that she has plenty of high spaces to sit on. Occasionally, he gets her cornered, but then I go over and pick him up so that she can make her getaway. She feels secure in knowing that I'm a team player. She loves to sleep on top of me and since Gizzy's not a lap dog, he doesn't seem to mind...unless when it's thundering and lightning outside and then he cries to sit on me. I named Middi for midnight, but I also call her Miss Middi Prickly-Claws because she has the sharpest, thorny needle claws that I have ever felt on a cat before. I take her to the Vet's for a trim every month or so because she won't let me do it. She turns into an absolute and perfect daemon that seems to grow ten legs equipped with sharp, scratchy claws. She scratches and bites with a vengeance and I'm just not in the mood for that. She is otherwise a sweet and loving cat and since I let her in, about eight months ago, this cat has morphed into a healthy, shiny coated, full-bodied beauty because when I first saw her, she was nothing but skin and bones, a total mess, but nothing that a couple of hundred dollars at the Vet's couldn't fix. (Here she looks disturbed over having to be my model and wear the cat collar that I crocheted. I like it, only she was NOT impressed.) After having been starved, Middi now has a healthy appetite (to the point of gluttony) and a strange fascination with danger because occasionally I see her sneaking into Gizzy's bed to take a nap (usually when he's asleep somewhere else or on top of the windowsill.) I have bought her a pretty pink bed, but she doesn't use it, so Gizzy took it over and now he has two. So what if it's pink? He's male enough to pull it off! Handsome boy - even in pink!

Mein Haeuschen (mit Kurzfilm)

(BITTE MERKEN: Dass wenn man an den Bildern zweimal darauf drueckt, dann werden sie gross und sind besser zu sehen.) Da, an der Ecke wo die schoenen, rosa Azela Straeucher bluehen und die bluehenden Baeume stehen, bin ich zu Hause. Da hat gerade die Sonne so schoen hingescheint und ich wollte Euch die Bilder davon zeigen. Es ist halb 7 Uhr Abends und die Sonne geht ganz langsam unter. Am Mittwoch bekomme ich neuen Boden. Die werden den alten Teppich herausreissen und ich kriege dafuer, wie gewuenscht, Linoleum Tile boden. Dann brauche ich nur schoen abwischen und bin damit fertig. Ich freue mich darauf und werde Euch dann Bilder von innerhalb der Wohnung schicken. Noch ein kurzer Film von wenn ich heute Abend draussen um die Wohnung mit Gizzy herumgelaufen bin. Tschuess! Mein erster Kurzfilm von zuhause:

Bank's Lake National Wildlife Refuge and Pear Blossoms

Greetings from Bank's Lake! (This photo was taken two years ago, when my friend took me for a boat ride and we kept getting stuck on the roots of the Cypress trees) (REMEMBER to double click on the photos to make them large for better viewing.) Today, I would like to share a few photos that I took on the way to Bank's Lake back on February 1st, 2009, because the weather was interesting with the clouds and the sun playing peek-a-boo. I live only about 1 mile away from the National Wildlife Refuge, so we (my dog, Gizzy, and I) visit there often. If you would like to know more about Bank's Lake, just click here: U.S.Fish & Wildlife Service On the way to the lake, I passed my two most favorite pear trees. They are late/winter pears and give an abundance of pears that I like to cook up into a delicious compote. I look forward to these pears, but look, they were blooming already and it was barely February. We were still expecting some frost and freezing temperatures. My concern was that the blossoms won't survive and I would not get pears again this year. They didn't produce last year. I was told these trees skip a season sometimes. But the blossoms sure looked beautiful. I wanted to share some pictures for those of you that still had snow to provide a little glimpse of Spring. Here's Gizzy inside the car, barking and yelping at me as if to say: "hurry up already with the picture taking and take me to the lake..." When we got there, I placed him on an old tree stump and proceeded to take a few very photogenic shots of him posing like Rin-Tin-Tin (for those of you too young to remember, Rin-Tin-Tin was a German Shepard movie hero dog, similar to Lassie that I saw on TV in Germany when I was a kid) Soon, the clouds began to get darker and thicken, so that the sun was almost covered completely, except for a few rays that reflected on the water. Eventually, it got so dark that I feared of getting rained on and we headed on home. Only it never rained that day.

Walking Buddies (with video clip)

This clip is from last year, in July, but since I didn't blog then, here it is now. A few of us always ended up being at the lake (Lake Irma) in the morning at the same time. Some walked regularly, others fished and I just did whatever Gizzy wanted to do because, after all, it's HIS walk. (Lake Irma, March,'09) We decided to have a little celebration whenever it's someone's birthday. This time it was Joe's 70th and I brought my camera along. This little clip was an accidental movie (July, '08) because I had never filmed before and somehow I recorded, when I thought I was just making a group photo. I think it's kind of cute, so here it is ;-)