A View From the Deck

As you know, we live in the land of critters. We never know what we will see next. A hawk may fly across the deck. An egret may come knocking at the door. A raccoon may trot across the deck with no fear. An armadillo may live under the Florida Room. A snake may get wedged in the door. Etc etc etc.


Remember the Anhinga I told you about last week. The one we rescued, rehabbed, and released. Well, it seems that he kind of likes hanging around in our little neck of the woods. The above picture is one I took when we released him. The next one is kind of hard to see but I took it a couple of days ago just after he got done swimming and fishing and had hopped up on a branch to dry his wings.


As you know, we love our deck. I love looking over the railing and seeing what is swimming around in the creek, hanging out in the trees, or standing on the bank getting a drink. Yesterday, I wasn't quite so thrilled with the site when I peered over the railing. As I have repeatedly said, snakes are not my favorite form of wildlife. Well, this is what I saw.

Shudder, shudder! I would love to know what this guy swallowed! On second thought, maybe I don't!!!

Wordless Wednesday--Sanibel Sunsets and Family

My daughter, her hubby, and oldest son.

I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Wordless Wednesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida volunteering for a Wildlife hospital rescuing and rehabbing wildlife. I even dumpster dive for injured Raccoons!! I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. Back to Wordless Wednesday.

Enjoy more Wordless Wednesdays at Wordless Wednesday.

Ruby Tuesday-Carving the Bird

This is Mr. Snowbird carving the bird at our Thanksgiving get together 5 years ago. There's not a lot of red in here but the wine and cranberry jelly should do.

See? Red cranberry jelly.

Ok, so there's not a lot of red in here but I just had to show what was going on at the other end of the table. Here is grandson, Noah, who had just turned 1 year old watching Grandpa carve the turkey.

OK, I know you are all busy checking out everyone's Ruby Tuesday but take the time to bookmark me and drop back to check out my blog. I am a retired Special Ed teacher who now spends most of her time on Sanibel Island, Florida which is a Sanctuary Island for wildlife. I volunteer for a wildlife hospital. I am also the proud grandma of 5 wonderful grandkids and brag about them often!! I also have a blog called Branches and Roots where I talk about genealogy and my ancestors. OK, enough about me. So if you really want to see red go to Work of the Poet.

The Sunday Sanibel Crawlers

So, we now have an official name. And we added four new members today--Tony and Cheryl who just moved from Missouri to Sanibel and Becky and Kevin who are Tootie's daughter and son in law visiting from Indiana. And we decided that we would accept any and all new members but whoever joins from now on has to buy the first round!!! Just kidding. We started out at the Sanibel Grille but it was mobbed!! We couldn't even get in the place so we headed to Biddles Bucket. Joining us were Gary and Tootie, Kevin and Becky, Tony and Cheryl, and Tink. We ate there and used our "round tuits" for a second round. Since it is below 60 degrees on the island today we decided that pool bar hopping was out so headed to McT's.





It was great getting to know new friends and learning more about old friends. I have a new hero. Tootie's daughter, Becky, is my hero. Please, please, please go to this post on Tooties blog to see what this lady has gone through. I am now wearing a new bracelet which says "We Support Becky" and I will be wearing it until Becky doesn't need me to wear it anymore.

Becky and Kevin, it was great meeting you guys and I can't wait until you visit again--and Becky--as I said, you are my hero. My love, prayers, and thoughts are with you. And Kevin too. And, thank you for sharing the pictures of your kiddos. They are beautiful.

Camera Critters-Rescue

Awhile back, I found this great meme called Camera Critters. I love the pictures and decided that with my wealth of critter pictures down here in SW Florida, I would join in and I have for several weeks now. I would like to have you hop on over to Camera Critters. There you can either sign up for your own post for Camera Critters or see lots and lots of other great critter pics. So, now that you've done that--here is my critter for the day.


This is an Anhinga or some people call it a Snake Bird. It is a water bird and swims underwater catching fish. It's feathers are not waterproof like a duck or some other waterbirds so therefore has to dry it's wings off when it is done fishing. It will sit for a very long time with it's wings spread--like the one in the picture. I remember the first time I saw an Anhinga with it's wings spread like this--I thought it was injured. I had never seen anything like this before. Now it has become a common occurrence living where we do.

I took this picture in 2003 when we were down in the Everglades. But when I was going through my pictures trying to decide what to pick for Camera Critters, this picture jumped out at me. Yesterday morning our neighbors found an Anhinga right outside our house with a footie stuck on it's beak. We were able to catch it and take it to the wildlife hospital where I volunteer. The sides of an Anhinga's beak are almost like velcro and this was stuck on there pretty good. While I held him, one of the vets removed the footie from it's beak, checked the bird out and gave him clearance to be released. So I brought him back home and released him in our creek out back. He was so thrilled to be able to fish again. He just kept swimming around catching minnows like crazy. If we hadn't caught him, he probably would have starved to death and died a slow, painful death. It always is such a great feeling to be able to help wildlife who can't help themselves. This was a first for me though--the rescue, helping to treat and releasing the same animal. Something I'll remember for quite awhile.

I Have-----

Gayle over at The White House (the one in Alaska, not the one that Barack, Michelle and the girls will be moving into soon) had this on her blog and I thought it looked like fun. So I'm giving it a go. Not much else to write about today and I couldn't think of a question for Aloha Friday so here goes.

If you want to try it, just copy and paste in your own blog, and bold all of the things you have done. Happy discoveries.

1. Started my own blog-actually I have two of them
2. Slept under the stars-a group of us went camping one time and the two cars got separated. Our car had the food and theirs had the tents. So yup, we slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band-High school marching band
4. Visited Hawaii-We went to Oahu on our 25th wedding anniversary. I would LOVE to go back again.
5. Watched a meteor shower-Several but the one that sticks out was laying out on the beach at 3:00 in the morning. Amazing.
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world-Been to both several times
8. Climbed a mountain-I've been climbing in the Smokies and the Rockies. Not that I climbed very high, mind you
9. Held a praying mantis-It was pretty neat, acutally.
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris-
13. Watched lightening at sea-I remember watching lightning from a hotel room in Daytona and the lightning was actually going sideways.
14. Taught myself an art from scratch-I taught myself how to make Gods Eyes.
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning-not a fun experience
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty - in my much younger days!!
18. Grown my own vegetables-I lived on a farm growing up so yup, grew a lot of them.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France-
20. Slept on an overnight train - my dad and I went to Texas on a train. We didn't have beds though. We slept sitting up.
21. Had a pillow fight- Hey, even people my age had PJ parties when we were growing up!!
22. Hitchhiked-
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill- I'm embarrassed to say I did although I called it a mental health day.
24. Built a snow fort- I lived on a farm and so I built lots of them.
25. Held a lamb- I've never held a baby lamb but lots of baby calves and baby pigs--and lots of baby wildlife animals.
26. Gone skinny dipping-
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse- I've seen a total eclipse of both the sun and moon.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset- Living on a barrier island, this is a must. And a common occurance.
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise - Mr. Snowbird and I went on a cruise to the Caribbean. I would love to take another.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person Several times.
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors - I have been in the area in West Virginia, southern Ohio, and Massachusetts but never exactly where they were born.
35. Seen an Amish community - Both in Pennsylvania and Indiana
36. Taught myself a new language- I pretty much taught myself sign language on the job. Taught with the book in my lap.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied- Even though there are lots of things I would like right now, I'm pretty satisfied with what I have.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David - Does the copy at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas count??
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt - Many times and it never gets old.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight- What can I say? I live on a barrier island.
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted-
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris-
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling- I actually went scuba diving in a quarry once. Pretty awesome.
52. Kissed in the rain-
53. Played in the mud - What kid hasn't?
54. Gone to a drive-in theater- I grew up in the 50's and drive ins were the in thing.
55. Been in a movie -
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies - I've never sold them but I sure have bought my share!!
62. Gone whale watching - We've been on several in Massachusetts and Maine but would love to go on an Orca whale watch.
63. Got flowers for no reason- Actually I get them for myself. When I taught, I always had fresh flowers on my desk and I still buy them once in awhile.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma-
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter-
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial - A couple of times. This is really an impressive monument.
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square - I went to school in NYC one summer so went to Times Square numerous times.
74. Toured the Everglades - I live in SW Florida. We go to the Everglades at least once a year.
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London-
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle-
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person- Both the south and north rims.
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car - My current car was new when we got it.
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper - Both when I was in community theatre and when I taught.
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House - I toured it on my Sr. Trip in HS and also in 1976 with my kids.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating-
88. Had chickenpox - I only had 6 pox but I had them.
89. Saved someone’s life - Not a person's but lots of wildlife and I think they count!
90. Sat on a jury - A wrongful death trial that got settled out of court on the second day of the trial.
91. Met someone famous - Our Japanese daughter's father, Kenichiro Morioka was a composer and symphony conductor in Japan. He wrote the music for several Japanese movies.
92. Joined a book club -Reader's Digest Book of the Month Club
93. Lost a loved one- both of my parents. My mom when I was 15 and my dad when I was 29.
94. Had a baby-Had a couple. One of each.
95. Seen the Alamo in person - My uncle lived in Texas so we got to go to San Antonio a couple of times.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake - Not the greatest experience in the world but we had to try it.It smelled pretty bad!!
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone- Don’t use it often but it sure is handy when you need it.
99. Been stung by a bee - And a wasp. I'm allergic to wasp stings so I steer clear of both
100. Ridden an elephant.

Full Moon Potluck

Eleven years ago, a small group of residents of Periwinkle Park met for a potluck dinner on the Sanibel causeway and to observe sunset and moonrise just minutes apart. This only happens on the evening of the full moon. The potluck dinner has continued since then. Tonight, we met for the first time this season.

Causeway island where we held our potluck.

View of the high bridge from the causeway.

Sunset from the causeway.

Moonrise from the causeway.

Full moonrise.

It was fairly breezy on the beach tonight but not chilly. The food was great as was the company. And of course the stars of the evening were the sunset and moonrise.