Grits, squirrels, no-see-ums, and expenses

I had another culinary first for me this morning.  I decided to make some grits.  Diana (being a southern belle)suggested I add some cheese, a dollop of butter, and an egg on top for breakfast.  I sort of poached an egg and lightly mixed it in to the enhanced grits.  My opinion?  Grits are rather gritty.  It was not exactly a ‘to die for dish’ in my opinion.  It did stick to my ribs however.  I’m thinking it’s going to take me a very long time to use up the eleven individual servings that are left in the box. 

This is a nice yellow flower blooming in front of the VC, but you’ll not see any squirrels with yellow spots running around the refuge.  Turns out the new and improved shooter that I got to plunk away at the squirrels seems to have a mind of its own as far as  ejecting the pellets is concerned.  The pellets don’t leave a splotch of paint as I’d hoped, but perhaps just a dusting of yellow dust on a target.  My fingers get yellow loading the pellets, but the squirrels just smirk at me.  Someone close by, who will remain nameless, has advanced to a Daisy Red Ryder Bee bee gun in this range war which has resulted in a virtual absence of the critters near their feeders.  I leave you to guess where the marauding pack of fluffy tailed rodents has moved over to. 

A couple of folks have asked how the dryer sheets are working against my battle with the no-see-ums.  I’m here to report that after diligent testing, this has turned out to be another old wives’ tale.  They are about as effective as standing on your head! 

Perhaps I could use them to dissuade snakes?  I’ve also found them of no use in curtailing mice.

Maybe they’re called dryer softening sheets because that is the only place they are effective??

For the past six years, I’ve diligently been recording how I’ve spent every cent since I’ve been on the road.  I’ve typed in every purchase in yearly spreadsheets broken down by month.  You know what?  I’m tired of doing that, and have seldom gone back to check were my money has gone.  I’m living within my budget, so I think I’m just going to rely on checking my bank account when necessary.  Can anyone give me a good reason to continue this practice?

My parting thought tonight is to remind you to stop and smell the roses… 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

A rainy, rainy day

Well, those storms that hit Arizona a few days ago have moved west through New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and made it to Mississippi today.  We had the winds and overcast skies yesterday, but the skies opened up today.  I haven’t checked my rain gage yet, but I’d guess it was a couple of inches.

                                                                    Pale Pitcher Plant Blooms

Yesterday was a project day for Diana and me, so we headed out to walk the Escatawpa Trail (that is a part of Grand Bay NWR) to document what was blooming.  Perhaps some of you will remember that this is my least favorite trail of the four available on the two refuges.

                                                                                  Sundews

We did find an area with a nice example of sundews.  They are a carnivorous plant that catches insects on those dewy-like sticky droplets.  Once stuck, the spatula shaped leaves slowly curl around the insect and ingest its nutrients.  These plants are only about an inch and a half in diameter, so you really have to look closely to see them.  I think they are so cool!  I just wish I had a gazillion of them around my campsite so they would eat all the no-see-ums. 

We also found part of the seemingly never ending trail lined with blooming wild blueberry bushes.  I don’t know if six weeks is long enough for me to return to harvest some of the fruits for some blueberry pancakes, but I’m hoping to taste some of these beauties if the birds don’t beat me to it.

I’m glad we got that walk in yesterday because the pouring down rain today made things slower than molasses in January at the VC today.  But, it gave us plenty of time to work on the trail guides we are developing.

I’m going to show you what we’ve done so far.  This is the outside of the guide for the Dees Trail.

And this is the inside.  You’ll have to imagine it as a tri-folded pamphlet.  I provide a good share of the pictures that show what you can see, and Diana does the magic on the computer.  Then we both work on the text and layout. 

Our goal has been to provide an overview of the different trail routes so people know where to walk, and what you might see.

Once the format is set up, the pictures can be changed every week or so to reflect the differences in what’s at peak at the current time.  We are handing out pamphlets for the Dees Trail and the Fontainebleau Trail already.

Today we started work on the Escatawpa Trail.  Each pamphlet has turned out a little different.  Many people that stop in the Visitors Center want to have information on hiking trails, so we’re hoping these pamphlets will be well received by visitors and ‘the powers that be’ at the refuge.  I know I would enjoy using these pamphlets kind of like a scavenger hunt challenge.  Could I find everything pictured?  What do you think?  Are these something you, as a visitor, would find helpful?

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

A little switch in plans

When I went to bed last night, I thought I might do a road trip into Alabama to visit a Corps of Engineers park that I plan to stay at when I leave the refuge.  I even packed up a lunch to take along.  When I got up this morning, I put the address into my GPS and found out it was 174 miles one way.  That kind of took care of that idea.  I guess I’ll just have to pick out a favorite campsite when I get there in May.

A little later in the morning Diana knocked on my door.  After chit chatting for a while, we decided to check out a restaurant in Ocean Springs that is only open for lunch.  I had two reasons for going there.  First, I wanted to continue my study of shrimp po-boys, and secondly my son, Andy, and his family will be arriving for a visit next month and he has requested that they be able to sample some regional food.  Diana and John were more than ready to assist in my quest for the best shrimp po-boy.   I have to report that D D’s in Ocean Springs served the best shrimp po-boy that I’ve had so far in Mississippi.  It was not as good as a couple I’ve had in Louisiana, but it came close.  I hope you understand what a burden it is to me to complete this quest.

Afterwards, we stopped along the bay to find a good spot to take Andy’s family to the beach.  This place had a pier, beach, and a park with a playground.  I’m thinking this might be the perfect place to take three little grandkids for an introduction to the gulf coast, and it’s only about 20 minutes away from the refuge.

The winds were blowing pretty strong as we walked out on the pier to view the bridge to Biloxi.  Those same winds were really blowing the sand around on the beach so most sunbathers sought out more protected areas today.

Lots of old live oaks historically lined the gulf coast in this area.  Many of them were killed by Katrina, but this huge one along the park paths lived through the storm.  My guess is it’s almost 20’ in circumference. 

There are benches along the paths of this park, and this butterfly one was super comfortable.  The plaque underneath leads one to know it is dedicated to the memory of a child that died in 2010.  The quote is:  “What a caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.”  A poignant resting place to contemplate the fragility of life.  I think I would have liked to meet that little girl…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Prescribed burns

On April 25th of last year, I was able to photographically document a prescribed burn of the wet pine savannah surrounding the Visitors Center at Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR.  Prescribed burns are a necessary tool in maintaining the health of the wet pine savannah that is fundamental to keeping the Mississippi Sandhill Cranes from becoming extinct. 

Today, I thought I’d show you the results, almost a year later, of this burn.

                              This is the entrance to the Dees Nature Trail while the burn was going on…

and here’s what it looks like today.  It’s hard to detect that a fire coursed through this trail such a short time ago.

The fire crew is expert at firing the savannah, but leaving signs and paths unscathed.  Before the fire, this was a huge saw palmetto plant.

                The fire invigorated growth, and today the palmetto is healthy and beginning to bloom.

You have to search among the fronds to find evidence of the burn.  This speaks to how fire was a natural thing in the past before the white man interfered.

You can see that the ashes of the fire provided nutrients to the soil so new growth began almost immediately, and will continue through this growing season.  Many plants need fire to be able to reproduce.

The pitcher plants are literally rising from the ashes.  By using controlled burns every three years, the fires do not get so hot as to destroy the long leafed pines, and bring a continued vibrancy to the savannah.  This is such a cool ecosystem! 

I had a new visitor outside my table window today.  My guess is it’s a lizard or skink of some sort, but I’ve never seen one quite like this one before.  I’ll be working on trying to identify it in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow, I’m thinking it’s about time for a little road trip to somewhere new to me.  Perhaps I’ll pack a lunch and head over into Alabama and check out a COE park northeast of Mobile…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Setting up the Hard Rock Bird Café

A couple of years ago, I decided to call my bird feeder set ups at places I’m at for extended periods the Hard Rock Bird Café.  At the time, I was at Balcones Canyonlands NWR which is in the hill country of Texas and has a lot of hard rocks around.  I got a comment on my post yesterday from SHERRY with a question:  “Since we are in most parks for at least 2 weeks and sometimes more, I want to set up some birdfeeders around the coach. Can you talk about what you have and why and how you carry them from place to place??”  You bet I can!  It’s always nice to get an idea for a post topic.

Over time, I’ve decided upon a few different feeders.  My latest choices center around the problem of squirrels.  I’ve had this feeder for over a year, and it has proven quite good at foiling those little rascals.  The birds don’t have any problems getting to the seeds, and the metal top and grid around the seed portals tends to keep the squirrels from destroying the feeder.

This setup has two feeders on a dual shepherd’s crook.  The feeder on the right is plastic and is filled with Niger seed that the goldfinches and pine siskins really like.  For some reason unknown to me, squirrels aren’t interested in this seed.  Normally squirrels will chew right through a plastic feeder.

The other feeder is all metal, and was given to me by my sister for Christmas.  The squirrels can’t chew through it, but they do tend to just sit on the bottom plate and munch away…hence my latest little air gun to dissuade them from this habit.    I place these two feeders rather close to the window by my table where I sit to eat and have my computer set up.

My other bird feeding area is located to the right of my outside rocking chair, and is located so that it is surrounded by plenty of perching areas and cover for less bold birds.  Yesterday I hung the hummingbird feeder there as well.  I’ve made a birdbath cheaply out of an inverted flower pot.  In the afternoons, I scatter some extra seed on the ground under the seed feeder.  This is where I get many of my bird pictures around the rig.  Since Emma doesn’t really care much about birds, they come within about five feet of her to visit this area.  I keep my birdseed in one of those medium sized plastic bins, and when I move all of the feeders fit into it for easy storage when moving down the road.  Others do their feeders differently, but that’s how it goes at the Hard Rock Bird Café!

I leave you tonight with a little bird vignette starring a brown thrasher from under the above feeder…

                                                         HMM… A CAFÉ IN THE WOODS??

                                                                    CAN I GRAB A BITE TO EAT?

                                                               OH BOY!  A HALF A PEANUT!

                                  I’D BETTER GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE SOMEBODY GIVES ME A BILL!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

♪ ♫ My WILD Irish Rose ♫

I worked the VC yesterday, and it was pretty ho hum.  The weather was gorgeous, and I didn’t enjoy being stuck inside.

As I arrived to open up, the heavy fog was just beginning to burn away.  It made for some sparkly effects on the roses blooming along the entranceway. 

Afterwards, Emma and I sat outside as usual, and I put a handful of seeds on the ground under the feeder so the birds that don’t care to use the feeder could entertain us.  I do this just about everyday shortly after 4:00, and the birds seem to be waiting in the wings. (pun intended )

It only takes moments for them to arrive.  The feeder next to my ‘patio’ area seems to be ignored by the squirrels (thank goodness).  It’s in a rather dense tree and shrub area, and just a few feet from my rocker.

I decided to hang my hummingbird feeder in this area as well.  I chose a spot that gets the afternoon sun and will light any little visiting hummers from behind me as I sit outside.  It’s probably a week or two early for hummingbirds, but better early than late is my motto. (as opposed to better late than never)

Today was laundry day, and another good day for hanging out a couple of loads…sunny with temps near 80. 

Friday morning before I went into work, I was taking a pot shot at one of the squirrels at the feeder outside the driver’s side of the rig.  As I pulled the trigger, the whole pistol blew itself to smithereens, and the spring and top half of it blasted out the window!  I haven’t even had that thing a week. 

So today it was a trip back to Walmart with all the parts, the packaging, and the receipt.  I got my money back, and purchased a slightly more expensive device that uses the same 2500 pellets that I bought last week.  I must say that the exploding gun did have a scary effect on those little rascals, but come tomorrow morning Annie Oakley will be back. 

Seeing as it was St. Patrick’s Day today, you know I had to have corned beef and cabbage to celebrate the day that Emma came to adopt me four years ago.  That’s how I named her you know.  She came to me on St. Patrick’s Day, so I looked up female Irish names and she became Emma.   I’ve never been sure if it was like finding a lucky four leaf clover, or a trick from the Leprechauns that fateful day…she is surely my WILD Irish Rose!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy