WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
It's been a couple weeks since we took a walk at Randall Park so we did just that this past Saturday. The Parks & Recreation Department has made some progress on paving the back parking lot. Other than that, things were pretty much the same. It was a bit chilly that morning, but it felt good once we got walking. Of course, a "walk" with me is mostly a stroll, especially if I have my camera with me. And whenever we go to Randall Park, I have to take my camera. This couple greeted us as soon as we started walking.
The pond there is such a draw to all the local waterbirds. I walked over to it to check on the baby ducks that we saw last time. The thing is, they have all grown so much that I really couldn't pick out which ones were the youngsters. It was nice to see so many of them swimming around.
The sun was out in full force that morning. Noticing the play of sunlight on the pond water, I had to take a few pictures of the ducks swimming among the diamonds in the water. (Thanks to my friend Alyssa for this photo idea!)
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| Shimmering Water |
Not everyone was out on the water. About half of the gang had decided to take it easy and catch a nap on the shore while they had the chance...before all the little kids got there!
One of the pond residents took the opportunity to grab a quick snack.
This female Mallard below posed pretty for me, to show off her beautiful feathers.
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| Trying to be coy? |
There was other wildlife around besides the ducks, but you had to look closely to see it. Linda spotted a huge dandelion that was about 3 feet tall, so I decided to get a picture of it. When I snapped the shutter I caught a bee mid-flight, on his way to check out the dandelion.
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| Bee coming in for a landing |
The chill in the air was a sure sign that Autumn will be upon us soon. The trees already know this and have begun changing the colors on their leaves.
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| Fall is on the way |
ODDS AND ENDS AROUND THE HOUSE
I often walk around the yard with my camera, looking for suitable photography subjects. On one such foray I happened upon this guy below. He was clinging to the stalk of a sunflower. Judging by the length of those legs, he must be some sort of Daddy Long Legs.
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| Leggy critter |
I took this picture below of a garden statue that we brought back from Dad's house. It belonged to Linda's mom so we decided to put it in our back flower garden to remind us of her. I think this little guy is just adorable!
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| My companion in the back yard |
Speaking of things we brought home from Linda's dad's house, below are a few pictures of the two teak tables that I refinished. Not too bad for an amateur, I think!
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| Had to glue a couple of splits on this one |
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| After sanding (bottom pic) and finished oiling (top pic) |
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| The first table I did...back in June |
FINALLY COOKING AGAIN
During the summertime my culinary adventures take a back seat to working in the garden and grilling. With the high summer temperatures, I wind up grilling a lot so we don't heat up the house using the oven and stove. And who doesn't like veggies on the grill? With the advent of cooler weather, I have been able to get back to cooking in the house. As soon as it was cool enough, I turned on the oven to bake something. Since I have an abundance of zucchini right now, I decided to make Zucchini Banana Bread. It turned out to be delicious, and the house smelled great while it was baking!
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| Using up some of my zucchini |
When we went over to Seattle for the birthday celebration I took a jar of my Jalapeno BBQ Sauce. This was one I made last summer and put up in the freezer. Everyone seemed to like it, so I decided to make another batch. I am not sure if this is my favorite BBQ sauce, or the blueberry one that I make. This one is easier for me, though, because I always have enough jalapenos this time of year to make several batches. For the other one, I have to buy the blueberries, which are quite expensive and sometimes hard to find. I added a tiny bit of my ONE habanero pepper to this, but I think I actually could have added more. It was still a bit spicy, and I told Linda that it would turn her wrong-side outwards! (She doesn't like spicy food.)
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| Sweet and Spicy |
OUR LATEST PUZZLE
After starting and stopping on a couple of puzzles that turned out to be just too frustrating and difficult, we landed on one that we had done earlier this year. Although I didn't get to work on it very much due to working on the table refinishing, I still think this is one of my favorites.
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| Perfect summertime puzzle |
ARTY PHOTO
This week's "Arty Photo" is dedicated to L.H., who has told me that her favorite part of the blog is all the pictures of flowers. |
| The Mary Rose |
PARTING SHOT
Summer Girl can be a little devil when she wants to. A lot of the time she has this sarcastic attitude, choosing to be aloof and unconcerned. I think she believes it adds to her street-cred. However, every now and then her softer side comes out and she appears to be an absolute angel.
That's all for this week, friends. Please come back again next week and check out what we've been up to.
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