Thank You Bobbie

Bobbie has given me the Arte Y Pico Award. This award is given for creativity, design, interesting material and contribution to the blogging community.

The rules for this award are:

1. Choose five blogs that you consider deserve this award for creativity, design, interesting material and for contributing to the blogging community, no matter the language.

2. Each award must have the name of the author and a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner must show the award and put the name and link to the blog of the one who has given the award.

4. The award winner and the one giving the award must show a link to the "Arte Y Pico" blog, so that everyone knows its origin.

There are so many blogs out there that are deserving of this award, but I have choose the following:

Lin of Sandpiper's Place. Lin is a sweetheart and always has kind words to say. She takes us on walks of the garden's and trails in her area. Her pictures of the walks are wonderful. I have learned a lot about nature through Lin. Thanks Lin.

Kay of Musings. Kay is another sweetheart that I have met through blogging. Right now her and her husband are traveling to the west coast and soon moving to Hawaii. Kay also always has kind words for everyone.

Tom of Wiggers World. Tom is the gracious host of Sky Watch Friday and how I met him. Tom lives in the United Kingdom. Tom also takes us on walks of his area and gives a little history of the places he takes us.

Mary of Mary's View. Mary takes wonderful pictures. She has a beautiful backyard which she shares with us. She has a knack of attracting birds and other wildlife. When she talks about the licker-sisters you can't help but laugh.





Salty of Country Captures. I met Salty through Sky Watch. Salty loves nature and captures it beautifully through his pictures. He also gives a little history on all his subjects. I have learned a lot from him too.

Please do not feel obligated to pass this award on. It is just my way to extend my appreciation for the above and the many more blogs that I read. Even though I don't leave a lot comments, I visit frequently and appreciate everyones blog. Everyone has their own little way of leaving a mark on this huge blogging world and I thank you.

I would also like to say thank you to Bobbie for her encouragement and kind words to me. If not for her, I would not have purchased a digital camera and found the pure joy and beauty in this world to capture on, well a memory card. She has done so much for me over the years that there really isn't enough I could say about her.

Sky Watch

I was on my way home from the mall. Almost at the end of Route 55 there is this lake. I couldn't resist. One of my favorite things about skies is reflections. I couldn't ask for more then this.

If you enjoy looking at beautiful sky pictures from all over the world and/or you have a picture of a sky that you would like to share, please visit our gracious host Tom

Ospreys & Hereford Inlet Gardens

My friend's husband takes beautiful pictures. Last year she brought in one of the pictures he took of an Osprey. It is beautiful and hilarious. This year he took more and they are just as good or better. My friend said that the nest was along North Wildwood Blvd. I happened to be on North Wildwood Blvd. earlier in the week and spotted the nest and was surprised at how close to the road it was and you could see the female osprey and some babies in the nest. Yesterday I called Bobbie and asked her if she would like to go. Of course she said yes.

When we got there, both parents were in the nest. When I got out of the car to get closer to the nest the male took flight. While I was taken pictures of the nest, the male was soaring over head. I hadn't realized this until I was headed back to the car. Here are two pictures of him.

The female was not happy at all that I was close to her babies. I can't blame her, she has three beautiful babies.

I love this picture. Everyone appears to be looking over the nest like there is something down there.

I love this picture also. It looks like she is having a bad hair day.

After we reluctantly left the nest we went to Hereford Inlet.

While Bobbie and I were enjoying ourselves wandering in the gardens, people were basking in the sun on North Wildwood beach. Even though I am born and raised here, I don't see the fascination with the beach. I think that it is boring just laying there getting baked by the sun. To each their own.

Welcome to Hereford Inlet Gardens

(Even the fly had to partake in the afternoon)

(that is Bobbie's legs and feet you see in the arbor. She sat down to take in the beauty of the gardens.)

(Ugh. It is so exhausting eating corn and lounging around in the trees all day.)

(I came across this squirrel just hanging out in another tree. It was a cute thing, but what's up with the tail?)

(Female Mallard)

This was a very good day. The Osprey's were great. Hereford Inlet Gardens were peaceful. It was nice to see such colors and to smell heavenly scents. I think a good day was had by all. Make sure you stop and see Bobbie. She is much better at words then I and she has some beautiful pictures too.

Thank You

I would like to say a heartfelt thank to the following good people:
Lisa, Bobbie, Mmebenaut, Lin, Dianne, Tom, Mary, Cliff & Kay. Earlier in the week, I had a very bad day. These fine people left me encouraging heartfelt comments. I just want to tell all of you that your comments helped and how much I appreciate your kindness.

To add even more to my bad day or week, Thursday night I had to work. Afterward some of us went and had a drink. It felt good to get out and forget about things for a while. When I got home Ralphy boy met me. I petted him for a couple of minutes and went in. My baby was standing inside the door. Not unusually. She normally greets me at the door with meows and rubbing up against my leg. Which always prompts me to pick her up and give her some lovin. I guess I was thinking to much and then realized that she didn't do this this time. I noticed that she just laid down in front of the door. I went over and started petting her and she just looked at me. I picked her up and started petting her, but she didn't meow or purr and tried to get down. After a while she got sick and then went running for the litter box. I really thought that this was it. She has been sick for a couple of years now, but we have gotten through it. The vet gave me a pill to help calm her stomach down and I gave her one. But this time was different. Her eyes were dull. Every time I tried to comfort her she pushed me away. This was heartbreaking and lots of tears were shed again. I tried for over an hour and each time I was rejected. She didn't want me to do anything for her so I was left with a sinking heart and a fear that when awoke in the morning she would be gone. The alarm went off and with heavy heart went looking for her. To my elated surprise, there she sat and gave me a big meow. She was a little talkative, hungry and best of all accepted my lovin. She still wasn't totally herself, but this gave me hope. I know now we are on borrowed time. I don't know how much longer she can hold on. But as long as she holds on and fights, so will I.

This is one of my favorite pictures of her. I love the annoyed look on her face. I found this frame at Hallmark and couldn't resist buying it. It really does say it all. She has been my faithful friend for over 12 years now.



Before the week turned shitty on me, Monday a thunder storm was heading our way. I was on my front porch watching and said to myself "Self. You haven't went to the bay and watched a thunder storm roll in in a while. I think it is time." I came in and called Bobbie and asked her if she wanted to do a little storm chasing. She had just sat down to dinner. I said there would be more storms for us. So off I went. As I was turning onto the street, I seen Bobbie daughter, Rita walking or should I say walking very briskly for home before the storm hit. I yelled to her to get in the car. She did and I took her home. Rita is a sweetheart of a lady. She was telling me some funny stories about when she was just recently at the County park for a picnic. So now Rita was home safely and to the bay I went. It poured.

It is hard to tell from this picture, but it is of a sailboat that was blown over. I drive a Honda CR-V. This is not a light car. The wind was so strong that it was rocking my car back and forth.

I stayed there for a while. What I was really trying to do was get a picture of lightning. This is an impossible task with my camera, but hey it was worth a try. After it was over, I came home and one of the U-Haul trailers from Anco was blown across the street. Anco was closed so I called the police. The girl thanked me for calling and said that they would get in touch with someone to move it. They did. I can't wait for another storm so Bobbie and I can go and do some storm chasing. Well storm watching I should say.

Being the animal loving freak that I am, I take solace in watching them. In the beginning of the month I had posted that we had baby swallows. At first, I only saw one and a couple days later I saw four. Well how fast they grow.

It is hard to see, but there are two little heads to the right of the nest.

I can't tell if this is mama or daddy feeding their babies.

Here is two peering over the nest.

This is one of the babies. There is another one peeking over the front ones back. It is so hard to believe how big they have gotten.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub three swallows in a mud tub.

I have only been able to see the three of them. I am not sure if the four one survived or not.

This is my favorite picture so far.

Whenever they get to be this size, they always remind me of a little gargoyle.

One other thing that I have been looking at is the Bald Eagle cam. I have the link on the top of my sidebar. I gave Bobbie a call one day to hop on. The adult Bald Eagle was in the nest with the two little ones. Well I can't say they are little anymore. When one of the babies stood up and started to walk around a little, I was shocked by the size of its feet. Good grief. When Bobbie and I were talking about them, we decided that they don't look like Bald Eagles. They look like vultures. If you have time and are interested, please take a look at them.

Well I have rambled on enough for this post. Again I want to thank everyone who left me kind and encouraging comments. That really meant a lot to me.

Sky Watch

I took this picture shortly after getting my first digital camera. The sky and road looked so lonely. This was taken along Beach Drive in North Cape May, NJ.

To view other beautiful sky pictures or if you would like to participate, visit Tom. You won't be sorry.

I'm so beside myself I could cry

Today started out to be a good day, but went down hill. I wish that I could explain everything that has happened today, but unfortunately, because two things pertain to work, and with the Internet the way it is with people able to find shit quickly, I cannot go into much detail. Anyway, I found out something about one of my favorite co-workers today. Not something that he did to someone. But something that was done to him. He is one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. In the 15 years that I have known him, the maddest I have ever seen him was him saying "Oh shit." That's it nothing more. This is a man that I would do anything in the world for and he got shit on majorly.

The second thing I was told affects an entire department. When really all the so called "powers that be" want is one person. The people in this department are good people and do not need this.

I take line dance class in the winter at our vo-tech. I have become, not close, but friends with the dance teacher. In the past couple of years, she was laid-off from her job of 20 plus years with nothing. Just a pink slip. Then her husband lost his job. It took a long time for her and husband to find jobs, but those jobs didn't come close to the salaries from their previous jobs. They changed their life style drastically to make ends meet. I was talking to her this afternoon about a work related issue and then she rocked my world. A couple of weeks ago, there was a 16 year old boy riding his moped home at something like two in the morning and was hit and killed by a drunk driver. The drunk driver was my friend's husband. Don't get me wrong, I have a thing about drunk driving since my Aunt was hit and killed by a drunk driver. I just feels so bad for her. She doesn't have the money to bail him out. And I don't know if he should be bailed out or not. She has nothing. She went from a good paying job to a job where she brings home a little over $400.00 a week. She put her house up for sale in the hopes that she can pay all the outstanding debt from before. Her husband is in jail. Her husband killed a boy. Everything that she had worked for is gone.

I am beside myself because there isn't a fucking thing I can do to help these people. This goes against everything that I am. I must go now. I feel a good cry coming on.

My Flag Day Celebration

First I want to go back to yesterday morning. When I went into my laundry room, my first thought was, I have an ashtray fire. I looked and nothing was burning. My next thought was my dryer is on fire. I went out and looked at the dryer vent and nothing. Then the wind blew and the smell was even stronger. As it turned out, we were getting the smell and smoke from the North Carolina fire. Not a pretty smell. I feel really bad for the people in North Carolina.

(what's left of the Concrete Ship)

(This is not haze. This is the smoke that I was talking about)

There is a flag lowering ceremony every night at Sunset Beach. The Flags that are flown are flags that were draped over the casket of veterans. I decided that since it was Flag Day, this would be a nice thing to do. I was at a traffic light and the guy in the car next to me asked if I knew where the liquor store was. I gave him directions. I guess everyone has there own way of celebrating. When I got to Sunset Beach, a ceremony was already taking place for the Elk's.

(This was their flag lowering ceremony.

I like this shot with the concrete ship in the background)

After the Elk's ceremony was over I walked over to the beach. Here are a couple of pictures looking at the beach.

(This is someones idea of celebrating Flag Day)

Sometimes I would see people pointing at the water and I would look to see what they were pointing at. There was a pod of dolphins swimming by. I went on the beach and tried to get a couple of pictures, but by the time I got down to the water and tried to focus, they had past. Maybe next time.

(This guy was looking for Cape May Diamonds.)


The American Flag.
This flag was from a Veteran
(View from the beach.)


(View from the parking lot.)

During the ceremony they play "God Bless America" and as the flag is being lowered, they play "Taps". I'll admit I got a little teary eyed when they played this. After the flag is lowered, they fold the flag and give it to the family member.

Take notice of the lady standing to the left. At one point her cell phone must have rang because she took it out of her pocket and threw it. I couldn't believe it. Why not just turn the thing off. Or better yet, leave it at home.

Imagine my surprise when it turned out she was the recipient of the flag.

I stayed a little while longer after the ceremony. I think this is the Whale Watcher passing by the concrete ship.

A fishing boat. I remember once my dad, our friend Bob and I were out fishing and we decided to go over to the concrete ship. Back then there was more ship but it was split. The tide ran pretty fast through there and there was pretty good fishing. There was also a little rowboat that had anchored up. We were catching some fish, but Bob casted over by the row boat. He starts reeling in and the rowboat kept getting closer. Here he hooked the rowboat. That was the largest catch of the day. They people were pretty cool about this.

(This was taken during the ceremony. I couldn't resist. And true to my form, there is a little dog to the right.)

(I took this before the ceremony. The sunset wasn't this dark. For some reason, my camera made this picture dark like this. However, those are storm clouds. We got a thunder storm later that night.)

(This is the true color of the sunset. Very beautiful.)

After I left Sunset Beach I went for a ride around Lily Lake. There were baby bunnies every where. It has been a while since I have seen bunnies. They are so cute.

(Again my camera took a dark picture)

(Baby bunny and geese)

(Two baby bunnies)

This morning I went to Shoprite for a few things. As I'm walking along, I passed a book display. This is bad. Very bad. I am addicted to books. I have, I'm sorry to say, over a hundred in my closet to be read. I passed by, but I had seen one of my favorite authors. I went back and ended up with two more books. Well what's done is done. Now I have two more books to read. I really need help with this addiction. Oh well, after I left there I went to a fastfood change, you know the Golden Arches, to pick up breakfast. I ordered a sausage biscuit and hashbrowns. Whenever I go, I never leave a window without first checking to make sure I was given the correct change. (They have shorted me a couple of times.) And checking to make sure I was given the correct food. When I opened the bag I said to the girl, this is not my order. She looked at me like I had three heads. She said in broken English, "It's not? You sure?" Yes I am sure. Still she looked at me. I said, "I ordered a sausage biscuit. Not a sausage McMuffin." Still she looked at me. I said, "Here is my receipt. See sausage biscuit." She looked at the receipt and then looked up at the monitor. She said, "You sure." I said, "You have my receipt in hand. Does it say sausage McMuffin. No it does not. It says sausage biscuit." She says, "Oh my. I don't. I don't understand." She goes to retrieve my sausage biscuit, but comes back empty handed. She says, "You mind you pull up please." What else can I do, I pull up. A couple minutes goes by and another girls comes out iwith a bag. She said, "You order pancakes?" Me, "No." She goes to another parked car, which was empty. She comes back to me and says, "You sure. It is big breakfast." Me, "I'm sure. Unless there is a sausage biscuit and hashbrowns in that bag, it's not mine." She shrugged her shoulders and went back inside. Now my girl comes out. She hands me my breakfast. I check again and I got my sausage biscuit with egg. Not wanted to stay any longer, I left. I can take the egg off.

Sometimes I want to go watch the water. I think there is nothing as calming as the sea. But I came home and looked at these pictures. Also taken last night at Sunset Beach.

Well I'm off to read. Have a good day.