Painting Projects, and Unsurprisingly, Birds

I checked out another excellent book from our church library, one filled with all kinds of bird goodness. Don't let the name fool you---How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher by Simon Barnes, is a primer on how to bring birds into your life, enjoying their beauty and diversity, without having serious knowledge about birds. And while you may think I know a bit about birds, I'm totally in the bad birdwatching camp because I can't tell calls, nor can I identify age or sex. That is for good birdwatchers!

Allow me to share just one paragraph. Skim over it if you want, but I think you will enjoy it if you don't.

"Once you start to look at birds--once your eyes follow the flight of a passing crow or a bunch of starlings whirling across the road without any conscious decision having been made---than sooner or later you will have a sight of such wonder and perfections that you will always be a birdwatcher. This is nothing less than a statistical certainty."

When I began taking bird watching somewhat seriously, I can't tell you, but it is now a pretty big part of my everyday life, whether out the window or elsewhere.  Not watching birds when they are present is now not an option. Most of you do not fall into that camp, but I've heard from a few readers that having seen so many bird photos in this blog have more of an interest in birds than they ever thought possible. Really, it is about celebrating the wonder of life every single day. 

So, without further ado, let's get to some of those birds and painting projects!

Where shall I begin? With birds, naturally.

As you know, I'm trying to make more time for walking, preferably in a place that I can both watch birds and walk. Lake Davis fits the bill perfectly. Most people I encounter are far more serious about the walking aspect, but I frequently venture off the path, sometimes to my detriment. I was so fixated on watching this scene unfold that I soon discovered I was standing in an ant bed with the lingering bites to prove it!

This was the straggler in the group of five ducklings!

It wasn't the same day, but another, that I happened to see an Anhinga with a fish. A common enough sight, but Mr. Barnes suggests that no sighting should be taken for granted. As a photographer, this time my common sighting became somewhat uncommon. As you know, these birds, unlike the wading birds, dive deep for their food. With no waterproofing on their wings, the feathers act differently than other water birds.

All those wet feathers remind me of a  billowing skirt on a woman's bathing suit. Humor me, okay? So, I saw her coming in towards the shore. Now it has been a mystery thus far as to how they get that fish down their skinny necks, but now I somewhat understand. You will too.

Isn't that so astonishing??? Who knew they had an expandable pouch?? Now what, you wonder?
From our trip to Lake Apopka, I now know that this one is a female juvenile because of the coloring. What I had never seen before is how after snagging the fish, apparently they spear it, perhaps to kill it before consuming? Or does it just make it easier to get it down the hatch?

Gulp!!

Pretty neat, huh? It's not so often that I see a Green Heron. To tell you the truth, it is hard for me to keep all of the herons straight.

On June 26, while Bruce was with me, I showed him a Mottled Duck nesting in a big Oak tree. Or so I think that is the species, however, it is probably a Mallard. So confusing!!

On subsequent visits I would walk by, say hi, and wonder when her eggs would hatch. Two days ago, I began walking and was dismayed to see she was off the nest, leaving eggs behind, as well as two broken ones on the ground!

Walking around the lake once I saw no evidence of brand new ducklings. BTW--there are gobs and gobs of water fowl in the lake right now!

From where I stood I counted way more than 50 and that did not include the swan family. My photograph shows only three juveniles, but all four are doing well. Aren't they big???

Just when I was getting discouraged on my second lap, I think I may have spotted them. At least that is what I'm hoping.

And while I would apologize for showing so many bird photographs, at least there is some variety unlike so many food blogs that show about sixteen photos of the same dish! Tom and I were discussing that very thing when I was looking for the Thai Noodle Salad recipe which I'm including here because it is scrumptious!   (I lied, there are only eight in that one!)

Tired of birds? Here's something different...

Talk about common....we have so many brown anole running all over the place, it ain't funny. The green version, not as much. Floridians have seen so darn many that we tend to ignore them, however, just like the British birds that Mr. Barnes describes, to him they are an everyday occurrence, yet I've never seen a Great Tit. Very soon, I, too will see one in person while visiting Matt and Tom in London!

I seriously don't understand how the author of Where the Crawdads Sing has the main character collect feathers because, surely she was aware of the law I told you about banning feather collections. This explanation is for Jan who was puzzled by it.  Click on the link for more info, but one thing I gleaned from it is that there is a $100,000 fine for having an Eagle feather!!! Good grief. And why am I so surprised about her inclusion? Because, according to this, she is a wildlife scientist!!

Anyway, we have finally arrived at the home decorating portion! To begin with, I was so blah about our bedroom because, well, in my haste while getting the condo ready, I picked another dud. The paint name says it all. Nonchalant White is dull as can be. Thus, while Matt was here we chatted about painting it another color. And while at the time I was thinking a dark green, instead I went with a very dark blue. First though, I took the paint chip to the fabric store for curtain fabric, finding a lovely floral, then I purchased the paint. Here's an amazing happening. I laid out the fabric on our bed, turned to my dresser and, oh my gosh, this painting by Jane, Tom's mum, matches it perfectly. Amazing! I wish I'd used it for an "inspiration" photo! Not really....I am so over all of that and don't get me started on "influencers"!

While Bruce went to Ace to get paint for his project, I had him get a sample can of Waterloo by Sherwin Williams. I began painting a small section, eventually covering the whole wall behind the bed.

It is anything but nonchalant, right? Bruce, while he likes the color, is not sold on a whole room of it, thus I'm back to the drawing board on wall color for the rest of the room. Oh wait...I have a painting for inspiration!

In my last post I showed you the new television which is working nicely. But, I was way over the brown cabinet. While looking for the post about B painting the dresser for the entryway, I came across this post about buying this very space!  Can't find it, but the gist was that we both really liked the Dark Teal paint color so let's just use that again. Plus we still had a can! He put some on the drawer and deciding it too dark for that part of the room, could he get the next shade lighter?

Taking the doors off for sanding, he painted the cabinet in the color I selected.

Hmmm......At the same time he cut holes in the wall to fish the wires through, making it look really sleek. Okay, the paint.....not so good. Way too turquoise, not to mention bright.

If there is one thing that Bruce dislikes, and there are not that many, it is backing up. But back up he did, offering to repaint it if I would go get the paint. Once there I explained to Roger, the paint guy at Ace, my dilemma and he said if I brought the paint back, he would see what he could do. At $30 a quart, I gladly drove home. Studying the formula, he came up with a new color and now Mr. Peck is in the process of toning things down. It is drying much darker and BETTER!

He's gone to help Bill but if he gets home early enough, no doubt he will get it done today!

Such a wonderful man to live with, and he even shares my bird watching fascination. How, all those years ago, did I ever get so lucky?

your friend,

Gail