Saturday 13 December 2008

A Day Spent at the RV

It was already 62F (17C) when I got up at about 8:20 a.m. It was cloudy with sunny periods all day but very windy again.

I sat outside on the deck for a while this morning but it was too windy so I moved my chair behind the RV and read there for a while.

This afternoon I moved inside to the couch and read but wound up napping for most of the afternoon so not a very exciting day, I'm afraid!

We did walk down to the pier for sunset, here's proof!

This snowy egret was doing some hunting for food in the wind.


Not a beautiful sunset, but not bad!

Friday 12 December 2008

To Port Lavaca

Today turned into a beautiful clear, sunny day with a high of about 68F (20C). I did all my usual morning stuff and spent quite a bit of time playing Majhong. Sure glad I found that game on my computer!

We had an early lunch and then went into Port Lavaca. On the way we took some bird pictures. We also stopped at Chocolate Bayou Park. I've been noticing this park as we've driven in to town but never saw the entrance so today we found it and drove through. There were a lot of geese and ducks around.

A flock of sandhill cranes


The ducks and geese at Chocolate Bayou Park


One of the main reasons for going in to town today was that we needed to fuel up which we did at Walmart at 2.15.9, the best price we've seen this winter for sure! We stopped at Ace Hardware and found our fluorescent bulbs for the RV at $3.89 each. They only had one but they're ordering more in for us and we can pick them up next week. That's a pretty good price. Walmart wanted $6.89. We also looked at new towel rings as ours is coming apart.

The on to Walmart where we got the aforementioned fuel and I went in to pick up what I needed. We both looked at appliance bulbs but we're going to check Ace's price on them before we buy one and also at towel rings. We got a cheap one there so we'll see how it works out. Gordon went and sat in Subway and had a coffee while I shopped then I picked him up there and we came home, stopping along the way again for more bird pictures.

A flurry of snow geese



Here is one of the necklaces that I made the other day with the center bead wrapped.


Not much new going on but it's nice to see the warm weather back again!

Thursday 11 December 2008

A Day at Home and a Late Afternoon Drive

It was so cosy under my electric blanket this morning that I had to drag myself out of bed at about 8:30 a.m. However, the sun was shining brightly and it was 38F (3C). Since it was sunny, I didn't have to put on as many clothes but still a bit windy. It sure is nice to see the bright sun. I had a nice walk, did my stretches down by the water all the time under watch of a great egret that was hiding down by the shoreline out of the wind. On my way back to the RV, I met Storm, one of the campground cats who was looking for some attention.

After breakfast I looked out the window and saw Pyro sitting in the sun on top of the canoe next door. Gordon got a photo of him sitting there but as soon as I came out he thought he was going to get some attention so over he came to see me.

I spent most of the dat on the internet. Then I looked at the games that came with my computer which I'd never done before and found that it has Mahjongh so spent a lot of the afternoon playing that.

Around 4 p.m. Gordon decided he wanted to go out and see where the smoke was coming from that's been around most of the day. We drove and drove and wound up at Seadrift. It looks like it must have been a prescribed burn at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge which is across San Antonio Bay from Seadrift.

Just as we were leaving the RV park, Storm came running over to see us.


The smoke


From there we drove to a bridge which is near Port O'Connor. There were some roseate spoonbills there but they were pretty far away for my camera so I took some photos of the bridge and the moon.



Back to the RV in time to warm up stew for dinner. Our high today was 63F (17C) so the temperature is going back up again. Not too soon for me!

Wednesday 10 December 2008

A Cold and Generally Miserable Day!

From our beautiful warm wind out of the south yesterday to the cold, bitter wind from the north today, our temperature dropped almost 40 degrees from yesterday to today. Our high today was 44F (7C) compared to 81F (27C) yesterday. It was very windy last night and overnight and it knocked the TV satellite dish out overnight. It also rained overnight and a bit this morning but it didn't rain during the day at all. I was able to get out for my walk although I could hardly walk against the wind.

I spent the day on the internet, reading and making some necklaces. I tried out my new crimp tool and I'm not impressed. I think I'll take it back. The side cutters are got are very handy though, I'll keep them. So I did a bit of bead wrapping today that I hadn't been able to do without wire cutters. I'm afraid I'm not very creative in that respect, pretty basic.

I also had a nice chat on Facebook with my friend, Cheryl that I met when working at Nortel. It was great to chat with her! They also have a fifth wheel and her husband would love to fulltime but Cheryl isn't ready to give up her house just yet.

I'll make some cornbread to go with out stew for our dinner tonight and other than that we're just trying to keep warm until Friday when it warms up again.

Today's photo is one Gordon took today of the brown pelican diving for fish. They are really funny to watch. They come in like a kamikaze and dive straight down into the water.

Tuesday 9 December 2008

Downtown Port Lavaca

It was cloudy and warm when I got up this morning. It was supposed to rain overnight but it didn't. Sure enough as soon as I got up it started to sprinkle. I thought that it wasn't bad so put on my rain gear and headed out. Soon it was coming down pretty well. My rain gear is not waterproof, it's water resistant so I came back inside and did my floor exercises.

We saw these brown geese (I think) on the way in to Port Lavaca

Later this morning the rain stopped and the sun came out so we got in the truck and went in to photograph downtown Port Lavaca. Most of downtown is vacant but there is a block where there are stores that are open. So we took some photos, did some driving around, north to Port Comfort but there isn't much there other than Alcoa Aluminum and Formosa Plastics. You'd think this would be an up and coming area with those plants here but you can see the economic downturn although I can't say how long the stores have been closed. Might be 20 years!

Downtown Port Lavaca







In one of the stores I saw these beer holders - cute - SLUTS

The downtown kitty - maybe one of the SLUTS?


Pretty orange hibiscus


The downtown pier


Driving over the Lavaca Bay Causeway on the way to Point Comfort.

We got back around 1 p.m. and it was so nice - 81F (27C) I sat outside for a couple of hours and finished another book. I got an email from my sister in Ottawa, they had about 8 inches of snow last night which is turning to freezing rain then back to snow and on top of that they're having a bus strike that starts at midnight tonight so they're in for some fun times! Makes the cold front coming through here tomorrow not look so bad!

Jenny and Speedy wanted a photo of my toes dressed for Christmas so your wish is my command!

Since it's going to be cold, decided to make stew but I substituted ground turkey for hamburg. Guess we'll have it for dinner since I don't have anything else out. It has cooled down a bit from today.

Monday 8 December 2008

Grocery Shopping Again

It was as cloudy this morning as it was bright and sunny yesterday however it was already 62F (17C) at 8:15 a.m. when I went for my walk. The wind is starting to pick up again but it's supposed to remain warm until late tomorrow.

I just piddled around on the internet this morning while I had breakfast and after, had a shower and about 11:10 a.m. I headed in to Port Lavaca for groceries. On the way this little snowy egret was sitting on the railing that sides on the of single lane bridges on my way to the highway.

When driving in Texas if someone comes up behind you, normally people will pull over and drive on the shoulder. It's just something that's done in Texas. However, this guy didn't and I found out he was turning left a short ways ahead. Most of the shoulders here are wide and paved.


I also saw a great blue heron on my way standing peering through the fence as if he was wondering if the grass is greener on the other side of the fence but I didn't stop to take a photo as I knew he'd fly off as soon as I stopped.

Here's a heron I did get a photo of on the road that heads toward the campground.


And this great egret as well.


There was very little traffic this morning and it only took me about 15 minutes to arrive at the Port Lavaca Walmart. I had gone through the old downtown Port Lavaca. It's kind of interesting. I walked around Walmart putting some items in my cart, then realized I was hungry to went to Subway and had a six inch tuna sub, back to the grocery aisles and completed my shopping.

On my way back I stopped at Dollar General to pick up some things. I always miss Dollarama when I go to the dollar stores here. Dollar Tree isn't bad but there is no Dollar Tree in Port Lavaca. I'd have to go to Victoria for that. I am planning on going to Victoria by myself at some point to have more of a 'lady's look around'. The weather here sure is a lot better though!

I got home around 2 p.m. There were some little showers on my way and on and off through the afternoon.

One of my purchases today was green nail polish so now my toes are dressed for Christmas painted red and green!

That's about it for today!

Sunday 7 December 2008

A Lovely Sunny Day

I didn't get up this morning until nearly 8:30 a.m. By then the temperature had reached 53F (12C) so I was able to go for my walk with no jacket or gloves this morning.

It turned into a beautiful sunny, bright day so I sat out on our little deck and read for most of the day only coming in when a breeze picked up. I read some more and had a little nap. Other than that I walked around the campground, took a few photos and just generally relaxed. It's nice not to have to go anywhere or do anything.

A fishing boat coming in


Gordon has posted a few photos that he took yesterday from the air, click here to see them. He has also updated his journal, click here to read.

Just before sunset we decided to go for a drive around the area as it's going to be cloudy for the next couple of days. We were only gone about an hour but it was a nice evening for a drive. Here are some photos. I especially like the one of the wave at the shoreline.