In my defence my mother is visiting so blogging has taken a back seat to going on fun trips with her. We really do have great fun when she is here. First trip that we always make is for a "Saturday mooch" a shopping trip around all of our favorite thrift stores (charity shops for those of you in England). Seeing as I have gained weight since I quit smoking I have needed to replace some of my ever convenient polyester pants which I wear for work every day. Luckily everywhere we went they appeared to be having a sale whereby women's pants were $1.00 a pair. I was in heaven. So after replacing my entire wardrobe for about $20.00, we went on various other trips, not least of which was to Riverfest in Wilmington, where the pirates were out and about doing their stuff.



I kept trying to find out when the raping and pillaging was going to be taking place but unfortunately they were too busy fighting.

Last weekend we took a trip to Socastee High School for a band competition via Fort Fisher aquarium which was fun. I thought this shot of the alligator was interesting.



On a sad note, my darling Uncle Tom has been taken very ill. I am sending all the best healing thoughts that I can for him, and hope upon hope that I will get a chance to see him again. But you know, even if I don't, I will never let go of the most fantastic memories I have of being in his presence. I cannot remember ever being around him when I wasn't smiling or laughing. He has a lust for life which is palpable and infectious. I will never ever be able to think of him without smiling as I remember all the fun times. Healing thoughts are going across the ocean. I hope that they work. Much love.

All this week as I drove to work I noticed an Egret down by the New River. Some mornings he would be on the boat pier and others he would be on a pole or the grass on the opposite bank. Every evening though he would be sat on the grassy bank opposite the park with a group of people fishing from the bank. As I observed him every evening it occurred to me that he perhaps hung out with the fishermen because they were kindred spirits but I suspected that it was more likely that the fishermen fed him, and he knew when he was onto a good thing. Yesterday I remembered to grab my camera bag as I left the house and as things were fairly quiet I took a lunch break. I grabbed myself a biscuit and some fries and proceeded to the Riverwalk Park behind the jail. (I know the location sounds suspect but it really is lovely.) As luck would have it the Egret was not there so I spent some time taking photos of the seagulls who were as well as the Muskovy ducks. Whenever I see a Muskovy duck I always think of the "Ugly Duckling" song (even though that is about a swan). But, Muskovy's are downright ugly, but they are almost comical because of it. I told a joke and this guy thought it was funny at least.



Shortly after they had walked by me, Father, Mother and young 'un decided it was bath time and went for a swim in the river. As you can see here there was a great deal of splashing going on.



From then it was a matter of preening the feathers to get them just right. It was obviously a very intricate task and required a great deal of attention.



I returned to take some more shots of the seagulls and noticed this daredevil, I could just see him saying to myself "ha, I laugh in the face of danger"



Lunchtime was over so it was time to go back to work but I was determined to go back after work. As I returned to the pier to my delight the Egret arrived, scattering the seagulls as he did so.



He then proceeded to claim the pier as his own. It was quite amusing to watch him. Obviously his size helped but he also used a variety of other tactics to assist in his quest. First up he preened himself, very obviously trying to make himself appear bigger, why I am not sure as he was easily ten times the size of the biggest seagull but he appeared to think that it helped.



The next technique he used was absolutely hilarious, it reminded me very much of the "Snoopy vulture pose" which I am sure you will be familiar with, it seemed to be very effective as the seagulls gave him a wide berth.



The sunlight was weakening and the seagulls really wanted to come in to roost but they weren't going to get passed the Egret, he checked out every angle.



And then, for what reason I do not know, whether it was another seagull scaring tactic or just for the joy of it the Egret began to dance.









As he was dancing I noticed to my dismay that a boat was coming in to the pier, which of course meant he would stop dancing and be leaving for the other bank. Of course I was correct.



I followed him and drove my car around to the fishing bank. He stood watching the fishermen, waiting for someone to catch something they didn't want. According to one of them he will not eat bait or anything dead, he prefers his dinner live. He was very relaxed in the company of the fishermen, and he allowed me to get quite close to take some more shots.



I thought this was interesting, he appeared to be reading the sign and thinking "where am I going to keep a license?"



The light was going and I decided it was time to get home to my critters so I left the Egret with his buddies, waiting patiently for his supper. What a great day it was.

This afternoon I noticed something wonderful on my climbing hempweed plants (a rather charming weed that I allow to grow cause the pollinators appear to love it). It was a black butterfly that I was not familiar with, it certainly wasn't a swallowtail, and by the way it was moving it looked like a hairstreak but it was way too large for one of those. Anyway I took some shots of it, hoping that they would aid me in my identification later.



As it moved around the hempweed I got more and more excited, this was a life lister for me, I had never seen one before and it was so beautiful.



I took a few shots of other butterflies, a coral banded hairstreak and a fiery skipper, then I went indoors and went about some chores that I had to do. An hour or so later I decided to go back out and check on my caterpillar farm and see if there were any other interesting butterflies on the hempweed, my heart sunk to my shoes when I saw this.



I know I shouldn't be upset, I know I shouldn't be cross at my spiders, after all I encourage them, and I enjoy them being there, if ONLY they would restrict their diet to grasshoppers and crickets. My heart was a little sadder after that despite my thought that at least I had got to see the butterfly before it had become prey for the spider, at least I saw it and photographed it. At least the butterfly enjoyed a day in the sun, feasting on nectar, and the spider, in her way, did her job, she is just gathering food to enable her to lay an eggcase. I suppose mother nature has her way, and sometimes I don't like it, sometimes it just really annoys me that in order to go along with mother nature you have to take the good with the bad, you have to take the triumphs of the birth of a butterfly with the tragedies of the death of one.

I know I know, I have not posted anything since, (hmmmm let me see the last time) and my two fans (Elizabeth and Beryl) are now bereft thinking perhaps that I have shuffled off this mortal coil and gone to my maker (Mother Nature). As it is I have simply been busy, The main reason that I have been busy is that my mother will be visiting in less than a month and well you know around here that is equivalent to Commanding Officer's inspection so a great deal of cleaning of house has to be done. As it is, due to the quitting smoking routine cleaning has suddenly been in my genes so it is not so much of a chore. I find myself cleaning to keep myself occupied, like when I am sat by the computer for instance, last night I was doing stuff on the puter and I found myself with q-tips, glass cleaner and cotton swabs cleaning the keyboard and the mouse for all they were worth. It is sad when you think about it, I have been taken over by the pod people. Tomorrow I will be wearing an apron and a set of pearls while I cook dinner.

The new Doctor Who series started this evening, in the words of a teenager it totally ROCKS! I love both episodes and I also loved the way they led into the Torchwood series, (which I didn't watch), will have to check it out.

Was cleaning the living room today, found a black widow, freaked me out, and yet, just like me, I let it out of the front door instead of killing it. I must be nuts.

I spent quite a bit of gas and quite a bit of time, driving 45 miles to a garden center in the area and $40.00 to buy dill and cilantro for my Black Swallowtail catterpillars. I think I am beyond hope at this point, really, most women would be out there spending $40.00 on a pair of shoes, or clothes, or jewelry or something, I am buying dill and cilantro so my Black Swallowtail Caterpillars have something to eat. Although one has to admit they are really pretty caterpillars



Peaches is, well lets not put too fine a point on it here, NUTS! I mean she really is, she is the most neurotic kitty I think I have ever encountered (Thanks Elizabeth). Her favorite game, her favorite game in the entire world is to attack the other cats of the household, when then are doing normal cat things like sleeping, for instance,



She has absolutely no rationale for doing anything that she does, none, whatsoever. This evening I was working on my planters out front, Peaches was with with me. For absolutely no apparent reason Peaches suddenly leapt about four feet into the air and back down again. What was THAT all about?

The air freshner conspiracy

Remember years back when they introduced "plug ins" they were the be all and end all of the air freshner industry. So like good little sheeple we all went out and bought them and noticed that they lasted for like two days and then didn't work anymore. Shortly thereafter Johnson and Johnson (a family company) brought out plug ins scented oil "that don't quickly fade away" In other words, "sorry idiots the product we produced and sold you previously really doesn't work worth a damn but this one does." So we sheeple went out and bought the scented oil thingies. Shortly thereafter they bring out the "scented oil fan" because the scented oil thingies didn't spread the scent around the room. In other words "sorry idiots, the new and improved product that we have been producing and selling you really doesn't work worth a damn but this one does" I never fell for it a third time, you know based on the "fool me once" theory. I switched to the Febreze noticeables which, really, actually, truly do work, isn't that a novelty?

By the way, on the TV advert for the aforementioned air freshners they show the packaging for the Hawaiian breeze scented oil fan which has a picture of a hibiscus bloom on it. Hibiscus have no scent so I am not sure how they contribute to the breeze at all.

Michael Vick's apology was very eloquent and well rehearsed. I saw that some people were impressed that he seemed to speak from the heart and without notes. It is easy to speak without notes when you have been rehearsing the speech with your lawyers every day for three weeks. I did notice that he failed to apologize to the dogs that he brutally murdered. We shall have to see what happens in the future for Michael Vick. Personally I think the only thing he could do to redeem himself in my eyes is to volunteer to enter a room full of hungry pit bulls dressed only in a thick layer of beef fat.

John Edwards' hypocrisy knows no bounds. He tells Americans that they should give up their SUVs when he owns both an SUV and a truck and flies around on a private plane. I honestly don't know how he can say this stuff with a straight face.

One of Hillary Clinton's major fundraisers turns out to be a) a bit shady and b) a convicted felon on the run from a prison sentence in California. Strange how that hasn't made the news.

Almost every summer evening in North Carolina smells like barbeque.

If Barack Obama ever gets ahead of Hillary in the polls he will be assassinated. Hillary will see to it. If anyone thinks that she is going to let anyone get in the way of her political ambitions then they are sadly mistaken.

What time do Morning Glories open up in different time zones?

Ditto Four O'Clocks.

If I keep putting on weight and have to buy a new wardrobe I am going to be sooooooo mad. What is the point of saving money not buying cigarettes if you are going to have to spend a fortune buying new clothes?