5 things this fulltimer has

A couple of bloggers have posted things that they think are necessary for RVers to have along in their travels.  I thought I’d blog about 5 things I have that may not be absolutely essential, but that make my fulltiming experience more complete for me.  One is a new purchase for me, and the others are replacements for worn out items or things I always have with me.It probably won’t surprise many of you that I consider bird feeders one of my essentials.  These are items that make me feel more at home when I land somewhere. (my new purchase will relate to my enjoyment of these feeders)

When I land at places like National Wildlife Refuges where I volunteer for an extended period, I put up a few more items that I have packed away.  That hummingbird wind catcher is well over 20 years old and pretty much shows me the winds better than those weather guessers on TV.    If I have a site with trees, I try to find a place for this happy face to blend into the environment.  It always reminds me of the talking trees in the Wizard of Oz.

On the replacement front are two things that make life more comfortable for me.  First up is a new shaver to combat HLS.  After mutilating my leg last week, I needed a new one of these.

I also replaced my personal sized 6” fan today.  The one I had for the last year or two just wouldn’t put out much air.  It resides on my bedroom nightstand, and provides a little white noise for sleeping as well as a cooling breeze for the times in the middle of the night that I seem to get over heated.

The fifth item is a new purchase for me.  It is a plastic handgun that shoots soft pellets.  My plan is to dissuade the marauding squirrels that are playing havoc with my bird feeders.  I’m not exactly Annie Oakley, so my intent is to just give the squirrels a good scare.  John (of fellow volunteers John and Diana) remarked that he couldn’t understand how I could hit anything with the way my hand shakes.  Sounds like a challenge to me!  In that vain, I purchased some soft pellets that leave a splash of yellow when you hit your target.  I’m fully expecting that we’ll have some yellow spotted squirrels around here in the near future.  I hesitated to post about this item, but I hope you’ll understand that I would never do anything to permanently damage any wildlife (other than mosquitoes and no-see-ums)… and maybe mice invading my RV.

So what items give you comfort or you feel are essential for your travels?

Now, as for one of the things that I wished I had in my RV is a dog that would pose for pictures.  Whenever I try to get a portrait of Emma, she turns her head one way…

…or the other.  At least this time she didn’t give me the rear end view she usually does…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

what's in a name

before walking into a classroom at my previous school, you could guess what about 80% of the kids names were going to be. john, sally, ann, jimmy. basically all the typical western names. at my new school, the names are a bit more unique which i love but i can never get the spelling right. when my student told me her name was donna, i excitedly wrote it on the board, how could i mess this one up? after writing it, the students started hysterically laughing. "teacher! you spell it d-a-n-a." the whole class was a lesson in korean spelling of western names. lincoln was l-i-n-c-o-n, ellen was e-l-i-n. then there were the ones that i've never heard before. i had an alva, lyon, rani (pronounced ronnie), claude (pronounced cloud), lina and zinee. the names will be easy enough to remember but the spelling may take me awhile.

Don’t forget to spring ahead!

Yep, it’s that time of the year again.  I, personally, look forward to Daylight Savings Time for two reasons.  Since I seem to rise with the sun, after a few days of adjustment, I’ll be getting a little more sleep for a while.  It will also allow me to be outside until later in the evening.  That makes me happy.

My plan for today was to take care of chores.  I did get a couple of loads of wash out on the line, and that was good and not so good.  No rain was forecast for today, so things would dry; that’s good.  Notice those red sweatpants on the line?  That’s the not so good part.  They were new and receiving their first wash.  I didn’t think a thing about it until I pulled the load out of the washer.  As you may have guessed, the rest of the load now sports a rather pinkish tint to it. 

As I noticed the blue skies and warming temperatures, I decided to forget about the other chores I had planned.  I couldn’t pass up such a gorgeous day, so Emma and I headed out to the Gulf Shores National Seashore instead for a hike.  First up was a chance to enjoy the blooming azaleas once again.  I just can’t seem to get enough of these vibrant colors.

                    I’d much rather be out and about enjoying the wildlife than shopping for groceries.

We came here several times last year, so I knew to park in the picnic area and head out on foot for the trail.

There’s a nice gator pond along the way to the trailhead, but there were only turtles out sunning themselves today.

Even though this is a well used trail, being out in the woods always makes me imagine I’m the first person ever traveling this path.

There always seems to be something new to see.  I spent some time watching this little dude.  I was unable to capture it with a photo, but every so often he would stop and inflate a red patch on his throat for a Nano-second.  I just couldn’t press the shutter fast enough to capture it.

Of course, I had avian friends along the way as well.  It was quite warm, and a little buggy for this walk.  The no-see-ums have arrived recently in Mississippi, and like mosquitoes they seem to seek me out.

As I sat on one of the benches to observe the lizard, Emma seemed to relax as well.  I mistakenly thought that perhaps I had burned up some of her unlimited energy.  As usual, I was wrong about that.  As soon as I stood up she was off to the races once again.   I really think she should live with a ten year old boy!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

More pics of Bellingrath Gardens

Back in 1917, Walter Bellingrath was advised by his doctor to buy an abandoned fishing camp so the overworked business man could learn to relax. 

Bellingrath was Mobile’s first Coca-Cola bottler.  After buying that fishing camp along the Fowl River, Mrs. Bellingrath soon decided to beautify the camp with flowers.

In 1927, the Gardens began to really develop as the fishing camp was transformed into a country estate.  Flagstone pathways, fountains, and a formal rose garden were added.

In April of 1932, the Bellingraths placed an ad in the Mobile newspapers inviting its citizens out on a Sunday afternoon to see the spring flowers.

I can just imagine their surprise when 4700 people showed up on that Sunday in April! 

That’s when Bellingrath Gardens was born.  Just two years later, the Gardens were open year round.

The next year, a 15-room home was completed for the couple to live in.  This is a view of the Fowl River from one of the patios of the house.

Mrs. Bellingrath died in 1943 and her husband in 1955.  As they had no children, Mr. Bellingrath created a foundation to honor his wife and oversee the gardens and home. 

The income from visitors to the Garden and Home not only provides for the upkeep of the property, but also goes to three Christian colleges and two local churches, and has provided hundreds of scholarships over the years. 

We walked just about all of the paths through the gardens, but did not tour the house.  As I said before, we were on sensory overload by the time we left.

If at all possible, I would recommend a visit to the Gardens during the peak of the azalea bloom.  I’m sure each season has its own blooming highlights, but I can’t imagine it could get much more spectacular than this.

Today was spent working at the Visitor’s Center, and Diana and I made quite a bit of progress on our ‘What’s Blooming this Week on the Trails’ pamphlet.  Diana is the whiz at the computer, so I mainly just provide photos and help out where I can.  

It will be another day working inside tomorrow, but then I’ll have four days off to do chores and explore.  Wahoo! 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Meeting a visitor from the desert southwest

The breezes were really blowing as I headed into work this morning.  Diana and I finally got a day to work on one of our projects rather than being stuck in the Visitor’s Center.  We headed off to the Fontainebleau Trail in the Ocean Springs unit of the refuge to document, with notes and photos, what was blooming on the trail.

First up, I noticed that the fiddlehead ferns were well on their way.  This is quite a bit earlier than I found them last year.

Since the azaleas were in full bloom at the Bellingrath Gardens yesterday, I had wondered about the wild azaleas that are found on this trail.  Last year, it was April before blooms were evident.  Turned out that they are about to burst into full bloom along the bayou as well.

A few of the buds had opened, but I’m thinking I need to come back here in about five days or so to be surrounded by these fragrant blooms.  Being on this trail at just the right time last year was one of those highlights of my volunteer stint here.  Not only are these blooms a visual delight, but the fragrance along this section of the trail on a sunny day can just send you to cloud nine!  The butterflies also find them intoxicating.

Those azaleas are only found along a certain stretch of the trail that is a certain distance up from the bayou.  I find that most interesting how certain species can only exist under exact circumstances.  You won’t find any azaleas a little lower down along this boardwalk,…

but we did encounter this handsome fellow.  It’s got some really cool coloration and scaling along its back.

I’m not going to include all the blooms we found, but this is one of the plants we will have to investigate and identify tomorrow while we’re both working the VC.  Our plan is to identify blooming plants along the trails so we can develop a weekly list of what to see as folks hike along.

So what about the visitor from the desert southwest?  Well, after lunch we headed out to find a noteworthy avian visitor that somehow made it to the coastline just south of Ocean Springs.

This Painted Redstart was discovered along the Gulf Coast in January.  It should not be here.  It naturally lives in Mexico and can be found, in breeding season, in certain areas of Arizona and New Mexico.  Certainly not in Mississippi! 

Well, this little dude was singing its heart out for us just as we arrived at the designated tree.    Don’t know who put up the sign pointing up a certain tree, but they didn’t quite get the name right.  That didn’t seem to matter, though, as the sign did point out the correct live oak tree.

And the reported yellow-bellied sapsucker showed up as if on queue.  The redstart follows this sapsucker around since the holes that it pecks in the trees produces sap that attracts insects.  The Painted Redstart was a life bird for me, so I appreciated its cooperation in showing up for a matinee performance. 

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

Bellingrath Gardens

Diana and I drove to Mobile, AL, this morning to meet my friends Fonda and Denny for lunch.  Afterwards, the ladies in the group went to visit the Bellingrath Gardens.  What an afternoon it turned out to be.

Because of the mild winter, the azalea blooms are peaking about two weeks or so ahead of normal.  All of the vibrant blooms along the paths were almost overwhelming to take in.

I took so many pictures that I’ll be using them in more than one post.  What luck we had in choosing to visit the gardens this week.

There were also some lingering camellia blossoms left to enjoy as well.  Having spent most of my life living in the north, seeing all of these blooms in the first week of March was hard for me to comprehend.

This, of course, is not an azalea, and when I saw it this afternoon I knew exactly what flower it was.  However, I’m getting tired and having a senior moment right now, so you’ll either know what it is or not. 

When we bought our $12 tickets to tour the gardens, the young lady said it would take us about an hour to walk all of the paths.  Perhaps that is true for someone that comes here when nothing is blooming, but we all had cameras and oohed and aahed our way around the paths for well over two hours.  There were plenty of benches along the way to sit and just let the beauty of the blooms sink in.  These three chairs were placed  in an area surrounded by white azaleas. 

Fonda also rested her feet and took a ride on this lion along the way.  It didn’t seem to matter where you paused today.  You were always surrounded by blooms.

I think I’ll save the history of these gardens for tomorrow’s post.  It’s getting a little late, and as I said, I’m getting tired.  It’s back to work for the next three days, so I had better rest up.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy