This is my fishing hole. I have a patent on this tie up place so if you happen to be in the neighborhood, and I'm fishing that day, stay away. If you see this and look directly to your right, you will see some pretty scary looking hornets. They are my paid security system.
This is hornet haven. Now you will have to blow up this pic and look just above the loose bark. Those hornets are hiding behind that loose bark. It's hard to see, but a couple of the boys are visible.
Actually they aren't hornets, I think they are paper wasps but there is no ring to saying paper wasp haven so I'm keeping it hornet haven. They must be there gathering materials for their nest.
Those wasps may be intimidating looking but as long as you don't threaten them, they won't hurt you. I wouldn't even think of threatening them.
The nests of these paper wasps are in many of the trees along the river. You have to watch out for them when meandering through some of the tight cuts. Don't want your face to slam into one of those wasp nests. Now I have gotten a line hung up in a tree with one of those huge wasp nests in it. I have also been stubborn enough to still want my lure back that the tree tried to hold on it. Even pulling and shaking the tree has not really pissed off the wasps. I only do it from a distance and when I am prepared to make a quick retreat.
Now this is what makes taking all the risks worth it. There have been several of these fellows hanging out under those tree limbs. That's a good size fish there. I have fairly long fingers and that fish was a hand full.
That fish is called a white perch or crappy. It's good eating. Just think of that baby coated with corn meal. I fillet these fish before I cook them, wouldn't want my dinner looking back at me.
Now our friend Craig Crawford at Trailmix says he has a fantasy of one day running a fish camp when he retires. Craig, you need to come visit "The Swamp". We could maybe teach you a thing or two. You need to get your feet a little muddy, to see if you like it.
This pic has nothing to do with hornet haven. I found something growing in the front yard. It looked like a tall asparagus. I mowed around it so I could see what that asparagus would turn in to. It turned in to a red spider lily. One
52 comments:
Again, I put in some links in my post and they are on the post until I publish. Let me try here.
Red Spider Lily
as in: Paper Wasp
Another strange thing is that the material doesn't preview like it posts.
Well off to see if there are any fish I left behind yesterday. It's foggy out there.
'Mornin, Carol. You're out catching your breakfast, are 'ya?
Love the themes you got going today...lilies and spiders...they're popping out all over today. Did you see the Charlotte-lookalike who paid a visit to the Pope in Prague?
I blew-up your photo and could easily see the hornets on the tree bark. I probably mentioned Bear Woman keeps beehives, but she also leaves wasp nests undisturbed wherever the occur, even the ones that took up residence on her cabin's porch. I was skittish about sitting so near their fly-way, but she assured us if you don't bother them, they won't bother you.
Speaking of blow-up photos, if you go back to my Castle-photo on the previous thread, enlarge it, and look in the lower left rough grassy area, you will see some wildflowers. I don't know what they are, but they were pretty. In another spot along the walkway, there were more growing, plus some blue flowers, as well as thistles, the Scottish national flower. I plucked a few of each, pressed them in paper towels, and stowed them between the pages of my book for the trip home. I was sure I was going to get in some kind of trouble from somebody, but they made it. I will see if I can laminate them, maybe make some bookmarks. My favorite kind of keepsake.
Buddy Guy was awesome. What a showman!
Ivy, what a great idea to blow up the pics. I went back and blew up your castle to see the wildflowers and loved the blow up pic. All of the buildings were so interesting. I don't paint, but wish I did - that would be a great pic to paint.
Carol, I blew up your last pics too and loved the blow ups. The crappie has such lovely colors. Now I feel bad for him that he was eaten.
Now, I am going back and blow up all the pics.
Ivy, I had a friend long ago who used to pick up wildflowers and press them and then glued them on cards to send. I have kept some of those. Laminating them for bookmarks is a great idea too. You are very creative - and its a memory of your trip.
Jan
"... she also leaves wasp nests undisturbed wherever the occur, .. but she assured us if you don't bother them, they won't bother you."
Ivy, I usually try to destroy wasp's nests. I am going to rethink that. Thanks for sharing this. Creatures have just as much right to life as we do.
The hour before we left for Buddy Guy was a three-ring circus. We were watching the end of the Crimson Tide game, trying to get out the door on time, when the phone rang with the news about my brother's Tibet adventures, and also the probable cancellation of our Hawaii trip. Safe to say my feelings are "relieved" on both counts. I hadn't been too concerned about Tibet until the tragic news came about the Congresswoman's husband's death there. Then I realized I didn't know where my brother was, or if he was safe. It was a coincidence that the phone rang with news a short time later.
I'm getting over my jet-lag, but a quiet stay-cation doesn't sound too bad.
I should correct that word "coincidence." I don't believe in them. It's all synchronicity.
Ivy, we watched the AR/Ala game too. My husband is from Arkansas and a dyed-in-the-wool Razorback. Needless to say, he was a little down yesterday about his team losing. Football is a big deal in my family. My 2 oldest sons are Okla fans (they were both born in OK and watched OK play since they were infants - with my dad), I got my PhD at UT Austin - so I am a "longhorn" fan. My husband's first wife is from Alabama so that game is a big one for him. When AR loses to Alabama, which seems to happen often in last few years, he is downright depressed.
Ivy, that is a good example of "synchronicity" Is your brother out of Tibet?
Jan,
My idea of souvenirs is "weird" by some counts. I also collect rocks from the places we visit, and mark them with place and date where I got them. I brought a piece of the castle, actually picked up on the beach where the North Sea meets the land at low tide. It was "important" for me to put my hand in the cold water.
Elsewhere, I took a tiny "standing stone" from near the site of "The Nine Staines," the prehistoric circle near Banchory. Not from within the circle itself, mind you. It's a fine line to me between respecting a sacred site and creating a keepsake of my own spiritual journey. I hope I got it right.
link to The Nine Staines
http://www.visitbanchory.com/heritage/local-archaelogy.html
Yes, Jan, my brother is home safe. Thanks. The "mystery" of his trip dates is deliberate. Sometimes he tells us his departure date, but he really gives us the date he's returning. That's primarily for our Mom who frets the whole time he's gone. That way, when she's ready to begin worrying, the trip is over. We think Mom "suspects" when there's a couple weeks and he's not phoning her like he usually does. But Mom is a long-time subscriber to the don't-ask-don't-tell policy of family communications.
You are right, Carol (good memory), his twin was highly opposed to these missions...it's the only thing I've EVER seen them quarrel about in their whole lives. I think he finally came around when it became clear nobody was talking him out of it.
Carol,
You do have nice hands and good fingernails. The hands of a hard worker, that.
Ivy, I am going to tell my children about the "don't ask, don't tell" Like your mother, I worry about things that I don't need to be worrying about too. When my son was riding a motor cycle back from Michigan, I didn't sleep for 2 nights.
Does your brother take these trips on his own or does he work with an agency/govt? If you cannot say- that is ok. My husband's bro is retired with the FBI - and he could never tell us anything related to his work.
Ivy, like you, I love to collect mementos of trips. I must have thousands of shells and sand and other beach stuff from trips to the beach we used to take.
Jan,
I hadn't realized you are "Dr. Jan." I just knew you are brilliant! I lived in Houston for 7 years during the late '70s and early '80s. We used to visit Wimberly where our friends had a cabin on the Blanco River. We used to tube float there. Texas Hill Country is my favorite part of the state. Not Houston, like Carol said, the traffic is brutal.
My brother doesn't work for the government. His Tibet trips are voluntary church service.
Good morning ladies. Well I guess it is afternoon. I just got in from fishing and didn't have too much luck to day. Only caught a few smaller ones and again lost a couple of no seers. I'm going to have to get a steel leader to catch whatever that is that keeps breaking my line.
Much hotter out today. It was overcast for half of the day on Friday and Saturday, but not today.
Not catching many fish is probably the universe's punishment for my not having cut my grass at the house yet. But....I'm not there to see it. Oh well, I guess I will do that when I rest up from all that hard fishing.
I got stung by a wasp one day last year while doing something under the camp. I didn't see the nest and it drilled me in the back. It felt like a hot poker through my back.
At first I thought someone shot me but before I fell dramatically to the ground I realized it was just a wasp and also, no one was watching so I would have wasted the drama.
Wasps are good. "Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their numbers, or natural biocontrol. Parasitic wasps are increasingly used in agricultural pest control as they prey mostly on pest insects and have little impact on crops."
Wasps
Te he, te he, I like to do that linking stuff too.
I'm curious about your brother's experience also Ivy. Will he be able to share it with us?
After a weekend playing at the camp Ivy, I have to bleach my hands before going back to work. You ought to see them after I fish with worms.
I love the Texas Hill Country too Ivy. That's where the Guadalupe River is and it's wonderful. I've spent a lot of time on that river. New Braunsfels is great also. Love that little town.
New Braunfels, Texas
I also collect rocks and shells when I go on vacation but don't label them.
Trailmix is all ka ka today.
Carol, fascinating info about wasps - and you are great at the linking. I went on a couple of the Guadalupe river trips with you. You were good at teaching us how to go around big rocks sticking up in the white water, and down little falls and how to portage around the bad spots. Great memories.
Ivy, I am not brilliant. I am persistent when I want something. I Never planned to get a PhD. When I began teaching nursing - many nursing faculty did not have a masters degree - but they told me if I wanted to continue teaching I needed a Masters degree - so I did that (Carol and I went to Houston and did our Masters Degrees together-Carol in Medical surgical nursing and me in maternal child nursing). When I came to NM the Dean told me if I wanted to continue teaching I needed a PhD - so I did that too. When I started the PhD program in Texas I looked around at all the other PhD students, and I said to myself - what am I doing here? I am not smart enough to do this - but I hung in and pretty soon I had finished it. I did love going to school though - once I got over my fear of failing and realized I was just like everyone else in the program, I loved it. I lived in Austin during the four years I was in school - and those were probably the most exciting years of my life. It was a great place to go to school. I had raised my sons and was single and didn't have much money- but neither did any of my friends. I too love the Hill country in Texas. It is the best part of Texas, I think.
I am curious as to what kind of church work your brother does.
I lived in Dallas/Arlington for 3 years after leaving Austin. Big mistake, too much city for me. Moved to Little Rock after that - and was much happier there.
I have looked back at my HS yearbook - Next weekend is my 50th HS reunion - I can't go. Someone our senior year write by my name, "It's just the gypsy in me." I have no idea why someone wrote that. It has somehow defined my life in ways - I have loved living in different places. I do enjoy meeting and getting to know people from diverse cultures. In my adult years, I have not lived in one house longer than 5 years. After about 4 years in one house, or 9 years in one town, I begin to think about going somewhere else. I plan to retire next year, and I am already thinking, do I want to stay here? I change my mind from day to day. My family and friends tell me they make sure to write my address and phone number in pencil - not ink.
How long did you live in Austin Jan? Did you like it there? I have visited there several times and really liked it.
My older sister is the wanderer in our family. Once when she was down visiting, we counted all the moves she made. There were quite a few. Some were out of state, others were within the general area. It wore me out just thinking about all the packing and unpacking. The rest of us have pretty much stayed put.
One of Gloria's homes was also Little Rock. I enjoyed visiting her there. You could head in any direction and find wilderness, well at least you could when she lived there.
Jan,
I'm sure you are smarter than you give yourself credit for, in addition to being a hard worker.
I have a former colleague and now good friend who is a "doctor of nursing." Is that what you are, or the same as what Carol is? Carol,
I know you are a Practically-a-Doctor, right?
I put off getting my graduate degree for 20 years after college. In my early career, I didn't feel I needed one. People with Master's degrees or more had to be anal retentive or pointy-heads, or some such, imo. Later, after I was working in an "institution of higher education," it became more relevant, a combination of education-inflation and peer pressure. Still, I had no confidence in myself and put it off. I had visions of myself slumped with exhaustion, face down in a text book. Then one day, I saw a college recruitment ad in the newspaper, and it hit me: if I wanted to see A's on a report card, it had to be mine. So I took the first step, and put one foot in front of the other until I was all the way through it. I learned I could do more than I thought. I learned you can make up for lack of "effortless brilliance" with diligent work. And I learned when you are excited about learning, the learning itself provides the fuel to energize your efforts.
I finally could get on TM today, and saw Craig had posted the site was "glitchy." It seems to be all fixed now.
I'll try to get the rest of my post-able trip pictures on here asap. After tallying them, there's fewer than I'd hoped. That lost-recharger caper cost me more picture time than I realized. Oh well, I can't really be mad a Hubs...I could have looked in the bottom of that bag myself and found the recharger, but I let myself be too jet-lagged and lazy to do it.
Ivy, what is your graduate degree in? Good for you that you went on to get your degree. It is interesting that many of the youngest students I teach appear to have all the confidence in the world, but the more mature students usually need lots of encouragement to continue school. I did not begin my undergrad degree until I was 27 -my dad had convinced me that I could not do it, but my then-husband was very encouraging and even tutured me in math and chemistry. I give him a lot of cridit for all of that support.
My PhD is in nursing. I wonder if I know your friend who has the same?? It is a small world in nursing. You are so right, diligent work will get one through school any day - at least that is what I tell my grandchildren.
I am looking forward to your other pics. I want to print off the one you have posted and see if I can do something with it in fabric - if that is ok with you. It is spectacular!
Carol, I remember that your older sis lived in Little Rock when we went skiining years ago. Didn't her husband teach at the the University there? I thought about her when I moved to LR. Her name was the same as your mother, I think but I think she had a nickname - but I can't remember it.
Carol, when did you go back to school to be a nurse practitioner? Where did you go?
You can still find wilderness around Little Rock. There has been a lot of building since I first moved there in 1990, but still a lot of woods. I love Arkansas. It is one of my favorite places I have lived.
I lived in Austin 4 years. I ran into Linda Randle while living there. She was going to school for her MS. We got together a few times. She remarried - a photographer - and was really happy.
Carol, my younger sister has stayed in one state all of her life. She would have lived in one house if not for her husband. He changed jobs several times so they moved about every 12 years or so, but always in OK. She is one of the few people I know who hates to travel.
Carol, I had a long comment this morning and a long comment this afternoon all typed up in the comment box, and lost them both, when one thing and another kept happening, and I was called away from my computer. I finally just gave up, but was able to read everyones comments and enjoy the links, so that made me happy. Thank you Carol, Ivy and Jan!
Losing those comments... well, that's the kind of day this was. I'm mad at myself for letting things get so disorganized today, but it did, and all I can do is start over tomorrow. There's a lot less going on here during the week and I'm actually looking forward to Monday (usually not my favorite day). It'll be just Emma and me most of the day tomorrow, and I'm going to get my head back on straight. Time to prioritize again.
ps Carol, As I'm writing this, the cutest little hummingbird is feeding outside my window. It calmed me right down. I've had to move that dang feeder three times, but not it's steady and staying there. The first place I had it, we had a downpour and it filled with water and all drained out. The second place was kinda catywampus, because I was hanging it while it was pouring down rain, and was doing this through an upstairs window. Finally, I've got it under the eave, so it won't take in water, and it's hanging there steady and strong right there in clear site, about 8 or 10 feet from me. A great view (finally). I got 3 of my windows changed out for picture windows today, with 2 to go in tomorrow. The view is soooo much nicer.... but there'll be no more opening them to mess with feeders. So if anything goes wrong this time, I'll be on a 20' ladder. Oh boy.
Bingo! I did it. Sorry it's so long. I didn't think I had anything to say, until I started talking.
Carol, I'd be real careful around that hornets nest if I were you. If something goes wrong, they can be fatal (if there's enough of them). Like I said once, I don't 'completely' trust any animal, and I'll go ahead and put insects into the animal category in this case. Don't trust them.
... oh, and nice spider lily and nice manicure too. How do you find the time.
Jan,
Feel free to use the photo...my belief is anything on the Internet becomes fair game. Sometimes that gives me pause before I post stuff, but once I put it out there, it's no longer "mine."
:)
Manicure,what manicure? I just keep them clipped. I've never had a manicure but I did have a couple of pedicures a while back. That was nice.
My nails are so hard that I can't bite them or I'd break a tooth, especially theses day when I can break a tooth eating spagetti.
Jan I got my NP at MSU. I was in the first class they had. I was working full time as a CNS at the hospital and half time at MSU teaching and also going to school. It took about three years to finish.
I really was tired and wanted to quit but every time I tried the universe said no. Once I almost missed registering. It was the last day to do it and I was headed out on vacation. I dropped by Corkie's office to get something and Darlene was there and reminded me to register. Drats.
Then another semister they said we would have to pay full tuition. As faculty, we didn't have to pay tuition. I thought, I just won't go this semester because I need the money. They we got this mystery bonus, just the amount I needed for tuition. Never got a bonus before. I thought, I could use this money for something else. Then they waved the tuition requirement and I had absolutely no more excuses. It was a sign that I had to finish.
Basically, the universe was dragging across that finish line, kicking and screaming.
Ken Burns has a documentary on the national parks. Starts now and goes through Thursday. PBS
The National Parks
Actually Sunday-Friday
Carol, but you finished! I am in awe of the nurse practitioners I work with. You all do amazing work. I started a pedi nurse practitioner program in Arlington and got about 1/2 way through and my brother was killed in a car accident and Bob got re-married the next weekend. I was still going through a lot of grief over the divorce and just really could not do anything but go to work every day. I just dropped out of the program. I moved to Little Rock shortly after that. I have never looked back. Teaching is my thing.
Chloe, Its great to see you back with us. I missed you. I too have been writing a comment and then it just disappears and doesn't come back. Sounds like you are doing some home remodeling. The picture windows sound good. You did get your hummer feeders in order - good for you. I still have not been out to get feeders. I hate to go shopping. John and I said we will get some first thing next year. Careful with those 20 ft ladders.
Jan,
That sounds like some tough times...you not only survived, you thrived...you inspire.
Ivy, I do love your castle picture. It is the most amazing picture with the grasses in front. I like to blow it up and just sit and look at it. It looks like the castle and other buildings are not lived in - sort of coming apart from the top down.
Carol, I just looked back at what I wrote and I meant "skiing" not "skiining" when I was talking about your sister. Hmm, that may have come out sounding a little kinky.
Ivy, yes - sometimes we can only survive. I imagine your brother has been through some tough times recently.
Nite all.
Well, I have to get the other pictures up here just for you, Jan. Dunnottar is a "castle ruin." It had sat neglected from 1715 to 1925. Hubs came across a brochure for it, otherwise we wouldn't have known about it. It was mentioned somewhere (after the fact, for me) that it was a destination on an episode of Amazing Race. I have never been able to "get into" that show for some reason...I could never figure out what was going on.
Two other castles we visited were 16th century restorations, fully furnished in period antiques. Castles in Scotland are maintained by the National Trust of Scotland, sort of like our National Park Service, that maintains them for posterity. In most cases, the titled families could no longer afford to maintain them.
Jan,
Yes, some tough times for us all, but I think we grow through persevering.
So happy to hear about your hummingbird success, Chloe. How long did it take for the first ones to arrive after you put up your feeder?
Here is a hummingbird I have yet to see, but I've been invited to come to see it. It is the national bird of Jamaica, and was the topic of much dinner conversation when we were in London, as we spent part of that time with a group from Jamaica (they knowing I'm a "bird person" were eager to share). They call it the "Doctor Bird," as it is held in folklore to have healing powers.
see Doctor Bird here
http://www.scscb.org/working_groups/Actions/bird_August_06_RBStreamertail.htm
Some more Dunnottar Castle pictures are up...worn out now from uploading and editing, so I'll say 'nite. Tomorrow, some restored castle photos and a bit about them...
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