Garden owl

Tile installation

Russ sawing tile outside.

Working his way back into the bunkroom; the skipped tiles
are his walkway, to be filled in tomorrow.

The pocket door into the bunkroom hasn't yet been erected,
but he has left bare concrete for that to be put in later (where the level is resting).

The garage entry ramp has been leveled, and tile won't be set until
tomorrow, when the leveling compound has cured.

Flowers

Native azaleas, across the cove at Doc and Beverly's

Red rhodos are opening up about a week or two after the pinks

Pink rhodo

Bugs for dinner

Our resident male bluebird, with a buggy snack in his beak. Often he'll take such
a treat to the birdhouse, to share with his mate. This telephone wire is where he
stops to ponder, whether to share.

Remodeling

New windows in the blocked-up former garage-door opening, with temporary trim;
also put in an entry deck, to avoid having to walk through rain puddles on
wet days, going between upstairs and downstairs.

View out the new rec-room windows

Old glory

Red, white, blue and green

First hummers of spring

Taken with our motion-activated game camera

Here he is in video; be patient, he flits in and out of the picture. This was also taken with the game camera, in video mode. He's gone for good, after 0:18.

Downstairs remodeling

Before: two garage units, a bathroom, and a very long bedroom area.

After: one garage unit, the same bathroom, a bunk-room (cave), a nice-sized bedroom, and a play-room.

Right garage door blocked-in (open space for two large windows). Salvador,
the mason, spent the full day laying that masonry, which is completely filled with mortar.

Job-site conference between George and Serio
(the plumber, drywall guy, carpenter, etc.)

Doorway into bedroom (on the right), and pocket-door opening into bunk-room,
on the left. Still waiting for HVAC guy to move those flex-ducts!

Salvador cleaning up, after a long day slinging block and mortar. This is the
window opening in the new play-room.

Spring flowers

Rhododendron, beside stairs

French Broom bush, over the hot-tub

Pink azalea, near hot-tub

Mystery flower, from Chattooga River hike

Another mystery flower, same hike

Third mystery flower, same hike

Wild iris, along Chattooga River

Bartram Trail, downstream of Russell Bridge

Another exploratory hike along the Chattooga. This one started from the Highway 28 crossing (Russell Bridge), following the Bartram Trail downstream along the Georgia side of the Chattooga River. Being early April, Sunday, and sunny, there were some fishermen casting for trout along the river. And when I returned to the truck at the end of the hike, there was a church youth group from Midland, Michigan, setting out on a five-day backpacking trip along the Bartram Trail.

More photos follow; click on 'read-more' link, below.

I can't wait . . .

. . . to visit the Blue Fish Lodge!

• Everyone who wants to go to the Blue Fish Lodge, please raise your hand.
• All right, all right, Charlie; we got you on the list. You can put your hand down now.

First grandbaby. Yaaay!

Proud parents: Laura, Jake and Charlie.

Curious!

Wildlife camera

I'm trying out a Primos 35 wildlife camera. It is designed to be positioned where you expect wildlife and game to be active; it takes pictures (or video) automatically, when motion or a difference in heat activates the sensor. At night, it lights the picture with infrared, which the animals cannot detect. In these photos, the camera was strapped to a porch column, and aimed at the feeder.

Standing room only at the feeder, bird waiting in the tree

Goldfinch on feeder; cherry tree in bloom

Chattooga River, near Rock Gorge

This was a solo hike, exploring a way in to the Rock Gorge area, for fishing and camping purposes.

Deep pool

Eight photos follow; click on 'read more' link below.

Some are red and some are blue; some are old and some are new

One fish . . . 

two fish . . . 

red fish . . .

blue fish!

The blue fish came to us through the generosity of Laura, Taylor and Andrew. The red fish was a gift from our friend Ginger. Rhyming verses courtesy of Dr. Seuss.

 

Thanks!

What a hole!

Good hole-diggers are hard to find.

Three feet in diameter, approaching four feet deep, in the side yard between our place and Bill's, this hole is for a dry-well. The washing machine and upstairs shower will be diverted to drain into this dry-well, relieving the septic tank from having to process that water.

Bird of the day

Red-shouldered hawk (we think),
high in tree over Nancy's house

Sunset this evening, back at the lake

Lake Burton still down about 10', February 2

Departure - 26 January - One can toucan!

Indeed, one can. Especially if one tells one's airport transport driver, Marcos, that one hasn't seen a toucan whilst in Costa Rica. In which event, Marcos most assuredly will spot a toucan in the trees on the downhill road between Monteverde and Las Juntas, and will pull over for a Kodak moment.

'Whaccha lookin' at, gringo? Never seen a toucan?'

Though strongly backlit, the yellow breast is slightly discernible

Las Juntas, Costa Rica, was a gold-mining town settled in the late 1800's. This monument, in the middle of a traffic rotary, memorializes the gold miners.

Our depature airport was outside Liberia. The new terminal provides a less-crowded alternative to San Jose's airport, and a convenient entry point to the Pacific coast resorts in Guanacaste province.

Awaiting Delta 356, gate 5: a round of Manipulation, anyone?

Monteverde - 25 January - Quetzals at Curi-Cancha!

We did a wildlife hike in the Curi-Cancha Preserve, a section of woods up the hill from the Quaker cheese factory in Monteverde. Our guide, Rafael, did an amazing job of finding small, elusive birds in a dense cloud-forest setting. Lots of photos follow the break, below; click on 'read more' to see them.

Monteverde - 24 January - Pura vida!

Sunset from our balcony

Coffee farm tour and canopy zip-line tours, today; pictures and video follow the break. (Click on Read more link, below.)

Monteverde - January 23

Wind-sculpted tree, from our balcony

 We went to Selvatura Park, where we visited the hummingbird garden, the butterfly exhibit, and the canopy bridges (a trail including eight suspension bridges over cloud forest canopies). Many more photos after the break.

Monteverde - 22 January

End of the cruise, back at Puerto Caldera

Room with a view, Hotel Belmar, Monteverde, Costa Rica;
Gulf of Nicoya in the distant background

Flowers, Hotel Belmar garden

Sunset from our balcony, Monteverde

Star Flyer - 21 January - Curu Preserve, Isla Tortugas

Capuchin (white-faced) monkey at Curu Preserve

"Where do I sign-up for the Wizard-of-Oz flying monkey troop?"

Lots of teeth

Saint Francis and the Pink Flamingo

Ginger plant bloom

Sunset, Isla Tortugas

Our cruise group: Nina, Sue, Don, Carol, Robert, George, Joan