A short sunset walk . . .

"Know where to find the sunrise and sunset times

and note how the sky looks at those times, at least once."

- Marilyn vos Savant

We are lucky enough to live 30 minutes from an hour vacation . . . 

Sunday at about 4:30 in the afternoon, we got the bug . . . to just drive to Galveston and walk on the beach at sunset. Happy sigh . . . 

We weren't the only ones . . . and this cute little guy had a different agenda than his human. I was eagerly greeted with some love. 

So many little gifts I found scattered the beach, 

 and I filled my pockets until the sun no longer provided enough light.

 There were little pieces of artwork drawn in the sand . . . can you see it, the "hang loose" hand sign?

And warm enough to go barefoot, hand in hand.

If I haven't snoozed my alarm too many times this morning, I will at approximately 7:19 be greeting the morning with the seagulls and my camera. I might even splurge and get some donut holes.

The house is a little quieter once again as we took our girl back to college after a nice month long visit. There was an epic two layer, two cake mixes, homemade butter cream frosting, chocolate in the middle with vanilla on top, cake made while she was here....just sayin'! :) 

I have one monarch chrysalis left to emerge and I hope its story is better than the last one (insert sad face).

On a happy note, I'm getting a LOT of seeds bursting forth from the seed pods.

Monday I started back to my metals class...and OH my arms are out of shape. I know this because after sawing for two days the muscles in my sawing arm are sore. Not exactly sure what I'm making, but I do know that there will be some butterfly shapes involved, and flowers.

And that's a random wrap . . . 

Until next time,

Love Kim

Sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Random Five Friday, Friday Finds,

                   Friday Photo Journal

The seaweed is here {jumping for joy} . . .

"People protect what they love"

- Jacques Cousteau

Yes we do. We protect our families, our homes, our possessions.

We protect our freedom.

We do so with force and sometimes 'til death.

But in my humble opinion, we have failed epically to protect our environment and its precious resources.

Everything was put here on this Earth to fulfill a purpose.

Not just for our sustainability, but also for our pleasure.

So, without further delay, I'm here today to help you fall in love . . . with a frogfish! lol
Oh yeah, you're gonna wish you could hold one when this is over

Do you remember I finally found one last year in the sargassum seaweed? Well, in my only two visits to the beach so far this year (yes that comes as a shock to me too-the two part not the visit), I not only found one but I found 5!

I was so happy to get to the beach AND see the seaweed  . . .  I skipped straight into the water!!

And I'm not the only one that gets excited for this massive entrance of seaweed dinner.

The seagulls can almost always be found waiting for their fair share of seaweed critters to snatch up.

I was only going to go and stay for a few hours . . . 

. . . but me and my handy dandy blue net (you remember that one) were having way too much fun!

The waves AND the seaweed were crashing into the shore (and my legs). Always takes just a bit to desensitize my legs to that feeling of something crawling on me. But as you start to hit pay dirt, you just kinda forget about it.

The one I found last year was probably about twice this size, and they can reach up to 7.5".

Such a fascinating looking fish complete with weedy dermal appendages that help it to blend right in. Ever seen a fish with blue eyes? Me either. 

They depend on their camouflage for protection since this fish has no scales.

Now watch what happens when I put him in the water . . . 

Ta da, just look at all those crazy appendages, isn't it cute! Do you see the sargassum shrimp on the left?

Oh yeah, I caught a ton of millet too. These are used a lot as bait fish, when they get larger of course.

As I was photographing these through my temporary aquarium glass jar, I hear someone say excuse me.

I turn around and it's a white truck with the words, Texas Parks and Wildlife! Ruh roh, and then he asks me, "Whatcha got there"? Whew, he was really just interested in what I had in the container, and was a little surprised that I caught them in my little kids net. 

1. I could live at the beach (shocker)

2. I go to the beach to relax, but I never sit down...hardly ever (another shocker)

3. I love the seaweed . . . people think I'm crazy (I know, shocked again)

4. There is almost 100 species of marine life that lives in that seaweed (I heard ya say wow)

5. I'm on a mission to find them all (of course you're not surprised) 

Sargassum shrimp...check

Sargassum frogfish...check

sargassum crab...check

nudibranch...check

cute little fish I do not know the name of ...check  

The problem is, people look at the seaweed as a smelly glass that is half empty . . . 

But really it's half chocked full of really cool sea life!!

I can tell you nearly 9.5 times out of 10 after someone asks me why I'm shaking the seaweed

they had no idea all these things live in there and then they get really interested. In fact, most of the things that do live in it can be found no where else, exclusive to this seaweed.

From experience I have found that people warm up to things they may fear when they have some knowledge
and understanding . . . which may lead to interest and caring about it . . . which may lead to loving it.

And,

People protect what they love.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Love, Kim
XO

Sharing with Little Things Thursday, Friday Photo Journal, Finding Serendipity {1440}

Random 5 Friday

Foto Friday

Happy Friday everyone! The sun is out and they are calling for a high of 75 today and tomorrow with a high of 79 on Sunday! Time to get out the garden gloves . . .

This week has gone by pretty quickly and I'm really looking forward to the weekend and the chance for some excitement with my camera. I went to lunch with my husband this week to find I wish I had brought my camera along. I almost always do, but who would have thought that I would have seen the Texas Trail Riders going through the restaurant parking lot on their way to the Houston Livestock and Rodeo Show? Unfortunately unlike a parade there were no clowns with shovels following them, which made for quite the mess they left behind. Did I mention there were a lot of horses? (insert smiley face)

This first picture is that of the doors that lead into the Grace Episcopal Church in Galveston, Texas. It's a beautiful Gothic style church that was designed by the famous architect Nicholas Clayton and was consecrated in 1895.

It's a survivor of the 1900 storm as well as the more recent hurricane Ike from 2008. After the 1900 storm, they spent years raising the grade of the entire island and building the Galveston Seawall. By way of a completely brilliant system of hand turned jacks the church was raised four and a half feet and not one of the stones was cracked in the process. They pumped in a slurry of sand and water to fill in where the buildings were raised and of course had to wait for the water to drain off. Over 2,100 buildings were raised in this manner and it took them over 7 years!  The more I learn about the island the more fascinated I am by Galveston and it's people. They really are survivors . . .

After breakfast last weekend we walked across the street and I took this outside in a garden area of the Hotel Galvez, again on Galveston Island. A hotel of the elegant Victorian era that had guests such as Franklin D. Roosevelt, Howard Hughes, and Frank Sinatra. We met and talked with a security officer who is also a historian for the island who enjoyed sharing as much as we did receiving all of his interesting historical information. This is a place that I will be re-visiting, looking for that historian with my journal in hand next time. He was like a walking history book only with animation.

They were just setting up brunch when we took a peek inside . . . yep we'll be back for that too!










Okay, next to the Pelican I think the Roseate Spoonbill would be my other favorite bird. They reach about 32" high with a wingspan of 50", and they have the most extraordinary red eyes and their feathers are PINK.   Because they eat foods rich in carotenoids, the more they eat the pinker they become. I was thrilled to get these photos since it's hard to get close enough (unless you own multi-million dollar lenses,ha) without spooking them. I was lucky as we had pulled off to the shoulder for some egret shots and in he flew!

And just yesterday I visited a chain garden center to find a plethora of plants to make any gardener

drool with the anticipation of spring planting! The first two pictures are Osteomums and the last one

is a Hydrangea. I also spotted my first two Monarch butterflies but couldn't talk either one of them into a photo. (insert sad face)

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Love,
Kim XO

Foto Friday....on makeup Monday

This, is my sentiments exactly!

Last week was not my best week....lost my crown on a tooth that had already had 2 root canals and they couldn't put it back on. The tooth was cracked well below the gum surface, so they extracted it and did a bone graft to prepare it for a future implant. Two dentists, two hours, four numbing shots, and five stitches to get the sucker out.

I was informed when he finished that I made it to his top five list of difficult teeth to remove in all his 30 years of practice. Somehow, that wasn't the kind of 'special' person status I was hoping for!

So I had very good intentions of posting foto Friday on Friday, but I could not keep my eyes open following a night of pain meds and then a very busy weekend ensued.




My son's 7 on 7 touch football started this weekend and we spent many hours in the car driving the daughter around so that she could fulfill a choir commitment and not miss her girls retreat through church. It meant that we picked her up from the retreat, drove her to where she needed to be for choir, waited and then drove her back. The retreat was on Galveston Island and you couldn't see 20 feet in front of you because of the fog. But when we dropped her back off, the sun had peered through the fog with just enough light for an interesting picture with reflections in the water. Eerie, yet beautiful. Haunting, but peaceful.

So this is the only picture I will leave you with today.

A picture of reflection, the return of light after striking a surface.

It's also where I will be today . . . in a state of reflection as I consider carefully some of my thoughts.

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Kim