A nice day out

Had a good day today. Went online & did a search for local nature centers, and discovered that there is a marsh reserve/nature center in Torrance, about 10 miles from the house. What the website *didn't* mention is that it is a vernal marsh, which means that it's wet in the spring and pretty much a dried-out remnant in August. Sigh. Not a lot in bloom except sunflowers and yellow poppies, and not a lot of birds. Still had a good time though, despite having missed some darn good photo opportunities. I swear the birds have a little sensor that tell them the split second when I get the camera in focus, and they choose that precise moment to fly away. Particularly frustrating is the fabulous shot I got of some reeds where a nansecond earlier there had been a vivid red bird. It got chased away by a rather territorial hummingbird just as I pressed the shutter. I did get a couple nice shots of a sparrow feeding a fledgling, and several shots of an orange bishop (a new bird to check off my birdlist!). We will definitely have to go back next April or so.


On the way home, we passed this rather amusing sight: a lifesize statue of a cow, standing on someone's balcony "looking" over the railing. I felt a little funny taking pictures of someone's house, but I figured I was on a public sidewalk photographing only what was visible from that sidewalk. It's not like I was using a telephoto lens to peek in the windows. Besides, this was just too good an opportunity to miss, and unlike the birds I knew it was unlikely to fly away just as I was clicking the shutter (although with my luck with photography I wasn't about to discount the possibility . . . )


*Still* have not had dinner at Johnny Reb's. Sigh again. Ralph cooked last night: angel hair pasta tossed with a blend of fresh basil from the garden, chopped garlic, minced ham & mushrooms all sauteed in olive oil and butter, then topped off with shaved parmesan cheese. Yes, yes, it was delicious, but it was *not* BBQ. Maybe tonight. . . . and maybe that cow will fly off the balcony after all. :-)


Got more knitting done on the orangutan, although not much. Finished knitting the arm. Yup, that's it. Haven't stuffed it, haven't sewn it on. Still, that's 1,200 more stitches completed in the past two days than I have done on this project in the previous six months or so. I have great hopes of having it finished by this time next year.