Fall at the Pond

Well now.. I got a better photo (but not yet GOOD )  of the KingFisher that now and then comes by!  He actually stayed in the tree long enough for me to run inside to get my camera and back out again.  Unfortunately it was quite early in the morning, and it was overcast, and he was far enough away that I had to use the zoom and so the photo is poor quality.  However, I am still pleased.. they are such fast moving birds that any photo of them pleases me!

The Anhinga has been around lately.  I still think this is a younger one because it’s a much smaller female then was here when I first moved in.

I found this twig with the empty acorn tops…

 

…and then a bit later the squirrel came around.  He too is fast!  But I got off two shots before he scampered away!

These shots make me laugh.. he is collecting the acorns… it’s like he thinks there is actually a winter down here! (yeah right!)

As the Bald Cypress Trees loose their leaves it is the closest to “fall colors” that I will get around here..  Maybe that’s why the squirrel thinks he should start collecting the acorns!

the photos below look “red” but that because the sky was pink before the sun came up.. so it looked more “fallish”.. actually they just look Rust color…

So that’s what “Fall” looks like around the Pond….

Star Trek Reader II

Before my little post of a book I found I have to mention Dancing With the Stars! .. How cut is it that Donny Osmond at his age got to the Finals!! lol… and Kelly Osborn made it too!!! I have adored watching these two the whole time and glad they made it to the end.. (it is highly doubtful either will win but that’s ok… ! I am happy they made it to the final round next week!!).. ok.. now onto the book…

Look at what book I found for 50 cents at a thrift store!… It’s the Star Trek Reader II by James Blish !

I took a few photo’s of it because even though it’s not in great condition it deserves some Trek (McCoy) photo’s taken around it!

I believe there were 3 such books put out, but I’m not sure.. this one is a hardback, and like I said it’s not in the greatest of conditions.. the book contains 19 of the original Star Trek Stories (episodes)

But if anyone out there (who knows me) has these books and would like to get rid of them.. ummm.. would you let me know please?  Since I could never afford the trek episodes on dvd (nor vhs).. I’d like to have the books with all the episodes in them.

Speaking of Star Trek..  my dvd of the new Trek movie didn’t show up in the mail yesterday (grrrrrrrrr *upset) Hopefully today.. Since it was preordered instead of 17.98 I wound up getting it for only 9.99 !! Now.. if it would only get here!

The Shadow Dragons

The Shadow Dragons by James A Owen (author AND illustrator)

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing (October 27, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1416958797

Product Description

World War II has been raging for three years, but a more terrible evil is just over the horizon. The last stones are falling from the Keep of Time, and the Imperial Cartological Society, led by Richard Burton, has collected doors and is building a new tower at the request of an old enemy: the Winter King’s shadow. He has a terrible weapon — the Spear of Destiny — that can be used to command the shadows of anyone it touches.

The Shadow King uses the Spear of Destiny to enlist an unstoppable army of Dragon shadows. And after the Archipelago falls, the Shadow King intends to use the turmoil of World War II to take over both worlds.

All the legendary Caretakers, past and present, come together to save two worlds, and their only hope lies with a small group of companions who are on the quest for the broken sword Caliburn: the Grail Child, Rose Dyson; her clockwork companion, the owl Archie; a dead professor of ancient literature; and the mythical knight Don Quixote.

About the Author

James A. Owen is the author and illustrator of the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. He is founder and executive director of Coppervale International, an art and design studio that also publishes the periodicals International Studio and Argosy Quarterly, develops television and film projects, and is redesigning an entire town, among other ventures. James has written and illustrated two dozen Starchild comics, the Mythworld series of novels (published in Germany and France), and more. He lives in Arizona.

            *************************************************

I’m not sure what it is I can tell you about this, the 4th book in the series of The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica:  The Shadow Dragons.

It’s the 4th adventure for the Caretakes and each book introduces more and more characters of history, myth and fantasy.  By now James has it down to a science. Who he will use, why and when.. and with each introduction you feel as if an old friend has found his way back into your life.

Page 245 ..

“The king and queen sat opposite  Edgar Allan Poe at one end of the table; Charys, the centaur, sat between Mark Twain and Charles Dickens; Rillian, the unicorn mouse, sat on the table in front of Washington Irving; and Stephen, in full Golden Fleece regalia, sat next to his mother across from Geoffrey Chaucer.  The Valkyrie Laura Glue, her wings discreetly folded behind her, was standing behind John and Daniel De foe, and the improbable young Neo stood next to her; while the Elf King Eleir, the Dwarf leader, Falladay Finn, and several surly fauns stood behind the rest of the Caretakers.  It was, to put it simply, a remarkable group.”

With the coming of this series James made himself one of those YA authors who’s books I will not part with.  There will always be space in my heart for books such as James has written.  Be it that child part of me that wants to be like Peter Pan and never grow up, or the adult part of me that says, I am anyone and anywhere I want to be just by opening a book such as this.

By now anyone who reads my “reviews” knows that I don’t actually review the book.. I leave that to others who are far better with words than I am and I defer to Amazons Product descriptions.. but I do let you know if I like a book and generally I think you know by what I write if I like it a lot or not.  And you also know it’s rare that I suggest anyone read a book just because I enjoyed it.  This is one of those rare occasions.  If you are one who can enjoy YA books I DO suggest you pick up James A Owens first of this series: Here There Be Dragons, and begin a series of books that I certainly hope you all enjoy as much as I have enjoyed these books.

That being said:  I just want to thank James once again, for writing such enjoyable books and I want to wish him continued success with this series and others he will endeavor in the future!

Thanks James!

(below) Two of the many illustrations from Shadow Dragons: by James A Owen

Predator & Prey Together

My eyes being what they are (not very good) I got out my camera and zoomed over to what I thought might be 2 turtles across the pond.. instead it was this….

hard to believe they will sun next to each other now, but when the gator gets a big bigger my turtle will be on his menu!

That being said I took more photo’s of the turtle closer up.. by the time I walked around to where they were the Gator had gone into the water and the turtle remained to watch, but with little interest.

(I wouldn’t get too friendly if I were you!)

 

Later near evening the gator showed up in front of my apartment watching the birds.. DeadEye kept an eye on him…

so of course I took the opportunity to  take  more shots of DeadEye..

 

after a while he could care less about the alligator..as he went about cleaning his feathers…

Gads wouldn’t it be wonderful to be able to scratch your own back like this? ! …..

..I guess the armpit needed airing out lol…

On Sunday the Anhinga paid us a visit…. and sunned herself right in front of my apartment!  Unfortunately it was late afternoon so the sun was facing my apartment making the Anhinga a mere shadow of her beauty…

(below) almost as good as an Eagle huh? hehehe….

Woody

 Goodness!  I opened my blinds and there was Woody!  I haven’t seen him in a while…

Off course there are many (MANY) Woody’s around here so I’m sure it’s not the same one, but still he took me by surprise being right in front of my apartment, generally I see him in the corner of the pond in search of his illusive food.

Here’s a closer look at Woody’s face from the picture above..

He looks like a “young Woody”…  He was a tad smaller then most and he didn’t seem to have the “woodiness” thickly around his neck yet.

It was good to see him.. there seems to be slim pickin’s so far around the pond as we enter “winter”..(excuse me while I choke on that word).

Alike.. but not alike.

Another in the Heron Family…

I thought this was the same bird but it’s not (no orange around the one above’s eye or neck)

.. Evening is nigh. (actually this was sometime last week)

A “cold front ” is here!!!  My door is open!!!! It will only get in the mid to upper 70’s!!!!  Tonight will dip down to the low 60’s!!  I will dream of maybe being able to wear my sweats!!!! oh yeah! oh yeah!

Look at the photo below of all the gathering Ibis!… they look like a bunch of chickens!  Now if we could only teach them to lay eggs that we could gather and eat they’d help us all here at the old folks home alot!

Animal Farm

Pigs and Penguins and Owls oh my!

and if that isn’t enough… at a thrift store I found a “horse” that I brought home!..  (just what I need.. horse poop to clean up!)

He won’t win any beauty contests but ..for no reason at all I liked him!  So I brought him home with me and he now resides with Fetch and Fetch’s brother. (the brown version of Fetch)

Since this post is a mish-mosh of things, here is a photo of the latest afghan I made..

I’m afraid I haven’t been doing real well emotionally and physically (physical is a painful neck and chiropractor at the moment). So I am sorry I haven’t been commenting a lot on blogs and haven’t even been posting interesting posts..

Things feel very hard for me right now.  I really didn’t feel that I could handle more problems that hurt and was handed more to cope with and I’m not doing well..sometimes I wish they would come and take me away before I go insane ..and not the fun kind of insane.  I am not saying this for any sympathy.. I just want you to know my blog and friends I’ve made mean a lot to me and keep giving me a reason to get up each day..I am still hoping the pain resides and I am able to cope better soon..

Sunday at the Pond

I looked out upon the Pond and what did I see?… Not one but the Pair of Cormorants!  (according to the bird book, they look like Double Crested Cormorants)   So I took a walk up to wee if I could get some better pictures.  (I did stay a little away so they wouldn’t be frightened)

The male was sunning his wings (although the sun was behind a cloud)  The female looked uninterested.. they both even looked straight at me!

I did some zooming on the male who was showing me his beautiful feathers!……..

He was quite oblivious to my camera.

I’d say he looks like a proud peacock but ya know.. no color but brown and more brown lol.

I see the female here a lot but the male doesn’t always follow her here.

The the male decided to go for a swim…. not the best photo but it is a “motion” shot…

a bit later when I was back in my apartment I saw the female taking off.. she was on the far side of the pond running towards me…

Mr Whicher and New(ish) Stuff

The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Walker & Company; Reprint edition (February 17, 2009)
ISBN-10: 080271742X

 

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Summerscale (The Queen of Whale Cay) delivers a mesmerizing portrait of one of England’s first detectives and the gruesome murder investigation that nearly destroyed him. In 1860, three-year-old Saville Kent was found murdered in the outdoor privy of his family’s country estate. Local police scrambled for clues, but to no avail. Scotland Yard Det.-Insp. Jonathan Jack Whicher was called in and immediately suspected the unthinkable: someone in the Kent family killed Saville. Theories abounded as everyone from the nursemaid to Saville’s father became a suspect. Whicher tirelessly pursued every lead and became convinced that Constance Kent, Saville’s teenage half-sister, was the murderer, but with little evidence and no confession, the case went cold and Whicher returned to London, a broken man. Five years later, the killer came forward with a shocking account of the crime, leading to a sensational trial. Whicher is a fascinating hero, and readers will delight in following every lurid twist and turn in his investigation.

I really thought I would enjoy this book more than I did.  I’m guessing I’m into gothic mysteries but not so much into “detectives”(with the exception of Sherlock Holmes)..I enjoy things more like the 13th Tale and Drood.

The case was sad, being it was the murder of a small child.  Mr. Whicher was called in after the police did all their “investigation” and later it was felt that the police didn’t try very hard to help Whicher when he investigated the crime. Add to that he was given a very short amount of time to try to solve the murder.

It was different knowing that this was about a real detective and that the murder was also real.. and it was a little strange to see references at times from Charles Dickens.. and yes, even Wilke Collins is mentioned! (it would seem I cannot rid myself of these two writers and their books!!)

Though I wouldn’t call this book a favorite, that’s not to say this didn’t have it’s interesting parts, it did!  At times I felt myself really getting into the story and then I’d float out again.. not sure why that was. 

This book wasn’t a page turner for me..but as I said, it did have some interesting things about it.  I guess I’d say it was a good book.. just not one that when it was over I knew I’d want to read again sometime.

 

I’ve been awfully slow with reviews lately and haven’t mentioned any “new” ones… so I thought I’d catch you up on that…

What you see here is actually pretty good for me!  Only two of them are new books from Amazon (Shadow Dragons by James A Owen and Syren by Angie Sage), one ( Magic & Malice: Mairelon the Magician/ Magicians Ward  by Patricia C. Wrede)  is a used book from Amazon, and the other 4 are from thrift shops at which I paid not over 1.00 for each of them!

The bad part is that I can’t blame anyone for any of these!!!  I’ve been reading James A Owen’s series from the beginning and the same with Angie Sage so they were “have to” buys… the rest were steals I couldn’t resist, knowing I’d get to them sooner or later.. with my tbr pile so huge I am sure it will be Later!

Back at the Pond

November 2nd 4 am….

Later that morning…

What we have here (according to the bird book) is a double crested   Cormorant.

It is related to the Anhinga but smaller and does not have a pointy beak

… it does however have impeccable posture!

… I’m not sure but I feel like I’m getting the Evil Eye!