SPRUCED UP FOR SPRING

In the Village, there is a right whale statue of a mother with her baby on her back. Placed by the children's playground, it rises up out of the ground like a whale rising up out of water. The kids love it. I've often posted pictures on this blog showing them climbing it or sitting atop it.

We walked by it the other day and my mouth dropped. It had been all gussied up. Its eyes sparkled bright blue, its barnacles stood whitely out, and the concrete body had a new coat of gray paint.

But what first caught my attention? The sand that normally surrounded the base had been overlaid with blue chips of recycled rubber. That made the whale look like it was rising from a pool of blue water!

Artificially dyed blue water, true. But still... The kids will love it! I think it looks pretty spiffy, myself.

BIRD MAN

Today we were walking in the Village, trying to make up for all that turkey and fixings we indulged in over Thanksgiving (and by the way, I hope everyone had as lovely a Thanksgiving as we did) when we came upon a man feeding the birds.

When we first saw him, he had a bird perched on his head. I wasn't in time to snap that shot but here he is with what looks like sated birds. He's offering them bread but they aren't nearly so eager as they were in the beginning.

Personally, I wouldn't want to be sitting in the midst of them since they can start flying around overhead at any given time!

I HATE CLEANING HOUSE

Always have and always will.

So we bought a house and guess what that means. Cleaning. Yep, it isn't brand spanking new but was reasonably clean. Still, when I move into a place I want to make sure it's absolutely sparkling. That way I know it's my dirt I'm diving into when I do regular cleaning.

So instead of being down in the Village -- where the sequel to the movie The Anchorman is being filmed -- and gawking with the other locals, I've been stuck inside a newly painted house.

I can't complain too much. My guy has been working like a peon ever since we closed last month, supervising the roofers, the tilers, the carpeters, the floorlayers, the painters...He helped paint, too, and now he's doing some stuff we didn't have painted and later decided needed painting, like the insides of drawers and cabinets that looked good but were the wrong color.

Oh, and he's been moving stuff out of our storage unit, too.

While I've been scrubbing bathroom toilets, tubs, tiles and a shower that wanted to keep its stains. And scouring closet shelves and the refrigerator, after dusting bookshelves and putting away all the books brought from storage. I still have the microwave and the range to clean, along with a metal rack to hang pots and pans. And that reminds me, the ceiling fans must be dusty... Ughhhh.

So far, the cats aren't helping. They've been barfing up hairballs because we've been leaving them alone and won't tell them what's going on. So not only am I polishing up the new place, I'm having to pick up after them at the old place.

If you haven't caught on by now, I'm pretty annoyed. I want to catch a glimpse of some real Hollywood actors! I want to see lights, camera, action! And I really really want to see the end of this housecleaning morass I've been dragged kicking and screaming into!

MORNING WALK

The weather -- with apologies to the northeast -- is perfect down here! Temps in the sixties, mostly sunny! We rode around the island yesterday with the top down.

This morning, our usual walk took us out of the complex. See the azaleas at the street? All over the complex, they're blooming. They must think it's spring, but I'm afraid they're going to be surprised in a few days!

So then we walked on down by Mallery Cafe, through the Village, and down to the pier. No big ships in sight but the tide was near high. Took a couple of shots of water dashing on the Johnson rocks. There was practically no wind today, but since the highest point on the island is nineteen feet above sea level -- the average is nine feet -- it's kind of scary to imagine what some really big winds would do to us.

And if you're wondering why they're called Johnson rocks, it seems that they were brought in during President Johnson's administration to keep the beach from further erosion!

OCEAN VIEW

We walked down to the pier yesterday to find a HEAVY LOAD ship anchored, probably waiting for its cargo to get to the port so it could load up. Anyway, as we watched, my guy pointed out a tricolor heron on the beach.

I believe the ship impressed the little fellow!

WEST NILE VIRUS

We have West Nile virus on our little paradise island. And it's close to us.

Every morning when we walk to the Village, we go by the park where mosquitoes were found bearing...yes, the dreaded virus.

Now I'm indecisive. Do we continue to walk and hope we don't get bit? Do we stop walking and gain weight? Do we walk but avoid the park area, thus adding far too much distance for my comfort? Do we spray with OFF (which I'm convinced I'm allergic to) and hope for the best? Do we walk only at the times mosquitoes won't be out? And if so, what times are these, pray tell?

Oh my. What to do.

Can you tell I'm freaking out?

Visitors

We had visitors while we were at the island. Here they are on the pier.

 

And here are some more visitors, playing on the whale in the park. There's a nice playground right beside it but for some reason, kids gravitate to the whale!

Sea Gulls Prepared for Flight

Took this photo the other day of the sea gulls getting ready to take off. Notice the leader down in front.

 I believe they were aiming to bombard a couple of beagles frolicking in the park but on the offchance they were seeking people for target practice, I decided to walk a different way.