Birding Weekend in Sanibel

Hello my friends!
Finally had my first birding outing of 2013 with Lita. We spent the weekend on Sanibel, a place we both love not only because we met there but because it's so full of nature and wildlife. It's a dream locale for photographers, nature lovers and of course, birders. And we are all three! ;-) We had a great weekend which included a couple of really magical moments gifted to us by the universe as well as lots of great birdy sightings. We ended up seeing about 33 different species of birds and Lita added 7 or so to her life list and I added 4. We also ended up with dozens of bites that welted up on our face, hands, chest and legs thanks to a constant attack by no-see-ums, little biting bugs that, you guessed it, you can't see. However, they were so thick we could see them plain as day! They even attacked our scalps. I have itchy hair now. ;-(
And, I have tons of pictures to process. I promised myself I would keep up with the processing this year. Um, yea, right...I can already see how that is going to be a challenge!

Alrighty then! On with the highlights from the weekend in Sanibel:

On Saturday, we arrived in time for a quick drive through Ding Darling before having lunch at The Greenhouse Grill. I was able to add two birds to my life list while at Ding Darling, a Dunlin and a Red Knot. Later in the afternoon we hit Bowman Beach for a bit of shelling and then headed to Captiva to capture the sunset. There was no sunrise that morning at my lake due to rain so I was very happy to at least have a decent sunset.

A sweet Dunlin. They are so cute!

 Beachy Blues

 Sunset 1.19.2013

One of our magical moments was watching a Bald Eagle snatch a fish from the ocean and fly right over us! It was the highlight of day one but unfortunately both Lita and I had no time to adjust our manual settings and we just pointed and shot and none of our pictures turned out (I think we were shooting seashells or waves or some such thing). I managed to salvage one enough that I could add in some clouds I shot earlier along with some texture so that I could at least have a shot to remember the moment by. Not that I would forget...it was a one in a million chance sighting there!

Bald Eagle with Catch

On Sunday we got up before sunrise and headed to Ding Darling, unaware that what lay ahead would be misery in the form of no-see-ums. It was completely overcast so once again, no sunrise. That makes three days this month that I didn't see a sunrise. Hopefully the rest of the month will shine on! At Ding Darling we met other birders who were kind enough to let us use a roll-on eucalyptus bug deterrent which didn't work at all. We also met a nice photographer named Tom Brennan who gave us some no-see-um spray which didn't help either. Lita immediately welted up...it took my body about 12 hours before the allergic reaction set in. Even as I'm typing this I'm in a state of itchy misery. But, the real question is, was it worth it? And the answer is a resounding YES! The highlight of our day included interacting with a Yellow-throated Warbler and this amazing private performance we received from a Stand of Tree Swallows:

Wrong Way

We actually had to sneak into Ding Darling because it was 30 minutes late in opening. There was a line of cars waiting to get in but we were walking so we squeezed around the gate. We later went back and paid our $1.00 to the attendant who said the back of her alarm clock fell open and the battery came out. She felt terribly bad about it and we in turn, felt bad for her! 

Me and Tom with his serious birding lens!

Yellow-throated Warbler

After the morning at Ding Darling, we head to our favorite breakfast cafe, Over Easy for a delicious and filling meal. Of course I had eggs benedict with a side of not only bacon but also sausage! Piggy plate alert!

And, the Over Easy cafe has the best coffee. It was just what we needed to push through the rest of the day which included a hike along Baily Tract which is where we saw the Stand of Tree Swallows (I just love using collective nouns!) and a teenage gator. After a couple of hours there we headed back to Island Cow for a delicious dessert before heading off the island and back to the west coast.

Best.Coffee.Ever

Eggs Benedict, my favorite breakfast 

A Stand of Tree Swallows

Shadowed Selfies

Decadent Dessert

Greetings from Florida!

And, also from last week my sunrise collage:

Week 3

I continued drawing my giraffes for The Year of the Giraffe class with Carla Sonheim. I also did one in pastel. This is our last week for the drawing portion. I hope to add a few more pages to my giraffe sketchbook before the end of the month. 

Next up...a week with Phoebe! I can hardly wait for our adventure! See you all soon!

Adventures in Appendicitis

Looking pretty happy for a guy in a backless dress! (thanks Gina for the title,lol)

The last four days was spent learning a lot about the mindset of the medical establishment. That mindset for the most part is very closed. After having a crazy big meal on Friday night that included Sushi, alcohol and the biggest bowl of ice cream ever, my hubby developed appendicitis. On Saturday, he felt like throwing up but forced himself not to. Perhaps if he did, whatever toxin was coursing through is body would have been expelled. By Sunday, he was running a bit of a fever and complaining of pain in the lower right area of his stomach. I've dealt with gastro issues my whole life and I knew how to deal with inflammation so I got him started on certain teas and citrus to basically help clean out whatever toxin was attacking his appendix. However, we felt he should probably go have a cat scan to make sure it wasn't burst so we went to the emergency room at the local hospital where he had bloodwork done and the cat scan. He had already begun to feel better by this time, his pain having lessened quite a bit over night. My hubby is involved in the health care industry and as someone who is vice-president of a company that creates software for home-health care and nursing homes, he has a bit of insight to new research and findings. He had spent the whole weekend researching appendicitis and discovered a recent study in the Harvard Medical Journal as well as a few other studies that showed two-thirds of appendectomies were unnecessary and that an antibiotic therapy was more effective. Recent studies also show that the appendix is not a useless organ but that it helps to produce good gut bacteria.
Here is a recent blog article about the research.

So, what did all this mean? It meant that we were going to be met with skepticism, condescension and rudeness that really shocked me. They immediately checked my hubby into the hospital and began prepping him for surgery. We protested. The cat scan showed only a thickening of the wall area around the appendicitis. There was no perforation, no tear, no abscesses, no blockages. We opted for antibiotic therapy but no one would even consider that. They sent surgeon after surgeon down to scare the crap out of him. One surgeon even said in a condescending manner "I don't care what your little computer says there but I have 30 years experience". Not one of them would even look at the research. They refused to give him food or water. During this time, he began to feel better and better, the pain lessening even more. Even after signing the form to refuse the surgery, they refused to check him out or give him anything to eat or drink. And they still sent surgeons down to tell him how stupid he was. Finally, he checked himself out and we decided the next day to go to our regular doctors office and see if he would get him on the antibiotics.

The next morning, when we showed up at our primary care doctors office, they refused to even talk to us saying that neither of us had been there in three years (I'm sorry! Punish us for being healthy why don't you!!) and that he should just go to the hospital. When I saw my doctor through the window I tried to say something but the receptionist closed the window in my face. We stood there in the waiting room for a few minutes trying to decide what our next plan was when suddenly the window opened and the receptionist said "Why are you still standing in our office? You need to leave." Well, I was forced to call her a bitch, which I did quite loudly. This is my husband and I'm a she-tiger when it comes to him...don't mess with me when it comes to the love of my life! Needless to say, we'll need to find a new primary care physician and I probably won't be getting my medical records anytime soon. :-)

Finally, we ended up at The Cleveland Clinic, a top-rated clinic that is also a research hospital. We hoped they would be open-minded. And they were. Our surgeon was from China and he was aware of the research. The USA healthcare system is very behind compared to other countries. At Cleveland Clinic, we were treated with respect, they looked over the research and after a blood work-up that showed everything functioning normal, they hooked him up to IV's and began the antibiotic treatment which they agreed was the best course of action in his case. He is now home and we can look back and laugh about our adventure to take on the medical establishment. Still, it's not over. We have to make sure he introduces food back in slowly and he finishes his oral antibiotics. The only way we will have truly beaten the establishment is if we are successful in NOT having to go back. But we learned that you really have to stick to your guns. YOU are responsible for your health care and YOU have a right to have all options available to you before you make a decision.

Finally at the Cleveland Clinic! Another bonus of this locale? All the doctors were McDreamies!

The main thing you do in hospitals is wait, so of course I had to snap a few pics with the Hipsta:

Bedside  

7-8-9

 Yay! Intravenous antibiotics and perfect blood work!

 Going Down

Hospitals are creepy.

Homeward Bound!

A celebratory selfie of a good team!

 Cloud Reflections

Someone is very happy to be home! 

Getaway to Vero Beach

This week I had a little getaway to Vero Beach to meet up with my friends Loran, Misty and Denise. Misty, Loran and I have traveled to London together before. Misty, Denise, and I spent time shooting together in Savannah with our other friend and fellow photographer, Phoebe. It's been way to long since I had seen them. Especially since Loran and I only live three hours from each other! Misty is on her second round of battling breast cancer but despite that, she always manages to keep everyone laughing and smiling and it was so wonderful to spend some quality time with her as well as Loran and Denise. I even got to meet another friend of theirs, a little cutie patootie photographer named George as well as Denise's son, nephew, mom and sisters. It was only for two days and one night but we made the most of it with food, drinks, conversation, a bit of shopping and for Misty and I, we even got up to shoot the sunrise together (We only got up because our room was on the beach,lol). Here are a few pics from the getaway, some taken with the iPhone 4s and others with my Nikon:

Today is Denise's Birthday! Happy Birthday Denise!

Taken while having Dinner at Mulligans on July 5th, 2012

The Four of us at the Ocean Grill. They have yummy mojitos and delicious desserts!

They also serve up one of Loran's favorite drinks: The Painkiller:

Cool cup too!

Blue Chairs at Mulligans

Before Misty joined me to shoot the sun rising, I had the whole beach, ocean and sky to myself:

Vero Beach Sunrise

 July 6th, 2012

Pool Deck Chairs

The Surf Hotel, Vero Beach

The Blue Umbrella

I discovered a time lapse app on my phone. I must have downloaded it a long time ago. We had fun with it, although we couldn't figure out how to make it go slower or how to get sound. Did figure out the speed situation after I got home and could see the teeny, tiny controls with my readers on. Sound, well, still working on that!

Damn Misty! You are fast! :)

Fast Beach Walkers! If you blink you'll miss the bird flying by!

Loran relaxing on the porch of a cute store we stumbled upon.

Misty surrounded by the bokeh lights and emitting her own beautiful light through those pretty eyes.

It was such a short trip but totally worth every second. It made me miss them all that much more. Hopefully, it won't be that long before we are all able to share some time together again. And dear readers, whatever your beliefs, please send prayers, healing lights of white and warming thoughts of love to Misty as she fights her fight against breast cancer. And I hope you all get to have a wonderful weekend with those you love. xo

Fun With Friends!

Me and Gina at Butterfly World

Howdy my dear readers!
Long time gone, I know. I had a busy couple of weeks which included my friend Gina coming down for a week of fun, food and laughter as well as a patio renovation taking place. I've had little time for art, although I did manage to create something for Lita for her birthday but other than that it's been all about taking Gina to some of my favorite places in Florida. So, come join us as I take you through our little adventure and check out my day with Lita at the end of the post...
*Shot mostly with the iPhone, although there are a few gems taken with my Nikon.

Mojito Time at The Outback!

We went shopping at the Sawgrass Mills Mall where we had a great lunch at Cheesecake Factory and spent WAY too much time in Burlington Coat Factory.

Gina, Glam Gator of the Glades

I took Gina to my favorite peaceful respite, Butterfly World:

Gina, ready to become one with the butterflies.

A Moment's Pause

Tweety Bird

 Pineapple

 Pretty Parrot

On one of the few days without rain, Gina and I headed to my favorite Florida destination, Sanibel Island. Our first stop was a morning spent on Bowman Beach for a little sun, surf and shelling:

Bowman Beach

 Lovin' the shells, surf and sand!

 Beachy Girl

Gina on Bowman Beach

 Gina heads off to gather some shells

Ah, this is the life!

 Lunch at Island Cow!

Sanibel Lighthouse

We had just one other great day of weather and we took advantage of that and headed to the Everglades:

Swamped

 Southeastern Lubber Grasshopper

Mosquito Crossing

 This guy was huge. We saw him take a big, deep breath which he exhaled slowly. We stared at him in awe for quite a while before moving on. It was a thrill to see one this big.

 In the Muck

Swamp Grass

Lunch at the Swamp Cafe

Gina and I love to shop so we hit up H&M in Palm Beach and had lunch at Brio:

Brio Tuscan Grille, Palm Beach Gardens

We even had a fabulous sunset to share with Gina during her stay:

Sunset colors captured with the iPhone 4s

The day after Gina left, our patio and pool renovation started which meant I would be spending a lot of time out of the house and away from the noise:

What a mess! They left piles of sand on the deck which Sookie thinks should be used as a litter box, so needless to say the cats have been forced to stay inside and have been driving me a bit mad!

Thank goodness Lita had some time to get together for a birthday day of shopping! More fun than sitting around listening to construction noise and viewing the mess out my windows!

Lita with the painting I made for her for her birthday. It's of her favorite butterfly and done in watercolor. It was the only art I've been able to create these past few weeks. She loved it! Here is a closer view of the painted butterfly:

Malachite in Watercolor

Of course we did some shopping in Barnes & Noble but then also headed to the Boca Town Center Mall to get some inspiration while shopping our favorite store Anthropologie:

 Artful Reflections

Of course, we found a mirror for a duo selfie! This one in Macy's:

Shopping Selfies!

All in all, it was a fun couple of weeks spent with friends and next up is another busy week that is going to include Sports Fanatic Bunco, a retro shoot with Leanne, a concert, movie and just maybe, a Heat/Thunder playoff game! Summer is all about having fun and enjoying life! I hop you all are gearing up for some summer fun too!