INSECTS AND A BLOG ANNIVERSARY

 

Life has gotten interesting. Quite by accident  I saw one of these pods crawl by. It had a caterpillar shape poke out a hole in the top of it's body. Then the whole thing later attached itself to the siding by my front door, with a powerful silk that made it hard to dislodge. 

 

 

I then noticed five to seven more doing the same thing by my porch and chairs. To see it, it looks like foliage, dangling there. But it's not. It's a living thing called a bag worm. It took an afternoon of research to discover they are pests that destroy evergreen bushes and trees, by camouflaging themselves to look like them.  The females lay thousands of eggs that multiply. And the males turn into ugly moths with clear wings, to spread more trouble. When I looked at the bushes in one of my flower beds I noticed hundreds of these pods attached to them. It was bad news. The plants would have to be removed so the problem wouldn't get worse. I called a local tree service out and for a price, they took them out. 

 

 

I feel much better without the creepy crawly things around. Now I can celebrate my blogiversary. Been here, on this particular blog, 4 years this week. Imagine that? I wonder what else will happen... to write and talk about... in the coming year? Thanks for being here with me.

 

 

ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK

 

I made sure I had lots of quarters... when I went out to leisurely sip an ice tea... inside one of my favorite local eateries.  The place is a throw back to the 50's and 60's. It has a juke box. So I could deposit a quarter, select a song... and listen to all those oldies but goodies from my youth. The music took me away from the heat outside. And I was able to live in the past for a while, gently tapping my feet to the music. It was delightful and made for a happy afternoon with wonderful memories. The only thing missing was a dance partner or someone to share it with.

 

 

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

There is a super large parking lot on the other side of town that plays host to  alot of different stores and fast food restaurants. But the main attraction there isn't eateries or retail. It's seagulls. Miles from a lake they congregate there looking for a handout. Sometimes they get lucky and most of the time they just start a feeding frenzy among local photographers. Of which I'm one. I can sit there for hours snapping away. These birds fascinate me. Here are some pics of my feathered friends. I use a Nikon s9500 to blink my images into permanence. Click on individual photos to enlarge.

DON'T RUFFLE THESE FEATHERS

 

 

A FROZEN TREAT

 

We were out and about visiting some old haunts from my husband's youth when we stumbled across this gem in the rough. It was a frozen custard stand. Of course neither of us could pass it by. Especially not when we saw those dessert inspired tablecloths. We just had to stop and get a cup of this delicious mouthwatering treat. For those of you who never had frozen custard, you don't know what you're missing.  It's scrumptious. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia... "Frozen custard was invented in Coney Island, New York  in 1919, when ice cream vendors Archie and Elton Kohr found that adding egg yolks to ice cream created a smoother texture and helped the ice cream stay cold longer... A frozen custard stand at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago introduced the dessert to a wider audience. Following the fair, the dessert's popularity spread throughout the Midwest. And is still popular today... True frozen custard is a very dense dessert. Soft serve ice creams may have an overrun as large as 100%, meaning half of the final product is composed of air. Frozen custard, when made in a proper continuous freezer will have an overrun of 15–30% depending on the machine manufacturer (an overrun percentage similar to gelato). Air is not pumped into the mix, nor is it added as an "ingredient" but gets into the frozen state by the agitation of liquid similar to whisking a meringue. The high percentage of butterfat and egg yolk gives frozen custard a thick, creamy texture and a smoother consistency than ice cream. In the United States, the FDA requires products marketed as frozen custard to contain at least 10 percent milkfat and 1.4 percent egg yolk solids. If it has a smaller percentage of egg yolk solids, it is considered ice cream. "

A STREET FAIR

Every now and then something interesting happens around here. Our town had a street fair in the Town Square the other day.  

So we went. This was the place to be and be seen.

Lots of food was on hand. You name it they had it. Seriously, they did.

  Unfortunately there were only a couple of street performers there, though. Jugglers to be exact. They seemed to engage the crowd pretty well.

And there were also a few vendors selling their wares. Handmade purses were a BIG seller.

Another attraction  there was a downtown water fountain to toss coins in. Everybody wanted to make a wish.  I know I did. Hope it comes true.

 

The evening was capped off with a fireworks display from the rooftops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A DAY AT THE BEACH

My hubby decided since I love lakes we would go see one associated with his youth. Unfortunately the trek from the parking lot to the water's edge was about 1/2 a mile.

Having meniscus tears and Baker's cysts in both knees does not make such a walk an easy one. But I trudged on trying to please him.

Fortunately there were park benches strategically placed along the path

to collapse on every couple feet.

Along the way we saw a group of local senior citizens gathered to dance at a pavilion there.

 There were boaters and expensive real estate.

And folks like us just sitting there under the umbrellas taking in the scenery.

Clouds threatened rain putting a damper on the day, though.

 

"Lake St. Clair is a fresh water lake that has a surface area of 430 miles and is located 6 miles north and east of Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. It is a shallow lake for it's size with an average depth of 11 ft. Though in the navigation channel it's 27 feet deep. The lake was named for Clare of Assisi on whose feast day it was discovered by European explorers."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PEARLS OF WISDOM

WE WERE OUT AND ABOUT, RECENTLY
HAVING AN OYSTER FEAST.
WE LIKE THEM ANYWAY THEY'RE SERVED
SMOKED, ROCKEFELLER AND RAW...
TO NAME A FEW.

HAVE YOU EVER EATEN RAW OYSTERS?

 

"DID YOU KNOW IN THE EARLY 19th CENTURY

THAT OYSTERS WERE CHEAP
AND CONSIDERED WORKING CLASS FOOD?

WHEN DEMAND EXHAUSTED THE OYSTER BEDS...
BACK THEN-
OYSTERS BECAME SCARCE, AND THAT INCREASED

PRICES, MAKING THEM A MORE EXPENSIVE DELICACY."

THROUGHOUT THE YEARS-
THE NEW HIGHER PRICE TAG STUCK...
THESE FRESH RAW OYSTERS

WERE $8.95 A HALF DOZEN

AND WERE WORTH EVERY PENNY.
YUMMY! YUMMY!

 

 

A NOTE TO YOU

I HAVE DECIDED TO

RIDE OFF INTO THE SUNSET...

 FOR A LITTLE WHILE. AND,

TAKE A SHORT BLOGGING BREAK.

THERE ARE SOME THINGS I NEED TO DO.

I PROMISE I WON'T BE GONE TOO LONG.

SEE YOU WHEN I GET BACK...

 

CAN YOU HELP ME IDENTIFY THIS???

DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT KIND OF INSECT THIS IS?

I SAW IT SITTING ON THE SHUTTER BY MY FRONT DOOR.
THERE IS A GEOMETRIC PATTERN ON IT FROM HEAD TO TAIL.

THE TAIL MUST HAVE BEEN 3 to 4 INCHES LONG.

I TRIED TO GET A CLEAR CRISP PICTURE

BUT THIS IS THE BEST I COULD DO.