The old iron skillet

The old iron skillet is pretty good for baking biscuits

c

Strawberry rhubarb jam and a cup of coffee for breakfast

 

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Saturday is a day for experimenting with breakfast and putting aside the hard boiled egg and toast in favor of biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon and coffee.  This has been going on for a couple of weeks as Lydia searched the internet for different recipes for "easy drop buttermilk biscuits."

     Most recipes were about the same, but then we found a baking idea away from using a baking sheet.  Hence the iron skillet.  And the skillet in the oven works great.  Now I have to shuffle cooking bacon and scrambled eggs to be ready close to French press coffee-time and hefting the iron skillet and biscuits out of the oven. The next goal is trying to figure out how not to get the biscuits oozing together as they bake.   No matter, big or small; oddly shaped or whatever, Lydia's biscuits are scrumptious.  

 

Just roaming around the neighborhood

A 'windy' egret

Some of our front yard hibiscus

Ferns growing on a piece of marl

Sun and shade

 

Waiting

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Waiting.  We all do it.  And it's easy to see a reflection of ourselves in the wildlife world around us.  The pelicans in the top photo are patiently waiting for the guy cleaning his catch to throw some guts in the water.  So it's one eye on the on the guts and one eye on the competition for a snack.

     If the middle pic looks familiar it's because the photo is another angle / time of the great blue heron / water pipe shot from a few weeks ago at Viera Wetlands.   The early morning sun on the reeds lends a different touch to the breakfast watch of the bird.

     The final photo would have a lot more meaning if I had been able to capture the bald eagle as he was resting / waiting on the pier railing.  This was not a normal location to see an eagle so while I scrambled to take the pic a group of seagulls harassed the eagle to leave their territory.  The eagle is the largest / darkest object against the cloudy sky.

Can you dance??

What, me dance???

 ORMOND BECAH, FL - - A feeling of exuberance may have overcome this male sandhill crane  at Viera Wetlands last Thursday.

This nearby snail was not impressed

Nevertheless the warm-up moves were quite good

Until  his significant other told him to quit the foolishness.

Getting ready for colder weather

Still life with egret

 ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Colder weather is coming so this egret is fluffing up his / her feathers.  Best guess is a male as some breeding plumage...the whispy feathers at some edges of the body...is starting to show.  This egret along with a number of friends were hanging out at the pier near the Ormond Bridge over the Halifax.  

     So, will it get cold??  Yes, for Floridians. .. and iguanas.  (The last cold snap saw iguanas in Miami freeze into a sort of suspended animation with slurpee-style blood)  We haven't had temps in the mid / low 30's in a couple of years.   Those vacationers from the Northeast and others will also think its cold but only because they packed for 70 degree weather.

Viera stroll info

 ORMOND BEACH, FL - - In my haste to post the photos from Viera in the preceding post, I neglected to add the article...so here it is.  The Viera Wetlands area is a large collection of sections bounded by high dikes which are car friendly.  A good infrastructure pumps water into the sections.  However, apparently too much auto traffic or lack of maintenance funds has curtailed any driving.  So prepare yourself for a nice 2+ mile hike if you really want to check out things.  We got there just before sunrise. 

Vera (FL) Wetlands stroll

Early morning fog; great blue heron

Sunrise

A gusher flow pipe with egret

Limpkin in a tree...what am I doing up here? 

Vultures on watch

Least tern looking for ba moon shadow

Observation posts in the wetlands

 

Mostly usual suspects hanging out at Orlando Wetlands

Snowy egret

Great blue heron

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We usually visit Orlando Wetlands in January to see what birds might have returned after a winter vacation.  It seems we may have been a bit early although  the noise and vehicles due to construction of a new visitor center may helped in sending the normal avian visitors elsewhere.  Still, the regulars did provide plenty of poses.  And hidden among the greenery was a purple gallinule, a rather rare find along with a tri color heron...not so rare.

Tri color heron

Purple G

 

Only tourists go wading

 

Floating along after the New Year

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - The recent high tides are getting higher.  The above photo shows our Honda Element playing water games last week on a road in Jacksonville Beach right on the coastal waterway.  There were a few puddles when we headed to the restaurant and a bit more liquid when we left.  

     This morning (1/9) it was time for a short drive to nearby Sunrise Park North.  The little blue heron (above) and the selfie with shadow (below) show the park getting back to its old self with a fair assortment of birds.  Over the past year the birds had seemed to forget about this area.

 

Somebody pulled the plug

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - This is the result of someone pulling the plug on Dragon Claus. And below is what the robust dragon looked like a couple of days ago.

 

Christmas time doings in OB

We've had a Christmas parade with artificial snow

'Santa' dragon yard decorations

Blooms which keep on adding color

Nice weather to visit the riverfront park one block from our house

And occasional strong winds and dark clouds just to keep us alert

 

Misty morning

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - Not too much happening in OB right now.  Folks are getting ready for the holidays.  Other folks (top photo) are heading to South Florida to tie-up at a  marina and use their boat as a home away from home.  Then there are the locals.  Every day means a search food as these two egrets are involved in.  The cattle egret (left) and regular egret have, like most aviaries, intense powers of concentration.  In their world you blink, you go hungry.
 

Happy 'Turkey Day'

 ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We had a choice:  either a traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings OR something fancy and enjoyable.  Enjoyable was tops on our list.  For me:  a nice cut of steak char grilled with a loaded baked potato.  Since the restaurant we were at (Stonewoods) is less than a block from the ocean, Lydia chose blackened sea bass with rice and green beans.  Both meals were very delicious.  The only drawback was that the only reservation I could get was at 11am.  Early, yes. but when it comes to 'chow down time' we can work up a hunger.  And the two mile walk back home was just right to work up another appetite...this time for dessert.  Unfortunately, there was no pecan or pumpkin pie to be had.  Maybe for the Christmas holidays. 

Yard work

Ibis like to travel in a group

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - There's always yard work to be done.  And a couple of houses away from ours the yard was getting the full work mode this afternoon.  The crew from "Ibis Little Critter Clearing" was hard at it.  This flock of juvenile (brown-ish coloring versus white for full grown adults)  were 'hoovering away with their fancy long, thin, curved beaks.  Their work pattern is to scramble along in a group seeking juicy bugs and insects in the grass. 
 

It's all about balance...and catching fish

Don't try this without a life jacket cause you know a strong tug on the line is a splash moment

 

A bit of color

A stormy day at the beach

Sorry, alligators aren't colorful

Pointsettias are

Do you know where your Christmas decorations are

A colorful display at the nursery...but no ID

 

Snip, snip

Thursday morning 7am sunrise in OB
 

ORMOND BEACH, FL - -  I'm usually out early to check out the sunrise, but this morning was a bit special.  Another Grand Opening ceremony...another Publix Supermarket and this time within easy walking distance.

     And, with the ceremonial snipping of the green ribbon by the new store manager, a good crowd of folks were allowed inside.  First stop...the Pour section where you can get a good coffee (Tampa brand Kahwa) to put in your shopping basket's cup holder.  Or maybe a smoothie.  Later in the day there's beer and wine available to help with your shopping.  If you're an OBer, check it out.

     FYI - - The crowd was behind me when I shot the lady with the shears.  As you know:  The early grouch gets the brew.

Back in OB

The azalea (top) and Cassia (bottom) plants in our yard welcomed us home 

ORMOND BEACH, FL - - We're back in OB after nearly 6 months and 14,000 miles.  Yes, it was nice to be back out wandering around.  No, things didn't feel the same or generally work the same.  We've noticed over the past five or so years that most parks and campgrounds were more crowded or much more full than before.  This caused a number of 'plan b' experiences mainly due to a lot of campgrounds having a "reservation system"  where people could book a campsite up to six months ahead.  The problem was that lots of folks were hedging their bets and booked / didn't show / didn't cancel leaving folks like us who travel without a set schedule to spend a lot of time running around.

     The pandemic was treated differently almost everywhere we went although that meant most took it seriously...unlike Florida.  

     We're used to seeing "Roadwork ahead" signs nearly everywhere.  This year they were vastly outnumbered by "Help Wanted" signage.  I doubt we shopped / patronized any business which wasn't understaffed.  

     So, after two weeks back we're getting into the rhythm of staying in one spot...with a permanent roof over our heads...but that feeling usually doesn't last long.