Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Animal Wednesday - southern animals!


There are LOTS of animals to be seen in Florida this time of year! The weather was a bit cooler and in the early evening we saw deer and owls, snakes and alligators. This doe was just ambling along at the side of the road in a state part and paid us no attention
Her buddy was across the street - neither one bounded off while I snapped away.



In the mornings, these egrets were outside our back lanai - not a bad way to start the day, just watching birds wander around looking for food.


We saw lots of Roseate Spoonbills - but they were far away and it was hard to get a good picture. You can just see the bit of pink on this one.

All of my cousins have boats so we had quite a number of days on the water - it was fun (but they are very inefficient ways of getting around!) and we saw dolphins fooling around in the water one day - this is what I could capture of what we assume was a mother and baby playing around in the water. They were jumping around and twisting and playing - it was joyous to watch.

Scruffy taking a nap on someones lap. He's such a cutie.


This is my cousins dog - Sammi. Scruffy and Sammi were at the shelter together, and he is now Joan's dog - she is the one who brought Scruffy home to mom. She and her husband have always had big dogs but they are in love with this little poodle/shiz-tzu cross.
Here is mom on a boat holding Sammi. Mom was such a sport about going out on the water, but always wore a hat to keep her hair from flying around. Love the hat and sunglasses combo! Joan can be seen at the edge of the photo, holding Gizmo - another cousins dog. At one point, after Thanksgiving dinner - we had 5 very short legged dogs racing around the house.

That's it for the animals - but we took some gorgeous pictures on the way home - out the plane window looking at the sunset......

And flying over New York City - amazing!

I am still recovering after being away for 10 days. I actually began to relax, and forgot to clench my teeth at night, or wake up at 2:00 am in a giant panic about something. But I'm getting back into the groove I guess, and have to start thinking about Christmas. I got my first Christmas letter yesterday - damn efficient people!

Sending many hugs to Teri C who lost her Sunshine this week. Sunshine flew into Teri's life two years ago and has been a pleasure to watch, and a joy to Teri and her DH. Poor little Sunshine died last week, and we are all heartbroken for the family - she was an adorable bird.


15 comments:

sukipoet said...

nice to be away for so long and enjoy your family. the egrets are marvelous.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What a nice assortment of Animals you saw. It must have felt like you were on Noah's Ark while out in the boat. Happy AW. P.S. I think you were seeing White Ibis since these birds have the big long curved bill. Beautiful birds.

Annie said...

Glad you had fun in Florida.
Lovely photos.
I did not know Sunshine, but I am sorry to hear of her passing.xoxo

PAK ART said...

What I wouldn't give to spend a week in Florida! It looks so marvelous to see the egrets and spoonbills and people outside in sandals. Waaaah! I'm so glad your cousin adopted those dogs - they are now having the time of their lives; going out on boats, playing with their pack of short-legged friends, probably eating turkey scraps.

Lynn Cohen said...

What fun you all had there! Where's the alligator? Now that's something we don't see often in CA. At a zoo maybe! But not in the wilds!! Those are a lot of cute puppies!!! We're sad about the loss of Sunshine too! So sad for Teri.
I saw Dina this past weekend. She waiting for your email. ;-) *(about the jewelry)...hope you have time.

Katiejane said...

Great variety of animal photos! Looks like you had a wonderful time. I like the shot of NYC at night.
Yes, it is a sad thing about Sunshine. My heart goes out to Teri.

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Yes those look like Ibis with the curved beak. I too posted deer on my post today. :) I LOVE the shot over NY.. wow Great post and so much to see and read.

Teri said...

Thank you Mim. So sweet of you to remember Sunshine.

Robin said...

Wonderful post from the South, *Sugah*!

I love all these astounding photos!!! I can't even pick a favourite! (Although I adore your Mum in hat and glasses - ever the *Diva* holding Sammi!)

Glad you are home....still think you need a dog of your own! (Me too....perhaps next year?)

Love,and......HAW!

♥ Robin ♥

Lori ann said...

how lucky to see so much wildlife, birdlife and even marinelife. and how fun to be around all those sweet dogs.
seeing the photo of nyc made my heart ache.

Baino said...

Now I haz very itchy feet...:(

angela recada said...

I'm glad to see you had such a lovely time visiting with family over the holidays! Those egrets!

Thanks also for your sweet comment on my blog. You know, your amazing creativity inspires me, as well.
xoxoxo

Amanda Summer said...

i love the idea of all those short legged dogs running around your thanksgiving table!

Marion said...

Oh! Thank you so much for posting these photos...I am in awe of the ones from the plane! So glad you had a good time...it's awesome how well you relaxed. I'm someone who grinds teeth, as well...I would love to sleep without a sore jaw come morning!

Love the egrets!! xx

marianne said...

Oeps I am late......
What a delightful post Mim!
What a great time you had there and with all those pooches around. You know I love Scruffy but Sammi is cute too and I love your Mom as a diva on that boat. I don't like my hair flying around either.
Your cousin Joan sure has spread happiness around

have a nice day Mim
Enjoy being home again, my you nearly travel more than I do :)

HAW♥