Birding Trip 12/29/14

It wasn't the best day for birding as there was a dense fog early. The fog lifted by 10am but it was still rather overcast. JMM did all the photography. He hasn't downloaded them yet so I don't know if any of them turned out clear enough to post. If so, I will put them up as soon as I can. Here is the list of birds we saw:

Birding Trip 12/29/14

FORT BEND COUNTY

Shrike

Cardinal

Kestrel

Black Vultures

Mourning dove 

Red winged blackbirds

Grackle

BRAZORIA COUNTY

Great egret

Little egret

Snipe

Coots

Night heron

White faced ibis 

Snowy egret

Northern shoveler

Lesser scaups 

Cormorants

Caracara

Brown pelican

White ibis 

Roseate spoonbills 

Kestrel

Starling

Willet

GALVESTON COUNTY

Cormorants

Mockingbird

Rock dove

Mourning dove

Sandhill Cranes -7

Laughing gulls

Meadow larks

White ibis 250 about

Brown pelicans many

Shrike

Dunlin 25

Snowy plover 10

Willets 8

Cormorants 12

Snowy egret

Roseate spoonbills 

Ring-Billed Gull 

Caspian tern

White Pelicans -2

January Menu

January Menu

1. Leftovers 

2. Texas Roadhouse 

3. Bacon Sandwiches, Oven Fries, Veggie Tray

4. Schlotzsky's

5. Baked fish, Carrots/Thyme, Cabbage 

6. Slow Cooker Balsamic-Braised Chicken with Swiss Chard

7. Steak, GMP, GB

8. Leftovers

9. Pappasito's

10.  Bacon sandwiches, Oven fries, Veggie tray

11. Schlotzsky's

12. Tuna salad sandwiches, Veggie tray

13. Chicken-Rice Bake

14. Slow Cooker Hearty Beef Stew p.59

15. Leftovers 

16. Olive Garden

17. Bacon sandwiches, Oven fries, Veggie Tray

18. Schlotzsky's 

19. Baked fish, Carrots/Thyme, Corn

20. Slow Cooker Farmhouse Chicken and Corn Chowder

21. Macaroni & Cheese

22. Leftovers 

23. Baker Street Cafe

24. Bacon Sandwiches, Oven fries, Veggie tray

25. Schlotzsky's 

26. Shrimp Jambalaya 

27. KFC

28. Slow Cooker Beef and Noodle Soup

29. Leftovers 

30. Pizza

31. Bacon sandwiches, Oven fries, Veggie tray 

Meditation

As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, but we also feel that we deserve resolution. However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution. We don't deserve resolution; we deserve something better than that. We deserve our birthright, which is the middle way, an open state of mind

that can relax with paradox and ambiguity. 

Pema Chodron,  When Things Fall Apart

In Memoriam by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind. 

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler forms of life,
With sweeter manners, nobler laws. 

Ring out the want, the cares, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes 
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good. 

Ring out of shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace. 

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ to be. 

Goals for Next Week

Goals for Next Week

Physical

     Sit and Be Fit 

     Healthy Breakfast

     Water

Quilting: Buy fabric for baby quilt

Reading:

     Wartime Britain by Juliet Gardiner 

     Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho 

     Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood 

Cooking:

     Beans and Rice and Sausage

     Chicken-Rice Bake

     Spaghetti and Meatballs 

Personal:

     Make appointments for

          Eye exam

          Dermatologist 

          Haircut and manicure

     Birding trip to Galveston 

     Cat to vet for exam and shots

My Gentle Barn by Ellie Laks

My Gentle Barn by Ellie Laks

It is hard to believe that someone who had been molested and neglected as a child could become such a caring and compassionate person. Perhaps, it is because as she says, the animals saved her. This book is about her healing neglected and abused animals as they heal her own neglected and abused spirit. 

The thought of animal abuse is so abhorrent to me that I almost didn't read this book. While there is no glossing over the neglect and abuse the animals came out of, Ellie's love and gentle respect for the animals is the major focus of the book. 

I had never heard of The Gentle Barn until I read this book. I knew of various rescue organizations but other than getting our cats from the local shelter, I really had no interaction with people whose lives are dedicated to animal rescue.  And frankly, it was easier just not to think about it. 

I read the book from start to finish almost without putting it down. It is interesting to see how Ellie grows and becomes the person that she was meant to be. And it is heartwarming to read about her patient, gentle nurturing of the animals that come into her life. And it is noteworthy that she uses the animals to help youth who have been injured by life to learn from the people and animals at the Gentle Barn how to heal and trust and be kind and gentle. 

You can learn more about the Gentle Barn at www.gentlebarn.org or on Facebook Gentle Barn. 

A very good read indeed. 

Around Oak Meadows

Christmas around OakMeadows is such a pleasant season. Long ago we simplified our celebrations to where it is a pleasure to be savored rather than an ordeal.  My decorations do not include a tree but I do decorate the mantle and the dining room side board and table. We do exchange gifts with immediate family--usually gift cards or homemade eats. This year we decided to attend the Houston Symphony and Chorale's presentation of Handel's Messiah. It was lovely. 

We are planning a birding trip to the Rockport-Corpus Christi area right after 
Christmas. I love to see the ducks that winter down here. 

Believe it or not, I am finally making progress on the monster quilt. It is layered, basted, and I have quilted 2 blocks....out of 56.....I told you it was a 
monster. Only 54 more to go. And of course, kittens are right in the middle of it 
all. But I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. My quilts must have a certain amount of cat hair quilted in. 

Lots of good reading going on. I finished My Gentle Barn by Ellie Laks and it was wonderful. I'll have a review later this week.  Wartime Britain by Juliet Gardiner is excellent but at 600+ pages it will be a while before it is finished. And I've started a Manuscript Found in Accra by Paulo Coelho. It reminds me very much of The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. 

My cooking has been mostly old standards but I have plans for some new 
recipes in the New Year.  One new recipe is Balsamic-Braised Chicken with 
Swiss Chard. I will let you know how it turns out. 

It was raining this morning and one of the kittens got out and ran up a tree and out on a limb that was too high and too thin to really support him. He was wet and frightened and mewing piteously. So good old JMM got the extension ladder and got as close to the kitten as he could and I was at the base of the tree talking to him and telling him that he had to go over to JMM and what a good kitten he was and that he would get a can of Fancy Feast if he would be brave and walk the limb back to JMM. 
He finally did and 2 wet people and 1 wet cat finally got to go back inside. 

We made reservations for our Alaska cruise next August.  I have never been on 




a cruise.  I hope to add some northern sea birds to my life list. JMM's brother and his wife are coming with us so it will be doubly nice.  Our other trip for 2015 is a trip to Yosemite in May.  

That's all the news from OakMeadows where all the people are retired and all the cats think they are above average.