September Anniversary

This card was inspired by Shelly Long, but I'm sorry, I don't have a link to it.  I just loved the way she used the embossed background and these images from the hostess set.  She had a bit more detail to her card, but I kept it a little simple and somewhat flat to mail it in one of those clear envelopes.

My cousin and her husband celebrated their anniversary earlier this month and though this card was not on time, it did go to them to wish them a happy anniversary. 

I've been so behind this September with school starting and this darn tooth and then a cold that I didn't even get to make HWNSNBP a card for our anniversary last week.  (Unfortunately I did share my cold with him - sorry dear!)

Here's a close up.  I hope you can see where I rock and rolled the edges of the heart.  Don't you just love that embossed background and I have to tell you that Pear Pizzazz is a wonderful green to work with. 

It's been warm and muggy for this time of year and I've been desiring to spend more time in the stamp cave.  Hopefully this weekend will bring some cooler, stampable weather!

Teapot Tuesday 113

Yikes, something changed on Blogger and I'm having such problems posting these pictures tonight.  Let's see if I can get through it.  

This is our teapot for this week's challenge and it has a wonderful story to go with it, but more to the point, the destination station this week is to honor those people that are caregivers to Alzheimers patients.   Be it professional or lay people, the amount of dedication that it takes to give the needed attention to those afflicted with this disease is daunting.  Certainly they deserve a word of encouragement and much needed thanks for the job that they are doing. 

In conjunction with this Teapot Challenge, there is a card drive hosted by Carolyn King (aka Cammie) on her blog in honor of her grandmother who had this disease and passed away not all that long ago.  Please visit her blog and you will see the wonderful giveaway that she is having and all the wonderful companies and stampers who have contributed to it.  You can also enter the giveaway yourself just by following the rules in her post.

My card also uses the sketch in the CAS challenge this week.  I used the hostess set Fast and Fabulous and stamped the flower in Basic Gray on Whisper White cs.  I then took my aquapainter and my ink pad and quickly swiped the Rose Red ink onto the flower image since Whisper White doesn't take to water too well.  It's not going to matter if there are noticeable lines in the coloring because when the ink dried I ran the image through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  I think this makes the image look like it's part of a needlepoint.  To add even a little more interest, I snipped some So Saffron cs up to use for filler for the flower center.

I backed my flower image with a scalloped square of Old Olive that I got from the Big Scallop Square Duo die.  I had to make the large scallop one scallop smaller on two sides to get my frame right.  The top of the card was polka-dotted with Rose Red ink and a dauber using a stencil I made by punching the 3/8" circle punch into a small piece of scrap cs.  The bottom piece of Marina Mist has polka-dots of Whisper White punched circles glued to it.  I added the Rose Red stitched wide grosgrain ribbon (retired) with a strip of White taffeta over it and made my bow out of white organza with a button in the middle tied on with white cotton string.  With the exception of the cotton string, this card uses all SU product.

So who will get this card?  I am debating whether to send it to one of the destinations that Cindy or Cammie have posted or someone that I work with who has a family member that has been affected by Alzheimer's. 

I know there are cardmakers out there who visit, but even if you aren't a cardmaker, perhaps you would like to perform a little Random Act of Kindness for someone this week and send a message of thanks or encouragement to someone who could use it. 

Autumn Box

I've got all this new product and finally I got a chance last night to sit down and play with some of it.  I took the Bigz Scallop Squares Duo die and some Crumb Cake cs and cut 6 of the larger scalloped squares out.

Then I scored them using the scallops as my guide - one scallop in on each side of four of them.  One square was not scored and the last was scored on one side only.   After I folded in the score lines on the four, I snipped to the score line only one scallop down from the top and the bottom.  Using Tombow Multi adhesive I glued the sides together and then glued that piece to the unscored square to make the base of the box.

You have to overlap the corners and the die is not and exact match on each side so you might have a little overlap show.  Bend down the top scores and do the same thing with the corners.  Then you can choose a side to glue on the lid with the one score. 

I cut four 2 1/4" squares of Early Espresso for the side panels.  The leaves and the pumpkins were stamped on Very Vanilla cs using the Paisley Prints stamp set and the leaf and acorns are from Day of Gratitude.  I used Pumpkin Pie and Riding Hood Red ink for the leaf and pumpkin - rock and rolling them and adding some Old Olive and Chocolate Chip marker to the pumpkin vine and stem, and scribbling a little More Mustard onto the center of the leaf.  I used Chocolate Chip ink for the acorns.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes and is stamped in Early Espresso.

Only the front side panel was embellished with Early Espresso 1/8" ribbon and a button with some linen thread through it.  I popped up one of the acorns with a dimensional. 

Tomorrow is my mother's birthday and I have a little gift to put into this for her. 

Teapot Tuesday 112

I saw this teapot this week and immediately thought of my bowling ball cats.  I'll have to do some digging to find some decent pictures, but here is one I took early in the summer this year when I was repairing the ear of this one.....



This is, or was, one of my hobbies - to repurpose bowling balls.  I painted them, mosaiced them, glued things to them and used them to decorate the yard.  I like to think it was to add color to the yard since the deer regularly ate anything we planted, but it was also to add some interest to the landscape.  I even did a couple of bowling balls on commission for $.  And just like my rubber stamps, I have an accumulation of bowling balls in the basement just waiting to be repurposed.  But that's got nothing to do with the teapot challenge so let me move along.

If you check the Teapot post you'll get the full story and when you look at the gallery, you'll be wow'd I'm sure.  

The colors of the teapot reminded me of autumn, which it will be in a few days, so I got out my new French Foliage set and an old PSX cat stamp and this time buried the cats in the leaves.  

The cat faces are stamped in Basic Gray ink and the eyes highlighted with a Taken With Teal marker.  The script and leaves were stamped off once and then stamped with Basic Gray, More Mustard, Really Rust, Close to Cocoa, and Pumpkin Pie.  I added the lower corner motif to resemble the lid of the teapot.   The Taken With Teal strips were "roughed up" to get them some texture.

Our cards this week are destined for a fellow stamper in California who has just moved, along with her two cats, to that state.  I hope she likes this.

Lighthouse Thank You

I searched and searched and finally found a source for stamps of some of the lighthouses in New Jersey.  This is affectionately known as Old Barney and can be found in Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island.  We have been there many times and I've posted many pictures of the actual lighthouse.  This lighthouse is visible across the bay from where we stay in Barnegat.  I know, it's a bit confusing.  Barnegat is on the mainland and Barnegat Light is on the island. 

Anyway, this is a thank you card for some of our friends who did something especially nice for us.  The shells were stamped in Marina Mist on Marina Mist cardstock.  The lighthouse was watercolored with Ruby Red and Going Grey Ink, with some sponged Marina Mist water and Bashful Blue Sky.  I've used my MS sand dollar/starfish punch as the accent in Sahara Sand.

I got a couple of the other lighthouse stamps (Hereford Inlet, Tuckerton, and the Twin Towers of Atlantic Highlands) and I just might have to add to my collection.  The Lighthouse Challenge is coming up in October and we are hoping to take part again.  It's a wonderful way to spend a fall weekend.

Oh, by the way, the place where I got the stamp - Another Stamp Company.

Finches at the Feeder

The Finch family has been having a party at our feeder for the past couple of weeks.  They are a noisy bunch, but the noise is not unlike that of a large family gathering at the holidays.  The chatter and whistles and peeps just make you smile.

I took these pictures while I was cleaning out my car.  The vacuum didn't seem to bother them, but as soon as I walked around to the side closest to the feeder with my camera, they scattered.  So to get closer, I opened the windows and sat patiently in the car until they came back. 

Teapot Tuesday 111

I almost decided to pass on today's teapot challenge.  I've been very busy with the start of school - there's so much paperwork to take care of - and I've been having a problem with a tooth.  I had my regular dental checkup just a couple of weeks ago and all was good, that is until the next night when a tooth I had a root canal in 5 years ago started acting up. 

This isn't the first time that I've had a problem with this root canal tooth so on top of being in a bit of pain and being on antibiotics that are causing other problems, I am a little ticked off about it. 

The other reason is because it's a dog teapot.  I am not a dog person - having been bitten twice and having a son who is deathly allergic have contributed to that.  But after I went upstairs to see if I actually had any dog stamps besides D is for Dog, I got a little inspiration so here goes.

You can check out the story that goes along with this teapot here.  It's another cute one and the gallery is full of wonderful creations.

What I found was the Loads of Love Accessories set which has the three little dogs ready for the back of the pick-up truck, but I decided to make them into a decorative strip with my Stamp-a-ma-jig.

I colored them with my SU markers.  The background paper is full of trees (check out the link for the story above!!!) and it's from the special dsp prints pack offered earlier this year.  I've got a base of Pacific Point, some Old Olive and then the trees.  The decorative strip is mounted on Summer Sun which is on Pumpkin Pie cs.  The sentiment comes from Teeny Tiny Wishes in Pacific Point and punched with a 1" circle punch.  That is layered on another circle of Pacific Point.  The leaves were punched in Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, and Old Olive. You can see I added the leaf veins with my marker. 

So, as we have been doing for the last little while, this card has a destination station of a lady who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 

All A Flutter

While I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago I tossed some supplies together quickly to bring along and played around with some of the new colors.  I used the single All A Flutter stamp and the masking technique to stamp these butterflies.  The colors are Daffodil Delight and Poppy Parade, Blushing Bride and Pear Pizzazz, Marina Mist and Concord Crush, and Peach Parfait and Cajun Craze.   

This card was stamped with Pear Pizzazz and Blushing Bride.  A little surprise was added with the new Petal Punch in Blushing Bride.

Inside is a little message from the hostess set Cute by the Inch.

I didn't add any sentiments to these cards.  I'll be keeping them in my desk at work for any quick ocassion.

The Right Place

When I woke up this morning and came downstairs at the condo (we are down the shore) the news was on the TV and I was reminded of the significance of day.  In fact, the sky was clear and the air was cool, much like it was 9 years ago. 

I decided to take a walk down to the bay beach and back so I donned my sneakers, threw on a sweatshirt, grabbed my camera and sunglasses and headed out.

There's a stretch of the road between here and there that involves an s-curve and I found myself on the opposite side of the road near the marsh.  As I walked on, my attention was caught by a butterfly that I almost ran into.  Remembering that I had my camera in the pouch of my sweatshirt, I thought I would try to get a picture of the butterfly when it lit. 

I stopped walking, turned the camera on, and followed the butterfly with my eyes.  When he lit this is what I saw...........

Anyone driving by might have thought those were just the leaves turning orange, but there were scads of monarch butterflies adorning the branches, drying off in the morning sunlight.  These are only two of the many pictures that I stood there taking.  I'm sure that people passing by in their cars were questioning why I was taking pictures of that tree.  If they only had slowed down, I would have shared this wonderful sight with them.  I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.  I was uplifted by this gift of chance.

When I returned home, the TV news was still on and the reality of the day set in again.  And as we listened periodically throughout the morning to the reading of the names of those who were lost on 9-11-01 I thought again about chance and how those souls had all been in the right place, doing what they were supposed to be doing, but it was the wrong time. 

We usually light candles at the end of our driveway on this day.  Tonight instead we'll be watching the fireworks across the dock.  May each spark be as a prayer for those we lost nine years ago today.  We'll never forget. 

Teapot Tuesday 110

I love this week's teapot.  Actually, I found this teapot on the internet and sent the link to Cindy some time ago.  She filed it away to be used when we needed a butterfly at the tea party.   Well, as you can see, this week we needed a butterfly.  There is a great, cute story that goes with this - click here.  

There are two butterflies on my card that go with the story.  They're dressed in camouflage and they have a reconnassaince mission this week, thus the map.  They're Top Gun Wannabe's and they need to differentiate their target.  Points will be given for the one who lands on a yellow flower. 

Oh, oh, can you tell?  Is this worthy of a point.  Ha!  Only the recipient and I will know for sure!!!

I used the Hostess Punch Potpourri stamp set for both the butterflies and the flowers.  The butterflies were stamped with Pacific Point ink stamped off once.  The flowers were stamped in Basic Black on Daffodil Delight and Real Rose cs.  Then I used markers of the same color to add some dimension to the flowers.  The centers were colored black with a marker and then I dabbed Crystal Effects on them.  The leaves were left over from last week and are in Certainly Celery cs.  The map comes from SU's Newsprint DSP.  I took a q-tip and rubbed some pastels on the map (Bashful Blue on the water and one of the greens for the land).  Some of the flowers were popped up on dimensionals.

This card has a destination station of a lady who has been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. 

I'm glad this stamp set matches up with the punches so well.  It made it come together very quickly.  School starts tomorrow - the staff comes back - and I've got to get going to be ready for the big day. 

Teapot Tuesday 109

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live to be 100?  Some large birds like this parrot might live to be 100 years old but just like humans they would have to be very healthy and well-looked after.  But to be a human being and to live that long - well what an accomplishment!  But how about this - my friend Jackie has befriended a woman by the name of Mrs. Eula Cousins.  Mrs. Cousins is going to celebrate her 108th birthday on September 14th.  

My friend Joan had shared my blog with Jackie and she was marveling at some of my posts and we got to talking about the Teapot Tuesday challenges.  I was explaining all about it and added that we have recently added a Destination Station.  When I went into more detail about it she brought up Mrs. Cousins and  asked if Mrs. Cousins 108th birthday could be a "Destination Station".  Well, the only way to find out was to ask - and so I did.

I e-mailed Cindy and shared with her what Jackie had sent to me and she was tickled to say YES!

"Mrs. Eula Cousins was born on September 14, 1902 in Elizabeth City North, Carolina. She was an only child and describes her childhood as a "glorious series of adventures"!! She moved to Philadelphia and married Dr. William Cousins (an Optometrist) and they enjoyed 42 years of marriage!

The two of them were known philanthropists and sponsored many children to attend college. They traveled extensively to Germany, Spain and the Scandinavian countries! Mrs. Cousins is a lover of History and reads 2 historical novels a month. She loves poetry and reading!

Mrs. Cousins was known for her flower gardens and her favorite flower is the rose. She grew over 50 different varieties in her garden. She loves cats and had a cat named Marcy Ann that lived to the old age of 17. She loves crafts - she sews, crochets, and makes bookmarks using her dried flowers.

She is busy making blankets to be donated to dialysis patients. She currently has a parrot named Star that she loves to care for! She attends 4-6 hours of classes at Cathedral Village and describes herself as life long student of life! My fondest memory was spending the day with her to watch the inauguration of Barack Obama! Imagine how many Presidents she has lived to experience!

She is the oldest resident at Cathedral Village and is busy planning her party to celebrate 108 "glorious" years of life!"

Cindy, being the wonderful storyteller that she is has woven a story that touches on Mrs. Cousin's wonderful, adventurous life and her little parrot Star.  You can read it here.  The teapot she chose is perfect and here is my interpretation..............

I did not have any parrot stamps and I could have gone another way with this, but I really love birds so I thought I'd try my own watercoloring of the bird.  (Shhhhhh!  DO NOT tell HWNSNBP that cards can be made without stamps, okay????)

The sentiment I added (which is a stamp from SU's Whimsical Words - whew!!) says - "The more candles the bigger the wish" - so to you Mrs. Cousins may you have the biggest and best wish and receive many beautiful cards from the lovely teapotters. 

And anyone who is reading this who would like to send her a card - it doesn't have to be handmade - just e-mail me or leave me a message in a comment and I'll send you the address.  The more the merrier!!!

I"ll be back to add the links to the challenge and the gallery once they are posted!

This purple martin house is one of many that can be found surrounding the parking lot at the Cape May Lighthouse.  We ventured down there on Wednesday hoping the sun would come out and we were not disappointed.  It was so nice to be out in the sun and warmth with a lovely breeze.  I've been indulging myself during this vacation both with favorite food treats and mini shopping sprees.  In the outdoor mall in Cape May there is a frozen custard place where I got the usual vanilla and orange sherbert twist (and sampled the chocolate peanut butter too, YUM!).  I also bought some macaroons at the Nut House. 

I found some sand dollar and crab earrings and couldn't decide which to get so I got them both.   The Swedish shop yielded some little glass figurines and I got some shells and starfish at the novelty store at Sunset Beach.  I almost coaxed HWNSNBP into tea at the Butterfly Tea Room but we would have had to wait an hour and that was not on our schedule.  

By Thursday night the clouds had all but disappeared and we took a walk out to the dock.  As we were standing there, there was this strange reddish glow to the right of the lighthouse across the bay.  At first we thought it was the spray from fireworks but it didn't go away.  Then we kind of realized simultaneously that it was the moon rising over the ocean.  Not having my tripod with me this was the best of a series of quick snaps.

Friday night I was better prepared and had my tripod handy and I got the lighthouse as well as the moon.  As you can see it is a little past full stage.

In the morning we will embark on our annual crabbing trip with our friends.  We have teams this year and it's promising to be a fun day.  Go Team Blue!!!

Almost Full Moon Over the Bay

I brought my tripod with me hoping to get some good pictures of the August full moon but the weather hasn't cooperated.  It's been raining a lot.  This was taken Sunday night, and yes, it really was that blue.  The moon just seemed to appear out of nowhere.  I hope you can see the reflection on the water.  This was taken from the public dock across the street (without the tripod). 

We tried to do some fishing at the lighthouse, but the wind was not cooperating and the birds, oy, the birds were trying to grab the bait.  I was afraid we might snag one of them and we were getting wet so we didn't stay long.  Hopefully the rest of the week will see more sun.

This is a close-up of one of the pine trees behind our unit after the rain on Sunday.  The sun was setting behind them and they really looked bejeweled. 

Teapot Tuesday 108

Isn't this a gorgeous dress?  Could you image someone wearing it to a ball or a formal dinner aboard a cruise liner about 96 or so years ago?   The liner being the Titanic and the owner of the dress being Margaret Brown aka The Unsinkable Molly Brown.  Well, that's exactly where our story went this week.  And I must admit that I clicked on Cindy's links and did some perusing of the Molly Brown Museum and found out some other interesting facts. 

As we were packing up to leave for vacation I had to make this a quick one so I decided to give a facelift to the walls in one of the "green" bedrooms. 

I used my Watercolor Trio stamp set and stamped the flowers in Pear Pizzazz on paper of the same color.  You see the variations in color because I stamped more than once before reinking.  Then I added a band of Blushing Bride that had been run through the Bit Shot with the Square Lattice embossing folder.  Added a bit of white scallops and then laid down a piece of red line tape.  The new Stitched Poly ribbon is so soft and I wanted to gather it up a bit so I took a needle and some quilting thread and just ran some stitches loosely across the back and pulled it till it curled like you see in the picture.  I knotted the thread and then pressed the gathered ribbon onto the tape.  I think it looks pretty cool. 

After I added the sentiment with the curly label punch, I decided to stamp some butterflies from the same set in Blushing Bride, cut them out and gave them a little punch of color and texture with some MS micro beads (the only non-SU product on this card). 

This card has a destination to a young lady who has gone through some health challenges this year and who has an interest in all things Molly Brown.  I hope this will lift her spirits a bit as she tries to imagine new wallpaper in one of those museum bedrooms!

Okay, enough from me, let's go take a look at the gallery. 

Saturday Afternoon with the Yankees

If I hadn't given a title to this post would anyone recognize this facade? 

We arrived at the stadium early and walked around inside finally taking our seats at the time above.  Game time was 1:00 so we sat and did some people watching and had a bite to eat before the game began.

We caught the tail end of batting practice - as you can see the players are leaving the field.

This is Kim Jones of the YES Network propped in front of  the Yankee dugout doing her pre-game spiel.

Derek Jeter at the plate, Eduardo Nunez at first after his first Major League hit.

Enter Mariano Rivera to take that lead and hold it til the end.

Final score Yankees 9 - Seattle 5

We left early in the morning and took the train to NY.  I can't believe that the price has gone up so much.  It was $27.50 each round trip to NY Penn Station.  Then we got on the subway (the C to the D) which brought us right up across the street from the stadium in the Bronx.

Between the last two stops on the subway we got a quick serenade by an impromptu Mexican duo on the guitar and accordian - they were complete with costumes and had a third person walking through the car with his hat out.  I have to say that we were completely caught off guard with this although it did make us smile.

Thankfully it was an overcast day for the most part until the later innings so we didn't get overheated in our seats which, by the way were great - right field four rows in. 

Teapot Tuesday 107

So, you wanna hear a fish story?  I've got two.  One real and one not so real.

The first one took place this weekend.  HWNSNBP and I were "down the shore" and wanted to do some fishing Sunday morning.  So, we got ourselves together and walked across the street to the public dock.  We found a spot and got our lines ready and started casting away.  It was a nice cool morning but we weren't getting any bites and the view of the lighthouse across the bay was very enticing.  So much so that I said to HWNSNBP that we should have gone fishing at the lighthouse.  Then there was a lightbulb moment when we looked at each other and almost simultaneously said - "Do you want to go?" 

We packed up our gear (2 poles, bait, bucket, and tackle box) and headed out there.  It was a good 30-40 minute drive, but we were lucky enough to find a parking space right near the inlet. 

HWNSNBP brought his fluke rig and I was fishing with spearing for blue fish.  I was a little flummoxed as there was a metal railing on top of the concrete wall bordering the water.  I didn't know if I should climb up on the bench behind us or onto the concrete itself to cast out when HWNSNBP told me just to stick my pole between the opening in the railing and cast that way. 

There was a couple sitting the bench near me as I was mumbling to myself wondering how I was going to do that.  Let's say that was the beginning of the amusement we would provide, because as I made my "short" cast out into the water, almost immediately I got a hit.  HWNSNBP hadn't even gotten himself set up and I was reeling in the first fish.  A small bluefish, that promptly fell off the line onto the ground in front of me - so I stepped on it.  Then we had a little "discussion" about whether we were keeping that fish or throwing it back.   Well, into the bucket it went.  My hook got rebaited and before he could get his in the water again I had another fish!   

By this time we were attracting more attention as it seemed no one else was catching anything.   After I caught my third fish, someone went over to HWNSNBP and commented that I was catching all the fish and he wasn't getting anything!  I know he was sadly aware of that!  That prompted him to put the fluke rig away and get his light gear out at which point we both were pulling them in.  I have to say that he did catch the biggest fish of the day.........

With it's head straightened out it's almost 12 inches.  It's a small bluefish.  He filets them and usually I just dredge them in flour and pan fry them.  He enjoys eating them either freshly cooked or cold on a sandwich the next day - it really depends on how many we've caught.  The total for Sunday was a dozen caught and 5 of the largest kept, so he had a nice meal of it.

While we were there, there was a brother and sister fishing next to us in the 8-10 year-old range.  They weren't catching anything with their bait and kept asking us questions.  What were we using for bait?  Where did you get your bait?  What are you going to do with those fish?   And then the question I was waiting for - "Do you think we could borrow one of those spearing?" 

Which brings me to this week's teapot with the second fish story and destination station.  This is the teapot that Cindy chose for this week ..........

She always finds the coolest teapots!!!  This one has another one of her great tales to go with it and we were asked to make a card for a little 8-year-old boy who has had a bone marrow transplant - the donor being his sister.  He loves fishing.  That just reminded me so much of the brother and sister who were fishing next to us on Sunday. 

So here is my card, complete with - wait for it Cindy - Pencil Bobbers! which we use when we fish in the bay. 

I think this school of baby blues has gotten the wrong message.  They're suppposed to bring pencils to school, not pencil bobbers!  

So, come and take a look at the rest of the gallery with me.

It's A Boy, It's A Boy, It's A Boy

Aha, you might be thinking triplets but no, it's just been the summer of baby boys.  Three of the people I work with have had additions to their families.  Two teachers each had their second son, and another teacher her second grandchild. 

I scored the Bashful Blue cs to look like a quilted blanket.  The sentiment comes from the Hostess Set Occasional Quotes and it's stamped in Bashful Blue.  The peapod is from a retired set called Even Full and I stamped it in Basic Gray on watercolor paper and used my aquapainter and Certainly Celery and Garden Green ink to color it. 

I tied a snipped of Bashful Blue taffeta onto the scalloped edge and "hung" the peapod through the hole. 

My best wishes to the families of Benjamin, Rex, and Christopher!  God bless them all.

Separate Sunday Walks

The past couple of Sunday's we've walked both at the lighthouse and near the bay beach.  The birds always seem to be ready to have their pictures taken.

See the gull on the right.  He actually laughed at me after I took this.  His "ha, ha, ha, ha"  certainly sounded like laughter.  He made us laugh.  A good way to start that trek down to the beach.

I almost got wet taking this one.  Looking up the dune towards the lighthouse the gull standing stoically looking out to sea.

These two were perched on those signs looking toward the beach as if wondering where the lifeguard was.  I have no idea what those signs are for as they're facing away from the beach.  Probably some kind of warning for boaters I'm guessing.

Opposite those signs is this wooden pier where a flight of cormorants were gathered.  This is the first time I can remember seeing these birds in that area.  They might have been there all along, but their distinctive body shape clicked in my mind this time (thanks Sabrina - your bird identification on your blog has helped me here!).  There was something about the silhouettes of those birds against the shining water.

You might think that this one is either drying his wings or getting ready to take off.  Actually, I was reading a little about cormorants and he's probably just letting the others know to keep out of his space.   

The last three pictures were taken with my pocket camera which doesn't have a viewfinder. I take most of my close-up indoor pictures with that one and it does well with those type of pictures. But I prefer my bigger camera with the viewfinder and the zoom lens when shooting outdoors. Can you tell the difference between the first two pictures and the last three?  I know I would have gotten more detail on the cormorants with the big camera.  I'll have to remember to throw it over my shoulder the next time we head out that way.

I know this is supposed to be mainly a crafting blog so I hope my visitor's aren't getting bored with my Ramblings in Photos.  We've been spending more time "down the shore" lately which has kind of temporarily side-lined my crafting.  But it's a good trade-off being able to relax and enjoy our surroundings.