All in a day's work

I titled this post All in a Day's Work because we saw all these beauties on one hike at Rookery Bay Swamp in Florida.  It was a good day to not be at work.

I call these wood storks Grandpas.  He has been included in WBW before.  But he was part of the sights and sounds on this day.

Gators!

A hawk peeking out of a nest.  Look close.

This vulture is the real pick for Wild Bird Wednesday this week. They creep me out!  

I've got mad skills!

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I've been making a splash in the art world for quite awhile.  O.K., maybe just a ripple!  But I thought my self portrait Mermaid Me was perfect for the www.illustrationfriday.com theme talent.

It shows me using my painting skills.  I'm adding some color to my ocean lair.  I finally used the word lair in a sentence.  Nice.

I got to pretend I was a mermaid in Belize this winter.  We did a little snorkeling. And we got up close and personal with giant sea turtles.  It was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had.  But one of the turtles started swimming towards me.  Da...dum.  Da...dum.  DadumDadumDadum.

 I learned that I was no mermaid after all.  I awkwardly tried to twist and flail out of harm's way.  It didn't work.  The turtle thumped into me.  Of course I was unharmed and exhilarated.  But later on the boat I found out that darned turtle took a big poke at me. Tastes like tourist.  Not fish.      

Florida 101

There are a lot of people I've run across in life who don't care for what Florida has to offer.  But I always say that if you don't like Florida you just aren't looking hard enough.  We love the white sand beaches, peaceful Cypress trails and abundant Winter wild life.  The first shot is one of our favorite parks in Naples.  We always try to walk and enjoy a few picnics here.  Sungren park

The view at Naples beach. Or I should say one view of thousands.

I had a visitor below my beach chair.

I was sitting on a bench in the heart of Corkscrew Swamp and look who snuck up behind me.

An Egret wading in the swamp. 

A curious Owl.

A maze of gulls.  Or amazing gulls!

Butterflies fluttered at the Rookery Swamp Trail.

And turtles sunned themselves.

Weird colored sea birds at Lover's key.

We threw this live shell back after a photo op.

Feeding Giraffes at the Naple's Zoo is not only for the youngsters.  Florida.  It's what's for Winter!

P.S.  This FLA post has been simmering in my drafts bin for quite awhile.  It is going to be 100 degrees in Minnesota today.  Hotter than a Florida swamp in Summer! For more photos visit the Sunday Best blog hop!

Are we there yet?

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Are you lost?  Well, here is a map.  But unfortunately it is only helpful if you are in Hopkins, Belize. And who wouldn't want to get lost in Belize.  Mayan ruins, snorkeling, caves, culture and Marie Sharpe's Hot Sauce.  Oh, and One Barrel Rum.  Yum!  Lost is the theme of the week over at www.illustrationfriday.com 

I had so much fun with all the details on this map.  I would love to paint more maps from our travels.  And there is even a website to put them on. www.theydrawandtravel.com  But it is easy to get lost in other projects!   

Heads or Tails...

Turtles are pretty cool anyway you look at it.  I've snorkeled with sea turtles, admired them from near and far and even eaten them.  Well, the chocolate variety anyway.  My favorite is with cashews, caramel and dark chocolate.  Yum.  And now I've saved one.  And so can you.     

I purchased this cool art from Nate over at They Draw and Cook/Travel fame.  And all the profits go to the Turtle Conservancy.  To learn more visit Saving turtles is a snap!  If this was a Seinfeld episode I'd say,"No turtle soup for you!" But don't be slow checking back on Wednesday for another tasty recipe...

I like my turtles with caramel, dark chocolate and cashews.

Bottoms up!





P.S. Sorry to string these posts out slower than a turtle in a Barbie pool filled with corn syrup. (a tiny pool for a tiny turtle) And NO turtle soup for me. I laughed at all of your comments.

A tiny bowl of turtle soup.

tails. And...

Painted Turtle

Heads or...

I SAW A SEA MONSTER!

I just read an article over the weekend about the deadly dangers of (!) overuse. I guess even Mark Twain was annoyed about it. Guilty as charged. But when you see a Sea Monster it seems like an apostrophe moment. (title) Do you see her in the first photo? If not you'll have to suffer through a few beautiful nature photos first.

I love the lighting in this one.

Who is this interloper?

As promised...Minnie the Monster, Lake Creature and local Nessy. She's at Brownie lake this year. So on Sunday we rented a kayak and crossed lake Harriet and Cedar lake on a journey to find her.

She posed beautifully. Boy, I'm such a good photographer. I mean how many people are able to capture a Sea Monster close up. Usually they are swimming away so fast that all you see is a blurry blob. You know kind of like all those Big Foot photos. I'm patting myself on the back right now.

At this point we are basically becoming fast friends. But it is almost time to go. Sniff.

What you don't see after we left is Minnie shedding an artificial tear as we paddled away. "Be sure to eat your mil foil!" I yelled back.

Bathroom Art

Because of the photo challenge I'm doing my art post second this week. And as some of my loyal followers may already know, I always relate my photos and my art in some way. Ziplinning and shadows are a tough one. But for some reason I thought of the wooden turtle that I bought in the gift shop at Sky tram. I haven't painted that many turtles. But I did paint a turtle, alligator and a frog...for my bathroom no less. They're painted on the knobs below the sink. And they always make me smile when I use them. Actually my bathroom is a little bit like being in Costa Rica because I painted Bamboo on the wall. If it wasn't for that darn toliet!