July is almost upon us...

I havent taken a photo of anything lately...so here are some that I didnt post from my trip last week...

I almost gave up on finding a spot at Edisto Beach State Park for camping and to finally see the Painted Bunting during the second week of July window!! I do have ONE little problem, or maybe its 2 little problems....

                                                                        

Annie and Flossie,

                                                               my best friends!

 they have to go with me, cause I Have NO ONE to keep them and I WOULD NEVER put them in a kennel...I could probably get someone to come in to feed them but wth Ill enjoy having them with me....so they will come with---- 

 the park building where the buntings are greedily eating at seed feeders provided  by the staff is in the courtyard of the Nature Center..and NO PETS allowed In the Nature Center ...its almost like the world is set up for couples and families and we singles (with pets) have to figure out a way around all that....SO we shall see how Imanage to work it

IF I tie them out front Flossie ( on the left)  will go bananas she growls and snarls at all strangers...lol .  I could leave them in the van for a while, motor running with AC on maybe 15 mins....because she barks the entire time I leave her in the van,

BUT luckily Finally 2 days opened up so I booked it  I plan to get in some beach time too...hope the girlz are allowed on the beach. Got my chair, beachy umbrella, and flip flops ready!!! Guess I can hang up my hikers for a while, since the triple digit days are upon us!

BUT anyways thats still a couple weeks away, July 4th is next week and its the girlz 5th birthday!! It will be nice to have a middle of the week day off..

... weather is getting hot this weekend as we are told the stiffling heat of the southwest is headed our way..it will be way too hot to do anything but maybe swim. 

                     I gotta get that kayak!! Im not content to sit on the shore anymore!!

NO I dont have webbed feet...

I cant wait, to see that bunting!!

 

PEACE

FREE BIRD

SO as you recall I took Milo on a road trip with me, to my sisters for 4 days! It was quite the menagerie with 2 dogs and a wild bird in a huge freakin cage in my van..lol OH and the grub worms I had to take also..

SO anyways he was sitting next to me out on the deck and I saw he was trying to sing,,,how cool so anyways after we returned home I released Milo!!



HE didnt just fly away he hopped around a bit then  he ventured farther...he is still my baby and he is in the yard and he joins me on the yard bench when I go out with my coffee in the morning, and my drink in the evening!!

HE seems to be adjusting slowly but surely to being a free bird!! He hangs out by the birdbath a lot...




When I call his name he swoops over my head or lands on my shoulder. I try NOT to call him too much cause I want him to be successful but he is just too precious to NOT.



I read that Mockingbirds mate for life! And his parents who live near where I work, are building a second nest...Unfortunately Milo's brother was killed by a predator!! IF only the construction hadnt been going on, I think Milo would not have been abandoned, his brother must have been a little older, hatched first  and was ready to fledge and Milo was not, according to the research I did, they fledge 12 days after hatching...and there was 3 chicks to start with ...SO its possible that he was at least a week younger than his older brother....and thank goodness he didnt fledge  he surely would have been run down by a bull dozer..anyways he has been free for 4 days now and he looks great.



I will keep tossing out mealy worms for him as long as he comes around looking for it....I read that the parents help the young as long as they need help after fledging,

I have learned so MUCH from Milo, about letting go and trust---and when you really need help you have to be open to accept it...Milo was, and now he is right where he should be....up in a tree---a Free Bird!!

PEACE

POT LUCKY ME!

Well Im back from my mini vacation, just in time the weather has gotten hotter...I picked the perfect time for my last spring hiking it was glorious!

 I rented a kayak on Friday at Paris Mt State Park, had a short paddle around Lake Placid , that was fun...IM seriously considering purchasing a small NOT flashy kayak, just something to splash around in and make better use of this hot weather we have ever summer!!

PARIS MTN photo missing 

There is a beaufitul rustic headquarters building built by the (what we would have done without their efforts?) the awesome CCC, or Civilian Conservation Corp. I love the stone...

Photo Missing 

I didnt have time to sit down tho it was more hiking and wildflowers in the afternoon....

                       AND other beautiful things one finds in a heavily forested area...

               Saturday the girls and I went to hike at Ashmore Lake and to see the Ashmore Falls high above, once again not a falls that one can hike right up to, but you can see it from the dam side of the small lake..its located high up on that ridge and to the right,,,,the flow was low we had no rain. 

ITs not a big gushing falls, I guess it could be after heavy rainfall, but it was quite pretty and it was listed in my Waterfall Hikes of Upstate SC book, which Im trying to see as many of them as I can...so this hike makes 27 that Ive done so far!!

                   

STILL plenty left to do tho....and of course more wildflowers, and wildlife!!! IM telling you we had the best TIME...

                 

Solitary Vireo
   

In case you've wondered whats inside a Pitcher Plant, its water! This lake has a large "garden"  of pitcher plants on the backside...

AND where there is water there's amphibians!!

After this hike the girlz and I drove up to Cesars Head just to admire the View...

awww it was awesome!!

I dont know when my next waterfall hike will be, our boss is closing the biz for a week in July,  IM hoping to go in search of the painted bunting  down at the coast...so we will see what happens!!

Probably should have split this post into 2 but News gets OLD real fast so I figured I'd toss it all into one kinda POT LUCK!!

                                                                Caesar's Head Formation 





PEACE

Mini Vacation

After work yesterday I drove upstate and Im here until Sunday...had a good nights sleep and today the girls and I went hiking...Milo made the trip with us, but he didnt come hiking..I want to release him at home,..probably when we return...

I LOVE the woods up here there is so much to see! All this was trailside..

                

WE hiked on the Table Rock Trail in the state park of the same name, Table Rock.  Our destination was Green Creek Falls, there was lots of small veils here and there the dogs enjoyed splashing in a few of them...

The waterfall we hiked to see was in such a steep raven that we couldnt hike down to get a photo of it...SO we enjoyed resting at the top and then headed back...

                 

Lots of cool overlooks of the creek....and the Rhododendrons are in bloom along with some other cool plants

HOPE to do more of the same tomorrow!!

PEACE

Milo Almost Grown up...

Milo in his cage. 

Milo exploring, originally uploaded by Dixxe's Pixel's.

PHOTOS MISSING

Here is the promised updated photos of Milo the mockingbird ...he is really growing fast now...he has learned so much since my last update..he now drinks water, takes baths, and hunts gnats, flies, mosquitos, and anything else that moves in the screened porch.

What a joy he is!! I am already getting empty nest syndrone...
Had a great weekend, my friend and I attended a wedding, although I dont recommend marriage, the ceremony and reception was fun!! We celebrated being happily unhitched with a couple of drinks afterwards!! She spent the weekend here with me, Milo and Girls!! WHAT FUN WE HAD!!! Im only working 3 days this coming week, then Im headed up to the Mountains for 4 days!! A waterfall hike may be involved!!!
LIFE IS GOOD!!

BANG-its JUNE!!

WELL the good news first:

...My sister came down to spend the weekend with me, and we had a great day out at my favorite Wildlife Refuge..Sandhills.  We took our dogs, all 3, and our chairs and sat by water and watched the dogs play, AND we both agree we need to get a couple of kayaks to go around this sweet lake in...

Later we birded a large meadow, one of my favorite spots in the refuge.  Sis checks the field with the bins...

           

We spotted  Orchard Orioles swaying on the tips of the tall grass stalks and the scrubby trees...here is an adult male...AND this Immature one..

We saw lots of Eastern bluebirds,

indigo buntings, blue grosbeaks, and Eastern Kingbirds..

We saw Wild Turkey, Summer tanagers, Blue Jays, Red Headed Woodpeckers, 

AND I get as excited about wild flowers as I do birds and they are a little easier to photograph since they dont fly away..lol  A Painted Lady on Button Brush

A red Spotted Purple on nearby butterfly weed...

IT was the perfect day cool and sunny!

 Milo news:
    he is doing great, flying all the way across the screen porch now and grabbing at stray flies and gnats, he is learning how to pick food up off the ground, and not having it all handed to him by me...so great progress...Ill get a new photo of him later in the week..

and now the bad news..

MY X, refused to accept my buy out offers even after I convinced the bank  to loan me the money...there IS a limit to how much I can pay back....I HAD Planned to retire in 2 yrs...

SO the homeplace is going up for sale...the listing is laying on my sofa waiting on me to read it, I HATE when a court can FORCE you to do what YOU DONT WANT TO DO...I cant mortgage my entire future.  BUT Its not all bad....IF and when it sells I will be able to do the traveling I want to do!! WHO knows what the future holds!!

PEACE