Amazing Sights at Blue Run!

We took a trip over to Blue Run Park for an afternoon hike and saw so many amazing things in a 2 hour hike!

This Green Heron stood out with it's bright colors in the dullness of the swamp.

You had to look at the right spot to see him!

Later I turned to ask my hubby something and saw this Black-Crowned Night Heron.

He was hard to spot.

He hides among the low branches on the river side of the trail.

Later we were lucky to see another River Otter.

He was the blackest color and some of the photos came out dark blue. (there appears to be a leaf on the back of his head)

We saw him dive into the shallow water and come up with something in his mouth.

But it's hard to tell what he had caught. It didn't really look like a fish but seemed too big for a crayfish or frog. 

And it looked white! He gobbled it down before we had a chance to take more photos. 

What a day we had! LOTS of neat sightings! Many of them 'out of the ordinary' which makes it even better!

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Ross Prairie Hike

When we started hiking here in Florida a few years ago, this is the first trail we hiked. 

And it's still a favorite!

What is that white stuff? 

Don't worry, it's not snow, it's white sand!

And this is Reindeer Moss....really! (also called Deer Moss)

A Palm tree is growing across the trail, of all things!

Aren't the grasses beautiful at this time of year! 

We are still having beautiful weather and enjoying our hikes and day trips.

What's your weather like today?

We've had highs in the 80s, cooler weather on the way. 

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays .

Out with the old...

...well, I hang on to LOTS of old things as you all know! 

But I did get an early birthday present that I'm having a lot of fun with. Something really NEW!!!

I got an Apple Watch! I'm still learning a lot as I wear it but I'm enjoying tracking my hikes and keeping up with my activity. 

My hubby put an app on it with the Minnie Mouse face and I went to my jewelry box and found my 2 Mickey watches. The smaller one I've had over 25 years and was wearing when I met my hubby. 

How time flies! 

Here are some of the massive live Oak trees that we see on some of our hikes. I thought you would like to see how tiny I really am! hahaha!

Do you have an Apple watch or know someone who does? I would love to hear about apps you like or features you are using on your watch. My hubby has had one for awhile so we are not exactly new at this but I'm determined to learn more about it and use more of the features.

Always learning....that's part of the adventure, isn't it?

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE .

Where the Rivers Meet

It's so beautiful to stand on the bridge and look out at the Withlacoochee River. 

This is where the Withlacoochee River meets the Rainbow River and there are beautiful swirls of color in the water!

And today we had the treat of watching a River Otter swim.

He went under water for so long, we had trouble keeping up with him.

We never knew how far down the river he would go before popping his head up.

They are so entertaining.

Can you find him in the center of the photo?

Another fun sighting on this hike at Blue Run Park in Dunnellon was a pair of Great Blue Herons.

They were 'chasing' each other and putting on quite a show.

One of them swam through the water like a Swan....

so graceful!

The other one was 'king of the brush pile' and then flew up into a tree and 'honked'.

It was a beautiful day to hike with lots of neat sightings. January is a great month to spend in Florida.

Have you had a good week? Have you taken many photos?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.

Here We Go!

I love books, especially vintage children's books!

This old school workbook is a 1952 edition. I couldn't read at that age but it may have been the same Alice and Jerry book I used when I started school in 1957.

It had never been used. Maybe I should try to see if I can answer all the questions correctly! (can I still tell time with one of these clocks? Can you? heeheehee)

And this book, Little Songs for Little People is dated 1968 which would have been in my teen years.

I was happy to find the workbook at Etsy and the songbook at the thrift store for a quarter.

It's a good month to reminisce! I'll let you know why in a couple of weeks! heehee! Sometimes when I look back at my post after it's published I think I should take out some of the heehees! But that wouldn't be keeping it real, would it?

I’m joining Thankful Thursdays .

Learning to make Mosaics

I hope no one hurries over here to learn how to make mosaics from ME! I've been forced to learn a new way of doing something that I've done for years! I always made mosaics using Picasa. 

But now I'm on a new MacBook Air AND I'm learning a new version of PhotoScape.

So far I'm having fun getting a little more 'artsy'!

And even those photos I take of dried grasses or colorful leaves look neat in a collage.

As hard as this is to believe....even for those of us that have lived in Florida for a long time....it was 86 degrees when we hiked last Friday. That's WARM, even for us!

Lots of oranges on the trees now too. The tree (above) is in our neighborhood.

What program do you use to make mosaics? Is it easy to learn?

I'm joining Angie for Mosaic Monday HERE .

The Greater Yellowlegs

"A New Year of Adventure"

It's hard to know where to start! The winter months in Florida are so perfect that we are either hiking or talking about where we'll go next! The first hike of the year, we went on a trail we've hiked before but we went farther than we've ever been. Of course we can't wait to go back and explore some of the trails we found at the turn around point. 

So looking back....150 hikes for 2019!!! I didn't set a goal to hike a certain number of hikes. I just walked as often as I could and kept a hiking journal all year long with highlights of every hike. And took LOTS of photos which I've shared with all of you. I sure have appreciated your encouragement and support....and friendship! 

We saw an unusual bird at the Pruitt Trailhead of the Florida Trails. (our first hike of 2020)

Greater Yellowlegs

Since this is about 15 or 20 miles from the Gulf Coast, we couldn't believe this shore bird was at the horse pond. 

Such a beautiful bird!

Fun to watch...

And now we've seen it there 2 different times.

What a fun sighting! 

Have you seen anything out of the ordinary this week?

I’m joining Saturday’s critters HERE

and I’d Rather B Birdin’.