Feb. 29---leap day at Wakodahatchee:

After walking all around Green Cay, I went by Wakodahatchee to see if I could drive right in and park.  Fortunately I was able to!  That doesn't happen very often!  So I went on in.
 Love seeing all the birds there in their mating plumage!

 I find it amazing that even the area around their eyes change colors.

 a pair grooming themselves

 Lots and lots seemed to have paired up.  Many were also building nests.

 Don't know if they can lift their mating plumage like a peacock or if the wind just did this.

 red bellied whistling ducks.

 a baby Great Blue Heron.

 a couple of the Whistling ducks in flight.

 one of the baby anhingas with it's wing feathers coming in.

 Even the anhinga's eyes change colors.  Usually it's black all around with reddish eyeballs.

 mother and baby anhinga.

 Love watching these guys grow!

 There was a flock of red bellied whistling ducks dancing on the water.  This was a small group of them.

 By now the sun was really getting low, so I took a few back lit pictures as I headed out.

 a couple Wood Storks getting wind blown.

 Part of the flock of Red Bellied Whistling Ducks here at Wakodahatchee.

Only had about an hour here, but it was worth while.  Going to miss these places when we move!

Feb. 29---Leap day at Green Cay!:

One more day on my own before hubby returns.  So, I went to the birds again!  I hadn't been to Green Cay as often as Wakodahatchee, so I went there---first.  I was a bit surprised how many fewer birds are here then at Wakodahatchee just a few short miles away.  But I did see a couple more birds to add to my "never seen before" list!  And it was a beautiful day for a walk, so plenty birds or no birds, it was a good day.
They even had the bird feeders refilled, so I got to see a couple birds there.  I believe this is a female Painted Bunting.

A male Painted Bunting.  I've seen a few of these guys of different sizes at different times.

 The male again.

 A feast for the eyes!

 Here you can see why the yellow rump warbler got it's name.

 One of the new guys for me----Red Shouldered Hawk.

 him again.

 one more just because I've never seen him before.

 an Ibis in flight.

A Limpkin, I believe.  Similar to a Bittern, but the Limpkin has a longer beak.  Don't see too many of either of them.  Couldn't get in a position to get a better picture of him before he disappeared under the boardwalk.

a Wood Stork in flight

 a Great Blue Heron

 Great Egret getting a tiny fish snack.

 2 types of Moorhens.

 This was another first for me----Cedar Waxwing

 Really cool bird.  I put this picture on Facebook in the Wakodahatchee and Green Cay group and got over 140 likes for it!  They also told me what it is.

 There was actually a small flock of them.  There's 2 in this picture.

 A pair of doves resting.  I love the "cooing" sound they make---reminds me of Hawaii for some reason.

 I'm always trying to get pictures of the swallows, or martins, or whatever they are that are always darting around so quickly.  Got a few somewhat decent photos of them. 

 a male Grackle.

 The little darting guys again.  The one looks quite colorful!  I think they are Tree Swallows.

 And a strutting Swamp Hen.

 Lots of flowers in bloom, too. 

That was it for Green Cay.  Then I decided to see if I could get into Wakodahatchee for a little bit before sunset since they're so close together.  Check out my next blog for that short adventure.

Feb. 28, 2016---master bathroom project:

Been a long tiring week working on Angie and Josh's master bathroom.  Starting on Monday, I've been going over there every day to help: painting trim boards; painting walls; cutting floor tile (first time using a motorized tile cutter---boy is that a messy job!); writing down measurements; lending support with her cutting of trim with her radial arm saw; running back and forth to the bathroom a million times to check for inconsistencies with the saw and the measurements and making adjustments; more painting; spackling; running to the hardware store;--whatever I could do to be of any help.  She has a degree in Interior Architecture and knows what she's doing.  It was a learning experience for me and I'm still amazed at what all she can do---she even reinstalled the toilette, changed out the electrical receptacles, and is installing a custom wall treatment called "board and batten" which is requiring a lot of beveled trim cuts.  I counted 20 walls in their bathroom (not counting the ones in the shower)!   To make even more cuts there's a switch plate through the chair rail and a linen closet door in the bathroom which required more cuts in the base board.  In the meantime, Josh's folks had come from St. Louis for a visit and took over vamping up their front yard.  They washed fountains and walkways, trimmed and removed lots of landscaping, added some more landscaping, mulched, rocks, bagged clippings, ... .  We all worked quite hard for the whole week.  Why---because Angie and Josh are moving!  He's been interviewing for a couple different jobs and took the one just north of Atlanta.  Actually starts March 14th!  So Angie's trying to get the house in tip top shape so it'll sell quickly.   She had granite countertops in the kitchen installed a couple weeks ago and tiled a back splash.  Just a few more things left to do by suggestion of their realator and they'll be ready to put the house on the market.  So here is how I spent the last week----
a few day in---the board and batten is going up and the vanities are ready to be set.

 Should have seen the pile of wood before the first cut was made!

 Looking toward the shower.  Next will be removing the blue tile on the shower wall and floor.

 but first she has to finish the rest of the bathroom.  The upper walls are now painted, too, and the chair rail is going up around the toilette.

 so many measurements

 Checking the cuts for the baseboard with the closet door up.  Closet door to be painted white in a couple days.  Lots of baseboards and chair molding ready to go up.

Getting there!  At least the vision is blooming!
While we were working on that, her mother-in-law and father-in-law were busy working out front.  Must say it's looking really good, too!  They found a cleaner that worked wonders on the walkways and fountain.

 Plus they cut back the shrubs and mulched.

 Even cut out a few overgrown bushes and planted new plants with more color.

Another place an overgrown shrub was removed from.  Love the mulch and lava rock there now.

Here's hoping when it goes on the market it sells as fast as her brother and sister-in-laws house sold last June---overnight!
I guess later this year I'll be blogging about living in Georgia!