2019 - February & March in Fort Worth

Wednesday was a coolish day to start and then it warmed up and was sunny.  I took Lu to school, stopped in to get a coffee at MacDonald's (no TV so no CNN fix for me yet) then bought some cards, went home and filled them out, went to the Post Office to mail them.  The post office clerk put the stamps on for me and threw the mail in the box for me.  Quite different from home.  Then I took Cassi's car to the Goodyear garage to have someone look at Cassi's car tire.  I had put air in the tire the day I started driving it and yes, it definitely has some kind of slow leak in it.  The fellow at the garage fixed it with a patch and told me the tire had a nail in it.  From there I went to a Bead shop to get my pearl necklace restrung as Lu had pulled it by accident and it broke.  Then off to Natural Grocers to pick up something for supper and then back to the Goodyear garage as they had said that the indicator light will go off once I drive it a bit and ...

The temperature this morning was 11 degrees when I woke up and it was an overcast day with some sunny periods.  It was really comfortable.  I still went out with a scarf, I always do and I wore my vest also.  After taking Darla for a walk and then Lu to school I stopped at Mac Donald's for a coffee.  Here are just some of the flowers at Lu's Montessori, this morning.   The children planted them last fall.  Off I went to Colleyville today which is about 20 miles away and about a 45 minute drive.  I had no problem finding the parking lot.  I met a lady walking right away and she was very kind and showed me the Barred Owl up in a tree and took me to Janet's feeder's a long ways down the trails.  I thanked her and she continued on her way and made sure I knew how to get back.  She was not a birder but a walker and showed me some of photos on her phone of a Bobcat on the trails.  This park is a sort of linear park with I th...

I was kind of tired from the weekend, so I thought I would ease into the day and stay home. Darla and I were out early and the morning was lovely already.  It was going to be a nice spring day.  The temperature got to 18 degrees F today.  This morning I took Lu to school and then stopped by the MacDonald's for a coffee and the gents who meet there told me that the TV was going to be installed there soon. I returned home and the huge oak-type tree across the street was getting trimmed.  There were a crew of eight men that were there for the half day.  Two of the them climbed the tree and trimmed branches.  The others ran the chipper and other gathered the branches.  There are three huge limbs that hang over the roof of the house in the back.  Tomorrow I will take a photo.  The crew did not take these down.  It was quite amazing to watch the two fellows winching themselves up and down and over and walking with their studded shoes on t...

The Fort Worth Audubon had organized a birding weekend to this north east corner of Texas which is pretty well away from everything and has just small towns around the Caddo Lake Wildlife Refuge.   I managed to get a cancellation and would share a three bedroom big trailer house with two bathrooms.  The resort had all kinds of accommodation; motel rooms, cozy cabins and trailer homes. The third lady had to cancel, so we instead took a trailer home with only one bathroom.  It was roomy and even had its own washer and dryer.  It was a house.  Both my friend and I agreed it was simple but clean.  Across from us were huge bays with steel roof that had huge trailers parked for the season (year round here) Since we arrived on a Friday, there were people visiting their huge trailers with push outs and patios etc.  Later on we were told one of the trailer homes was sold and would be towed away and more of these steel covered bays would be put in. We le...

Today after taking Lu to school and Darla out for her constitutional, I headed to the Fort Worth Wildlife Center to help a friend do the Feeder Watch at the center.   It was a drizzly on and off  all morning and overcast.  We watched and counted the birds (maximum number is the most seen at one time)  and we also caught up on the birds we each have seen and the trips taken and other stuff since the last time we had time for a chat.  It was a good morning.  We had some laughs and we managed to end up with 10 species by noon when the watch ends.  There were some birds that should have come to the feeder and did not.  Maybe it was the weather.  My friend had to go on to work so we did not tarry when it ended.  Since I was there, I went on to the Marsh Boardwalk and trail to see if any new species of bird had arrived since the last time I was there.  Nope!  I did part of the trail and it was pretty quiet.  The sun came...

Tuesday and Wednesday were busy days with taking Lu to school and picking him up and some shopping in between.  I kept my eyes out and even Lu helped to look at birds in the neighbourhood.  Lu has his binocs and I had mine and he would spot something and I would look too.  It was fun and he enjoyed it also.  We did this from the front room windows. I like it because it reminds me how big the moon was that night.  I could not take a photo that was not blurred.  I heard from my Fort Worth Audubon friends that this coming weekend there was a weekend birding trip at Caddo Lake Wildlife Preserve (near the Louisiana border).  It was all booked full, but my friend said to contact the organizer just in case there was a cancellation.  So I sent an email off on Monday and that same day I got word that there was a cancellation and the person on the wait list could not go and so I am going instead.  There were a couple of things I needed to pick u...

Today the weather was coolish with a wind.  I took Darla out for a walk around 8:30 am and it was chilly.  NOT cold but chilly.  We walked down our back lane and it is all downhill and Darla likes it as there are all kinds of neat smells for her I imagine.  It is a back lane so very dark at night unless the houses that have driveways along it have lights.  So many creatures of the night I am thinking.  It is a steep downhill walk and we come out either at Montgomery or the Photo Building parking lot.  She usually does her business by this point and she is eager to get home for food.  She always seems to be in a hurry!   It is a steep hill to go back up to Cassi's place up the same city block and on the corner.  It is refreshing.  I took Darla for two walks today.  Otherwise my day was spent at home.  It was a dreary day and the sun was trying to come out.  That is when I went out again with Darla.  It was...

It was a cool day, but much better than yesterday with its cool wind.   The sun came out around noon and everything warmed up and it was pleasant. We had a stop at the donut shop with decadent donuts for Matt and myself and really nice Gluten Free Donuts for Lu.   Cassi was not feeling well this morning and passed on the donuts.   Lu ate his two donuts on the way to Dallas.  I should have taken photos of the donuts.  They were works of art. We arrived at the Aquarium and it was packed already but we got to see the Sloth and the fish and the fish tunnel and the Giant Otter and the Ocelot and the Flamingoes and the owls and the South American birds.  There is so much to see there.  We got to see the highlights.  Lu has his checklist of the spots he wants to visit.  After this we went to a late lunch at the Dallas Farmers`Market building.  This time we went Indian and had Mango Lassis and Indian food.  It was delici...

Both Cassi and Lu are sick with a cold and the kids decided to take Lu to the Dr today.  He was given a treatment and  several prescriptions.  So hopefully this will help him shake his cough.  While kids were out I finished off the laundry.  Cassi had collected and put it in the washer and my job was to get it to the dryer.  She does laundry often which is lucky for me on this trip, since I only took two of everything, I will have to wash more often. It was really cool outside today and with no sunshine, it made for  a dreary day.  I got out in the afternoon to see about my Ipad.  When I turned it on this morning to read the Saturday paper with my coffee.  It was disabled.  This meant nothing worked.  The Apple Store is about 5 minutes away and the world was there on a dreary day.  Almost all of the parking spots in this outdoor mall area were taken.  I had my name put on a list and was told to stick around.  ...

We had the snow storm of the winter Tuesday evening into Wednesday, the day I was leaving. I had my flights cancelled the previous evening and now I was flying out on West Jet which I don't particularly care for and I was going through Toronto which I am reluctant to do as Toronto has a hard time with any amount of snow.. I called for a cab well in advance and waited 1.5 hours for my 11 am departure from home.  I called again after 1.5 hours and the wait was still the same!   I was getting desperate!   I asked the next door neighbour for help and I got to the airport.  Thank you!.  The guys had been out in the morning clearing the snow off the lane and snow plow stuff so the roadway was clear. I checked in with NO Baggage.  My first time!!  I had my big nylon bag with my clothes in it and my new soled sandals. My tiny rolling bag had my small binocs and my lap top and Ipad.  I did not take my camera.  I just did not have the r...

The sun was out and it was a balmy 11 degrees first thing in the morning.  There was birdsong in the air and there are flowers and daffodils and all kinds of flowering cabbage and kale in the flower beds.  Plus tons of pansies which like cool weather. I took Lu to school this morning and stayed in his class for about 1/2 hour.  Lu and I sat beside each other on the carpet in his class and the kids, including Lu all sang some songs for me in English, Spanish and Hindi.  They also went through the date, the weather and the year, the months and the days of the week in sing song.  It was wonderful and so good to see Lu in the classroom environment.  The Montessori teachers have excellent teaching skills and the children were a delight. I will always remember the singing and the morning. From Montessori I drove on to the Fort Worth Wildlife Center and Preserve.   I have been birding there many times and it was a hot day.  I had taken a snack...