Does this photo make me look more adoptable?

So I've been taking photos of some of the adoptable dogs and cats for the PAWS Atlanta website for a couple of months now. I started volunteering there shortly after we adopted Sadie. At first, I assisted their photographer by helping with equipment set-up and herding the animals during their photo shoot, but after a while the regular photographer moved away and I was promoted to full-fledged official volunteer pet photographer.

; )

As volunteer gigs go, it's pretty sweet! I don't have the fancy studio set-up that the other guy did and I don't usually have an assistant and I mostly don't know what the heck I'm doing, but it's so much fun! And oftentimes there are puppies and kittens to be photographed and loved on and snuggled some, too!

The cats are often a challenge, though. Or they're a different sort of challenge than the dogs. The last couple visits I've been met with running, hiding, hissing and spitty kitties. I try to reason with them, but not being a cat person, I can't seem to get them to understand that they're not doing themselves any favors by looking so... so... dangerous! 

; )

I would encourage anyone with photography skills and a love for animals to consider offering your talents to a local shelter. The time spent befriending the animals (even the meanest of scaredy-cats) is therapeutic to us both, I think, on a personal level as well as in the quality of the photos. A happy, comfortable animal makes for a more beautiful photo; both of which make their adoption more likely!

You can see the pets currently available for adoption at PAWS (as well as some of my photos of them) by clicking here.

Building a better taco

As a kid, I loved having tacos for dinner, but could hardly convince my dad to ever make them. I guess assembling all the proper parts was too much trouble. What I'm sharing tonight are not tacos, but something better, I think.

Jay calls these "Poor Man's Tostadas" and we had them for the first time last week before our first Braves game of the season. They came together quickly and were delicious! We started with a corn tostada instead of a taco shell... important to the stability of the end product, I think. We used warmed refried beans spread in a thin layer over the tostada as the base for the yummy things and as a "glue" to hold it all together.

We made a meat-free version, hence the "poor man" title, with boiled carrots and potatoes in place of any meat. On top of that we added a crumbly Mexican cheese called queso fresco, diced tomatoes and diced jalapenos.

The final touches were sour cream, fresh cilantro and a green tomatillo salsa.  All very yummy!

A proper approach is necessary, so that you don't lose the whole thing in your lap. It's definitely worth the trouble balancing it all, though. I'm trying to dream up something besides potatoes and carrots that might be used as an alternate... any ideas?

Dog shaming

My name is Sadie and I "buried" my dog food under a thick layer of dirt and leaves and forest debris.

(We were camping.)

Any theories about why she might do this?

These days

I'd been waiting ever so patiently (not) for that glorious day that felt like Spring for the first time and it finally came on Saturday last. I sat in the sun for a couple hours and finished the latest Barbara Kingsolver book. It's a good one; I'd recommend it, especially when combined with some overdue sunshine.

I seem to have lost all tolerance for cold weather. Probably that happened around the time that I moved here and threw away most all of my winter clothing in the process.

Spring happens differently here... everything is coming into bloom at once. Daffodils and Redbud and Forsythia and Azalea are all screaming for my attention at the same time.  It's hard to relish any one thing.

In an ongoing effort to keep myself busy, I'm starting volunteer training later this week to be a docent for Trees Atlanta in their Beltline Arboretum program. I'm doing this so that I can lead bird walks on the Beltline for Atlanta Audubon and be able to sound as intelligent about trees and art and the history of Atlanta as I do about birds. We'll see how that goes.

: )

I've been reading a lot of cooking blogs these days and I think that, more than anything, this attests to just how out of sorts I'm feeling. I hate cooking, remember? I do enjoy reading about it, though, and enjoy the excuse of trying out a new recipe because I saw it on a favorite blog. Anyone have a good cooking blog to share? The blogs I enjoy the most are written by people who seem to approach cooking the way I do... as something like a science experiment. I like reading about their failures and mistakes because it makes me feel less incompetent myself...

Do you like scones? I have a couple recipes that I use often... a favorite is maple walnut scones. I tried dressing them up a couple weeks back with frozen blueberries that were leftover from some we'd picked last summer. I was wholly disappointed with the results... those frozen blueberries had no flavor whatsoever!

It turned out that the frozen blueberries I'd used were actually black beans. Ask me what they were doing in the freezer. Ask me, too, how I didn't realize they were black beans instead of blueberries.

It's good to be able to laugh these days.

A bunny, on loan

Maybe some of you that are bunny people heard this story about a nearby bunny hoarder. It ended up that many of the rabbits "rescued" from the hoarder were turned loose in an RV park so campers could "feed and enjoy them" as the above article says.

The local chapter of the House Rabbit Society, thankfully, stepped in to re-rescue as many of the bunnies as possible from the terrible fate that awaited them in the "wild" of the RV park.

The GA House Rabbit Society has put out a desperate call for help with the surviving bunnies... they need donations for the care of the sick and malnourished bunnies they rescued and they're looking for foster homes.

This is where Lucas (pictured) and I enter the story. I decided to foster him for a while to make space at the shelter for these recently rescued bunnies. He's a cutie-pie. I can't let him stay very long or I'll fall in love.

: )

Wordless Monday

Sadie going places

I'm a lucky dog... I get to go places!

Sometimes they have to leave me behind in the car because NO DOGS ALLOWED. I don't feel very lucky, then.

I wait patiently tho and don't do anything to ruin the upholstery...

Here I am at St. Marks at Thanksgiving... we've gone there a lot.

They took me to the mountains at Christmastime, but made me wear this silly-looking coat that someone had bought for me. Imagine people buying gifts for an abandoned old shelter-dog like me!

This day they took me to a weedy field so that Laura could photograph dried-up old wildflowers with her new camera.

I was happy there because the path smelled like horses.

We spend a lot of time going places and then waiting around and looking at birds... here I am at my first Christmas Bird Count.

I am a good bird dog. I am very quiet and patient and never bark or whine or pull on the leash while we wait for birds to show up.

Sometimes we wander around the city and look at street art. I was not overly impressed with this particular installation along the Beltline.

I like the beach... that's a good thing because we go there the most.

It smells nice.

I am posing on Siesta Key in Florida. Some people think it's the prettiest beach anywhere.

The sand is very white.

Once they took me to Dahlonega and tried to get me to pose next to this tough-looking dog.

I was embarrassed for myself, feeling like I couldn't possibly ever measure up to this level of toughness.

They dragged me along with a bunch of teenagers one day to look at the lichens growing on rock...

Boring!

They even dragged me out to the ends of the earth near Fort Pulaski to see a lighthouse, of all things!

I'm a good travellin' dog... but I like having a place to call home the best.

: )

More little owls

There's a part of me that wants to just post adorable and artistically composed photos, but that would only tell half the story of these burrowing owls and might leave the reader overly impressed with my bird-finding skills.

: )

The truth is that I had a map and the birds were very easy to find on the city streets and neighborhoods of Cape Coral, Florida.

Known-to-be-active burrows were clearly marked and had a t-shaped perch in place for the owls.

Actually seeing the owls was a challenge, but only until we'd come up with something like a search image in our minds. We drove around this neighborhood near the library a couple times without seeing any, but then once we spotted one owl at the entrance to its burrow, others suddenly became visible.

We found this pair out enjoying the sunshine on a very busy street only because of a man standing on the sidewalk staring intently at them from a couple feet away. He told me he checks in with the pairs that live on his daily walking route. They didn't seem the least bit bothered, but I snapped just a couple pix and was back in the car.

If you're in the neighborhood, Cape Coral and its Burrowing Owls are worth a visit. They're so very tolerant that I found it a little too easy to get overly close... keep that in mind, especially, if you visit during nesting season.

Time

Take time to look into the eyes of a stranger passing you on the street... can you find the real person there for a tiny tick of the heart?

Take time to go wonder shopping...

Look up. What beautiful view is waiting just above your head?

Look down. Who's reaching up for help to rise above sorrow, hardship, a broken soul?

Look around your neighborhood... see the same old streets as if they're yellow brick roads with a wizard waiting at the end.

Look around your house... what could you lose and still be you?

Look at your work... when was the last time you fell in love with it?

Look inside... what are the secret unlived lives that you could midwife?

Stop the clock and look around... it's about time.

(Take time to set your clocks ahead tonight, too.)

Owl steal your heart

A fiercely cute Burrowing Owl at Cape Coral, FL!

Click to enlarge, but beware looking too long into this cutie's yellow eyes... he'll steal your heart.

: )

Big white birds

I used to think that heron and egret-like birds were easy, then I moved to the South.

It used to be that all tall white birds were Great Egrets and the short ones, with golden slippers, were Snowy Egrets. Once, very far away in a scope, I saw a white morph Great Blue Heron. That was something of an anomaly.

But in South Florida... all bets are off!

White Ibis are pretty distinctive and easy to see... in small flocks along roadways and even perched on telephone wires (imagine!) like so many Starlings.

I love their crazy blue eyes!

Now the confusion starts...

Immature Little Blue Heron which can be confused with Snowy Egret, but for the feet and bill.

Snowy Egret, showing off his pretty golden foot. Their whole demeanor is somehow different than Little Blues and they're much more active feeders, too. Except for this one, who was begging shrimp off the dockhand at the place we were staying on Sanibel Island.

: )

I fell in love with Cattle Egrets on this trip!

I'd seen one a couple times in Cape May, but I'd never really had a good long look at them or had the chance to study their behavior much.

They're a very stocky bird and I guess habitat is the main clue if you're confused. These birds have an attitude about them that just makes me chuckle!

The oh-so-familiar Great Egret... tall and stately with yellow bill and black legs. We saw them doing odd things in Florida, like hunting anoles along the roadside...

Another big white bird we saw is the white morph Reddish Egret...

I might also include the American White Pelican and the Wood Stork... both of which we saw on this trip.

Confused yet?

: )

Any favorites among you?

A picnic indoors

We went for afternoon tea yesterday at Glenridge Hall with some other supporters of Atlanta Audubon... we'd "won" the opportunity to be treated to this special event by bidding in a silent auction at the 40th Anniversary Gala back in October.

Never having been to tea in a multi-million dollar mansion before, I was a little stressed out about what to wear and whether it was proper to eat the finger sandwiches with my hands and so forth, but it turns out that afternoon tea, like Alice Walker says, is really just an indoor picnic.

With fine china, of course.

: )

We also were treated to a tour of the place, which was a lot of fun. We're hoping to schedule a couple bird walks on the property this spring, so if you're in the neighborhood (Jayne!) keep your ears open for more information.

No whining in paradise

Isn't there a saying about a rainy day at the beach being better than almost anything...

: )

So it rained while we were in Florida and when it stopped raining it got so cold and windy that being outside on the beach was almost unbearable.

Almost.

We got to do all the things I was hoping for and it was still fun, but the weather did put a damper on things.

Florida is magical to me, regardless of the weather, really. During the many hours on the road, driving back and forth on I-75, I found myself remembering a road trip my family made to Florida when I was a kid. I don't remember much about that trip beyond the rain and that I had to sit next to the leaky window in the backseat of my dad's Cadillac.

Any trip to Florida still holds a certain level of excitement for the Jersey Girl in me. Growing up, the lucky kids got to go to Florida on vacation.

: )

But having been able, recently, to visit different parts of the state, I'm seeing it differently now and starting to form opinions about favorite places to spend time.

That's a good thing, I guess. The magic isn't at Disney anymore, but instead in the places that aren't so developed. The roadside orange groves and blooming bougainvillea delighted me. The palm tree-lined streets are charming, but for all the traffic. The birds are amazing... I've never seen so many Osprey!

So... I came home without even so much as a sunburn. I've a bucket of seashells from Sanibel to sort through and some lovely photos of Florida "junk birds" like this Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. Plus the memories of a couple rainy days in paradise...

Getaway plans

seashells cover the beaches, tinkling like wind chimes as they tumble over one another in the waves

Our next throw-everything-in-the-car-plus-the-dog-roadtrip-to-escape-the-city is on for next week. We'll be spending a couple days on Sanibel Island and then a couple days around St. Pete. A visit to Ding Darling NWR as well as Fort DeSoto is on the agenda. We're hoping also to fit in a dinner date with a long quiet blog friend while in her neighborhood.

J is plotting our course over his beloved maps. Me, I'm looking forward to...

blue sky dawns * shelling on one of the best beaches in the world * pelicans! * salt spray * white sand underfoot * key lime pie * driving with the windows down * roseate spoonbills * at least one drink with an umbrella * wearing flip-flops for a couple days * watching J make drip castles in the sand * laughing gulls! * my polka-dot bikini * palm trees * sunshine * sandy feet * sunsets * floating * hermit crabs * sandbars * humid salty air * staring at the horizon

Violets: my nemesis

I've been trying to grow them for years; this is my latest victim picked up at the local hardware store. We only have north and south facing windows, so it sits on my south-facing desk, soaking up the winter sunshine.

Growing up, my mother had her beloved collection of violets displayed on the dining room windowsill.

Anyone have tips to share to prevent the untimely demise of yet another African violet?

Winter sun

If there's a sunbeam and a soft spot, FatCat's there.

Flowers in winter

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.
-Henri Matisse

Art seen

It's SUBTLE!

So subtle, in fact, that I've walked past this site at least a half dozen times and never noticed it before!

An artist worked with nearly two dozen teens to fabricate miniature "ruins" within the recessed areas under numerous small rock overhangs and ledges of railroad cut for visitors to encounter new worlds as envisioned by the teens. Before the clays eventually deteriorate in the elements, visitors are able to examine the curious nooks and crannies of the rock wall, scouting for traces of civilizations from long ago to the post-apocalyptic.

Seen along the Atlanta Beltline.

Here birdy, birdy...

We spent the early morning hours on Saturday with Georgia's IBA (Important Bird Area) Coordinator and some of his volunteers. They were out at Panola Mountain State Park to band sparrows.

We met before the sun was up and were pleased to see and hear American Woodcock doing their flight display over the grassy fields of Panola.

Here birdy, birdy...

I'm not sure how much you all know about how birds are caught and banded, so I played Kenny Kodak and took pictures of the process to make myself feel useful. I'm a bit too squeamish about it to actually handle the birds myself...

Mist nests are erected in likely habitat and then checked by volunteers every thirty minutes.

Removing birds from the nets is a very delicate process. Volunteers are trained over the course of years to learn how it's done.

The birds are then placed in soft cotton bags until they're processed by the bander.

As a side note... a couple years ago at Jekyll Island, where Charlie also bands birds, they did a study of the droppings left in the bags in order to better understand what specific plants birds were making use of in the local habitat. Neat, huh?!?

A bucket o' birds!

This is my favorite part of the banding process... Charlie is blowing air on the bird's keel to check for fat... you can actually see the fat deposited there when the feathers are blown out of the way. He rates the amount of fat each bird has and records it, along with the expected info like weight, wing measurements, sex, signs of molt and how much the flight feathers are worn down. The band number is recorded and the bird is set to fly away, back to its weedy patch of home.

Another quiz!

We have the idea that going to these banding sessions might actually help us learn to better identify sparrows, but I'm not so sure. Even though I know these are two different varieties of sparrow, I can hardly recognize the field marks that differentiate them! Anyone care to guess?

The morning wasn't all about LBJ's though...

Eye candy!

Bags and bucket in hand, the volunteers head back to check the nets again...

Quiz bird

Quick... name that sparrow!