Late afternoon at the pond

Sunday afternoon was beautiful so we headed to the pond to see if the fish were biting. We both threw a few casts from the bank just to see what would happen. I caught this nice bass right away with a plastic worm!

While walking down the bank I saw a bass guarding its nest next to an old stump. Can you see it at the top of the photo?

I mentioned before that we have a nesting pair of Canada Geese that return to our pond each year. They were keeping a close eye on us as we fished our way around the pond.

Here's another bass I caught. We were keeping them as long as they were about a pound or better. I threw back several small ones, but this one was definitely a keeper!



This little guy, a muskrat, was swimming very close to us. Not very smart!

Yet another fish I caught! We ended up keeping a nice mess of them. I lost count, but I know it was in the double digits.

It was a great evening to be out on the water. The mosquitos weren't too bad.... maybe because of all the dragonflies and swifts diving around.... or maybe because I took the butane-powered bug repellant. The usual wood ducks came in as it started to laten. I love to hear their whistles. We also saw several red-headed woodpeckers. In the distance I heard a pileated woodpecker and an owl. In this last picture I think I was trying to photograph one of the woodpeckers. Instead, all I can find is a cow in the lower left of the pasture. Oh, well.

The rest of the week looks too busy for fishing, so we're off to try it one more time tonight!

Guam

I normally stay away from posts having anything to do with politics, but I couldn't resist sharing this YouTube clip. It really struck me as funny, the best part about halfway into the clip.

In brief, it concerns one of our illustrious U.S. Congressmen questioning the head of the U.S. Pacific Fleet about the stationing of 5000 additional U.S. Marines and their families on the Pacific island of Guam. To read the full article, click here.

Ballroom Dancing

I love to work Jan Van Haasteren puzzles, but they never seem to photograph well. For that matter, I have trouble taking photos of puzzles in general. I was going to blame it on my camera, but I'll just be honest and admit I'm not much of a photographer. Oh, well... you can still get the general idea here.

U.S. Geography

Give me a blank U.S. map and I can label all the states. Okay.... I'll admit I sometimes mix up New Hampshire and Vermont, but for the most part I know my geography. A friend sent me a map quiz this week and it ended up being more difficult than I expected. Land-locked states without border states for reference are tough and you have to hit them nearly dead-on to count as correct. Click on the map above to take the test. If you aren't happy with your results, try again. The states are doled out in a different order each time. My third time was the charm - a 98%. (I'm not telling how bad my first two attempts were!!)

Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter

The last three books I've read have taken a bit of a detour from my normal choices. The first two were what I would classify as "sci-fi/horror". Infected and Contagious, both by Scott Sigler are exciting page-turners that kept me on edge until the last few pages. I really enjoyed the plot in both (they go together but can be read separately), but was a little put off by the excessive use of the F-bomb.

I'm not really sure how to classify the third book, Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A.E. Moorat. It caught my eye while browsing through the books at QPBC and I planned to get it for my daughter, more as a joke than anything else. Once it arrived, I decided to read it myself.

Not to be taken seriously, it is an entertaining story filled with blood, gore, entrails and plenty of zombies (revenants), wearwolves and demons. There are exciting battles with fancy weapons, horrifying tools of torture in the depths of the Tower, a creepy visit to Bedlam and an outrageous occurance in the House of Commons. Despite all this, it doesn't completely stray from historical accuracy. It left me wanting to do a little more research to see just what truth there was (aside from the fantasy of members of the Royal Family being demon/human half breeds!).

If you don't mind a little horror, especially with a good dose of humor mixed in... I would recommend this book for something different.

FreeVerse ~ Linda Pastan

Hosted by Cara at Ooh...Books!
(Click on image above)

I can thank Marion for introducing me to Linda Pastan's Carnival Evening . She featured the collection on her blog last summer in a post which included one of my favorite Pastan poems, The Bookstall. I followed with an entry of my own in the fall, sharing two more of her poems.

Here's another wonderful selection from Carnival Evening:

Egg

In this kingdom
the sun never sets;
under the pale oval
of the sky
there seems no way in
or out,
and though there is a sea here
there is no tide.

For the egg itself
is a moon
glowing faintly
in the galaxy of the barn,
safe but for the spoon's
ominous thunder,
the first delicate crack
of lightning.

A Cozy Challenge

Just three days ago I was moaning about an interesting reading challenge I had found but felt was too late to join. Dorte had a post yesterday about another challenge that looks just as fun.... "cozy mysteries" ....and it began on April 1st!

Although I've read several mysteries this year, I won't count them since the challenge had not yet started. I decided not to press my luck and only committed to six books and unless something better comes along, I already know which books I'll read!

If you'd like to know more about the challenge, click here or on the image in the sidebar.

Happy Easter!

"We are not citizens of this world trying to make our way to heaven; we are citizens of heaven trying to make our way through this world. That radical Christian insight can be life-changing. We are not to live so as to earn God's love, inherit heaven, and purchase our salvation. All those are given to us as gifts; gifts bought by Jesus on the cross and handed over to us. We are to live as God's redeemed, as heirs of heaven, and as citizens of another land: the Kingdom of God ... We live as those who are on a journey home; a home we know will have the lights on and the door open and our Father waiting for us when we arrive. That means in all adversity our worship of God is joyful, our life is hopeful, our future is secure. There is nothing we can lose on earth that can rob us of the treasures God has given us and will give us."

~ The Landisfarne, via The Anglican Digest

Let the fishing begin!

It's that time of year again. The weather is warmer, the world is greener... and the fish are starting to bite!

Our first attempt was on Monday evening and we set out with high hopes. My husband got a few hits on a spinner bait, but in general the fish weren't cooperating. Thursday evening was a little better. Armed with a shiny new spinner bait of my own (my first), I caught a nice bass right off the bat. I reeled in a second one with a plastic worm, then lost a third which broke my line, taking my new spinner bait with it.

The actual fishing might not have been great, but it was nice just being out on the pond. I get a real sense of peace and serenity out on the water, taking in the sights and sounds around me. Gazing out over the pasture, I could see the cows and donkeys grazing and heard the occasional moo or bray. We saw some blue-wing teal and wood ducks along with a pair of Canada Geese that have spent several summers nesting on our pond. Both evenings our yards dogs decided to join us. Mama Dog is an impressive swimmer. The first evening she and Blue swam out to the beaver hut. They climbed all over it trying to sniff out the residents whom we had seen in another part of the pond earlier. The second evening, while Blue and Jed watched from the shore, Mama Dog repeatedly tried to swim out to the boat, scaring every fish in the vicinity I'm sure. What seemed cute at first quickly became annoying. I hope she doesn't make a habit of it!

Changing the subject.... I was browsing other blogs today and discovered a book challenge I wish I had found earlier! I've already read ten books this year that qualify and the challenge only calls for twelve. I would go ahead and join, but I would need to go back and write reviews for all those books. That's a challenge I'm not up to. Maybe next year.

Esther

Esther

October 6, 1999 ~ March 31, 2010

Our second loss in just over two months. Esther would have been 10-1/2 next week and reigns as our longest-lived Rottie. It's the first time in almost twenty years we haven't had a Rottweiler living in the house with us and it seems strange. Maybe we'll get another one at some point, but for now I think Alice and Mabel (and the three outside dogs) are enough.

Esther was truly a queen and will be greatly missed!