Port of Brownsville Tour-Part 1

Friday we went to Brownsville very early to take a tour of the Port of Brownsville. While waiting for the trip to start we had interesting things to watch. These boats were part of the Texas State Patrol.

 The boat we were going on discovered they had lost fuel overnight by theft or evaporation and had to refuel before we could load. So we waited for their return.

 Butch enjoyed a conversation with one of the troopers.

The view of Sea Ranch as we left port.

 South Padre high rises in the background.

This is a bait boat. They are allowed to gather shrimp from the port channel but they are only used for bait.

 This fellow gets plenty of company from a variety of birds.

The Mission Lady bringing in a load of shrimp. One of the last pics we were allowed to take before entering the port proper.

Photos inside the actual port area are not allowed. I did sneak one because it was a  short lived sculpture.

Emily's Baby Boy Jorgen

He sure is a cheerful little bundle.

I asked for a picture and his Grandma came through in  short order.

Holed up

We are still in the grip of a cold spell. Lows have been in the high 30's last night and repeats tonight. Last night we blew a fuse and it dropped to the 50's in here and that is not a comfortable sleeping temp. Butch changed out the fuse and we resumed a cozy nap, at least for a while.
So my day was mostly spent indoors. I did have a student drop by for computer instruction and that was a pleasant diversion for an hour or so.
So it looks like we have at least one more day of these unpleasant temps. At least I am hoping so because we are supposed to be on a boat in the port of Brownsville on Thursday morning bright and early.
This time of the year and particularly this first week of March are very active in Magnolia Park so we have many events taking place.  I will do my best to keep up.

Oh,Oh

Our son Gary sent me an email. He says there has not been a new blog entry for a week. Oops! On the other hand my house is clean, the laundry is done, we enjoyed a home cooked meal for supper. And this all happened besides our usual activities with the exception of posting blog entries.

Gary thought perhaps we had been abducted in Mexico. We haven't been there but if we had it would be a possibility. Everyone says it isn't safe. We did get a tip that makes a lot of sense however. If you go across the bridge and there are no beggars it may not be safe. The beggars have an inside track on possible trouble. I did think that may be worthy of putting in the back of my mind. I refuse to lead a fear based life so I will rely on my instincts as to whether we go or no go. Actually we only plan one more trip before the end of the season here.

Our rent here is up in mid March and the current plan is to extend our stay. We are currently located about as far south as one can go in the good old USA and essentially it is most likely as warm here as anywhere. So the plan is to wait until the weather is warmer in the lower 48.
On the other hand it is warm in Alaska. Our polar caps are warming and melting, the true definition of global warming that some people find very hard to understand. Maybe they will when Iowa has seashores...but I digress.

We are currently experiencing a cold spell with temps in the low 40's expecting to dip into the 30's tonight. Irritating and troublesome but a fairly quick recovery is expected. So we celebrated Peggy G.'s birthday on Sunday with highs in the 80's. Trust me she is not wearing shorts today on the actual celebration day of her birth. Happy Birthday Peggy!

It is also Emily Brooker Davis's birthday. Emily is a new mom and most likely will not notice that I forgot to send her a greeting. At least I am counting on that. Would not mind seeing a picture of that sweet baby boy, Jorgen.

Don't give up on me. I may get wordy again at any time.

South Padre Part two

After the Birding Center we made our way to Captain Roys for lunch. It may be my new favorite place to eat. (http://www.capnroys.com/). I had the shrimp platter. It comes with a fumi salad and fries at the same price as Dirty Al's for salad or fries and it is as good if not better in my opinion. Loved the fumi salad.

Fumi Salad

"This is The Pot Luck Favorite! My mom always receives raves for this recipe. People inevitably want a copy of it as it's so delicious and easy to make. One recipe will feed a LOT of people. This is super-good in the summer or to take to a potluck. Enjoy!"
Ingredients
1 head cabbage, chopped fine
8 green onions, chopped fine
8 teaspoons slivered almonds, toasted
8 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, crushed ( discard flavor packet)
Dressing
6 teaspoons rice vinegar
4 teaspoons sugar
3/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt

Directions
Mix cabbage and onions and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Then stir in almonds, seeds, and crushed noodles.
Pour dressing over all.

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Following lunch we went to the beach for a walk.

Sharon using phone camera...

 Larry, Roxy, Terry and Lisa

 Mike and Sharon

 It looked like a wedding may have taken place nearby this sand sculpture.

And then we topped it off with Ice Cream at Davy Jone's Locker.

It was a good day with good friends!

South Padre Day Part one

The Birding Center was our first stop and it is well worth the $4 per senior it takes for admission. 

 These two photos are indeed photos of framed prints on the wall at the Birding Center

 This was a lucky shot. She took off as I was taking the shot

 This is Charlene with 4 babies on her back.

 Crabs look like beings from another world.

 Roseate Spoonbills

 Butch is pointing a duck out to Sharon...

 This duck

 And then the duck dives...

Busy week!

Peggy's Rose. It used to be Jo's Rose but now it is Peggy's.

Below is a South Texas sunset- Taken while waiting for a table at Cheddars in McAllen.

 And below we have a Ropa usada adventure with our friends from Canyon Lake TX. The Ropa ladies of Magnolia park were our guides. They know the ropes...and ties...and quilts...and dress up clothes!

 In looking at the picture's you could play "Where's Waldo?"

 Below is the scramble after they have released a new batch. The blankets you see are where people gather their treasures and you do not remove items from someone else's blanket.

 From left at the top of the pile is Lisa, Roxy, Larry and Mike.

Patti Millers Documentary

 Patti Miller was a classmate of mine, a member of the famous JHS class of '61. Another classmate, Jayne Owen Tomes sent me the info. I am sure you can see the program in Iowa but not sure about other states at least not yet. The info about show times etc. can be found on this site:

http://iptv.org/series.cfm/24351/iowans_return_to_freedom/ep:0

Program Description: In the summer of 1964, hundreds of predominantly white college students answered the call from Civil Rights leaders to volunteer for Freedom Summer. They joined with voter registration efforts, taught in freedom schools and worked in community centers in towns throughout racially segregated Mississippi. Return to Freedom Summer gives first-hand accounts of the experiences of 5 Iowa natives who, though personally unfamiliar with racial issues, felt compelled to volunteer that summer. Viewers will hear their stories as they share their motivations, fears, triumphs and life-altering events that took place during that historic summer 50 years ago.

In Old Mexico

Friends from Canyon Lake Texas came to Magnolia Park to stay for a week. Yesterday we went to Nuevo Progreso. We shopped, purchased medications at fractional cost and enjoyed a great lunch at Garcia's From L to R, Larry McGough, Roxy McGough, Lisa Linder, Terry Linder, Peggy Gordon, Sharon Bryce and Mike Bryce.

Came in 3rd

Butch came in 3rd in the Senior Olympics with his partner Don Louks. There will be more pics later today and more medals too...maybe.

Project Day!

This morning we unleashed our new mattress, delivered the old one to a new home, defrosted the refrigerator and put new seat covers on the car. All of those are timely things to do in all definitions of timely.
 I nearly forgot Laura's birthday! I did catch it just in time. 
And now Butch is playing golf and Peggy and I are going up to the garage sale and pester Kay and Bill.
I am feeling SOoooo much better being done with those antibiotics I've been taking since the first visit to the dentist the last day of November.
More later...

Dusty Bunny is on Amazon!!

My sister Theresa Arts has a children's book on Amazon.  I am so proud of her!
Check it out:
http://www.amazon.com/Dusty-Bunny-His-Magic-Mirror/dp/1680287699/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423186977&sr=8-1&keywords=dusty+bunny

Julie's Story

Julie Jorgenson is the daughter-in-law of Dick and Joann Jorgenson. And Dick is a cousin of Butch on his fathers side of the family.  We have been following Julie's story from the beginning. She was featured on the news in Omaha. And here is the link to it. She is a miracle.
http://www.ketv.com/news/woman-leaves-nebraska-hospital-after-nearly-dying-from-flu/31098034

Interesting story

I met Jeannie Sparks in Michigan. She and Eldo had been staying at Thunderbay Golf and RV Resort where we were work camping and on their last day there she popped into our beading class for a few minutes. I literally talked to her for less than a half hour. But we hit it off and shared information. We both have blogs. I have followed their adventures ever since. They are currently in Florida and being a teacher of long standing she does some substitute teaching. I very much enjoyed this entry. Fuego- do you know what it means?
 Find out here:
http://whereseldo.blogspot.com/2015/01/never-underestimate-power-of-persuasive.html

The Cold Story

Butch has a cold. Upper respiratory issues are ongoing for him pretty much all the time we are in South Texas. He can get by with lightweight allergy meds when we are in Iowa but we do not need to be in Texas too long before he has to switch to the hardcore allergy stuff with the capital D. You know, like Allegra-D. It is supposed to be D for decongestant, but I think it is D for demanding exorbitant amounts of dinero's for 10 24-hour capsules. Despite taking the big D's Butch came home with a cold. I always take extra precautions when this happens and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. This time I thought I was in for it. I awoke with one nostril plugged a couple of days ago so I  used my trusty Netipot and made it through the day okay. Next day I was more plugged upon awakening, felt slightly not okay so used Neti again and improved. I could tell it was coming on since I had that dusty feeling you get in your nose and the tickle in the throat. This was Tuesday and I was supposed to take a picture of the Magnolia Olympians so I felt I had to go. Butch went and stayed long enough to get his picture taken. While waiting for the people to line up I told Noreen that I was getting a cold and did not plan to stick around long. Noreen mentioned that she had caught hers early and held it off with Zicam. Now I have long been a fan of Zicam but had forgotten about it. So I came home and dug into our cold med supplies and sure enough I had some so started it right then and there. The trick to it working is to take it AS DIRECTED at the first sign of a cold. By the second dose I could detect an improvement. Today is much improved and I think I will be fine with minimum discomfort. It isn't all fun and games as the Zicam leaves an unpleasant metallic taste in my mouth, but it is still better than suffering a cold.

The trick is to have them on hand at the first sign of a cold, follow the directions on the package and do not quit them too early. Oh and then remember to use them! I plan to thank Noreen for reminding me about Zicam .

Netipot and Zicam the one-two punch for colds.

Trail pics

Snipped from Facebook... I doubt that I will see the trail in its winter coat. It is beautiful though.

Boone Iowa Snow

Our Boone Iowa kids sent us some snow pictures. I have been away from it long enough to appreciate the beauty. The truth be known I never minded one good snow, where it came down heavily, and the wind blew and it was not fit out for man nor beast. I loved it as long as I could stay put in my cozy warm home and go from window to window  and watch the weather unfold.

And I am liking the memory of it as we are enjoying a sunny 80 degree day with a light southerly breeze reminiscent of a midsummer day in the upper Midwest.

It's all about that bass...

Love these guys and the way they sing this song!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuyGVhQFLbs

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