No Strawberries for Me!

 I tried my best but I lost out again.  In years past the deer would eat all the strawberry plants.  So this year I was ready with an ample supply of  "Liquid Fence" and a good amount of fertilizer and my hopes were up for a small crop.  This stuff really works but you have to reapply it if it rains.  Well, I made the mistake of eating one of the first fruits.  I had to spit it out immediately because even though I only sprayed some of the outer leaves,  some of that concoction got on the fruit.  It has putrified eggs and garlic ingredients.    Then a couple of days ago a guy stopped and helped a box turtle to cross the road as it headed into my yard.  I certainly was happy about that but tonight I decided to check out if there might be a few berries for me because I was still having trouble with birds pecking into the fruits.  Well, I caught a box turtle snapping up the red berries.  At least he ate the whole thing in contrast to those wasteful pecks!

Memorial Day Ride Around

 I missed the parade so I went on to the park ceremonies.  Got to take a picture of the Vietnam brass plate that features the names of vets from town including my husband's.

A fine speech given by David Milne.---Asking for comments here for his rank.  In any case he looked wonderful in the uniform.

I think I did not have the right

settings selected --another testament

 to my lack of skills which may never improve.

A pleasant redition

of the National Anthem.  Not off pitch, not too

 stylistic, and a strong enough voice--good job.

Before you set up your

 barbecue here you better read the sign!  Do you think

the big "NO"  helps?

Your typical Pinelands road

featuring the New Jersey sugar sands that were

 left over from some long ago geological era.

Lilies and ripples on the lake...

This camp is within

walking distance of my home.

Probably I will take a ride to visit the hospital

 to see my dad and then on to the home.

To the Shore Again

  Couldn't pass up another opportunity to visit the shore again.  Taking my camera along is becoming second nature.  I guess I should take lessons on using this Cannon Rebel XTI EOS with the 18-270 mm lens but I am happy for now even when I capture a blurry image. So I will start out with a patriotic image and I hope to get to a Memorial Day Parade tomorrow.

What about the rule for no long hair after the age of fifty?

Muslim girls having fun.

Not the Steel Pier that I remember but it lives on!

I switched this out to my son's enhanced version.

White boys having fun!

White boys having fun ++

  Not a fan of flying but I would sooner get on the helicopter than the bungee catapult ride near by.  We hung at the fence while a couple debated whether they would try it.  The wife was a bit fearful but they decided to go for it after a bit of encouragement.

Most of the celebrity handprints that were memorialized here have passed on but Diana Ross is very much alive.  Liberace's flamboyant square is just as you would have expected.

Illegal activity here but I am not complaining.

   

 So happy that
 I have lived less than an

hour away from the ocean
for all of my life.

High School Concert

   Saw a choir and band concert at the high school up the hill from my home.  The concert was led by two outstanding teachers.   One has an almost legendary status in his music education career.  I had never met the man but was so impressed.  You could see that he had a great love for both the students and the music. Check out the dome of the high school.

One Spot on the Boardwalk--So Much to View

  Went to the Taj Mahal and I did not lose.  Took my camera and my new lens.  Here's a guy doing what I had intended to do in my retirement.  I bought a fairly nice metal detector and used it a few times around the house.  Then I checked online for local clubs but they all were about a half-hour away and I did not want to travel that far.  Also, I read where you have to get permission to use it on beaches.  Now I don't believe many of these "prospectors" got a permit but the idea that I wouldn't have legitmate free access to public beaches made me lose interest in pursuing this as a hobby so I gave the detector to my nephew. 

Heard this is the newest shoreline sport with a surfboard.  Don't know what it is called but it is just a surfboard and a paddle.  Yes, there is a surfboard there.

 

Yeah, all these sights from one spot!  The new Revel under construction and due to open within a year is like a mirage.  ...ok that name was already taken as a name for a casino.   It has coloring that matches the sea and it almost disappears in the sky.  Will the newest casino please "reveal" itself?

Under the Boardwalk....
Feral Cats...almost...they are fed and neutered.

and finally on the way home not a bear but a wooden bulldog.



Cross Country...What a Drag!

  Just when I think there is nothing interesting around here to blog about, I get a surprise.  Learned something new as well.  Seems like the latest thing to enhance running skills is to run with a parachute behind you.  The team from the high school chose to come down the road next to my house because there is a hill for them to run up.  One guy had a mass of hair in semi-dred locks so he had a triple burden:  the chute, the hill and the hair!

I will do anything instead of housework: gardening, blogging or checking email/facebook 

I have several of these.  Jaw bones from possum.  They used to live and I guess die under the shed and when I removed the shed I found several skeletons.

Testing the Blu-Ray

  Bought the movie Batman and finally saw the total capabilities of my new  high-def TV--great sound and picture.  Got caught in an another down-pour.  I am still  not totally sure how the lights on my car work so I pulled over as did a few others.  After it relented I realized I was about a mile away from the dealership where I purchased the car.  I drove there and had my salesman Rob come out to the car to further clarify how to choose the correct settings for the conditions.  I told him how much I liked the car except for the fact that I was missing my cruise control.  Turns out I had not realized that I DID have cruise control.  I wonder how many more months it would have taken for me to discover this mistake.  Stopped at a produce market and bought a huge fern and a hibiscus plant $10 a piece. Bought my first watermelon of the season, too.

Chain Saw Day

   Took down an old cedar tree and two other trees.  I got the electric chain saw out and my son cut down the big one and I took down the smaller ones.  Got a more versatile lens for my camera so my son and I took some photos.  Later I went to Trump Taj Mahal Casino and had late afternoon meal compliments of my friend.  Her meals are "comped" there. 

    Mountain Laurel starting to bloom.  The woods around my house was filled with this indigenous shrub until they took much of it down to make roads to the new high school.  I am managing to nurture some small remaining bushes in my yard.

   There are quite a few toads around the yard.  Saw one large one early in the day.  Later when it was cooling down I saw a  toad trying to sink into the saw dust and mini-wood chips.  Probably trying to conserve heat.

 Rose jumped in the box of winter clothes that was going to store away for the season.