the Wild Pigeons of Salisbury beach part 109

It's been cold.
Really cold.
Living by the sea you have to really pay attention to the weather and especially to the winds.
The other day my thermometer read -6F.
Regardless, in my sleepy state, not really thinking of what I was doing  I automatically headed down to the beach for my morning run. When I opened the car door with my pigeon food to feed the beach pigeons a gust of wind ripping from the NWW and hit me like a thousand paper cuts across my face.
ARGHHHH!!!!
 The wind chill had to be -20.
I didn't run that morning.
The next day, I went back down the beach for my usual run.
 It was Frikk'ing cold even though I was wearing three layers of clothing. It wasn't as bad as the day before which was liquid nitrogen cold..
The cold, however, took its casualities.
Since last year many of the lofts where pigeons perched were removed. The south facing roofs had been covered with netting and spikes so the pigeons couldn't roost there either.
I found at least 5 pigeons frozen to death on the ground near the south facing wall.
It was horrible.
My little pigeon was warm and happy sitting on my slippers on the dryer. She would get quite perturbed if I disturbed her. The only time she would leave her "slipper' bed when she heard her food bowl rattle and ..at "Judge Judy" time.
She's a smart bird.

art is art

Happy New Year!
Anyways, I just saw the movie, "Big Eyes". It is story of the artist, Margaret Keane, who's obnoxious husband claimed credit for her oddly popular big eyed children paintings that were so popular in the 1960s.
 I looked her up on the internet and she is alive and well, although as you might guess,  quite elderly. She still paints and has a studio in San Francisco. Her art work has evolved from the 60s to a more vivid, sharper and more stylized version. Her focus is still on kids and cute animals. She has done portraits for various celebrities including (the late) actress Joan Crawford and protraits for Tim Burton (who incidentally produced the movie ,"Big Eyes").
I remember my Aunt Carol had a few of the Keane prints hanging down in her playroom. I thought they were funny but mesmerizing. My mother thought they were "gross" and "tacky".
 Regardless, whether you like them or not they are art -and you remember them. It is kind of like those "dogs playing poker" paintings. You may think they are gross and tacky or maybe you secretly have one of those prints hanging on your wall, either way  you remember them.
Art is art.
I decided to do my own 'big eye' painting. As I was studying the format I realized they were not any different than icon paintings. Both are a formulation of repetitive layer brush strokes, the eyes are exaggerated as the focal point and the subject is highly stylized.
Alot of people dismiss my 'art' as being weird, amaturish and cartoonish.
(And your point being?!?!?)
I don't care.
I'll never make money off of my work, and I'll never be famous. Most art shows won't exhibit my work  but I really don't give a crap.
I enjoy my paintings and they make me happy.
One funny story I thought I would share. The other day I was checking out a thrift shop looking for inexpensive frames for my art work.I came across a bunch of framed art one of them being a pastel of a yellow lab dog. As I am looking at it I am thinking this isn't a bad drawing, at least it is a hand made original. I was guessing the previous owner of the painting had a yellow lab and had commissioned some artist  to have her dog painted and then the dog had recently passed away.
And then I saw the signature.
I had done that painting....!!!!
I went through my files and I had done the painting for a lady in Byfield in 2008.
I do hope somebody buys that painting from the thrift shop who has a yellow lab dog (or not). It would be nice to know somebody might appreciate it.
As of right now,  I am working on  my 'big eye" painting. Once I am finished with it I will post it.
Stay tuned....

dive # 939-944 Nov 2014 cenotes

I finally did it.
Another 'tic' off the ol' bucket list.
I made the plunge down to Mexico "Puerto Aventure" in Mexico to dive the cenotes. I got a bit overwhelmed  planning the trip since there were so many things to factor in so I opt for jetblue's all inclusive package .
 The trip went remarkably smooth with a greeter at the airport in Cancun to dive us to our hotel which was about 50 miles south of the airport.
 The hotel, Catalinia Riveria Maya was spectacular.
It was true resort catering to your every needs. It was very clean and luxurious. I didn't know what to expect by booking an all inclusive but it exceeded my expectations. (I did something like that in Barbados and it was the pits.)
My room even had it own jacuzzi on its porch over looking the beach and pools.
The food was fantastic.
 I am the fussiest person in the world and there were multiple vegetarian choices. You could NOT drink the water from the faucet but there was plenty of water at various stations(and other beverages including "adult" beverages for your consumption) You didn't need to speak spanish but I did (or at least tried to) at every opportunity. I am sure the natives got a good laugh my fractured grasp of the language.
The first dives scheduled were reef dives. You were not allowed to dive the cenotes unless you first did a reef dive and had at least 200 dives under your belt. I figured I was all set in that department until the boat was ready to leave. They pulled me off the boatat the last minute  because I had checked off "migraines" and "over 45 years old"on the medical report. I thought to myself "are you f#cking kidding me?" as I looked around on the jammed boat with over- weight people and people much older than me who couldn't even carry their gear, plus there was a guy chain smoking while settting up his tank. I literally ran  1/2 mile back to the dive shop and "corrected" that "misprint". Enough said.
I got a little lost running back to the boat. Thank God I knew enough spanish to ask some of the workers there how to get back to the boat.
The reefs there were OK, on par with diving Florida reefs. Nice, but average with not a ton of fish. I did spot two large lion fish, eagle ray and a free swimming large green moray.
However, the cenotes were in a league of there own.
We went to four different ones. They were all inland in the jungle. The water was colder at about 73F. I wore a thin shortie over my 3M suit. I generally use 12lbs in the ocean but in the fresh water cenotes I could actually get away with just 6lbs. The cenotes we went to were: red jaguar, kukukul, ponderosa and taj majal.
They were all spectacular. It is hard to describe what they are like.
It's a bit scary, wicked cool, and alien (like you are on mars).
You enter a water cavern and descend down tunnels underwater. Some parts are pitch black , narrow and someplaces the light comes through.
It felt like you are being kissed by God.
You also swim through parts in a phenom called "halo cline".It a mix of salt/fresh water and sulphur creating this blurry effect. You can't see shit. It is scary stuff but you try focusing on the light of your dive guide leading you through.
Oh yes, you absolutely need an experienced dive guide along with using halogen dive lights and you follow the thin rope line.
There were some fish there. Under the mangrove roots that reach, I would say, at least a 100 feet down you saw some unusual fresh water fish. I beleive some of these fish were cichlids and mollies.
Back at the resort there were lots of stuff to do other than swimming and water sports. I took up archery one afternoon and one day we took a tour to the Tulum ruins -which was pretty cool. Even in our gated resort community the area was fantastic to go jogging in the morning with all it's beautiful birds and wildlife.
Would I go back to explore more cenotes ?(I believe in this area alone there are 18 cenotes)
Absolutely.
It was "las pelotas"

the wild pigeons of Salisbury beach part 108

The tourists are gone and most of the nosey busy bodies don't get up when I get up to go running.
The pigeons still recognize me and follow me when I run on the beach. I've found a few dead ones on the board walk.
I'm not sure why but it is troubling.
There are certainly less of them.
I do know they are hungry and pizza, french fries, and left overs are no longer available.
 Soooooo I've been bringing a small bag of seed to 'help' the pigeons to get through the winter. I place the seeds away from any of the buildings not to cause issue. I spotted Brownie and Galok in the fray.
Two days ago, before dusk, as I about to hit the beach jogging. A white van sped past me nearly hitting me. I thought to myself, "a$$h@le!!!.. slow down!!"
At the corner of the sidewalk I found a seaside sparrow on his back with his legs up in the air. I thought, "oh crap, I think that van hit this little guy". I  presumed the sparrow was dead.
And then his little legs started to move.
I picked him up cupping him in my hands.
He was still alive.
I took him home to access the damage to see if he could be saved.
I looked him over and did not see blood spots nor any obvious breaks or disfigurements. I placed him in a small covered cushioned aquarium to rest.
I wanted to wait til midmorning to call Jody from the Cape Ann wildlife for her advice. If he was merely dazed or in shock the warm comfortable dark aquarium would provide the rest he needed.
At about 10:00 I opened the lid of the aquarium to check on the sparrow and whooosh! out he flew. He flew around my house without any problems.
He appeared to be OK.
I caught him, put in back in the small aquarium and brought him back down to beach. I released him and he flew off with another sparrow sitting on the wire fence.
Hooray!

"Rubbish to runway" 2014 fashion outfit

OK as per request, I wanted to share the outfit that I had designed for the "rubbish to runway" show.
Everything used, according to the rules, had to be something that would've (or was) in the trash.
I had actually made two outfits but after they were reviewed from the artist consultants only one was used and the accessories pared down.
The title of my ensemble was  called "budgie ball".
(Because most of the outfit was made from bird food bags! )

Some of the items I made  did not make the cut in the selection process. I think, maybe, I could use it for next year's show, if indeed, I am among the many talented ladies selected.

To me, fashion is "wearable art". I love art and I love creating.
These shoes were shoes that a friend of my mother's that were destined for the dumpster.
 I salvaged them by repairing them, adding card-board, kaytee bird food bag logos, old ribbon, discarded feathers and hot glueing sand-paper on the soles so I wouldn't slip and kill myself.

Here is the vest (front and back).
I used scrap material, lined it with an old fabric shower liner, shoe-lace lace up and put a kaytee food bag picture as an applique on the back.
The necklace and earrings that I wore as accessories I used bottle caps as framers and placed  (again) pictures from the Kaytee food bags inside the caps plus old beads.

Here is the skirt made by sewing kaytee food bags together and lining it with that old fabric shower curtain liner.

At the final rehearsal, I ended up not using the scarf. It was a bit much with the busy oufit. The simplier the better.
The scarf was made using scrap fleece material, kaytee cut-outs and disgarded bird feathers.
I did use the purse featured. Again, from Kaytee food bags, bits from that shower curtain liner and the handles from a wrecked grocery bag.

I have ideas for  NEXT years show. After seeing some of the incredible creations from some of the other ladies involved it inspired me to amp it up in "my creativity department".
Maybe next year's ensemble will be titled: "fifty shades of grey cockatiels". (:O

"rubbish to runway" fashion show 2014

Last year my cousin and I attended this fundraiser called "rubbish to runway" in NBPT to raise funds for project "Long Way home" for sustainable housing (and education) in Guatemala. She wanted to go because the Mayor of NBPT (who she campaigned for) was in the fashion show and also for her interest in latino countries.
I poked along because I am always interested in artsy endeavors and was fascinated that the badly needed schools in Guatemala funded by this group were made by using discarded coke bottles as windows. Guatemala is a very poor country.
This is what prompted the theme -"rubbish to runway". Trash was reused and recycled no matter what was considered "junk".
Therefore the idea of taking stuff you would ordinarily throw away and making it into something beautiful, useful and downright fashionable was the theme for the show. The fund-raising effort seemed to be a worthy Christian cause.
So this year, I volunteered.
 I made an outfit out of Kaytee bird food bags, shedded feathers, scrap material, plastic bottle caps and an old stained shower curtain liner.
And being the ham that I am I also volunteered to be a model as well.
Some of the outfits the other "designers' made were extraordinary.
I only posted a few of the outfits but I have to say they were all amazing.

This "model", modeled and designed this dress made out of plastic spoons, forks, knives and plates! It was stunning!

This "model", modeled and designed this dress out of old pill bottles and expired pills! All I could think of that this dress would be perfect for "Nurse Jackie ". It definitely had the "wow' factor!

This "model", modeled and designed this dress out of old hospital scrubs. Amazing!

This 'model" modeled this dress for her friend. It was made from scrap material she found "dumpster diving' and New York Times newspapers. She was absolutely breathtaking!

This "model", designer is a high school kid! OMG! She made this out of corregated computer paper!

Ok here I am.

Hey, I've been seriously working out my arm muscles so why not flaunt it?
It's good clean fun!
And the money raised goes to a good cause, so why not?

Oh, BTW here are the shoes I "made" and wore for the show.

spanish lessons

Parrot missing for years returns speaking Spanish

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Posted: Oct 13, 2014 1:11 PM EDT Updated: Oct 14, 2014 4:43 PM EDT

TORRANCE, Calif. (AP) - A pet parrot that spoke with a British accent when it disappeared from its home four years ago has been reunited with its owner - and the bird now speaks Spanish.
The reunion was brought about by a Southern California veterinarian who mistook Nigel, an African gray parrot, for her own missing bird, the Daily Breeze reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/1qU5dU3).
Teresa Micco tracked Nigel's microchip to Darren Chick, a Brit who lives in Torrance.
"I introduced myself and said, 'Have you lost a bird?'" Micco told the newspaper. "He initially said, 'No.' But he thought I meant recently."
When she verified Chick's name and said she had his African grey parrot, "He looked at me like I was crazy."
He said his bird went missing four years earlier.
Little is known about Nigel's whereabouts the past four years, but Chick says the bird's British accent is gone, and it now chatters in Spanish.
Chick says last week's reunion brought tears of joy to his eyes - despite the fact that Nigel bit him when he first tried to pick him up.
Micco said the behavior was not unusual and that Nigel would settle back in soon enough.
"He's doing perfect," Chick told the newspaper by the week's end. "It's really weird. I knew it was him from the minute I saw him."
It's the fifth parrot reunion facilitated by Micco, who has been running ads for her own missing bird for nine months. That parrot, Benjamin, flew the coop in February when it darted out a door that was left open.
Julissa Sperling found Nigel outside her home and brought him to Micco after seeing one of her ads.
But first, she took Nigel to her dog-grooming business.
"He was the happiest bird. He was singing and talking without control," Sperling said. "He was barking like the dogs. I'm from Panama and he was saying, 'What happened?' in Spanish."