A Lawn, Finally!

Those of us in the city take great pride in our lawns. I have putzed over this front lawn of ours for 4 months. Until this month, our front yard has been nothing but dirt! I'm happy to finally have grass to show everyone. It's coming along and my flowers look great too--thanks to a little secret potion (wink wink Lui5).

Biking at Presque Isle

Last Saturday, Juliano and I went biking riding at Presque Isle. It was Juliano's first time on the Peninsula! The ride was only about 10 miles, but it was enough for me. It was the first time I rode my bike all summer. We stopped along the way to take in views of the Lake. It was a gorgeous day.

After riding we went into Erie and grabbed a few pints at The Brewerie. The beers were really good, but the food was below average.


Me at the Perry Monument

Bear Claws Sucks

Is it just me or is everyone ticked that no one has been posting anything new on the Bear Claws Art blog?

Giving us the Business

Here's a few shots we took recently of Muffin giving us the business. Isn't she a cutie pie? Lui5 better look out if he makes any harp seal comments.

Old Navy at Steelyard

This morning, Jules and I raced down to the grand opening of Old Navy at Steelyard Commons (aka Junkyard Commons). We were in the pack of its first 100 customers and received coupons for FREE t-shirts. Woo Hoo.

Indians vs. Red Sox

Monday night Juliano, my Mom and I had the pleasure of getting tickets to the Tribe game! We started the evening off right with ballpark dogs and $7 beers! After loading the dogs up with the appropriate condiments, we headed to our awesome seats and got settled in. First inning Boston scored 4 runs. By the 3rd inning not much was happening so I decided to go get my Mom an ice cream cone. The second I exited the seating area, Sizemore hits a homerun with one guy on base. This will turn out to be the only runs of the evening! Totally missed due to an ice cream cone. To kill the pain, I had another $7 beer, a loaded nachos and a bag of cotton candy. Needless to say, I was sick all night. But being there at the game was so much fun. It was my Mom's first time in the stadium and she loved it. Jules said that when Sizemore hit the homerun, she jumped out of her seat and screamed the whole time he ran around the bases!

Dragonfly Conference

Last weekend, I attended the Ohio Dragonfly Conference in and around Wooster, Ohio. Over 140 people registered for the event. The highlight of the weekend was the Rusty Snaketail and a very photogenic Swift River Cruiser (the common name of this species used to be Illinois River Cruiser, this is the species that Juliano found on the bike trail at Rocky River and Luis came to town and captured for science!).

Illinois River Cruiser


Monarch cat


Rusty Snaketail

Look what I got at Macy's

iPhone for the iFreak

Just another iFreak with his new iPhone.

Mike Wins Big!

Last night, Juliano brought Mike over to the Museum's Summer Solstice party. It's on the roof of the Museum and they open the observatory for planet gazing--we saw Venus, the Moon, Saturn and Jupiter up close and personal. The highlight of the party is the raffle, they give away a top notch telescope each year. When we arrived at the event, Mike bought himself a raffle ticket and guess who won the telescope? It was super cool.

Day Three Rio Grande Valley--Saturday, May 19

Today we headed to the Coast. The ride wasn't bad at all, we had a few scissor-tail flycatchers and loggerhead shrikes along the way. We arrived at Laguna Atascosa NWR mid-morning to travel their 15-mile drive. Without enough gas in the car to make the drive, we headed off to Port Isabel to find a gas station.

In Port Isabel, we could see South Padre Island. It looks like a fabulous place to spend a week, on the shore, reading books and bathing in the sun. We decided to grab lunch at the Pirate's Cove. By far, the best skrimps I've ever eaten. Afterwards, we headed back to Laguna. We had so many cool species; Caracara, Willet, Green Jays, Black-billed cuckoo, Ibis, Reddish Egret, Tri-color Heron, Roadrunner (meep meep) and Roseate Spoonbill. In addition to the birds, we saw a coyote, a wild boar and a tarantula. It was quite a day.

Javelina and his buddy the Green Jay

Green Jays

Ibis

Western Pygmy Blue (actual size=dime)

Tarantula

Day Two Rio Grande Valley--Friday, May 18

Wow, this morning we went to the Estero Llano Grande State Park. The park is filled with a series of wetlands. It was incredible. I didn't take many photos as most of the stuff was viewed through binoculars. In the afternoon, we attended a guided dragonfly hike at Bentsen State Park. During this hike we saw Roseate Skimmer, Coral-fronted threadtail, and Caribbean Yellow Face, to name a few. The tour took us the International Butterfly Sanctuary. This is the site in which we found the swimsuits left behind by the illegals that use this site to enter the U.S.A. They pack up their belongings into garbage bags, swim across the Rio Grande, change into their dry clothes and leave their swimwear on the ground. It was incredible how many suits we saw!

In the evening, I had the best Enchiladas Mole I've ever had. Delicious. I highly recommend Casa de Taco in McAllen.

Black-backed Whistling Ducks

Familiar Bluet

Larry, Judy & Jay

Mexico! Rio Grande River

Day One Rio Grande Valley--Thursday, May 17

Today we went to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. What a day. After spending a few hours in the freakin' parking lot (JAY!), we finally got into the park. We saw so many super cool things. The best were Green Jay and Greater Kiskadee! I, of course, had no good shots of either, but I'm sure Jay and Judy did. Here's an abbreviated list:

Chacalaca
julia butterfly
gulf frittillary
zebra longwing
White-winged Dove
Buff-bellied Hummer
Hooded Oriole
cane toad
ribbon snake
Altimira Oriole

In the evening, we ventured to Bentsen State Park. This was the BEST of the best. Joshua Rose (aka JR) took us on a night hike. Well no one found it necessary to tell me to wear freakin' pants? After the hike, I had to go in for a blood transfusion. Regardless, we saw the coolest stuff. For me, the best were the javelinas and the Ferruginous Pygmy-owl. We saw a family of 14 javelinas! At the end of the night, we saw the hugest tarantula. Even though the tarantula had a "hitch it its giddy-up", it was so cool. We also saw a pauraque, mediterranean geckos, and Mexican free-tailed bat.
Tropical-checkered skipper

Spanish moss

Cane Toad

Grassland Whiptail Lizard

The cactus that attacked Jay

Rototilling Sunday

Last Sunday, we rented a rototiller from Home Depot to churn the soil so we could seed our front yard! Jules compared using the rototiller to walking two pit bulls. He did a wonderful job. We also laid a stepping stone path along the front of the house. Once grass grows, I'll take more pictures. We seeded our tree lawn the week before and we have lots of baby grass in it.

Dragonfly Days in Texas

I'm off to McAllen, TX on Wednesday. McAllen is the Square Dance Capitol of the World. Remember this little jingle from Bugs Bunny...

Step right up, you're doin' fine,
I'll pull your beard, you pull mine.
Yank it again, like you did before,
Break it up with a tug o' war.

Grab a fence post, hold it tight,
Womp your partner with all your might.
Hit him in the shin, hit him in the head,
Hit him again, the critter ain't dead.

Wop him low and wop him high,
Stick your finger in his eye.
Pretty little rhythm, pretty little sound,
Bang your heads against the ground.

The Temps are Rising

It's starting to warm up in NE Ohio. Muffs is shedding and doing anything to cool off. Last night's pose was not pretty.

In Today's Mail

I'm happy to inform diligent didymops blog readers that the City of Cleveland returned my appeal money (59 smacks) in today's mail! I thought it would take a minimum of 3 months and as it turns out it was less than one. Could this be because Frank is our new mayor?

Let the Games Begin...

Well, my impatience (I like to call it eagerness) has struck again. Yesterday, I wanted to scrub the back, upstairs porch so we could sit out there. It was filthy dirty (as my Mom would say). When I went out on the porch, the floor was worse than ever. The janky, canvas floor covering had rips all over it and the paint was cracked and peeling off everywhere. So I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to pull all the canvas off the floor boards. Surprisingly, the boards below are really cool. They're 5 inch planks. Yeah, so I commence to washing. I scrub the siding, the banisters, the floor. It looks fabulous. I'm envisioning how I can simply put a nice coat of grey paint on the floor and how nice it will look. Then I go downstairs. You likely already guessed. The pantry off the kitchen looks like a sinking ship. At least 2 inches of water on the floor, water streaming down the sides, water has even ran down into the basement. Water Water Everywhere.

Let the summertime, house antics begin...

Question?

If you were a car title for a 1994 Eagle Talon, where would you hide?

Who Said You Can't Beat City Hall?

I am very pleased to inform you that I won my appeal for my parking violation! My hearing was scheduled with Cleveland Municipal Court for this morning at 9:30. My name was called at 9:45 and by 10 a.m. my ticket was thrown out. Special thank you to Magistrate Wolcott for hearing me out and coming to this decision. The whole process was smooth. Justice prevailed.