what's happening

i haven't been blogging too much in the last few weeks after tucker's illness, because my hands have been bothering me alot (sore joints, low hand strength, pain in the wrist area, etc -and computer use just aggravates them more). could just be a severe tendinitis episode or something else. i did get a lyme's test yesterday since i was bitten by a tick about about a month ago. he also did some arthritis tests too, but wasn't leaning towards any of these things, which leads me back to tendinitis. i'm wondering if how i was holding tucker during those 3 weeks he wasn't well, just aggravated my hands. i've been trying to stretch them alot, which is helping. anyway, that's that.

for a project not related to small hand work, i decided to revamp my cabana, which is now being called "They Gypsy Cabana". i found a darling umbrella at Pier One for $42 on clearance (one part of the umbrella was broken). it reminds me of a circus tent. on a whim, i decided to put the umbrella inside the cabana as the roof part was now open (the roof collapsed over the winter) i got a new outdoor rug, changed out the chairs and added some colorful fabric lanterns that i found at kmart. i dragged over some plantars of grass and put in some candles. finally i added a little Chinese desk that i had bought at Country Living Fair last oct and that was that. you can't tell from the pictures, but in front of the cabana are 3 bird feeders, so it is great fun to sit inside and watch the birds come and feed.

(kabana kitty)
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this is a picture of what i am slowly working on (taking breaks as my hands bother me). i still have some soldering to do on them and then i will cover them in Ice resin.

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finally, here is a my pictures from the warbler nest that i've been watching since i found it several weeks ago. i went down there on monday to check on them and the nest was no longer in the tree. i found it on the ground. hopefully that means that they grew up and flew away.
cover them in Ice resin.

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and finally a collection f shots fm the yellow warbler's nest. i nt down their progress and e nest was no longer inflew away.

off to the dog beach

on Sunday, i took advantage of having help with tucker and got out of the house. my main agenda was to check on the eggs in the Warbler nest that kim and i found when she was here visiting. i figured it was close to those eggs hatching. i took a nice leisurely stroll about the beach, watching the dogs playing in the surf, chasing sticks and tennis balls and in general, having the best time of their lives! i found some cool rocks and weathered bricks for my rock garden and took some photos as well.
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as i was walking along looking at all the darling paw prints, i couldn't help but think of hansel and gretel. my thought was, "lose your way on the dog beach? just follow these.

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found this heart shaped rock

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how can thistle be so overlooked for the beauty of that purple?

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i have no idea what this flower is. it was the only one growing and it was back in the dunes away from the water. big black bumblebees were intensely attracted to it and the fragrance was amazing.

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i love this little shallow section of the bay. i usually see great birds here, but none today; tide was too high...
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petite little daisies. so sweet

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more thistle about to bloom

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and as you can see, the Warbler babies hatched. i sure wish i could nab a photo of pretty momma (she's a light yellow/green color)

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also in the midst of tucker being sick, we discovered a nest of baby bunnies in a vintage wheelbarrow (now a plantar) out front. one of the babies was sickly and momma bunny had tossed it out of the nest, so i took care of it all day and into the night (feeding it pedialyte and kitten replacement milk). the next day i drove the sweet little bunny out to a bunny rehabber. she thought the bunny might have a head injury. i told her i didn't want to know anymore. i know she will do the best she can and what will be will be.

a few days after that, we noticed that momma had moved the nest to another section of the wheelbarrow, but hadn't covered up the babies, so i was suspecting that they would be leaving the nest soon. and sure enough, within 10 minutes or so, they were hopping out. i got some video of the last guy before he took the plunge.

getting there

well, unfortunately, my friend, kim, has come and gone. i told her in an email, "i waited so long for you to come visit me and it went by so fast". i feel badly that i was not 100% in a present state of mind, but i do realize that it could not be helped. she had a rare glimpse into the struggles we go through and it was hard to move between the two worlds of playing hostess and worry. she was a shoulder to lean on though and i'm glad she understood the circumstances. she knows me well and knows that i internalize all this anguish, sorry, worry and angst. she's a sweetie though. she left me a little gift in the camper that jeff only found today; a beautiful necklace that she made just for me. during her visit, she updated her facebook status, which read,
"spending the weekend at a darling faerie cottage....it's magical"

while she was here, i took her to the beach, to my favorite restaurant, Pete and Elda's, to my really junky flea market, to the Ocean Grove Flea Market, to the dog beach, Gee Gee's for pizza and skeetball and we even hit the movies (Iron Man 2, where we both declared Robert Downey, Jr. to be "hot").

we also tried to go geocaching, but the gps kept getting us lost. along the way of getting lost, we saw the cutest young man (Orion) on a skateboard, wearing a fedora, being pulled by a pit bull (kai). of course we had to pull over and take his picture. (see very last photo)

while she was here, i discovered a nest that has 6 baby wrens in it. that's a lot of babies! and then also when we were walking the dog beach, on our way back to the car, i found a nest that had 4 eggs in it. inside the nest is a beautiful blue feather (see 2nd to the last photo). the momma bird was a tiny beautiful little yellow/green bird. when i got home i got out my NJ birding book and found out that the bird saw was a yellow warbler. cool!
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ocean grove flea market
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out and about locally
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we noticed this guy right before kim was leaving. he was chirping up a storm. when i moved in close to take his pic, he hopped inside the bird house for safety!
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6 little wren babies in a house just outside my back deck
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yellow warbler nest
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Tj, Orion and Kai

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i think tuck is almost there (knock on wood for me please). we had a pretty good day today, with very little coughing. i'm hoping this is a good sign.