The charity event the gallery is doing for H.O.P.E. Foundation and Cheers Ranch

this weekend is gathering speed and momentum.  Merchants have been offering

gift certificates for which you can register just by showing up at my gallery

sometime during the day on Saturday.  A portion of gallery sales from participating

artists at the event will go to support this good cause. 

As a part of the Artrageous Art Walk the gallery will be open until 8:30pm.

It seems everyone loves horses from riding enthusaists to people like me who only had dreams of growing up to be a cowgirl riding the open range with Hopalong Cassidy and Roy Rogers.  This is a good work caring for these magnificant animals which have been abused or are too old for owners to want to continue with their care.  The other half of the equation is using work with horses to reach out to children who may also be at risk for one reason or another.  ...so come on down and join in the fun. _______________________________________

When these start out with collaged photos you know I have too much to go into one page, but am going to do it anyway.  I am pretty sure that I forgot to send out the photos of Sammy the Sea Turtle's release at the recent Nature Festival.  I posted them on Facebook and here they are.

Sammy was found on the beach during our cold winter suffering from "cold stun".  He was found by a young lady and taken to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center where he was rehabilitated.  All the many  barnacles which had covered his back then had all been removed and he was beautiful, healthy, and anxious to be back in the big blue ocean.

A recent trip off island gave me a glimpse of some birds I don't usually find hanging around my neighborhood.  This was at a retaining pond in a subdivision on the other side of the bridge.  The Killdeer just sat down and settled in to watch Mrs. Duck and the kiddies swim away.  I love ducklings especially mallards

Mornings on the beach are varied to say the least.  Some mornings are golden with yellow rhinestones sparkling in the water's edge, sometimes there is a wannabe rainbow even without rain.  I think these are called "hot dogs".

Some rare mornings with no wind will find a glassy sea with a touch of diamond glitter or stars sprinkled on the surface.

This one had wind and rough water but the sky created a very different look as if aluminum foil had been spread across the flat planes between the waves looking as if it had been photographed with black and white film.

Even without turtle nests there is always some type of bird activity.  A crow had a Mother Plover very disturbed as it seemed to be after eggs or possibly young chicks.  I guess Mr. Crow couldn't read the  "Keep Out" sign.  One of the nests had already been robbed and re-laid.  Not sure if it has survived or not.  The babies are hard to spot as they hide in the low plants or blend into the sand.  It is nice to see the Snowy's somewhere besides the Alligator Farm.  The Sanderlings are always chasing the water's edge and running ahead of me in my noisy buggy.

It has been too early to spot the osprey chicks in the high nest but soon.

On the river beach are the Least Terns who do seem to be actually nesting.  When I walked into the dunes to check the site I was dive bombed by one of the terns and if I had continued I would have been hit with a bird poop missile I'm sure.  I beat a hasty retreat having already had that experience.

The winds which had been fairly strong had sculpted many pretty patterns in the front dunes on the river.  The only disturbance to the beauty were deer tracks which are nice to see also.

Now I'm just messing with your mind.  To see this correctly you have to stand on your head.  I discovered that if you look at these tidal runoffs upside down it changes how your mind perceives what you are seeing.  Things that are depressions suddenly become raised.  I see a wind swept tree don't you?

There have been numerous sightings lately of our expanding Bobcat population.  I had seen them twice before but never with my camera.  Although not a good shot through the car windshield it was still fun to actually capture the image.  They seem to be getting more used to humans and are not as skittish as before.

Sunday of Memorial Day I went fishing aaaaaalll afternoon with my "desert rat", former New Mexico friends whom have become quite acclimated to our island as you can see.  The Fish Crows, who maintain close family ties, are assisting with the fishing.

...and finally I get a glimpse of one of the two Opsrey chicks as mom is involved with serving up breakfast.  They are growing fast.

Last week's turtle patrol started with a sky which was threatening but mostly, except for a brief sprinkle,  stayed out over the water to the Northwest.

Overhead blue sky gave some promise of maybe finishing in the dry.  Beautiful billowing clouds pilled up.

Some pretty interesting crabs and shell critters were on the beach last week also.

This one was especially intersting, a Striped Hermit Crab.  Bet you've never been eye ball to eye ball with a Hermit Crab before.  I'm just not sure how many eyes I'm seeing.  These critters are constantly moving from house to house as they outgrow their adopted shells.  I used to have a dry land variety and had to keep different sized shells in his terrarium so he had options.

If you remember the Horse Conch Shell from the last story then you will be interested to know that this is their egg sack.  It was about baseball size or larger.  I would have brought it home with me except that it was pretty fishy smelling and I decided my car didn't need anymore smelly beach creatures.

Finally on Monday of last week I found our first turtle nests.  #1 and #2.  Then on Tues #3 showed up followed closely on Thursday by #4.  They seem to be making up for lost time or for their sisters on the Gulf side who are not having things so good right now.  The island as a whole has 32 nests compared to 15 this date last year.  As my new T-Shirt says "Turtle Girls Rule".

Some unusual critters greeted me as I wrapped up the week, to my enjoyment.  Some very gifted sculptors had left some remarkable beach creations for all who found this spot.  Good work!!!!

And speaking of artists, just in case you think I sit all day twiddling my thumbs I actually almost finished 3 previously started paintings last week.  This one I intend entering in an upcoming art show. I'll let you know if it gets any notice by the judges.

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