Reluctant Houseguest.

The Old Salt had just brought a fresh glass of iced tea into the

office for me and was going back to the kitchen when he called

for me to come quick.  

I looked into the living room and saw the Old Salt watching two 

of our cats crouched on either side of a half grown rabbit. 

The tiny creature was no more than seven or eight inches long. 

Our slightly demented tortoiseshell female had apparently

carried it into the house through the cat door.  I was about to 

say something when the little fur-ball disappeared before my 

eyes.  I had no idea something so little and so still could 

suddenly move so fast.  Velvet, our torte, caught it in the corner

of the room and proudly returned it to our little circle of cats 

and people in front of the TV. The Old Salt and I quickly put the

cats in another room and returned to see if the rabbit was too

injured to save.  Of course it was gone again.  We knew it had to 

be in the living room or the kitchen. Those were its only avenues 

of escape.

After looking everywhere in both rooms including places most 

unlikely, we were asking ourselves if something so small could

have managed the cat door. Suddenly, the Old Salt called

"There it is" and I rushed over but could not see a thing.  

"Where" I asked.  "There on the floor in front of that wicker 

basket" was the reply.  Still I could not see it.  Then I was told

to follow the stream of light coming from the flashlight, and there

in the spotlight on the floor stretched out flat and wedged between 

the basket and a power strip, I finally saw the brown fur-ball. 

The Old Salt passed the flashlight to me and picked up the

frightened bunny as I grabbed the small camera that lives 

on the dining table.  If I had not been actively looking for him, 

I could have spent the day in that room without knowing he

 was there. 

This was our little reluctant  houseguest. 

We were amazed to find the baby rabbit did not have a scratch
on him. (or maybe her)  Apparently Velvet had carried the
rabbit as though it was a baby kitten without leaving a mark.
We released the little bit of fur in the field beyond our patio and
it hopped off into the night as if it had this sort of adventure
every day. 

Linking to Camera Critters

graffiti, street art

  My mother recently moved into a small apartment in town.  She has a million dollar view of the Missouri river.  During a visit earlier this month we were sitting on her deck when a train went by.  I captured this railroad car covered in graffiti.  

I liked that the green car made it look like the background was painted too.

Back in March we visited the hometown of Mark Twain. 

The rest of this graffiti was captured there.      

  There were two corner walls remaining from a torn down building.

  One had this possum 

The other this artwork.

 While driving through an industrial area we spotted a building with some original graffiti.  

 Honestly, I can't read this but I like the shapes and the color.

A pink fish is certainly different   

How about a slice of pizza, anyone?

A penguin with a jet pack 

And, lastly we have a happy greeting. 

 And, yes we certainly had fun in Hannibal, Mo.  

Linking to Saturday's Photo Hunting 

Tiki Hut

In the spring of 2011 historic flooding soaked southern Missouri and Illinois.  A trip south sent us through the flooded area a few weeks later.   The post I did then with photos of the flooding can be found here.  Many areas were still under water.  Closed roads required us to make detours around the flood waters.  As a result, I wasn't sure where the following photo was taken.  I made several attempts over the last year to identify this building based on the description, with no luck.  Recently, a clue led me to the answer.

I shot this at some distance from the building  After I decided to use it I cropped the photo to get the two shots below hoping for more detail.  That is when I noticed the words Tiki Hunt on the side of the building.   After a short web search l had the information.  

The reflection of the bright mural on this building really stands out in the flood waters.  

I'm sorry I couldn't get more detail of the mural that surrounds the building.  I haven't seen an entire building painted like this before.

  

This is the Tiki Hut Restaurant in McClure, Illinois.  

A review described the Restaurant as follows:   "The Tiki Hut is your local Tropical Get-away!  They serve great burgers, sandwiches, rice bowls, and more... all with an island twist. They offer pool tables, a state of the art juke-box, video games, beach volleyball, an outside deck, and often have live shows and contests."

Many of the buildings in this area had four or more feet of water in them.  I wonder how badly this restaurant was damaged and whether it reopened.  

I am linking to:

 Weekend Reflections,

  Color Carnival

  Monday Murals. 

Alabama Greens

I  real enjoy all of the memes related to colors.  It opens up so many avenues for posts.  Last week I discovered a new meme devoted to the color green.  I used lots of nature shots because I could not recall having any green items in my archives. Today, I  came across the shots I took last spring, on our annual trip to Alabama. I was surprised at all the green I had captured.  

We made this trip in May shortly after the southern parts of Missouri and Illinois had suffered a huge flood.  Driving through Illinois, we encountered many detours to get past the flooding.  This antique car was sitting high and dry on a roadway were everything around it was either still under water or boggy with high water marks on the walls of the buildings.   

 This green tank sits beside the Montgomery Highway near Brundidge, Alabama.  I believe it is part of a National Guard Armory.

While visiting with my Aunt in Dothan, Alabama we had lunch at a restaurant called the Red Elephant.  The walls were decorated with lots of original paintings of animals done by an artist known as Cornbread.  This green frog was one of them.  

 This green dragon was on a carousel located near the food court of the shopping mall in Dothan, Alabama.

I'm linking this post to Green Day, Color Connection and 

Fabulous Friday.  

The "F" Words

Jenny Matlock, over at Alphabe-Thursday, likes to invite the FOLKS of Blogland into her classroom each week to discuss a FINITE letter of the alphabet.  This week we have been assigned the letter "F."  I FULLY believe I am FORTUNATE to be up to that challenge.

On a FRIDAY last April we made the trip to Montgomery Alabama, with my Mother, to attend my Aunt's FUNERAL.   While there we made a hospital call on my mother's sister-in-law.   My Aunt FLORINE.  We also visited Mom's sister and last surviving sibling.  My ninety-three year old Aunt Sister.   I snapped this photo of    the FENCE and FUSCHIA colored FLOWERS in her backyard with the FIR tree in the background in Dothan, Alabama.  I also swear there were no FLUBS, FAULTS or FIBS made in the writing of this story.  

 I have a couple of other snaps to share that begin with the letter "F."

The CampFIRE  with marshmallow FORK at our last FAMILY reunion.  

I photographed this FLOCK of FLAMINGO'S at the San Diego Wild Animal Park's many FINGERED lagoon on my FIRST trip to California to meet the Old Salt. 

Well, how did I do?  Is that enough "F" words FOR one post. 

Linking to Alphabe-Thursday 

Linking to This or That Thursday

Spilling Blue

To celebrate Independence Day each year the city turns the water in the City Fountain blue. This year the blue dye went in early.  It was decided to turn the fountain blue before Memorial Day and is expected to remain blue until Labor Day.  

The City Fountain is located on the corner of Main and Elm Streets near the Farmers Market.

Linking to Blue Monday 

There is a New Featured Color in Blogland

It has just come to my attention that a lovely lady over in Ireland named Fiona with a blog called Raindrops and Daisy's has started a new meme, blog hop or link-up (depending on where in the world you're located) devoted to the color Green. That is a color all of us can manage with all the growing things this time of year.  I confess  I am  always watching for photo opportunities  that contain colors like pink, red and blue.  I can't find a single green item in my recent shots that is not a living thing.  I will be on the lookout  for those unusual and different green items.  I do have a few favorite living green's I have not had the opportunity to share.  So here we go---- my green entries for this new meme, rightly called -----"Green Day."

We live in a hilly riverfront town and you will find lots of areas where tall concrete retaining walls keep the earth from caving in.  Recently, our vacuum needed servicing and I remained in the car while the Old Salt carried it into the repair shop. This shop's parking area sits  below one of those tall concrete walls. This one has a chain link fence atop it because the high ground is part of a school playground.  While waiting I looked up and saw this lacy looking pine branch silhouetted against the fence and snapped the shot through the windshield.  The Old Salt doesn't much care for this shot so I have never posted it before.  But, I happen to like it.   

 After taking the above shot I got out of the car and walked to the front of the shop so that I could get this long shot of the pine trees on top of that wall.

No matter whether you call them crayfish, crawfish or as they are known in this part of the midwest "Crawdads" these little guys are considered a real delicacy in many parts of the country.  I captured this one on a visit to my brothers cabin on Table Rock Lake.

  I captured this shot while photographing my neighbors clematis last month. Not sure what to call them and I was surprised I had never noticed these lacy gold-ish "what-evers" before.  But, I liked the look of them and got permission from my neighbor to cut a couple to add to a vase of cut flowers.  They only got better as they dried out and I was able to keep them for several weeks before our cats decided they were a play toy.
     

I will close with this shot of some blackberries ripening on the vines I found growing around the henhouse where I photographed Clarence, the rooster I posted here.

I am linking this post to Green Day.  

Why don't you hop over and check out this new meme devoted to the color Green.

Wedding Pinks

Earlier this week I posted for Ruby Tuesday about my nephew's  red themed wedding and some of the fun at that event. (posted here)  I mentioned that when the DJ introduced the wedding party, they came into the reception hall as couples wearing funny hats or other silly items and doing little dances across the room.

   While the wedding colors were red, white and black a few other colors did make an appearance.  This bridesmaid and her groomsman (my nephew) danced into the hall wearing pink.

where did she find those glasses?

 My nephew was decked out in a pink checked tuxedo jacket. 

This jacket has a strange way of showing up at all kinds of family functions.  We never know when it will make its next appearance, or who will be wearing it.  The first time it was worn by one of my brothers some twenty odd years ago.   

 My nephew was especially proud of the lacy handkerchief  stuffed in his pocket.  

 While snapping shots of the couples on the dance floor I noticed this lovely pair of pink shoes with toenails to match.

I am linking this post to Pink Saturday.  Where we celebrate all things PINK.  

Ernesto's

I have to admit that I love Mexican food.  I am also picky when it come to my choice of mexican restaurants.  I judge them all by the quality of the salsa and chips they serve.  I guess I became spoiled years ago, because, my old neighborhood had the best mexican restaurant ever. It wasn't until the Old Salt took me to a mexican restaurant in Bull Head City, Arizona on our honeymoon, that my favorite was relegated to second place.  

When I first moved to town there were two Mexican restaurants.  Neither could compete with my old favorite but one was certainly better than the other.   About the time I met the Old Salt a third place opened up.   Shortly after that the more elegant and pricey of the first two places closed down. It wasn't long before another mexican restaurant opened in a empty store front beside our only supermarket.   

So we have three mexican restaurants in our small town.  Pretty extraordinary considering how few dinner restaurants we have to begin with.  Last week I was shopping with my grandson and decided to treat him to lunch.  Since tacos are one of his favorite foods, we went to the oldest mexican restaurant in town. 

Saying this is the oldest could be a stretch depending on how you define such things.  It is the oldest continuously operating mexican restaurant here.   Last winter, a wind storm took down the sign and it has not been replaced. I learned when we were handed the menus that the place had a new name and a new owner. That makes the third change for this restaurant  since I moved here.  

 

We quickly learned the new name "Ernesto's"  had only been official for a couple weeks.   

 We were greeted at the door by Ernesto himself who escorted us to our table.

 I only had to step through the door to see the place had a new look and a much cheerier atmosphere.  Ernesto was all smiles and so were his servers.

 

Gone were the blue cloud painted ceiling tiles, replaced by snowy white ones that seem to enlarge the space.  New window treatments let in more natural light.  The walls were transformed from a dirty beige to a bright sunny yellow orange. There was now apple green paint covering the dark stained trim of last year.  The restrooms also had a facelift.

I was delighted to see the tables and chairs had not been changed.  No two tabletops are alike and they were added shortly before I became housebound (by chemo) last fall.   The photos used in the above collage were taken at that time.  Surprisingly, Ernesto sat us at the booth with my favorite tabletop.  It is pictured above in the bottom right corner.  The only thing original to the restaurant I first visited twelve years ago was the paper mache parrot hanging on a perch near the back wall.  I have pictures of it getting more and more shabby over the years and now it had a brand new coat of bight colors.    

We had a very pleasant time in Ernesto's  and I'm happy to report that he has the best chips and salsa in town.  That alone will have me coming back as often as possible.  

I am linking to Alphabe Thursday where "E" is the letter of the week.  "E"  for Ernesto's.    Also linking  to Color Connection.  

A Really Good Time!

Last Saturday another of my nephews took the plunge and married his high school sweetheart.  I am exaggerating that last statement a bit but it feels like they have been together that long.  I know I'm getting old but young people today seem much too young to marry.

  These two are young but they are very much in love. 

This wedding was certainly a family affair.  Most of the wedding party was a cousin or a sibling of the happy couple.  The flowers and even some of the bridesmaid's hair styles were done by my sisters.  Both of the priest officiating at the wedding Mass were my brothers.   

 Everyone who pitched in to decorate the reception hall were family.  The table runners were sewn by my sister and two sisters did all the floral arrangements.  

The wedding cake was done by a one of the brides relatives;

and the sign warning motorists this couple were newlyweds was hand made by family.  

Now my age is showing again but, it feels like each new wedding I go to the music gets louder and the revelers get wilder.  When the wedding party arrived, they came into the hall dancing and wearing funny hats,  In this shot we have a nephew wearing a halo and a niece in devil horns and wearing a feather boa while doing a shimmy and shake kind of dance.    

Plus, there is always some new fad.  This party took me back to the sixties when we would pile into the photo booth at Woolworth's and receive a strip of black and white pictures for a quarter. This time I did not need the quarter and the photos were in color but the booth hadn't changed much.  Two strips of three shots each would come out of the machine.  The ladies attending the machine would put one in a plastic case to make a souvenir bookmark with the bride and grooms names and wedding date printed on the bottom.  The second set went into a scrapbook we would sign.  This scrapbook was replacing the traditional guestbook.  

In case you haven't noticed the color theme for this wedding was red, white and black.  The Old Salt and I dressed accordingly.  He wore white and black and I wore a red and black dress.  

 Naturally, I'm linking this post to Ruby Tuesday and Rednesday were Red is the color of the day.    Over at ABC Wednesday, the letter of the week is "W."  So I'm hoping everyone there will except my invitation to visit my "Wedding." 

Linking to Ruby Tuesday, Rednesday, and  ABC Wednesday