What I Did Thursday....

Jessica surprised me Thursday morning when she called and asked if I wanted to spend the day with her. What did she have in mind? I asked. Oh, I don't know....Maybe ride around a little, meet Jason somewhere for some *cheap* lunch, go buy some bread at the past-the-date bread store and feed the ducks and geese on the lake at the local park, she said. Sounds like a plan to me, I said.

Did I take pictures? You bet I did. At the lake, anyway. I forgot to take my camera in when we ate, dang it. I just know y'all would have been thrilled, nay, overjoyed, to see pictures of us eating our fries and chicken nuggets at the local Mickey D's. I did say *cheap* if you'll remember. After Christmas and it being the end of the month, that's about all I could afford. It was good, though, and it served the purpose.

On to the pictures...Half of Jessica's rear view and some of our dinner guests.
There were mallard ducks, white ducks, Canada geese,
a few ducks I couldn't readily identify, and some
hybrid ducks and geese who've interbred.
If you look closely, about a third of the way up from
the bottom, almost dead center between the two white
ducks, there's a black coot. They are fairly new to
this area. In fact, until last year, I'd never seen any
of them outside of birding books. There were about
two dozen or so of them on the lake today where
Jessica and I were feeding them.There are a couple more of the coots in this shot,
top left and fourth from the left, top. There are
also several Canada geese, and near the bottom is
one of the ducks I'm not sure about. I don't know
what breed he is, but he's gorgeous!
My picture doesn't do him justice.
His head is a vibrant emerald green.Here's a wider shot across the lake.
Notice the wake behind the white duck in the
left middleground? Some of them were pretty
agressive and moving fairly fast in an
effort to get to the bread before any of
the other birds.As you can see from the pictures, it was a
beautiful day here in Northeast Arkansas.
A little windy, as you can also tell by looking
at my hair blowing in the breeze. But it was
almost 60 degrees and the sun was shining.
I was comfortable in my sweatshirt, and
Jessica had on a T-shirt and a light jacket.
Not our typical December weather at all.

We took a little drive over to Weiner, Arkansas, about 30 minutes from here, and Jason's hometown, incidentally. We were looking for the BIG flocks of ducks and geese that winter over here, feeding on the rice, corn and soybeans left in the fields after harvest.

Duck and goose hunting is a big deal around here, and a lot of people guide duck hunts when hunting season is in. Lots of celebrities and rich folks come here to hunt, and there're opportunities to make a lot of money guiding if you're in the business, not to mention the money the hunters spend on food, lodging and supplies while they're here.

But I digress. This year the mild temperatures so far this winter have let the waterfowl stay farther north. We have some ducks and geese here, but not nearly the numbers we usually see by this time. In the past I have seen snow geese, mallard ducks and Canada geese so thick that you literally couldn't see the ground or the water around them. The birds we did see were so far off the road that my camera couldn't bring them into close enough focus to make good pictures.

Still, we enjoyed the ride and just being together as Mom and daughter. We had a blast just riding around and enjoying the mild winter's day and each other's company.

This next picture was taken Tuesday afternoon and has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of this post. I just like the picture. :-)

This is my sister Cecil and Dolly, my cat. We had gone to Cracker Barrel for lunch and while I was working on some tedious computer chores after we got home, Cecil was dozing through some shows on the Food Network and Dolly helped by keeping her lap from getting cold. Dolly is a good lap warmer, and Candy, my almost 14-year old cat, is a good foot warmer. She sleeps on my feet every night.

Barb and Bev, notice some of my books to read stacked on the table beside the chair? I've already read 2 of them since Tuesday. I'm already having withdrawals because I don't have much left to read. If I don't come across something soon, I'll start rereading some of my favorites. I also need to start on a couple of baby afghans. I have to get the yarn before I can start crocheting them, though. The one for my grandbaby, Peanut, is one of them, of course, and my nephew and his wife will be making me a great-aunt again sometime in March if all goes well, so I'll be crocheting an afghan for a baby boy. He is to be named "Seth".

It's been a great day, but tiring, so Diane is looking forward to getting reacquainted with her bed. Hope your Friday is a great one, and Happy Weekend, y'all!!