Rockport Center for the Arts, Rockport, Texas

We had anxiously awaited the opening of the Rockport Center of the Arts and were finally able to view some of the buildings. There are three separate buildings, one enclosing several Galleries, a classroom, giftshop and front desk, the second a conference center, and the third a place for performances.

Around the outside, sculptures are tastefully placed, and as one would expect highlights the warmth of Rockport and its laidback coastal attitude.

A pair of seahorses dominate the front and a touching sculpture of a young man and his dogs are located in the outer center plaza.

Entering the Center a receptionist desk was staffed by exuberant staff who justifiable and proudly talked of the new center,

A gift shop included local jewelry, fabric arts, and several hung pieces, (I was glad to see that the pieces were not described as craft as the term craft is used as a means to denigrate traditional women’s artwork).

To the left is the Mendez Family Gallery, where a variety of artwork were hung.

These included paintings, pastels, and photographic works. I am not a painter and know better than to describe my photography as professional, although quite a few people have suggested we should sell it, (we are too busy with our lapidary and jewelry making). On the way upstairs, and yes there is an elevator, we passed the classroom and figuring out how to work the elevator, (we have no elevators in our small town)., reached the McKelvey Charitable Gallery.

There a pottery show was displayed, and the pottery pieces were both composed of contemporary clay and mixed media. Returning downstairs, we passed through the classroom and stepped outside to the plaza.

Two more buildings were still being finished and we were unable to enter the first as the painters were busy. The Conference Center was also closed and gated as was a staircase to the top of the Art center. Hopefully we will be able to view these before our five month stay here ends, (we have spent part or most of the past fifteen winters here along the Texas Coastal Bend). We had a very positive impression of the new Rockport Center of the Arts and its staff! We look forward to viewing the new areas and new hung shows. Well done, Rockport! Clear skies

Roy’s Boat, Fishing at Goose Island, and making pendants and bracelets for up coming shows

Last year we all went to an estate sale where Roy spotted an older six horse outboard motor. He made an offer and they finally agreed to the price as long as he also took the old pram. While most saw a worthless old fiberglass pram, Roy saw an opportunity and started on a complete rebuild. Never bet against Roy.

After acquiring the boat and motor he worked on it, finished it this year, loaded it on a redesigned trailer and launched it at a nearby hurricane destroyed harbor. I helped him launch it and was surprised at its light weight! It floated nicely, the reworked motor started right away, and he easily motored around the small harbor. Now it’s time to take it out fishing! We know quite a few protected places where we have caught fish. Many are places where we have fished with our kayaks but this time we will have a motor, (Renita and I will still use our kayaks)

Roy and I did go fishing on the Goose Island State Park Pier, but the water level was extremely low and the fish were not there. The tides cause changes in the water level, but the biggest factor is the wind. We had a strong north wind gusting to forty miles per hour. It pushed the water out of the bay, leaving the oyster beds high and dry! In the photo you can see oyster beds that are normally covered with water.

After the shows last summer, we made cabochons to replace all that we had sold. To make each one we had to saw, grind, and polish the rough stone before attaching bails or wire wrapping them in sterling silver or fourteen karat gold filled wire, (gold filled wire is made by using heat and pressure to bond sheets of gold to a base metal wire and does not peel away the gold like gold plate). It has been known to stay beautiful for over one hundred years.

Each pendant and cabochon takes me about three hours to finish while the bracelets and their stones take five to six hours. Both require a steady hand, keen eyesight, (mine is not so keen anymore), and a magnifying glass mounted on a Opti visor!

If you have been reading our blog you can see the blue and white larimar, from the Dominican Republic, four rhodochrosite pendants, Morenci turquoise, and other beautiful agates and stones. All of the stone’s colors are natural as we do not use dyed stones. Our first show is February 4th and our first juried Gem and Mineral show is the first weekend in March.

The above picture is of all wire bracelets made of sterling, gold filled wire, and ar every popular! Its always a rush to get finished as fishing, bird watching, dolphin antics, and making jewelry compete for our time. Time is the most precious asset we have and so we try not to waste it. Clear

Christmas, New Year's Eve 2023, and Kayaking St Charles Bay

It’s been a while since I have written an entry in the blog, (our personal journal), because we have been so busy with parties, dinner celebrations, and games. Oh, and I also forgot to mention fishing, and kayaking.

The fun started on Christmas eve where we gathered for a dirty Santa gift exchange. Drawing a number, we then took a present from underneath the tree and opened it for all to see. Knowing what the others had received you had the option of picking another unopened gift or taking someone’s already opened gift. Renita opened hers before me and it was Christmas ornaments that contained small bottles of cinnamon flavored whiskey. Nice gift but we don’t do shots anymore, well rarely, so she hoped that someone would take her gift. Of course no one did. When my turn came, I opted to take away a nice blanket from a person who had been trying to hide it beneath her table. She then took a gift away from someone else and the gift exchange continued. Later I had the blanket taken away from me, and then opened another gift which was a blanket. It was also taken away and my final gift was a new battery powered Chinese lamp, (later we discovered that the lamps power supply was so corroded that it was beyond repair).

The next day our Entertainment directors Alan and Zita prepared a Christmas feast of ham, (we are so lucky to have such great chefs who are also friends with everyone in our rv park)! Another friend Dave, cooked a turkey and the rest of us made deserts or salads. After eating too much we all went back to our rigs and took a nap before returning for leftovers. On New Year’s eve we gathered for another get together where we ate a huge meal prepared by Alan and Zita, along with Wade and several others serving us a shrimp and crab boil, (along with deserts).

After this meal we then played a viscous card name called Jokers and Pegs. It’s a multiple deck game where the men and women formed two teams. We had one too many men so Bob agreed to be a woman and acted out the part quite nicely. Both won one game so it ended was a draw. We stayed up till eleven pm and went back to our rigs. New Year’s day was another dinner followed by football and naps, Did I mention that before leaving Wyoming, my doctor had me meet with a nutritionist who instructed me on ways to lose weight! A few days later Renita and I recovered enough from all the food and decided to go kayaking. Our first choice was Port Bay but arriving there the wind was too strong and so we drove to St Charles Bay.

Launching our yaks we paddled into a sheltered canal, fished and ate lunch. As we fished three whooping cranes flew overhead and squawked so loud that even I could hear them! The fishing was slow, but I did manage to catch an undersized flounder, (which was released unharmed as we use circle hooks).

Returning to the main bay we went to another of our spots and tied up. I lost a nice fish just as other kayakers paddled by. They were member of the Texas Women Fly casters! Later they helped us as we landed and even carried one of our kayaks to our trailer. They gave us pointers on fly fishing for red fish and even showed us the flies they used. Thanks for the help and advice! Now we are preparing for our first two shows of the year. One is a small one in our rv park and the other a juried show hosted by the Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Society. We have been members of the society for twelve years. It’s a show where we usually buy as much as we sell and one show we always look forward to. Clear skies.

Catching Mullet for Bait, Throwing a Seven Foot Cast Net

I had been casting a smaller cast net for almost fifteen years. The problem with a small net is that it doesn’t sink fast enough to catch bait. In deeper water the mullet swim fast enough to swim out from the net. To remedy this I decided to buy one seven feet in diameter. The problem now was that the seven-foot net has heavier weights and is a lot more difficult to throw(age?). Wanting to learn I did what everyone else does, by googling how to throw a large cast net and I came up with several videos. The first one that came up was the most popular. Perhaps it was because the teacher was so good but perhaps it was also because she was wearing a very small bikini.

I am sure she did a good job of teaching the technique, but it didn’t show me the step-by-step directions I needed, so I went down the list and found one that was less distracting. Armed with the video on my phone I went outside to practice. Not getting a perfect pancake, I continued to practice until I got an ok one. The next day I went out and practiced until I threw a consistent pancaked net. By then my back was sore from the heavy weights on the net. It was two more days before the wind calmed down and the mullet reappeared next to our rv park’s dock. Renita and Dave, accompanied me and with the mullet swimming toward me I made my first cast. Success. I had six mullet in my first throw! Dave helped me to measure them, (while Renita took pictures), and we released the larger mullet. All mullet twelve inches and larger must be returned live. The reason for this is that’s it’s the spawning season and so it ensures the future of the fish. It was a regulation that was adopted due to some people netting the mullet for their roe. The roe is supposed to be good sauteed in butter and when in Florida we had watched as fishermen were throwing twelve and even fourteen-foot nets.

Almost immediately two other friends showed up, a great blue heron and a snowy egret. It only took two throws to harvest all the mullet we needed. Two days later the severe cold front came through and all fishing was closed. At least we now have enough frozen bait to last for a while, (we primarily use cut mullet for redfish)! Clear skies.

The Coastal Bend Fly-in, Rockport Texas 2022

We were alarmed when the first plane thundered over our house! Going outside we watched as a World War Two vintage bomber shook us and then a series of trainers and biplanes made passes overhead.

I quickly got my camera ready, but it was to no avail as the planes would quickly appear and then disappear in the open gaps of the live oak trees.

We learned that a fly in was happening, and it included many planes from the Commemorative Air Force, (once called the Confederate Air Force)! The weather was supposed to be good for the second day of the air show and so we planned on spending the next day trying to get some decent photos. After all, there is little difference between the birds we normally photograph and the metal birds in the show, right.

The next day the planes stared to buzz our rv park by nine am and so we headed to the local airfield. Normally the airfield is pretty quiet except for the touch and go landings of military pilots in training and the arrival of privately owned aircraft. The show was free, and the parking was close enough that it was a short walk, but a van stopped and offered us a courtesy ride, (they probably saw our silver hair).

Entering the main gate, the planes were arranged on the tar mac and some even had tables where you could pay for a ride on a vintage aircraft. It cost from one hundred to four hundred dollars for a flight, depending on the plane, (We passed it up as neither of us relished flying on a plane that was , in some cases eighty seven years old).

Renita took lots of pictures of the planes on the ground and I tried to concentrate on the planes during the flight part of the show.

It was a little hazy with some clouds and so the ground pictures turned out the best.

Among the planes were several biplanes including a PT Stearman, a submarine naval search plane, several cargo and passenger transport planes and a B-25 that was adorned with the name and image of The Texas Rose! one of the books I had just read told of the air raid on Germany’s ball bearing plants. There over three hundred planes had thundered in at low level, before dropping their bomb loads.

There was even an experimental aircraft with a futuristic design that included a rear propeller and was also available for rides, (we also passed up on that one). A last treat was the appearamnce of a Coast Guard Rescue Helicopter! The helicopter had landed to refuel and ended up giving a demostration of how a person is uoloaded from the sea. Well done Coasties!

It was a fun morning! Clear skies

More Whooping Cranes with Fred and Becky

Our friends Fred and Becky came down to our area for two days of bird watching. They spent the first day at the Leorna Turnbill birding center. The next morning they drove over to our place for a morning of whooping crane watching in Lamar. Luckily the birds put on great displays, including a tricolor heron that was tempting a very large alligator. Both were on the lawn besides a blue house. We wondered how many birds that gator has eaten and suspect that the people living in the house don’t have a dog or cat.

We saw our first whooping cranes along Eighth street. A family group was close, but we could also see another threesome watching a feeder.

The first group was the most fun to watch as four sandhill cranes flew low over the whoopers and the male spread his wings in a threat display.

The colt, the young mottled brown and white whooper, spread its wings emulating the parent. The sandhills didn’t care and landed anyway but did keep a little distance from the large birds.A bit latter a plague, (flock) of grackles landed near them and the colt decided he would chase them away. The adults ignored the grackles but the young whooper knew he could win a fight against the small birds.

On the shore of a small pond Renita spotted and photographed a rosette spoonbill.

As we watched the birds a Swainson’s hawk landed on a power line pole. It was the same one we had spotted on our previous trip. Driving over to Big Tree three cara caras put on a display atop the live oaks.

The first two almost looked like they were nesting but we alter decided it was just a nest like tree branch. A little further another cara cara, (also called a Mexican Eagle and can be found in bird books grouped with falcons), stood proud on top of another live oak tree.

It posed and allowed us to get some great pictures, before flying away with the other two. Along the shorefront a great blue heron posed, we love it when they pose, and the usual Franklyn gulls dominated the posts.

A brown pelican landed on a pier, left over from a dock washed away by Hurricane Harvey. We did get one last treat as a third family group flew over the first one and the ones on the ground stretched their necks straight up and made a loud warning. Whoopers are very territorial and often get into fights. The flying group did not land and continued flying to a back bay.

A great day of birding had to end as it was a hot humid day and Fred and Becky’s dog rough, named from the brown Cajun mixture of butter and flour, was suffering from the conditions. We had planned on going to a local restaurant, but they left early. Renita and I decided to eat out and we shared a shrimp and sweet potatoes fries basket. Clear skies