Valentines Day Feast 2024, Thanks Zita and Alan

For the past nine years we have had a feast on Valentines Day. Our activities coordinators Zita and Alan have prepared sumptuous feasts of prime rib and Cornish hens, smoked to perfection! Thie year was perhaps the best yet!

They prepare the meal after careful planning and everyone in the park is invited. Tickets are sold ahead of time to make sure that everyone gets their choice, and the Recreation Hall is always sold out! This year sixty-eight people attended.

Upon entering the door, we were first greeted by our friends Barb and Dan who took great photos of each couple. Dan is an excellent photographer and Barb makes sure all the couples are smiling and sitting in the right spot.

The festivities were started with a prayer and then the tables are called starting with the back row, it alternates each year. This year they first served the small number who requested Cornish Hens and then the rest who chose prime rib. After getting our main dish we next proceeded to the salad table where we had the choice of shrimp cocktails or a lettuce salad. Renita couldn’t eat all of her Cornish and I barely managed to eat my huge slice of outstanding prime rib.

Zita had also prepared a special dessert to sweeten the finish of the meal! Our friend Jane, a master florist arranged the flowers on each table, which we were able to take back to our rv! The decorations were done by volunteers the morning of the party. Sadly, this is the last year Zita and Alan will serve as activities directors. There will never be any better! They are not returning to the park as they have purchased a home and are leaving the full-time rv lifestyle. Words cannot express our gratitude. Clear skies and safe travels! Mark and Renita

A 2024 Oyster Feed at Blue Lagoons Rv Park

Not everyone likes oysters, so our 2024 oyster party only had fifty-four people sign up for the event. Usually, the party is just for our happy hour group, currently about 28, but this year Zita and Alan bought oysters for everyone.

The first task was to line up enough cleaners and shuckers. We had six. A couple of them had never shucked before, but they quickly caught on! Two people washed the oysters while the shuckers worked carefully! No one was cut as the oysters were opened! Alan and Zity had bought a full sack, which is about 2-300 oysters. Alan estimated that we would split the oysters into two presentations, raw oysters on a half shell and Oysters Rockefeller. I volunteered to cook them. Now the plan was to make two for each person which meant that I would need to make one and cook one hundred and eight! Luckily three sou chefs volunteered to help me.

I was using a new recipe from Allrecipes. It was pretty simply, sauté onions, spinach, and garlic in olive oil and then add spices, three cheeses, ( I used parmesan, feta, and pepper jack). Finally add milk. Then after laying out the oyster in a pan lined with parchment paper and coarse salt fill each tray with rows of raw oysters, (the salt is used to keep the oysters level).

I cooked the filling in a large pan and then transferred the mix to a big bowl where Renita, Laura, and Maureen filled each one with the mixture, (solution, I was a former chemistry teacher). Finally, they were topped with panko bread crumbs. Then I placed each tray in an oven preheated to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. The final step was to move the trays every four minutes, (top to bottom of oven), eight minutes total, and then to take them out for serving! My assistants performed superbly, and the oysters turned out great! Thanks to Alan and Zita for the oysters and to my great three volunteers. I could never have prepared them by myself! Thanks for the help!

Bon Appetit and of course clear skies. Ps The Oysters Rockefeller were well received! I will most definitely use this recipe again!

Blue Lagoons Craft Show February 3, 2024

Each year Renita and I organize a Craft Show. The purpose of the show is to allow the crafters in our rv park to display their craft/art, (what the difference between Crafts and Arts is that the term craft is used to denigrate traditional women’s work/skills). This year we had eight people who requested tables, (one of our usual persons had a bad harvest of maple syrup and did not attend). Still, we filled all the tables with everyone’s work and had a good turnout. Not everyone sells, and this show gives all the opportunity to share their passions.

Of course, we set up our usual two tables. Pam and Roy also filled two tables.

Sue’s table was filled with her oyster jewelry and Jim sold both rough slabs and his own wirework and cabochons, (I taught him how to wire wrap).

One new person, Renee and filled her table with her beautiful handmade quilts

. Diana’s work is always appreciated, her work includes silverware holders that many use for our weekly buffets.

Joe, who age is in upper eighties/lower nineties has started a new passion and makes art by splashing paint on blank canvases he purchases at a local retailer. He sold eleven pieces of his work!

A new person, Kay offers wellness classes and Maureen sells skin care products.

All in all, it was a great chance for all of us to spread the word about what we do, besides fishing. Clear skies

Teaching Pickle Ball in Blue Lagoons Rv Park

Last fall we arrived at our winter rv park and saw that many of the spaces were empty. It was worse than normal as the rent increases had taken their toll. At our small happy hour I told the managers, Ron and Deb, about the phenomenal growth at our rv park in Star Valley Wyoming.

At the time we bought our lot sales of finished lots were sluggish and we were able to buy a corner lot at a price that had been lowered. Since then, the tennis courts were remade into pickleball courts and now you would be hard pressed to be able to find an empty spot to rent! We have over 300, members in our pickleball club! The manager asked a few more questions and decided to paint a pickleball court on a space near the workshop. I agree to teach pickleball classes and so it was done, (and a fellow rv’er donated a new net, thanks Gordon). Now the court is not ideal but it has a faithful following as we have taught anyone interested.

Because we live along the coast we first must squeegee the court and then remove the leaves. After that its game on! We play Monday Wednesday and Friday mornings, and anywhere from six to ten people usually show up. weather permitting. The newcomers are improving their skills, and we are even talking about having a skill level round robin tournament!

Last year at our summer park, due to my ankle problems, we only played a few times but now we look forward to our return and hope to play more! It’s so fun to have another option besides our walks, for exercise! Clear skies. Ps Thanks for the court Ron and Deb!

Daves New Boat and First Fish

It was the first time out testing Daves new Boat. His old aluminum boat had seen better days, and the motor was toast. Water had backed up through the exhaust port and even though it had been flushed after the last use in March, the crankshaft bearings had rusted. His son-in -law hated to see Dave not being able to fish and had told him to buy a used boat, for his Christmas present. Waiting until the Mechanic Roy, (my brother in law), arrived from Iowa, they poured over used boats on Marketplace and found a possible replacement. Checking the boat out, a fiberglass 1974 Predator, the motor had started and ran great, so they both agreed, and Dave bought it. The boat and trailer needed work and Roy did the work with the expertise of years of experience. When it was seaworthy, Dave and I took it out on its maiden voyage. It behaved flawlessly. The fish didn’t cooperate with us and so we only had one bite, or should I say Dave had one bite…. After an hour by the bridge, we decided to move, and he picked up his pole and started to wind it in. The rod twitched and a fish started to make a run. It headed away from the bridge, with its razor-sharp barnacles, and doubled over the rod. It was a big fish, but Dave was up to the task. Stowing the poles and grabbing the fishnet I watched as it made made run after run, before finally tiring. When he finally got it to the surface it was still a few minutes before I was able to swipe the fish headfirst into the net and fold it over the fish, (it was longer than the net). Using both hands, it took all of my strength to lift it into the boat.

It was perfect! The only fish of the day and Dave caught it! It was too big for us to lift up for a picture, (and to be kept), over forty inches long, and so we were able to release it safely. We both watched as it made a couple of flips of its tail and then returned to the depths. It was a great release! That was the only fish of the day, but what a fish! It was not the biggest he ever caught but it was a beautiful black drum! A great first fish to christen the boat, Well done Dave! Clear skies

Making Jewelry for the 2024 Season

It’s been a long time since I have updated our blog/journal. December is such a busy month with Christmas and New Years Activities. Among them was a Christmas Eve, Dirty Santa event, A Christmas Day Feast, a New Years Eve Shrimp and Crab Boil, and finally a good luck New Years Day meal, (all the meals main courses were cooked, grilled, or boiled by Alan and Zita, our parks Activities Directors. They are the best and are one of the main reasons we return to the park! Meanwhile our 2024 show season will soon begin, and I have been frantically making jewelry. I grind the pieces in the summer, bring them here to South Texas and then finish them. Of them the Larimar cabochons were purchased finished so I only wire wrapped them, (larimar is a rare expensive stone that often breaks apart while grinding, A dealer we buy from said she loses about two thirds of the rock slabs as they often break, as did the rough we bought).

Larimar is found only in one place in the world, the Dominican Republic, and the mine has been closed due to safety concerns. Its price has skyrocketed. So much so that it is now often faked by mixing colored stones with molten glass, (true larimar, blue and white pectolite, does not transmit light and is softer than a knife blade). Having finished almost all the cabochons, other cases are of Kingman Tourquoise,

and several that contain a plethora/mixture of other stones.

I have now switched to making bracelets.

Each one, including the rock grinding, take about five to six hours. My goal is to make nineteen before the March show, I have only finished one. Enjoy the pieces. prices vary from 25-375 dollars. All are for sale. (We also have about ten more large cases, numerous rings and even earrings, over 90% made by us. If you need something specific we do take custon orders) Clear skies (If you wish to purchase send us an email at markandrenita@yahoo.com. You can id the piece by returning the picture with the piece circled or descibing it. We will send you pictures of both sides with a quarter for scale and price. If you decide to buy it we will ship USPS First Class Insured/priorty. You can call us to pay with a credit card or mail a check. If after reciept you don't want to keep the piece we will refund you the money and you ship the piece back. (We used to sell on etsy but were not happy with their policies)

The Whooping Cranes at Lamar, Texas, and a white-tailed kite

We, (Barb Dan, Renita, and I), decided to cross the Copano Bay Bridge and photograph the Whooping cranes that winter in Lamar, Texas. It’s a short drive from our rv park, (about nine miles), and friends had reported seeing as many as eighteen whooping cranes in the fields along St Charles Bay. The population of whooping cranes last year was five hundred and forty-two(about). Eighteen whooping cranes would be like seeing thirty grizzly bears in a day in Grand Teton National Park, (the most we have ever seen is eight). Usually, any whooping crane family controls about a mile and a half of territory and fights any others trying to fly in. So the question is, what’s going on?

The answer is of course the feeders. They are timed to release deer food which the whooping cranes also love. The whoopers wait by the feeders in several different areas. They also feed on cattle forage and are not bothered by the cows. They also try to chase away sandhill cranes, which are smaller, so the fields of Lamar are a busy place. Driving to Lamar we turned down fourth street.

A resident alligator laid in the backyard of a house, (and we later learned that as many as five warm up in the mowed grass). The cattails blocked our view of the first feeder. Turning left we passed eighth street and saw the whoopers. Pulling over we counted twenty of the huge cranes, besides a flock of sandhills. Twenty is the most we have ever seen in one day, and they seemed to tolerate each other.

We have seen the immature whoopers form large flocks of as many as eight, but these were not all what we call teenagers. There were at least two-family groups with a colt, this year’s hatchling. The colts still have many brown feathers and a brown head. A family usually has one of the adults watching for danger while the other adult and the colt feed. Besides looking for predators, (an adult whooping crane has been documented as killing a feral hog with a single blow of it’s sharp bill to the pigs head.

As we watched the whooping cranes, a flight of about thirty roseate spoon bills landed in the pond. Two others perched in a tree, and a long billed dowitcher landed near us.

At one point two of the immature whooping cranes headed to the herd of cattle, but an adult whooping crane ran them off and chasing them back. Next, wo more whoopers flew in and several of the whoopers lifted the heads straight up and let out warning calls.

The new whoopers didn’t care and landed a little distance away.

They then fed and slowly walked towards the others which is pretty unusual as the dominant birds will often charge the newcomers, raising their wings and even attacking them with their beaks, (unusual but we did, in an earlier blog, post a picture of such a whooping crane fight).

There were quite a few other birders on the roads and so we decided to drive over to Big Tree. Renita was driving slowly when I suddenly yelled stop as I saw a small hawk.

It had a white head, tail, and underside! It was a white-tailed kite, which are usually only seen further south. It was only the second time we have ever spotted one.

Walking around Big Tree we saw monarch butterfies,

(which are usually far south by this time and a swallowtail butterfly.

What a day! Twenty whooping cranes and a white-tailed kite. We also met and talked with other birders, including one who leads birding adventures three days a week. Anytime you can bird with an expert is an opportunity you should not pass up! So many endangered birds in close proximity is dangerous, One worries that they could easily spread the avian bird flu throughout the flock. One way to prevent this is to stop feeding the whoopers, with deer feeders. This would cause them to spread out and seek their normal food, preventing a disaster. Why doesn’t the US Fish and Wildlife and the Texas Game and Fish Department step up? Clear skies