The wind chill would have put the temperature just hovering above freezing today.
Don't I look cold??? The wind was howling and this jacket is very wind proof, but the back of my head was cold, my hands were freezing, and my face was frozen in a grimace! I had on a t-shirt under a sweat shirt, a scarf AND this jacket...and still cold! I had sox and shoes on too. Waz had sandals on his feet! He was also wearing a thin t-shirt and a hoody, which he was wearing half zipped...and track pants. Not sure why he wasn't cold. Drove me nuts, lol.
So, where were we? Venice Beach. Why? Because we had to pick up some charts for Canadian Cruising from someone who didn't want the charts anymore. He wasn't home the first time we went by his house, so we went walking on a trail around a reservoir, to fill in time, and because we wanted to see Venice Beach!
To get to Venice Beach, we had to go over the bridge we had come under in the Boat. The bridge opens at set times, but we didn't have to wait long for it, timing it just right, on the ICW, 6 weeks back.
This is the bridge control tower on the Venice side.
Pretty garden, just over the bridge. I think this was in a Retirement Community park.
Now at the Venice Beach park, where we had to drive past the airport to get to it. This sign says you actually cant do anything at the park!
None-the-less, it was a pretty place and we felt compelled to walk the one mile trail around the pond.
The dunes restoration projects are to be commended, but there could be an awful lot more done to replant them, I feel.
The pier wasn't somewhere we wanted to go today, being so windy and cold. It certainly wasn't a good day to be sailing or boating out on the Gulf.!
We love these tent-brellas, that we keep seeing everywhere. Today we found one at Sam's Club for $37! Didn't buy it though. These folks were out of the freezing wind and toasting!:)
How often do you see a surfer in Florida in a wetsuit? Almost never, so you know it is pretty darned cold! He was skim boarding, as you can see.
Love these chairs...and the colors!
The beach outside Sharkey's Restaurant, Venice Beach.
I don't know what this plant is, but aren't these berries stunning?
This 'lake' might just have been a settling pond, as we call them. The birds didn't seem to care! neither do the other critters that inhabit it!
I really, for the life of me, cant imagine why people would want to molest the Alligators, can you? Or do I not know something about people in these parts??
It was a lovely sunny day, as you can see, and the walk was good for warming up the cold body.
This female Anhinga was sunning itself, as most of them do. Being pale of wing was a surprise for us. The body, however was a downy/fluffy black. I thought this was a Cormorant, but have been corrected. Glad we have people in the know who read the blog!:)
Never heard of doggy poop bags being called Mutt Mitts, but it sure is a good idea! ...and they are provided too! This was a special dog exercise area, of which there are many, around here.
I forget the name of this lily, but they love tropical climes. They were all over Maui too, and used in Lei-making...Spider lily?
This little bird is a Loggerhead Shrake. Look at the hook at the end of that beak!
This playground even had wheelchair access to it! How often do you see that in NZ?
I was quite taken with the cover on the picnic tables. So easy to build and very efficient!
The bathroom and showers were very clean and tidy. A credit to the Parks Service taking care of them. I love the multi-head shower tree!
These boxes are everywhere in parking lots and on the side of the road. They are free publications like auto-trader magazines, homes for sale etc. 
WOW! a REAL sand dune, on the side of the road to Caspersen Beach.
Pretty tree and palm lined road to the beach. We didn't get out...too cold! but drove around the parking lot and headed back to Venice and Nokomis.
We met with Ann and Ken, who were and are happy to share their boating experiences with us. They leave their boat, a 41fter, up in Chesapeake Bay, over winter, then cruise into Canada during the short Canadian summer. They haven't completed the loop yet, but are enjoying their cruising in the northern climes for the moment. We bought some of the charts we had been missing, off them, and came home via BAM...Books A Million, in East Venice. We ostensibly went there for a coffee at Joe Mugg's, which we purchased, but were disappointed in the brew we received. We had so been looking forward to a repeat of the excellent brew we had there last time. Different Barista this time:(
Of course, you cant just expect us not to look around, in a bookstore, and we spent the best part of an hour there. I was inspired by some of the more avant garde quilting books...Im storing ideas!!
We also looked at the cookbook section...food being an important part of our lives!
Waz toddled off to inspect something of interest while I read the latest Rolling Stone magazine with an article about the NZ music sensation, 17 yr old Lorde. There was also an article in the same mag, about Keith Urban, whom the Aussies claim as one of their own. He grew up there, but was, in fact, born in NZ! Bah! The Aussies claim all our kiwi successes are theirs! Russell Crowe is another Kiwi born star...well, perhaps they can keep him! lol.
I was very taken with the illustration of a quilt, on this magazine cover. Yes, that is a part of a quilt. Gave me all sorts of ideas!
On the way home we decided (after 5pm) to call into Sam's Club, as we were passing. In need of fruit, we found blueberries, strawberries, grapes, mandarins, raspberries....which were HUGE...and a couple of other things, including some Brussel Sprouts.
Waz checked out the engine oil that is on sale there until the 26th. $66 for 6 gallons...normally $72~! We will go back and get it before the sale finishes.
We turned the heater on the minute we got inside the boat and it has been on since. Waz dosed the aircon units first (all three) to kill the bugs in the heat exchanges and turned them all on for a short while.
I put the dinner on to cook before putting any of the fruit away, as we were pretty hungry by 6.30, when we arrived home. It was almost dark. ' We had some left over pasta from the other night which I heated and steamed the sprouts, cut up a little bacon finely and fried that before tossing in the now cooked sprouts. A little sea salt and bingo! dinner!
I made a fresh fruit salad with all the lovely berries and the pineapple I had cut up this morning, and we ate that for dessert. Yum!
So, time for bed now, I suppose....again. It does come around with regular monotony.
Friday tomorrow. Don't the weeks go fast?
It will be another busy day on the boat for Waz, tomorrow. He has a long list of things to complete, and I need to do some house work.
Well, that's it for now, folks.
Take good care of yourselves, and each other! ...and don't forget to tell the people you really care about, that you love them!
Thanks for reading this, and have a good night:)
That is a female Anhinga sunning itself.... cormorants don't do that with their wings and are black mainly. The beaks are different also... Cormorant's have hooked end and Anhinga are straighter and dagger pointed along with having a longer fan shaped tail.
ReplyDeleteExcellent..thanks for correcting me on that one Mike. In our experience Cormorants and Shags all sun themselves in the same way. I believe they come from a similar family. We have seen this in other countries as well!
ReplyDelete