Fairies in the bushes

When Katie and I were walking in Las Vegas, NM the other day, I noticed something flittering around in the beautiful purple flowered bushes.  I stopped and watched them, and then ran Katie back to The Palms, got my camera and went back to get some photos.

These are truly amazing little insects.  They kind of looked like hummingbirds, kind of looked like bees; I had no idea what they were, but they fluttered from flower to flower, spending a few seconds at each one.  Their wings, which looked like double or triple layers, were moving constantly - I could hardly see them, ghost wings, they were moving so fast - like a hummingbird’s wings that never stopped.  They would hover over the flowers like a hummer, and out comes this super long tongue which goes into the flower, then rolls up underneath, like a party favor blower, and goes into it’s mouth.  Then quickly on to the next flower.

I checked on the web – John said he's heard them called Humming Bugs, so I looked them up under that, and found lots of photos.  The type I saw is called a White Lined Sphinx, and it’s a large moth.  I’ve heard of Sphinx moths, but I've never seen one until now.  They are sure interesting.  

Here is a clear close-up photo from the web, showing what they look like – their wings looked pink, white and brown when they weren’t a blur.  They are about the size of a small hummingbird.  Really pretty.  Check out how long their tongues are:

And here are some of my best photos – it was so hard to get them – most of the moths were just blurs.  These are the photos from Las Vegas along the sidewalk:

John said we had these insects here at Storrie Lake by the creek, and when Jeanne and I were walking the dogs near the bridge, we saw one that looked like it was hurt – it was just sitting on some greenery near the bridge, so it’s wings were still:

I also saw a new bird in town, a European Starling, and later saw some in the park, too:

This isn’t a good photo, but I loved the bright purple gorget which shows up so well on this Black Chinned Hummingbird:

In the field behind the electric loop where we're camped, there is a field with horses, and the other day I noticed the goats there.  I heard a loud whinnying and glanced out the window, and a little herd of goats was running through area.  Later I walked over to the fence to see them closer – how I wish I lived on a farm.  I love goats, I guess I should since I'm a Capricorn, and here they are:

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Motorhomes N Muttskeys!  They have no information available, but the name sounds like they do have an RV.  So, M N M, let me know if you have a blog or if you start one, and I'll pass the info along in a post.  Thanks for following along with us, and Welcome Aboard!

From Me and Katie, have a great Wednesday evening, everybody!

Critter photos

Still hanging out in and around Storrie Lake...

Katie and I are out of the park for the required six days out of every 20; I was planning to go into Santa Fe and do some shopping and overnighting in the many places available to overnight there.  We stopped in Las Vegas, NM to do laundry and other errands and might just stay here for the six days.

The weather has been pretty rainy lately - but we've also had cooler weather which is nice. 
There's not much happening to post, so I'm putting in some photos taken during the last couple of weeks.

Katie snuggled in with her toys:

I bought an "exercise pen" for Katie, so she can be outside and still easily kept in one place and off her leash.  It works perfectly spread out across the shelters in the New Mexico State Parks.  Jeanne sent Annie, Roxi and me a link to let us know they were on sale, and I jumped on it.  Midwest Black E-Coat Exercise Pen w/o door.  The regular price is $80.49 for this exercise pen, and the current sale price is $28.79, free 2-day shipping available if you are an Amazon Prime member:

The size I bought has eight panels -  2 feet x 2 feet square; I think it looks really nice and it's the perfect size for Katie.  The ex-pen, folded up, fits nicely behind my driver seat, so storage is not a problem.  They come in all sizes and with or without a door - this one at this price is without.  If you've been thinking about getting an exercise pen for your dog - now's the time!

Remember Flat Stanley, the large frog we saw on our walks?  Well, I FINALLY saw a real, live frog.  I think it's the first one I've seen in three years of traveling.  Here he is - Not Flat Stanley:

Annie's cats have been going outside here at Storrie Lake.  They are both good at staying in the area and coming home without a problem.  One day Parker was outside, and decided to rest in the shade under The Palms.  He sure is a handsome boy and I was honored!

Unfortunately, Annie was told by the Ranger that her cats could not be outside without a leash - there are signs around saying dogs must be on a leash, but I've never heard that cats had to to, as well.  Hopefully some of the other parks won't have the same rule, because I really enjoyed watching Parker, and sometimes Ellen wandering outside my windows in the field between the row of campsites and the road.  It had to be so much fun for them to wander around, sniffing new smells, and hiding wherever they found a good spot in the shade. 

Here are a few more recent hummingbird photos - I've loved taking their pictures and just can't seem to just sit and enjoy them - I have to grab the camera.  You have no idea how many photos I've taken, and neither do I - LOL.

This is the first time I've seen a Calliope Hummingbird - with his red streaked gorget, he's a beautiful bird.  He's also our smallest hummingbird, from my SILBEY FIELD GUIDE TO BIRDS of Western North America, "tiny and short tailed with relatively short, thin bill.  Male has distinctive streaked rosy gorget and white stripe across cheek."

The little Calliope Hummers are sure recognizable!  Here are some of my other favorites:

These two guys below sure look intense, heading toward the nectar:

I got some good photos of the bird below, on the right.  (S)he's larger than the other hummingbirds and not colorful, but I liked it's grayish colors and patterns, kind of plainly beautiful. 

In the past when I was taking pictures of the hummingbirds that came around, I seldom got a photo of displayed tail feathers, which are so striking.  But because we have SO MANY hummingbirds here at Storrie Lake right now, they seem to spread their wings and tail feathers all the time.  There's always one guarding the feeder, and because there are so many birds trying to get close to it, there's lots of dive bombing, tail feather displays, and loud calls.  Fun to watch, and fantastic for photos.

WELCOME to our newest Follower, Steven!  It doesn't look like Steve has a blog, so I can't point you to it, but Steve, if you do blog, please send me a link and I'll pass it on.  Thank you for following along with me and Katie, we sure appreciate it!  Welcome Aboard! 

From me and Katie, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

PS - THANK YOU! to all our Followers and readers who are purchasing Amazon.com items through our links.  It's the first site I check in the morning, and it makes my day to see a new item on my "ordered" list.  Remember, although we do get a list of items ordered, we have no idea who orders what - your purchases are totally private - and our small percentage of your sale costs you nothing.  Sure is wonderful for us, though!  :)

Look at that curly hair! ...and Las Vegas, NM Carnegie Library

The town of Las Vegas, which is about three miles from Storrie Lake State Park, has a really nice library.  I stopped by a few days last week and used their fast Internet connection to get some things downloaded.  When I was in the library a few weeks ago I got a library card, so this time, I was all set.

The library was built in 1904, so it's now 110 years old, and still a beautiful building.  It sits in the center of an entire block of lush green lawn and large trees.  I would love to live across the street from the library in one of the old Victorian houses.

From Wikitravel:  Carnegie Park, an area of town centered around Carnegie Park, which has a Carnegie Library that was modeled after Thomas Jefferson's home, the Monticello. The surrounding blocks are filled with old Victorian homes.

Katie loved walking through the grass:

A few weather photos from the last week, storms and sunshine:

The clouds came in, the fog appeared and it started pouring rain:

Thunder and lightening:

And we had bright, sunny, hot parts of the day.  This large earth mover was bringing some of the mud at the edge of the boat ramp back up the ramp and dumping it on the side.  That'll make it easier for the boats to come and go from the ramp.  (Thanks Jeanne, for the photo.  I left my camera in The Palms.)  You can see the clouds building in the distance.

It was so hot yesterday I had my air conditioning on because I NEEDED it, not to exercise my generator!  That doesn't happen often.  The humidity made the heat feel worse and I was sure happy when the sun went down and the air cooled.

LADIES ONLY???

You may or may not be interested in this, but it might bring back some memories.  I made a life change last week.  Jeanne and I were talking about hair styles, whether or not to use a blow drier (she has great curly hair that looks good long or short and just got a fab hair cut.  It looks just darling and she sure doesn't need a blow drier!)

When I was a little girl, my mom would wash my hair and then make those little circles of hair on my head and cross bobbie pins to hold them down - I would have curley hair the next day after sleeping on the bobbie pins all night.  Remember that, ladies?

Then rollers came on the scene, and I sure remember sleeping on those things.  Some were plastic, then came sponge.  Ouch!

Next was the blow drier cap:  wash, roll up in curlers and sit under the cap with hot air blowing on your hair while reading a movie magazine.  That was an improvement for sure, no more sleeping on curlers.

Then the hand-held hair dryer became available, and that was a real improvement.  We could put rollers in and spot dry them, or blow dry using a brush and then (or not) a hair iron to straighten the hair, or a curling iron to put some curls in.

I've done all that over the years, except the iron.  I've never just washed my hair and let it air dry.  I don't know why, it just wasn't part of my hair styling system.  LOL

After Jeanne and I talked about it, I decided to try just letting my hair dry by itself.  It's been too hot to use the hair dryer, and honestly, I get tired of that bother.

This is what I ended up with:

What a surprise - I love it, and it's so easy!  If my hair is too hot on my neck, I just make a pony tail below the clip and I'm ready to go.  Funny how we get into our life habits and don't think to try something new, and I should have tried this years ago.  I've been letting my hair grow since that awful hair cut I got on Christmas Eve in 2012 - 19 months ago.  It's getting pretty long now. 

WELCOME to two new Followers:

Monica - a mom who loves to quilt, garden, collect vintage sewing machines, and travel the world. Monica has three blogs, if you check out this one, Color My World With Warmth, you can access the other two on the upper right sidebar.  Besides her love of quilting, she enjoys collecting vintage sewing machines and treadling. Monica, you are quite a quilter, I love the scrappy Irish Chain quilt you are starting to put together - what a lot of work!  Your photos make me want to take up quilting again - maybe some day.  Thanks for following along with us!

Welcome also to Phil Southers!  Phil doesn't have a photo or any infomation, so I can't share anything with you, but we're happy to have you following me and Katie, Phil!  

Welcome aboard to you both!  :)

From me and Katie, have a great Saturday, everyone!  :)

Wordless Wednesday - Hummingbird Photos

These were all taken at Storrie Lake, mostly yesterday.  The difference in how they look in the shade and the sunshine is amazing.  I'm not sure if I have two kinds of hummers here, or more.  Anyway, they are all gorgeous, and so much fun to watch!

From me and Katie, have a great Wordless Wednesday, everyone!  :)