Boyd Refuge

Hi everyone. I hope all of you are well and enjoying the summer. I've been relaxing, taking a break, and trying to regroup a little after a pretty good crash and burn. As much as I enjoy blogging, this break is necessary for me, so I've been trying to get out and enjoy the nice weather before it turns cooler.
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I recently took a walk at a place called Boyd Refuge. It's a small place, but a nice walk through the woods near a pond. There are also a couple of butterfly gardens before the woods. These are some pictures that I took there. I don't know the names of all of the flowers, so these won't be captioned. If you click on the pictures, you can see them larger and they look better.
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Thank you so much for all of your nice comments and good wishes. I'm doing okay, but it is taking me some time to unwind and feel normal again.
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I would like to congratulate Laughing Wolf and 2 Sweet'n Saxy on receiving their awards and anyone else who may have received them. You all have wonderful blogs and are so deserving. I really feel blessed that you have chosen to pass them on to me. Thank you from my heart. I'm placing them on my Awards Page with pride.
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I'll be back as soon as I'm feeling my old self again.

A Little Visit

I recently stopped by some of my favorite walking places. There wasn't much going on there, so I turned around and went home. The clouds were building in the sky, making quite an impression
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A baby bird called out from the depths of the branches.
"Feed me, Feed me"
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The widowed swan still is at the pond. I wish she would find a new companion.
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Cedar Waxwings were flying to and from the tops of the trees. Always in the distance for me
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This Rose of Sharon was at the cemetery across the street from the pond. This is where I saw the turtles laying eggs some time back. I walked over to check on the egg-hatching progress, and saw some recent digging, but was unable to determine if something had been digging in or if turtles might have been digging out.

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Far up in the farmer's field, I saw a lot of turkeys. Many of them were babies. You might see the babies as little dots in the grasses, if you click on the picture to enlarge it. A terrible picture, but a record that they were there.
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At the boardwalk, a storm front was moving in
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Pretty dramatic with the grey taking over the blue, so I zoomed a little
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Hedge Bindweed
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Goldenrod
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Queen Anne's Lace
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The Purple Loosestrife is nearly shoulder high now. I saw a hummingbird moth there, but it moved off too quickly for me to get a picture
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Touch-me-nots are now in full swing
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This much goldenrod in bloom tells me that autumn is not far away. The air has begun to dry out and feels cool and crisp here now
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Joe-Pye-Weed
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Broadleaf Arrowhead
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Bee on Pickerelweed
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A monarch butterfly kept pace with me as I walked, always staying a few feet in front of me.
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Meadowsweet
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Bee on Joe-Pye-Weed
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On the way home, a good sized group of wild Canada Geese crossed the road in front of the car. So, there you have it. A short trip, but at least I was able to get out for a little while.

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I hope all of you are well. Things are going fine here, but I've been pretty burned out with a lot of things, so this break is helping me a lot. Thank you so much for all of your notes, comments, emails and good wishes. I'll try to get by and visit some blogs soon, and once I'm a little more rested and organized, I'll get back to a more consistent schedule of blogging, even if it can't be everyday. We'll see how it goes. Have a wonderful day.

Silver Sands Trail 2

Continuing, Part One was here: Silver Sands Trail 1

As I walked, I watched a plane flying overhead
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I could see the shore and people were out on the beach relaxing, swimming, and playing in the sand. I thought about the people who live in those condos. What views they must have!
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Some of the planes flying overhead were toys
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There were wild turkeys there picking in the grasses
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A loud car went by and scared them off
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Male Red-Winged Blackbird
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And a female RWBB
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.A female Red-Wing Blackbird
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Nesting Osprey - There is a wonderful live cam located on this nest. It looks right into the nest and you can see the two youngsters in there. They're getting quite big now and probably won't be there much longer. http://67.86.143.68:81/view/index.shtml I love this cam!
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A sailboat. You can see the weather is becoming hazy now
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Leaving Silver Sands, just a short distance down the road is an Audubon place. There wasn't much to see there on this day, but this is the path I took
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There were roses along the side of it
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Gorgeous colors
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And Prickly Pear Cactus was growing on the beach. Yes, we do have a native cactus that grows wild here. That surprises a lot of people
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I'm not sure, but I think I read these plants are either threatened or endangered. We used to have them growing in our garden and my in-laws had a lot of them growing along the fence by their pool
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That ended this day at the beach trail. Just a little walk for now.
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Have a great day.