February 20, 2016

Wonderful Saturday!

February 20, 2016

White Ibis with black wing tips, and Roseate Spoonbill

This was a delightful day and one I think I really needed.  I got up about 8:00 and made blueberry muffins for breakfast.  Ron was getting ready to leave to finish the job he worked on until late yesterday.  After I cleaned the kitchen, I got ready and about 10:00 drove to South Padre Island to attend the Rio Grande Valley Quilt Show at the convention center on the island.

Background: Black necked Stilts; foreground: White Ibis, Little Blue 

Heron, White morph of Reddish Egret, and Roseate Spoonbill.

There were lots of vendors at the show and many I had not heard of before.  I did some buying, a lot of looking and talked to a lot of the vendors.  It seems that more and more quilt supply vendors are turning to selling on line because running a shop is too expensive.  Since we run a business, I fully understand that problem.  One lady has a warehouse in McAllen and you can call for an appointment and she will meet you there.  She prefers that you gather some friends to come along.  She sells online.  Several told me that they only sell at shows and online.  The way of the future?  I do like to touch the fabric before I buy it.

Laughing Gulls taking flight with Black-necked Stilts in the background

While at the quilt show, I ran into most of the ladies from our Tuesday night group.  They were all having a good time looking at the display quilts and at the items available at the vendor booths.  When you bought your ticket at the door, one portion went into a drawing and you were to go check later to see if you had won a door prize.  I won one!  It was a package with two books in it.  One was thin and paper back and the other was a great hard back scrap quilt pattern book.

Common Moor Hen

It was probably about 1:30 before I left the convention center and I went to a Pizza Hut and had a quiet lunch.  The waiter was overly helpful.  He kept coming by the table about every 4 minutes to see if I needed anything.  Eventually I asked for a refill of my drink and when he brought it he had refilled it with the wrong soda.  Then, he quit stopping by (when I needed him to stop by).  When he finally did stop by, I asked for the bill and told him he had gotten the soda wrong, so he fixed me a correct one in a take out cup and did not charge me for my drink with the meal as an apology.  He got a nice tip.

Black-necked Stilt

It was getting too late to go to the birding center.  I would only have had about an hour and did not want to pay the price for such a short visit, so I returned to the convention center and took the boardwalk in that area.  There was a great cluster of various birds not too far from the boardwalk and I was able to get some photos.

Setting for the Winter Texan Banquet this evening

Around 4:00 I headed back to town.  Ron was getting cleaned up to go to the Winter Texan Banquet at the church.  For several years I had headed up that project, but the hearing limitations made it too hard for me to do that any longer.  I am so thankful that the church staff has taken over that project.  They are doing a good job and they are getting more people involved in helping than I was able to do.

Centerpiece

After I got ready we went to the church for the banquet.  It was a mystery dinner and the setting was a wedding with the reception.  My hearing prevented me from being able to follow the story line, but I did enjoy the decorations and the food was fit for a wedding reception complete with wedding cake.  Mom and my sister were there and were at our table as was Ron's sister and two other ladies.  We helped cleanup after the event was over.

View across the gym

It has been a long day, but a very good one.  I always feel that a trip to the island allows the salt air to blow the cobwebs out of my brain.  It was very windy when I arrived, but the winds had died down by mid afternoon.

Heather taking part in the mystery play

At the banquet, I tried using my Cochlear mini mic, but again it cut in and out and then just totally went out.  I need to time how long the battery lasts.  I think it is far too short.  While it was working, it was great.

 The wedding couple in the play