Dare I say it? Spring is HERE!

It was so nice and warm today! I want to pack away (and throw some away) my winter clothes and be done with the cold! It may get up to 79 on Wednesday! How exciting!

This is a bunny I made before Easter but only today did I add the hat and flower pot. I really like the way it turned out! :)

I hope everybody has a wonderful week!

Etsy

Newt, Salamander, or Lizard? All I know is...it was Orange.

On my bike ride today, I spotted a bright orange "something" in the grass as I whizzed by. I was curious so I turned back around to see what it was...

By the time I got back to the spot I first saw the flash of orange, it has already started to hide under the grass...

I was afraid that I missed the shot....

BUT THEN...

THERE IT WAS!

Wikipedia has pictures that look similar, and they classify it as the Eastern Newt

In my search, I also saw this guy:

WHOA!

I guess some of these newts/salamanders/lizards get pretty big! (at least in China) 

If what I spotted had been this big, I might not have stopped. ;)

Have a wonderful evening, Friends!

In case you ever wondered (or needed to know) what a peacock looks like on the other side.

About halfway through my bike ride there is a campground near a big lake.

They have a little coop with peacocks, one male and two females.

The peacock was out and his feathers were spread wide.  Apparently it's mating season, because he's shaking his feathers and  squawking  (which is a loud and weird sound) at his Ladies.

 I videotaped it, but I have to figure out how to get it on here.....so for now I will post the still shots.

He kept turning and moving around and I clicked a few of his tail feathers shaking. The pictures do not, however, capture just how enthusiastically he was shaking that money maker.

I have to admit, I don't believe the two ladies were very impressed.  But the way I see, it's nice that he makes the gesture. After all, they are in a pen together and there's really no where to hide.

These pictures just might come in handy for someone wanting to sculpt, draw, or otherwise create a three dimensional peacock. Or an individual (for whatever reason) is simply curious to know what's going on back there. In the money makin' tail shakin' area.

Otter Lake has PEACOCKS!

Now, I realize that perhaps as you read the title of this post, you're thinking "Should I know Otter Lake?" And no, I do not expect anyone to know about this campground near my home. I'm just sharing this beautiful scene I got to gaze upon. This was near the last leg of my (14 mile?) bike ride.  It was a fine evening in the mountains of the Poconos.

And I happen to know there is a Peacock Pen at the edge of the lake! I went up and snapped some quick shots:

I would imagine these are the Ladies...

So then I decided to move on down to the actual pen itself.....

John had mentioned to me that he had stopped and looked in on the Peacocks, and that "Oh yeah, they are in full plummaging, this time of year..." 

So cute, in his New Yawk accent and all... ;)

When I first see him, the Big Daddy of the Pen, I mean..... I must admit...it's almost scary....

The first time I ever saw a peacock, it was when we first moved here. One night (after everyone else is asleep, of course) I noticed something out in the dark when I glanced out the kitchen window in passing. There was this huge MASS of LIVING SOMETHING and it was sitting on the railing of our back deck. It took me a minute or two to figure out what the heck it was. It's not an easily recognizable creature in the dark. Turns out, our new neighbors owned a peacock, and it had come over to perch. When it swooped down off the railing down the hill towards its' home, it was such a beautiful sight! 

So anyway, I don't know what it is, but the sight of them with those heavy long tails...  At first glance, they appear huge!

And of course, he's STARING right at me.

"Quoth the Peacock"

But they are fantastic, aren't they? Also, they have a really odd call. Kind of hard to describe. It's almost like they "hollar"...like the sound of a shrew of a wife hollarin' across the yard.

Peacocks are cool.

Biking the Gourge

My husband and I rode our bikes along the Lehigh Gourge National Park near Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. Took a nice ride to get there, and it was worth it! Beautiful!

And of course, I got to thinking.....

Gourge is a cool word.  It's a strong, Viking kind of word. You can use it in different

ways: as a noun, as a verb...even as a curse word, if you wanted. "What the gourge is going on here!?"  "I really gourged the hell out of that thing!"  Or how about "Gourge You!"  ?

This was a looong ride...but it really was a beautiful ride. :)