Gosh, this past week seemed to fly by faster than usual.  I guess it's Friday because my calendar says it is.

Brian and Veronique came to visit us on Monday for a couple days and we had a great visit.  Brian was in Paris recently to visit her and she flew back to the States with him, but she returns to Paris on Sunday as she has to resume her job on Monday.  So I'm glad they got to get up here.  I really enjoy their company and I always take the opportunity with Veronique for her to help me with words in French that I'm unsure of the pronunciation.  I'm back to practicing with my Rosetta Stone, so hope to have improved my French phrases and words more by October.

Duncan and Brie were very happy to have them here visiting also.  Duncan adores Brian and the feeling is mutual.  Brian joked a few times that if we're tired of Duncan, he's more than happy to take him.  I'm afraid that'll never happen!  Brian will have to get his own Scottie.

Making their visit extra special was that I celebrated Mother's Day with them on Monday.  They brought me a box of chocolates, a bottle of champagne and Brian got me a wonderful rose bush.  It's called Goldilocks and they're yellow roses!  Which he knows is my absolute favorite color for roses.  So he helped me get it replanted into a container and I now have it out near the fish pond.

And my new fish arrived on Tuesday.  The ones in the pond seem to be doing well, but they've been mostly hiding.  Think they have to get used to their home.  However, the two Ryukin goldfish that I put into my aquarium here in my writer's studio settled in very quickly.   I'm enjoying them a lot.  So meet Renoir and Monet.......

I also reached a milestone with my publishing process this past week.  I did up an outline of Book #2, along with the first fifty pages and got that packet off into the mail to my editor.  My contract had said they wanted that before June 1, so I was ahead of schedule.  And now I wait to see if they like my story.  So I've been taking some "play time" with visiting, tending to my fish and birds, doing some container gardening.  I ordered about six new flowers/plants to put along the fish pond.  And I've been doing lots of reading, as usual.  I'm reading a very good book right now and I'll share it with you when I finish.

So that's it from my little island for this time.  Have a great weekend and I'll see you here next time.....

Yes......I'm afraid a week later, all I have left in my aquarium are three fish.  The babies?  All gone.  The yellow Mollie?  She's gone too.  The babies disappeared one night last week.  Turned the light on in the morning and poof!  No babies. 

  The other morning, I turned the light and no yellow Mollie.  I think she had been pooky and without getting gross here, I bet you can guess where she went.  Hmmm, is this what they mean by survival of the fittest?   So I'm down to three fish.....and I'm thinking when the tank is fully cycled (has to do with having the proper bacteria in there, etc.) I'm going to give these two Mollies and my Tetra to Oliver.  And me?  I'm going with good old Fancy Goldfish.  I just love the ones in my outside pond and they're doing SUPER!  Not namby pambies like these Tropical fish.

Update on Ray:  Well, he's certainly feeling much better.  Back to normal, actually.  However, we got a phone call on Thursday from the Hematology & Oncology Center in Gainesville.  Ray's iron levels are off the charts.  Normal range is 10-290 and his is 628.  Yeah, double.  So Miss Martha, the Nurse Practitioner in Chiefland, called Gainesville for Ray to be seen.  We're going this Friday at 1:00.  I guess they're thinking it could be Hemachromatosis......overload of iron.  Some of you might recall that my mother had that, unbeknowst to us, and ultimately it damaged her liver and caused her death. I'd done a blog entry about this last year.  After we discovered she had it and too late for her, I had to go and have DNA genetic testing.  Thank goodness "I" do not have it.  It's genetic and since I don't have it, it wasn't passed on to my children. 

 If caught in time, it involves going quite often at first to a phlebotomist to get rid of the blood.  Just like giving blood.  Once the levels are down, then you do this a few times a year.  We're not sure this is the cause for Ray's exceptionally high iron levels, but it could be.  And that's why we're meeting with the dr. in Gainesville for a history, more blood work, etc.  To be continued..............

Paris Update:  Yes, I'm supposed to be in France right now.  Actually, in Brittany and then we were going to Paris for a week on Tuesday.  But as you know, due to the episode with Ray's health, we had to cancel.  Am I feeling disappointed and sad?  Hmmm, a little.  But not a whole lot, because.........I was very busy this past week rescheduling our trip for the fall.  All the plans have been made, everything is booked and confirmed.

And we had a change of heart.  Rather than going to Normandy, Brittany and then on to Paris for a week.......we decided to do something different.  Oh yes.......it's still France, my one great love.

So join me here next time and I'll tell you all about it............

Yeah......I have my new aquarium and you can meet the new guys.  The two yellow ones are Mollies and I've named them the Bronte Sisters......Charlotte and Emily.  The black Molly is Charlie (for Dickens) and the silver Tetra is Nathaniel.  Yup, for Hawthorne.  Since they now reside in a writers studio, I figured that would be pretty appropriate.

I got the blue gravel for the bottom, two live plants, some driftwood and a thingy for them to swim through.  So they seem to be doing pretty well, and I sit here and watch them for minutes on end.

There's something truly soothing about just sitting and watching fish swim by.  The cats haven't spied this new addition to my studio yet.  But it's an enclosed system, with a cover on top.......so they can look but can't touch.

Ray continues to do well and I'd say he's back to normal.  We're still waiting to get results of the most recent blood work.

So before long, I'll be busy planning our trip to France for the fall.  And I have no doubt, that before long fall will be here.

Not much going on with my writing.  I've finished 200 pages on Book #2 and had decided to take a rest.  Next week I'll go over the first fifty pages and do an outline.  My contract states I have to send them that by June 1.  So I'm ahead of schedule.

I've been doing loads of reading the past couple weeks.  I just finished a great book that I wished had gone on and on.  Yup, it was that great and that entertaining.  So join me here next time, and I'll tell you all about it.

Till then, hope all is well with all of you..........

First of all, thanks to those of you that tried to help me identify those birds at my feeders last week.  The large, blue/purple/black one was a Boat-tailed Grackle and the others were red-wing blackbirds.  And now.....look who I found out there last evening............

This one I can identify........it's an Indigo Blue.  When  first moved here three years ago, one week in March I opened the blinds to see about 20 of these on the ground below my bird feeders.  At first I thought they were parakeets, but when I got out my bird book I discovered they're Indigo Blues.  Apparently, they stop here while migrating further north this time of year.  Last year I'm not sure if they just didn't come to the island or I missed them, but I didn't see any.  And last evening I saw this guy at the feeder all alone.  Isn't he gorgeous?  Such a vibrant and vivid blue.  I'm not sure if any more will come, but I'm glad this guy stopped for a bite to eat.

My fish arrived last Tuesday and they all seem to have settled in very well.  I'm enjoying them so much!  It took a few days but when I now go out to feed them, they all come swimming down the pond to the sound of my voice.....and food.  Here's a few of them here that I caught with my camera last night.  That big fellow on the right......I've named him Hemingway.  He's the largest of all of them and when I was acclimating them, he got out of the bag too soon and proceeded to swim around the pond having a jolly good time.  A bit feisty and adventuresome.  Being an author, I thought Hemingway was appropriate for him.

It's Arts Festival here on the island this weekend, but this year I haven't ventured downtown at all.  I had to run down to the PO Friday about 5:00 and already the downtown area was packed with people.  Cars, golf carts, bicycles and people strolling everywhere.  I decided not to do the crowds this year.

Plus, I've had a busy and different kind of week.  Ray got sick Monday night.......started off with intense abdominal pains and progressed from there.  When he was no better by Friday I called the dr. and drove him there on Friday morning.  The dr. seems to think it started off as a GI viral infection but turned into a bacterial infection.  So he's on an antibiotic and they did blood work.  We won't have the results till tomorrow or Tuesday.  I'll be glad when we get that and then know for sure what's going on.  In the meantime, he's beginning to feel a little better and is at least now eating.

Ray and I share chores around here and I've been doing double duty all week, so I've been kept pretty busy.  Another reason why I decided to stay put this weekend and just relax.  Watching my birds and fish helps me to do that and it's nice to have that right in my back yard.

Oh, for those of you that mentioned the larger birds coming to eat my fish.  I don't think that'll happen.  I suppose it could, as anything is possible, but........in the three years we've lived here we've never had one heron or ibis touch down in our yard.  The birds that do come all want the bird seed and the fountain to splash in or drink the water.  They're not fish eating birds.  So I think we're okay with the fish surviving.  But my motto has always been.......never say never.  So I do keep an eye on that fish pond.

Hope your week has been good and I'll see you here next time..................

With so much going on lately with politics, I suppose I could blog about that.  But frankly, I'm sick to death hearing about it everytime I turn on the news.....she said, he said and on and on it goes.  So I figure you don't need to be hearing me rant and rave on here either.  I must admit......I really AM turning down some great blog fodder though.  I saw on the news that a "man" was on Oprah last week and "he" is pregnant?  Oh geeze......I'm not even sure I could blog about that one intelligently.  So........instead I'm just going to ramble here...............

Spring has definitely arrived on Cedar Key.  The oak tree in my yard is shedding......I'm sneezing and have watery eyes and poor Brie is like human Velcro.  That stuff sticks to her fur like glue.  So I'm not sorry to see that the yellow stuff has stopped falling onto my patio.  But in addition to everything blooming and looking so pretty, "my" birds have returned and they're a delight.

We attached this container to the top of a log and the larger birds love it.  Especially the doves.  But yesterday, this is who I found there nibbling away.  Okay, all you bird lovers out there........what IS he?  Because I don't have a clue and this is the first time I've seen him in my yard.  But isn't he magnificent?  Look at that sleek purple/blue/black in his feathers.

We have a fair amount of the above bird in our yard every single morning and afternoon.  Again.....calling all bird lovers.  He's jet black with a vibrant spot of yellow/orange on his side wings.  But, what is he?  He also has a beautiful melodious chirping.  Loud and very distinct.  I just love it.

With spring now here, I sure enjoy sitting on my lanai in the morning and afternoon and just watching and listening.  Birds sooth me.  Both the sight and sound of them.  In addition to visiting our yard for food, they're having a ball bathing in our fountain.  Ray built the patio and pond last year.  We finally recently got around to getting a filter for the pond.  Now that sound both on my lanai and through the open windows of my writers studio is something I never tire of hearing.  Hey, what can I say.....I'm a Pisces.  And as a Pisces......I love fish.  

And speaking of fish.......we're now ready to get our fish pond together.  With some wonderful tips and advice from our friend, Oliver, owner of the Faraway Inn here on the island, I've ordered both our fish and the aquatic plants for the pond.

I have about twenty fish being delivered on Tuesday and the live plants will arrive on Wednesday.  I've gotten a selection of fish that are compatible........Platy's, Shubunkin's, Mosquito fish, Ryukin Goldfish, Pleco's, and Zebra Danio's.  Their colors are gorgeous!  So I'm looking forward to next week when they arrive and I can get them acclimated to their new pond.

I'll keep you posted on that.  So see you here next time............