A little more from the Cape, and a Niblet update

I also took some phone-camera pics in Cape May that I wanted to share with you. Here we go:

Sunset at Sunset Beach--the only sunlight we got all weekend, for about 15 minutes. Still, it's beautiful.

There were so many dead horseshoe crabs on the beach at Sunset. We also saw two of them mating in the shallow waves--come on, guys, produce some eggs for the Red Knots!

Why does the CMC Health Dept insist on mentioning (ugh) "human fecal matter" in the restroom of every single restaurant in Cape May? Is that really necessary? Can't they just say "wash your hands or else!"?

A book cover I saw that reminded me of a certain monkey we all know.


My amazing campfire on Saturday night. I tried something new this time, a trick for starting great fires; I read it in a book called Camping and Woodcraft (which is actually two books combined), written by Horace Kephart. The amazing thing is that I only paid 50 cents for this book at the local AAUW book sale (which is coming up this weekend!), but you can't get it online for less than 17 bucks!

Photo by Baby G

Here I am, taking the above photos of my excellent fire.

Anyway--here's the trick: get some cotton balls, some baggies, and some Vaseline. Rub the cotton, two or three balls at a time, into the Vaseline, getting a good amount into the cotton. Make sure to coat the entire blob. Note: this is really messy, but the good thing is that you can just rub the extra Vaseline onto the skin on your knees and elbows--it's moisturizing! I did about 30 cotton balls, again two at a time, and put them into three baggies. When it came time to start the fire, I piled up the wood and some kindling into the classic teepee shape; then I poked some of the cotton/jelly blobs into the base of the teepee and lit them with one of those Aim-n-Flame type lighters. (IMPORTANT: You do NOT want your hands anywhere near this highly combustible material.) I used probably three blobs of the now soaked-through cotton and got a fire that the Aggies would've been jealous of.

Gretchen and me at the lighthouse, exhausted but happy from all the birding and walking and rain.

It was a great trip, but I sure did miss my Flock friends in West Virginia. We'll migrate again, ladies and gentleman! Soon!

Now for the Niblet update. Thank you all for your continued good wishes and thoughts for the health of my little Son, Moon, and Stars™. He's doing great! No return of the infection, and I think he feels better in general these days, as he's become much more social and friendly again! The only remaining evidence of his surgery is the bald spot on his head:
Dr. Scholz said it would likely grow back the next time he had a big shed and re-grow. It's very soft! I try to kinda comb-over the surrounding fur so you can't see it. Hee hee!

He's really doing well, and he's been so affectionate for the last few weeks. I think he finally believes me when I tell him we're done with all that hurty stuff at the vet.