A bit of this, a bit of that

Small boats dot Osborne Bay

Like everything else in nature these past few months, it appears that jellyfish season is about a month or more behind times. I first wrote about the wondrously red jellyfish smacks that appear on our beaches in mid-August 2009 (you'll find that post here). Yesterday, I saw the first of this season's red jellyfish on the beach, well behind schedule unless I missed it in the few days I didn't make it to the beach. Last year's season continued into early October, so perhaps we still have several weeks of red translucent puddles on the beach. The days are grey again, so this photo doesn't show the lustrous red and copper colours that reflect from the jelly when the sun is bright:

Large red jellyfish land on shore

There's a serenity at the beach year round, but it is more noticeable in September when the families of young campers have left the RV park to the vacationing and residential retirement community. A few small boats dot the bay, and a couple with their dog go for a row on the placid evening tide.

A woman, a man and a dog heading out

A pleasant evening row in the bay

I was disapppointed to see that someone had sprayed graffiti on the Sea Walk - the first time I have seen this in the more than two years I've lived here. I hope it wasn't Crofton youth - they are generally a really good bunch of kids - and I hope the offender has now gone back to wherever he/she came from.

Graffiti on Crofton Sea Walk

The crows are very active right now, stuffing their beaks with hazelnuts and fruit. This photo was taken through my (*needs cleaning*) front window, but I loved the silhouette of crow with nut on a wire.

Crow with nut

Another of the crow on the road, still trying to crack open his not-quite-ripe hazelnut:

Crow with nut (2)

And this was taken from my (*needs cleaning*) back window, where the crows were raiding the neighbour's pear tree:

And a partridge crow in a pear tree

And one last crow one, in this tree of autumn colours:

Crow in autumn foliage

My dogs are looking particularly fuzzy these days from lots and lots of brushing and combing as I try to keep one step ahead of the fleas. I caught fuzzy-faced Sadie snoozing by the light of the lamp the other evening:

Fuzzy, sleepy Sadie

Not to be left out, here's Charley in her soft e-collar which she wears to keep her from chewing an itchy spot on her leg.

Charley, four-footed fashion model

She doesn't mind the collar at all; in fact, she rather likes her new built-in pillow!