I may have been tired a lot of the time I was in China and used that as an excuse not to blog, but at least I had stories to tell had I made my lazy butt type. So far, in 2009, nothing interesting has happened to me to be deemed blog worthy.

Besides putting our table project on hold until we have more time and good weather, the only thing Phil and i have been doing is house hunting. We’ve been looking rather seriously for nearly 2 months now. We haven’t had a lot of luck. It’s supposed to be a buyer’s market right now, so you would think it would be a little easier to find what we are looking for. So far, every thing we have found and been really interested in has either had a major flaw or been sold by the time we found it. Tomorrow we are taking a second look at a downtown property that seems to have some potential. Hopefully, we won’t find anything really wrong with it. If the viewing goes well, then we have to jump the hurdle called a “short sale”. It could be a risky buy, so Phil is going to have to do some serious thinking before he signs any paper work. I’ll let you know how it goes.

And since I have absolutely nothing else to talk about, I am going to post a picture of a purple flower that I took back in 2005. I was in to purple way before it became the cool color.

I don't know where I was when I took this picture. I just know I took the picture because it was purple.

I was looking through some of my old videos and thought I would post them here for your viewing pleasure.

The first one is off a piggy scratching his bum.  I found him at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens located in Charleston, South Carolina. I’ve always wanted a pig, and came real close to buying one in China, but Phil wouldn’t let me.  Meanie!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeE84PufTQk[/youtube]

I love feeding ducks.  I used to go to a pond near my house all of the time, but they have now made it illegal or something like that to feed the ducks.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8q40t2456s[/youtube]

I used to volunteer at Carolina Wildlife Care, a non-profit, wildlife rehabilitation clinic located here in Columbia.  It was a great experience and I was able to see a lot of wild animals up close.  One of the cutest animals I saw there was a Blue Grey Gnatcatcher.  I wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home.  Sorry about the video quality. My old Kodak didn’t like close up shots.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd0fuPwt_0k[/youtube]

I told you that I took 195 some pictures when Phil and I went to Riverbanks Zoo this past weekend, so it should come as no surprise that all of these posts are zoo related.  I’ll get on to something new soon.  I just haven’t been taking any pictures or videos of anything interesting lately.  The zoo was the first time out and about with my camera in a long time.

I love cats, but I know if Morgan Rose had been this big, she would eaten me alive the first time I told her no.

Animals at the zoo seem to be in a perpetual state of sleep. Maybe the zoo keepers feed them sleeping pills.

I took 16 pictures of this stupid bird(hawk) while he was participating in a bird show, and this is the only one that didn't turn out blurry. His name is Houdini.

A pretty flower I stumbled across.

A sleepy Koala. Maybe he is dreaming of the wild he'll never get to live in.

I know that it is strange for me to say this, but my favorite part of Riverbanks Zoo is feeding the Lorikeets.  For a dollar I can walk in and feed the cute little birdies some nectar.  The nectar doesn’t last too long, but the birds usually come very close too you and will occasionally even sit on your arm.  This is one aspect that I really liked about the Hangzhou Safari Park in China.  I got to feed all sorts of animals there including Rhinos, Tigers, Monkeys and Lemurs.  The little Monkeys were just adorable.  I remember one trying to steal my water bottle out of my back pocket.  Aside from some of the animals being mistreated there, it is probably one of my favorite zoos.

Me feeding the Lorikeets at Riverbanks Zoo

Usually, the Lorikeets are much more active and will jump on me to get to the nectar when I go to the zoo, but it was late in the day on a Saturday, and they had been fed already by a score of visitors. Most of them were hiding in the foliage trying to avoid the crowd. I’m sure most of their bellies were about to bust.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOjkJhJHysw[/youtube]

I think that I have been using too many words lately, so lets take a break and look at some pictures I’ve taken in the last couple of months or so.  If you believe in a picture is worth a thousands word, well, then technically I am using even more words in this post.  🙂

I was very sad that this little bee was dying, but he did allow me the opportunity to take some pretty cool pictures. I swear it looks like he has teeth.  Bees don’t have teeth do they?

I don’t know why, but I really like this picture.  I just wish the stupid fire hydrant wasn’t in the middle of them.  Who puts a fire hydrant in the middle of set of trees?

One of the cabins located at Cedar Lakes, West Virginia.

I must have take 30 pictures of this dirty little statue, and this is one of the only ones I liked.

I think I have a thing for statues.

Really, I do.

One of the afternoons we were in Yangshuo, a quick storm rolled through.  We could see the bands of rain coming through the mountains before it actually got to us.  It was ever so beautiful, and afterward a big rainbow appeared.  We were lucky not to have a lot of rain the week we were there.  This particular storm only lasted about 15 minutes, and then all was back to normal – hot and humid.

In the video, we are standing on the balcony of our hostel.  Yes, that was our view every day for a week.  It was so awesome waking up to that every day.  If you ever manage to go to Yangshuo, you should stay where we did – Riverside Retreat.  You can click here for more details about the hostel/hotel.  It truly was a wonderful place, and the staff was simply amazing.  They were very helpful.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy-YyJalIMg[/youtube]

Me. Yes, I am vain.

Some weird creature.  If I wasn’t lazy, I’d zoom in on him for you . . . but I’m lazy.

If I ever learn how to operate my camera properly, then I maybe I can learn how to take pictures with proper exposure.  I’m talking about the blanket of white behind the tree.  Grr.

Me trying to be artistic again. Yes, I took a picture of a weed.

I wish the robin had let me a bit closer and that his face wasn’t as dark.

I don’t know what is was with all of the creatures I was trying to photograph, but none of them wanted to stay in one place for more than half a second and they all happened to be just a wee too far away.

Me trying to be artistic.

This is what happens when you throw left over, supposedly dead seeds into a pot and have no intention of them becoming anything.

When they first sprouted, we thought they were all cucumbers, so we we let them climb up a tomato cage. Big mistake. Turns out, a lot of our supposed cucumbers are actually cantaloupe. Now we have to support the cantaloupes hanging in the sky by pantyhose. Yes, pantyhose. At least, that is what the internet suggested for people who don’t have a lot of space in their garden. You can’t really see it in this photo, unless you look really, really hard, but there is a cantaloupe hanging 3/4ths of the way up(center). It is a slightly less green. I really hope this pantyhose idea works.