Getting ready for Ireland and other things

In a couple of days I am out of here for 2 weeks in Ireland and maybe over to London for a couple of days, then take a train up the Isle of Britain to Scotland (Edinburg) for a day or two and back to Cork, Ireland for our flights back home. Just would like to get the lay of the land and come back for a more protracted visit soon. I am planning on several days of just sort of chilling out at first. We will have a lovely Irish lass as our focal point for several days - Gillian, form Aramco, who is going home for about 10 days (leaving tonight). We will stay in a guest house in the small port town of Kinsale, just south of Cork. Gillian owns a wee farm and house on a small penisula there in Kinsale, so we will get to see it and enjoy the slower pace of the southwest Irish coast. Somewhere on this island nation the Kennedy side of my mother's family came from to America, about four generations ago, I do believe. (There was a German side, as well). Carolyn and I will meet up in Schipol to catch the same flight to Cork. Gillian was going to pick us up at the airport, but she realized that the Tuesday Market was going on at that time, so we'll have to catch a taxi and have it drop us off at the market where we should find Gillian (I hope). She'll then take us to the guest house for the afternoon. The room, as I understand overlooks the harbor or quay of Kinsale. I sure plan to take some photos and do some sketches.

The past week has had its ups and downs, mostly ups. Thursday was spent doing some drawings, cleaning and such - nothing exciting. Friday I went to Bahrain early for a boat ride on a Bahraini Coast Guard craft to an island in the Arabian Gulf where there are hundreds/thousands of terns nesting. Our goal was to band (ring, as the brits call it) some 500 crested tern chicks. Well, the wind changed the well laid plans - it was howling out of the west, making it too choppy for the boats once you go outside the jetties and into the Gulf. Instead, we went to Bennigans for breakfast and to chat (Nicole, my dear friend in crime; Brendan, the project leader and professor from the medical school there; Nadiya, an environmental specialist; Ahmed, Captain in the Bahrainn Air Force and certified in both fixed wing and helicopters, Abdulla, Major in the Air Force and Ahmed's senior officer and Blackhawk pilot; and myself). After breakfast we all sort of split up. Nicole to her girl friends who were ready ot get back to the partying, Brendan, to his wife who just got into town, Nadya, to something that I can't recall, and Ahmed who took me around the town for the day. I had a good time with him - even for the two hours that he left me at the yacht club - I was able to complete two more shll drawings. We then went to Ric's country kitchen for some beer and nachos. With that finished I headed for the Gulf Hotel where I could wet my lips on a good beer and wait for the taxi ride home to Steineke. Got to bed early because I was fully exhausted. I don't know how Nicole did it - she came in from the party at abaout 5:30 am and was able to change clothes before catching a taxi to the CG Base. She partied again last night until just after midnight and was able to catch about 4 hours of fretful sleep:( and then headed back out to the CG base to catch a boat out to the tern island again, only to have it turn back at the jetties due to rough water. So Nicole had a bigger grip and disappointment that I did :) She got back to the camp this evening, just exhausted and we looked at a car that she had called about. Had a cup of evening tea with her to talk about the second bird life lecture and my snake lecture, because we'll not be able to collaborate once I leave for Ireland. The lectures are the day I get back (birds) and three days later (snakes). She's back on night shifts starting tomorrow night, so tonight was important to discuss our plans. We will get together on Monday afternoon before she starts her shift to share our progress and critique the lectures. She really has me cutting back on the snake program for the ANHA audience, but the Traveling Naturalists I can go all out (that will be in October). She said that Brendan wants me to come give it to the Bahrain Natural History Society in September, but I have my trip to Houston and Vancouver in the middle of that month, so we have to look at the calendar and adjust something.

It's late and I need to hit the hay, so goodnight my friends - pleasant dreams to all of you :)

Rough two days

The past two or three days have tested my resolve. You know how bad things come in threes, well yesterday at one point I was at four! Lets see, let's start with work, where the MS Word document that I had been tirelessly working on for the past few days which suddenly crashed with too much stuff. That now has me going into the document and reinserting some 200+ images. Not fun and glorious work, if I must admit. Let's see, the next thing to happen - my debit card still has not arrived from Virginia, where Carolyn mailed it, and can now be presumed to be lost. Until I get it, or its replacement, I can't get money out af an ATM (I don't have any checks with me, either). I am sitting with around $400 in my possession here in the Kingdom :( The next thing - I do have a credit card, but apparently it was part of a group of cards that were compromised, so it has been cancelled and a new one issued and to be sent to the house (Houston), so I cannot make any reservations, buy any tickets, etc. for my trip to Ireland and beyond (my flight is in less than a week!). It's all up to Carolyn to do, now. What's next? Well I managed to drop and break my new good Ray Ban sunglasses yesterday :( The BIG thing was resolved finally, but only after considerable stress and anxiety. That big thing was the apparent loss of a considerable amount of cash entrusted in me for the purchase of a used car. I took the money with me when I went to bargain for the car (to no avail) and when I went to get it ready to gather my friends stuff together for her return to the Kingdom I simply could not find the cash! I looked everywhere - rooms, car, office, clothing, even thinking that I may have left the wad of cash in the pocket of my jeans that had gone to the laundry. I even retraced my steps out into the desert and up an outcrop on the jebbels, the spray field and just every place I had been on Friday. I was quite distraught with the thought of telling my good friend that I had lost the money that she had entrusted in me. Top that, with the thought of finding a way to come up with the cash with no cards, checks, or whatever. I spent two long days in a worried fret, but finally, yesterday as I was working on a small watercolor (in the photos) I moved the paint palette and, lo and behold, the envelope with the money was under the palette. I had put it there to dry, as it was damp from the sweat in my back pocket. Did I ever thank St Anthony for his help:) So at one point, just before I found the money, I was at four, or better, bad things at one time. I am still sitting at three and Carolyn has her share with the lost phone and hassles with AT&T services and so on. Oh, do I need a good stiff shot of Scotch - a really good Scotch. Since I am first going to Ireland, I'll just have to make do with Irish Whiskey (Jamieson's), but you know, I am going to Bahrain this weekend - just might not have to wait until my trip to Ireland for a shot of Scotch :) , hell, I could even do with a shot of SID :(
Cheers

Photos from the house that I am sitting. The painting in progress is the Corpus Christi, Texas lighthouse.

Mid June

It's now the middle of June and in just two weeks I am off to Ireland to spend two weeks of R&R. Looking forward to getting together - it's been three months almost. I hope to post some while I am there.

This month has been a drag, as I have been down with some upper respiratory infection (URI) that has me running on 5 cylindars. I have been trying to rest and take OTC medications, but finally had to go to the doctor and was given some antibiotics and told to rest:) My good friend, Nicole, has been telling me that - like every day:) I am finally feeling almost near full speed. Haven't been birding or anything since the beginning of the month, so maybe I can get out there this weekend.

I have started a house/pet sitting stint for the rest of June. I am spending time in Steineke Hall getting my things together for my trip to Ireland and Great Britain, but spending nights at the house, to take the dog out in the afternoon and the morning and make sure there is food and water. I will keep Nicole's budgie for the weekend (a long one for her) while she goes home to visit family. When I return for Ireland I am probably going to house/pet sit for one or two more people until September. One thing I want to do is cook up some meals in the house and have some friends over for dinner once of twice a week. Want to find some good fish at the market to cook up.

One of the nice things about this house sitting is that one of the rooms is set up as an art studio, so I will have to use the space to finish some watercolors that I started for a book. The owner (wife) is really into art and has almost every painting medium available. I will stick to my watercolors and some pen & inks. She has been trying to get me to come over and use the space on the weekends when her husband in home. She knew that I was using the corner of the mess hall to do my work.

Nicole and i have been working on a lecture that we will give tomorrow night to the ANHA Birding Group. We have two hours to teach bird identification to the group. Some will come with a good skill set and others will little skill in identifying birds, so we have a challenge. Next month's lecture will address bird behavior, habitats, etc. By August, we will still be in the heat of summer, but the fall migration will be starting and we don't want to miss a day out in the field over the fall months. I am looking forward to spotting some new birds for my checklist in the British Isles. Many of the birds that Nicole has on her list might be everyday birds to her, but for me, a whole lot of them (Guillimots, Puffins, and a whole slew of northern ranging seabirds) have been out of my range back in the US Gulf Coast:)I am going over to Bahrain next weekend for a Thursday night party at Senior Pacos, staying overnight and going out banding/ringing tern chicks with my friend, Brendan.:)

I have also been working on my "Snakes of the Eastern Province" presentation scheduled for July 18. I had it pretty well put together, when I asked Nicole to critique it and she ripped it apart - too frightening for her and the bulk of the ANHA audience (too much focus on the poisonous species - fangs anf all that stuff), but right on target for the Traveling Naturalists (scheduled for October) and the Bahrain Natural History Society (some time next year). Actually, she knows the ANHA audience better than I, and I welcome her critique. I did much the same to her Birding Life Lecture. Turn around is fair play, Nicole:)

Weather has been consistant here: sunny and hot (113 F in the shade every day). Just don't get out much in the midday heat around here, xcept to peddle over to the mess hall or hospital to eat. Even the snakes and lizards dig down deep into the sand and rodent holes to keep cool - they almost hibernate.


Photos of a several desert blooms/plants

First Weekend in June

Line dancing on Wednesday night - I will learn to do this!!! It is not easy - so many steps. The shuffle is a major thing for me to learn, to say nothing of the hoppin', skippin' and stuff. There was Irish dancing thrown in, as well:) It is a lot of fun, though. All the folks in this group are helpful and encouraging, so it will come :)

Friday morning was drawing in the mess hall. Had a young Saudi man come over to ask questions about drawing and I spent nearly half an hour showing him some basic drawing exercises and told him to come back to me in a couple of weeks with some examples of his completed exercises. We'll see if he comes back. Did manage to finish one shell drawing :)

Friday afternoon was at the Yacht club teaching the ladies to sail Sunfish. Took out three ladies, including my friend, Claudia - she is almost ready for her solo. Nicole was there and took a solo trip at the end - I think she is going to really get involved with this group -way cool! Helped to put everything away before heading back to the dorm/hotel. There I was greated by Omer and Peyton to go out to dinner with the gang to an Arabic restaurant where you sit on the carpet and eat from the platters set in front of the group. Using your right hand, you just pick up the rice and stuff, roll it in a ball and eat it. The rice is served with lamb and chicken and organ meats. It was good, but sitting and eating on the floor is hard :) Somewhere between the yacht club and Steineke I lost my cell phone and ruined my binoculars by dropping them :(

The next morning we headed for Bahrain (Nicole, Gillian, David and Caroline Foresyth and I) where we met up with Bob Roberts for some bird watching. Saw a lot of Graceful Prinia, herons and terns. Added several new ones to my checklist. By 10:30 we were into the hotel for breakfast and a little cool air, followed by some shopping for things we can't get in Saudi, a nap, and another birding excursion with Brendan Kavanaugh - we hit a number of places along the eastern shoe of the island and managed to cature one Black-winged Stilt fledgling, band it and release it back to its family. Rushed back to the hotel for a quick beer with fish and chips, a shower and change of clothes in order to get to the string symphony performance by 7:30 pm. Great performance by local artists! David played the viola, Bob played the cello, and my friend Jon Cole, played another cello, so the symphony was made up of a lot of professionals for other than music professionals. It was a long ride back to the Aramco Compound - traffic was awful- took us about two hours to cross the causeway and get home :(, but I had two lovely ladies sitting beside me to make the trip more enjoyable :)

Picture of Nicole and the Black-winged Stilt ready to receive his ring or band.