Teacher of the Year.......

Mosaic Mom is finally getting her due. Starting with nothing but an interest she is now teaching mosaics. It is nice to see her happy - she has given alot for years and now it is coming back. Cool.............teacher of the year for sure..........

Mosaic Mom needs a bigger studio, her own classroom, more storage for more supplies. Oh go ahead -- that has been the philosophy in the Z-shop for years. More cars, more space for more cars, more tools and more tool space. It works...............

At work, I need more greenhouse space. Made some today (photo below) and took some away today. It never ends. More, more, more...........

Anyway, am going surf fishing tomorrow. Of course to do that I need more bait, more poles, more reels, and of course, more space in the mosaic studio to store them.
Not cool............

We made some space in the research house today.  

Here is an interesting plant that we have growing in tissue culture - cute...... 

Just Thinking

Surf fishing dreams: Yesterday I thought about getting ready to go surf fishing today but couldn’t commit. Glad not to have gone since the wind is gusty from the southeast and that means dirty water on the beach. Besides, gusty here at home means a gale on the beach. Hope to try it later in the week after the next cold front and the winds die down. Besides have to prepare my annual report for work by Friday.

Sand flea update: my observations conclude that sand fleas are most prevalent at or near high tide - especially if high tide is early in the morning. Therefore, if you arrive at high tide just before or at daylight your hunting is optimum. Such tidal conditions cycle about every two weeks. Warm temperatures (75 degrees or higher) increase sand flea activity and they are near the surface and easily visible. During colder temperatures that fleas are buried and you have to dig for them.

Use of attractor beads: I almost always used some type of colored (red, gold, orange or yellow) attractor bead on my double dropper loop setup. That was until the last two trips in which I used none. The catches were dramatically higher – especially the number of double catches. Was this due to the elimination of the beads or just that fish were in high number and hungry? More testing is to come on this. However, I always wondered if the fish felt a bead when biting would it let up because the bead did not feel natural. That led to my not using beads the last two times. I am also going to test placing the beads so they will not be near the hooks. I always am looking for something to experiment with.

Sunrises can be beautiful at home also - even though we are not on the beach. 

Cool weather = happy peas. All we need is a pea picker. 

MindEscape'e car needed a new positive cable lead for its battery. I bought the little one on the lower left for $2.50. Of course this car needed the BIG one on the right for $125.00. Not all things are simple anymore. Haven't intalled it yet as there are so many connectors - an all because a little thingy cracked that bolts to the battery pole. A little thingy that used to be $2.50. 

Busy day in the Z shop for sure. 

Busy day in the Z shop this past weekend. 

I caught my age today.

Golfers like to talk about shooting their age when they get older. This week I caught my age in whiting in the surf. That means 59 whiting plus 4 bluefish. Last Tuesday was good fishing --- today was great. Used shrimp and sand fleas caught in my handy sand flea rake - both baits worked well. Only saved some of the largest fish since 16 of the yummies filled my ice chest. May have to get a larger chest.

Arrived before dawn (see photo)to a beautiful 75 degree day. The water was cool, clean and fishing was hot. Most amazing of all was that I was the only person fishing all day. In fact a total of 6 people came and left the beach during the 6 hours I was there. Can't beat having your own private beach. There was no one for over a mile in either direction.

Fishing slowed around 11:00 so the 'nooners' could not of had such a good fishing day. So now I am torn between being an 'early birder' or a 'nooner'. Actually not - let's just say tweet, tweet. Note: the sand fleas were caught before the photo below was taken (i.e. early). They disappeared soon after the sun came up.

Hit the beach today at sunup. 'Nooners' would never get this view. 

Definitely getting crowded in the main research greenhouse. Hope it stays cold for a couple more months. 

Found this cute flowering plant in my high light greenhouse today. Nice to have around on these dark winter days. 

Leads to this. 

This... 

Ahhhhhhh -- thanks to a good day of hard work. 

Even Nooners Can Do It.........

I went surf fishing today for the first time in months. Usually this process is underway by sunup. Today however the process began at 11:30. People who do not start moving until late in the morning are called 'nooners' in my world. It was a beautiful day, the temps (74 degrees) were perfect and the water was clean, cool and had just the right amount of wave action. And finally, no WEEDS.....

Fished only three hours and quit -- the cooler was full of 20+ whiting. Several fish were tossed back. It was magnificant. Five times I caught a double header (two fish at once). Did not even have to use the sand flea rake. All fish were caught on small pieces of fresh shrimp.

The photos above tell the story. They did not come out in the order they were submitted but what the heck. It was a great day and maybe I will become a regular 'nooner' fisherman.