Single Swan

This swan seems to be without a mate and can be found most days in the part of the lake which is close to where we park. I watched quite fascinated as it ducked its head under the water finding weeds to eat and preened itself with its impossibly long and flexible neck. It doesn't require a very close look at its head to note that the water close to shore is quite dirty.

Despite the continuing dismal weather, there was a lot of animal action at the park today. The floating waterpark has been set up for the summer
and the lifeguards were at their posts, but there wasn't a soul in the swimming lagoon or the waterpark. The geese have been very busy and there were a number of pairs with their offspring ranging in age from tiny goslings to almost fully grown teenagers. They are very vigilant about keeping their respective flocks close and hissing madly whenever a dog passes too close, and I caught one group as they crossed the path from the lawn to the lake.*

A dog walker walked briskly past us with six dogs fastened to her belt*, all  walking nicely in formation while her hands were free. Quite a contrast to our dog who runs madly back and forth across the trail trying to investigate everything at once. I try to coach John from behind on good dog training techniques but he pays no attention, lurching back and forth in Spike's wake. He may have short legs, (Spike, not John) but a lower center of gravity makes him stronger. 

We made paella for Jim's ultimate birthday celebration last night. We had planned to put it on the barbecue, but the weather wasn't conducive so we did it on the stove. It was quite a production as John manned the stove and I prepared and passed the ingredients to him. It took longer than we thought on our temperamental Italian stove, not to mention a fair amount of bickering over pan management. John cannot resist moving things around in the pan as they cook, a no-no when it comes to paella, and we didn't achieve the fabled crispy rice crust, but it was still quite picturesque and tasted good.*

David is coming over soon to try and figure out why the power suddenly went out in our office while I was in there sewing this afternoon...