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Borrego Springs, CA

Thursday, July 11, 2013

I’m passing on an ‘opportunity’ tonight

On Tuesday, word came down from above that the headquarters area of the refuge needed to be mowed, and that’s my responsibility.  So when the rain seemed to abate, I put on my steel-toed boots, safety glasses, and earplugs to do my duty. 

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                                                                         Male purple finch.

Things chugged along fine until the motor on the mower quit while I was kind of stuck under some low branches of a tree just as the skies opened up with a drenching rain.  Uff-da!  I got the engine restarted and headed for the barn.  By the time I got there, I was soaked to the bone.  Of course, once I was inside the rain quit. 

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                            Female purple finch coming in for a landing on the Hard Rock Bird Café.

It takes quite a few hours to do all that mowing, and by the time I climbed off of that John Deere, I felt like I had been riding a horse all day.  The pedals for getting it started and engaging the mower blades are made for someone that has much longer legs than I do.  I tried to adjust the seat forward, but it wouldn’t budge.

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Yesterday, I did some more bird atlasing, and spent half a day picking up litter along the refuge roads.  No good photos opportunities presented themselves, so tonight’s pictures are Bird Café visitors.

I headed for Fargo, ND, this morning to get some needed supplies.  While wandering around the city, I came upon a Carol Widman’s Candy Co. store.  It reminded me of the Andies Candies stores of my youth in Chicago.  Both my mother and my sister had worked at Andies Candies back in the 60’s.  It’s one of those candy stores that has quality chocolate selections behind glass cases that you choose your favorites from, and an employee individually boxes your selection.  Lo and behold, they had dark chocolate covered sponge candy!  I’m not much for sweets, but I love sponge candy.  Guess I’ll just have to suffer through the rich dark chocolate to get to the melt in your mouth treat inside. Flirt male  I think I’ll see if they have a website where I can just order some sponge candy without the coating.  I remember buying an unadorned brick of it about thirty years ago, but haven’t seen it since.  Has anyone run across plain sponge candy in their travels?

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                                            White-breasted nuthatch doing its upside down thing.

On my way back, I also stopped at a little malt shop along US 10 for an honest to goodness old fashioned butterscotch malt.  You know, it’s one of those little places that puts real hard ice cream, malt, milk, and flavoring into a metal container to be whipped up by a malt maker machine.  It comes complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top!  Egad!  A piece of sponge candy and a malt all in one day; my system is in shock.

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Tonight, the volunteers have been offered the ‘opportunity’ to go with a guy from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to try to re-trap a couple of loons.  Seems he needs to remove some GPS tracking devices from them.  Well, here’s the deal.  We can come along and watch from shore; after dark, ensconced in a duck blind, with eighteen zillion mosquitoes, unable to make any noise, or take pictures with a noisy camera or flash.  Umm…both Steve and I are going to pass on this.  Last year, they were out until 3:00 in the morning on this little escapade.  Sorry, I’m feeling a bit too old for this adventure, and want to be awake in the morning for a little escapade of my own.

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                                                                              THE END!!

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

35 comments:

  1. Can you say "sugar high"? I think you are very smart to pass on that opportunity.

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  2. Sponge Candy is something I've never heard of.... I hope you show us a photo and tell us more about this soon....

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  3. Maybe this will do in a pinch:
    Ingredients:

    1 cup granulated sugar
    1 cup dark corn syrup
    1 tablespoon white vinegar
    1 tablespoon baking soda
    Preparation:

    In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, syrup, and vinegar; cook over medium heat, stirring until sugar melts. Cook without stirring until mixture is very brittle when placed in cold water, about 300° on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and add the baking soda. Mixture will foam. Pour into a well-buttered pan. When hard, break into pieces. If desired, dip in melted dipping chocolate.

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  4. Loved the purple finches! I'd pass on sitting in a mosquito laden duck blind, too...Smart gal!

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  5. I've never heard of sponge candy either. But give me a malt any day. Most people seem to like shakes better but I love that malt taste.

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  6. I'd be likely to eat the chocolate and leave the sponge. I have developed a taste for premium dark chocolate (European is best because they don't load it with high fructose corn syrup or any other corn syrup) but I don't buy it that often. I've eaten more candy during the past year than in the past 50!

    What would be the fun of sitting in a blind until 3 am and not being able to take any pictures for your trouble? And getting eaten alive while you're at it.

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  7. Great pictures. I really enjoy your blog.

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  8. Did you buy Chocolate covered potato chips at Widemans? They are to die for! Sweet and salty! If you get there again, you must try a couple! I would have passed on the Loon catching too..skeeters are out in full force this year. You must have stopped at the malt shop in Lake Park..we have stopped there but only to look around..I have never had a Butterscotch Malt:)

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  9. Add me to the list...I have never heard of sponge candy either. Sounds interesting especially the dark chocolate part! I have never had a malt either...but I do love real milkshakes...any flavor will do!

    I would have chosen sleep in my warm, dry, mosquito free bed too!

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  10. love love dark chocolate, ben & jerrys has a new ice cream choc therapy all dark choc.
    add me to the list that has never heard of sponge candy...whats it like, a mallow, a taffy ????

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  11. Never heard of sponge candy but after doing some research I believe I have eaten it as a child. There is a website that is all about sponge candy - who knew!?! On a whim I bought a jar of malt the other day so I could make a good old fashioned malt. Haven't had one in years. Still haven't opened the jar but I have all the ingredients.

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  12. I have never heard of sponge candy and I will have to go look it up.

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  13. I don't even know what sponge candy is!!!

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  14. I think we had something like sponge candy in Wisconsin. Called it Angle something. It was really good.

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  15. I've never heard of sponge candy. Old fashioned malt - sounds good. I certainly don't blame you for passing on the night excursion. The thought of all those mosquitoes would be enough for me.

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  16. If these photos are from you new camera, you have done a great job in mastering the camera. Great shot of the female coming in for a landing.

    What in the world is sponge candy? I like the dark chocolate part but know nothing about the sponge part.

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  17. My bags are packed and I'm on my way to Fargo. Angel food candy and a real malt all in one day.. life is good!!!

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  18. Yes Judy you can still buy the brick of sponge candy. We call it sponge toffee here in Canada. I used to buy it all the time when I was younger just at the local goc. store now we have to go all the way to Banff to a Candy store there.

    Its a trip worth making though

    take care

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  19. That malt sounds amazing. My dad owned a DQ when I was growing up and I have real weakness for anything ice cream. Having spent time in northern Minnesota I think you made the right call passing on the loon capture. Just the thought of those mosquitos (or are they birds??) makes me itch.

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  20. I never even heard of sponge candy. I will have to check that out. That seat on the John Deere should adjust. Spray under it with some WD and that should get it moving.

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  21. Back in Wisconsin, we called that Angel Food candy but I never saw it without the chocolate coating. The recipe Vera posted is close to one I use occasionally to make my own and it's very easy. You should give it a try!

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  22. Count me in the group that has never heard of sponge candy. Being a candy freak, I can't believe there's one I haven't heard of. You candy store - we have one like that in California called See's Candies. They have lots of boxes made up, soft, chews, etc. but I ALWAYS pick out all my own types of candies. And they always give you a free sample. That's my favorite candy, but it's SUPER EXPENSIVE to have shipped. I've checked twice, and waaaaay to expensive. It's not cheap in the first place, but shipped? I guess they must do something special to keep it from melting. I usually get myself a box when I'm in California. Yum!

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  23. I've never heard of sponge candy either but I've heard of 'loons' for sure - not sure I'd want to try and trap one though.

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  24. whew wee. . .all that sugar would have put me in a coma. . .but oh what a wonderful coma it would have been. . .gonna try the recipe that was posted, so I'll know what sponge candy is. . .I agree with your decision about the "loon" trip. . .would'a been a little loony to accept that offer. . .LOL!

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  25. We agree the The Odd Essay -- what the heck is sponge candy? We remember a chocolate covered honeycomb candy. Would that be the same thing with another name?

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  26. Like everybody else I don't know what sponge candy is. Very intriguing. So now I have to find me a recipe and make it myself of course!

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  27. Boy do I sympathize with trying to drive a mower if your legs are too short as in my case OR you can't get the seat up in your case. My seat is all the way up and I'm still using the tip of my toes with my leg stretched WAY out.

    Love those nuthatch pictures. Those clowns.

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  28. I'm new to your blog, so may be redundant; but, I love your bird photos. What camera / lens do you use? Do you have some posts with information about your photography? Beautiful and I'm readying to head out throughout Northern America and want to learn lots more about nature and photography.

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  29. Here in Oregon sponge candy is called Sea Foam. It is a family favorite when we drive to the beach where all the candy stores carry it.

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  30. We saw some in Erie, Pennsylvania. First time I ever tried any - I never met a sweet I didn't love, though.

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  31. There is unadorned sponge candy available at the candy store on the main street in Banff, Alberta. C'mon up and we'll show it to you!

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  32. I LOVE sponge candy (molasses hard candy with a bunch of holes like a sponge) also known as "sea foam". Have never seen it "naked" though. If anyone ever is looking for quality chocolate or candy; nuts.com is a great family owned online store. (no relation)

    http://www.nuts.com/search?q=sponge+candy

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  33. I've never heard of sponge candy (along with a whole lot of other folks, apparently...). But if it has "candy" in the name, I'm game to try it!! And a malt sounds pretty good too. We might have to start following you around!

    Mark

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  34. I'd rather be outside mowing grass than inside ironing (or the like)! On the other hand, I'd rather be hiking or biking or anything else besides mowing -- I put in my time mowing and I don't have to do it ever again! Maybe you need thicker-soled steel-toed shoes - 'course, they'd prob be too heavy to lift! Oh well.

    Geez, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who never heard of sponge candy, but now my mouth is watering! No fair!!!

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  35. What! No cookie with the malt? When I was a kid the Rexall Drug Store served a cookie with a shake or a malt.

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