A PHOTOGRAPHER'S FAVORITE

The collage below contains photos of a house we shot that backed to the marsh. This house was beautiful and bright with lots of windows that allowed you to view the green of the marshland. Notice the heron in the one photo. Please click on the collage to see enlargements of the photos.


THE ANCIENT MARINER

We've enjoyed getting to know the "Horseshoe Crab" as most people know it for the last year, especially when we lived in Broadkill. It is really an arthropod, related to spiders, ticks, and scorpions. One morning the beach was literally covered by these beings. We were told to "just flip 'em" when we saw them upside down. So we spent many mornings on Broadkill flipping our new friends. They are like turtles and can't right themselves unless people help them or a big wave takes them out to sea once again. We found out that the spring is the time of mating and the males come ashore first and when the time is right the females start arriving as the males wait along the water line. Then they hook together and go up into the sand. The female makes holes along the way and deposits her eggs. There could be up to 40,000 that she deposits. The males comes along and fertilizes them.

Here are some new facts we learned about them at the DE Center for the Inland Bays.

~They are not dangerous.
~Their tail will not hurt you. It is used to plow themselves through sand and to act as a rudder.
~Do not pick them up by the tail.
~The crab's central mouth is surrounded by its legs and is harmless.
~They have 2 compound eyes on the top of their shells with a range of about 3 feet.
~Horseshoe crabs can swim upside down in the open ocean using their dozen legs (most with claws) and a flap hiding nearly 200 flattened gills to propel themselves.
~They feed mostly at night and burrow for worms and mollusks.
~They grow by molting and emerge 25 percent larger with each molt. After 16 molts (usually between 9 and 12 years) they will be fully grown adults.
~Their eggs are food for migratory shore birds that pass over the Delaware Bay during the spring mating season.
~In the 1900s, horseshoe crabs were dried for use as fertilizer and pountry food supplements.
~The medical profession uses an extract from the horseshoe crab's blue, copper-based blood called lysate to est the purity of medicines. Certain properties of the shell have also been used to speed blood clotting and to make absorbable sutures.

*from www.beach-net.com/horseshoe/Bayhorsecrab.html
July 23, 2009

REAL ESTATE PHOTOS OF THE WEEK

Who doesn't love a house on he beach with a pool too. This house has a wonderful living area with a spectacular view.

























What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments,
but what is woven into the lives of others." Pericles

GREEN DRINKS


Once a month people interested in the environment, new techniques in "green building", and related industries meet socially at different restaurants in the Rehoboth Beach area. These groups meet in other areas too. These photos were taken at the first one in the Rehboth area. It was at The Buttery in Lewes.


July 9, 2009

Align Center

REAL ESTATE PHOTOS OF THE WEEK


The first photos shown this week are of a property outside of Rehoboth Beach. We probably like it because it reminds us of Lancaster County, PA.

Some work done by Amish.



Welcomed by Pisces the cat in the beautiful garden in backyard.




Farmette comes with 6 acres.

These photos are of a furnished model home which is already sold. Beautiful detail and windows.





Wonderful beach decor.



Attractive, flowing living space.
July 8, 2009

THE 4th of JULY


What a great weekend coming up. Is there a better place to spend a holiday than at the beach? Rehoboth has been packed all week and the traffic is still coming in. Luckily, we can see the local fireworks from our bedroom balcony. This way we don't have to fight the crowds. However, sometimes that is part of the celebration--being with others and feeling the excitement. There will be music downtown too and a 5k run in the morning. I'm sure our pool will be packed. Let us all remember the true meaning of this holiday and remember the greatness of this wonderful country we live in.

July 1, 2009