(My first) Tufted Titmouse

Our first week in Northern Louisiana was a frisky one! Temperatures have been near and just below freezing in the morning hours, and a hard wind added that dreaded 'chill-factor' to some of the, already moderate, daytime temperatures.

The skies are a brilliant blue though and the sun was out almost every day, so at least it looked good!

James has started his job and likes it so far. He's managing a small crew of plumbers, drywallers and electricians who are getting an empty store-front ready for a pet store (Pet-sense) to move into.

Over the weekend we also took care of that most important business of finding a new 'home' golf-course!

We found it at the LA Tech University in Grambling, a small town, very conveniently situated right between Simsboro and Ruston, only about 10 minutes away.

Other than the one in Hammond, this is a 9-hole,  full size course, and a monthly membership for non-students is only $40. 

Works for us!

We played on Saturday afternoon, when the weather had warmed up a little. It's a pretty little course with beautiful big old trees and lots of water (yikes!).

The first tee features this very narrow and long bridge over the pond ...

The greens are dormant, and they have some weeds/mosses growing on them which makes it a little difficult to put at the moment, but they'll probably get better when it gets a little warmer next month.

All in all, just a perfect course for the time we'll be around here!

On Sunday we drove to Arcadia, about 10 miles to the West of us, to take a look at the town, which was nothing to write home about, and to check out their golf course, the Trail's End.It's a little further away and a lot more expensive, so I don't think we'll go their very often but since it's a full 18 holes James wanted to have a go at it. Just for something different ....

We lost more balls on the first 9 holes than we had in months! All fairways sloped down to a pond, it was brutal!

 

Although the sun was shining, the wind was a cold one, and after 9 holes of struggling and being cold, I gave up and relaxed in the truck with a nice book! 
James soldiered on and claims he enjoyed himself ...

 

Despite the cold mornings, I'm trying to hold on to my morning-walks and I've been out every day to explore the area in and around the park.

There's a double 'loop' I can walk in the park itself, and a bigger one on what looks like a hunting trail, all around it. 

We're right at the 'A'

I've already spotted some deer tracks and was happy to hear and see one of my favorite 'LBB'-'s here too, a little Carolina Wren:

Carolina Wren

In the late afternoon the wind usually dies down and we actually could sit outside for happy hour over the weekend ...
 

The pond in front of us came with 2 hungry ducks, who we've named Frick & Frack.
It probably wasn't a smart idea to start feeding them bread, but we did, and now we're stuck with them.
As soon as we open the door and appear on the deck, they come hurrying over... 

Initially Merlin was a little scared of them, and vice-versa, but they've established a 'proper' distance now.

He does have to make sure every time we feed them though, that it isn't something he could be eating instead ...