An Astros/Twins Hostage Exchange

I felt guilty for not keeping up with friendly neighborhood card trading blogger community, so I revisited several sites, and took a peek at any trade pages while I was at it. The Daily Dimwit had some Twins cards listed, and I struck up a deal to send some Astros to a better place. In exchange, I got a couple GUs and my first Travis Harrison AU (does he have more than one? Who knows?)

clockwise, from top left: 2005 Upper Deck ESPN Sporscenter Swatches #GU-SA Johan Santana (jersey); 2011 Bowman Sterling Prospects Refractor #BSP-TH Travis Harrison (auto); 2012 Panini Elite Extra Edition #70 Mason Melotakis; 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts Divisional Artifacts #DA-JN Joe Nathan [042/199] (jersey)

Thanks again Dimster — good luck with your 2013 collecting!

Here are some Twins GU that have arrived recently as well:

clockwise, from top left: 2007 Upper Deck SP^x Winning Materials Blue #WM-TO Torii Hunter [017/170] (jersey); 2004 Bowman Draft Futures Game #BDP152 Jason Kubel (jersey); 2006 Topps Updates & Highlights All-Star Stitches #AS-JS Johan Santana (jersey); 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts Apparel #MLB-HU Torii Hunter [054/199] (jersey)

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Bob Maintains His “Good Trading Buddy” Status

Fresh off the trading competition at Sports Card Arena, BobFranklin decided to take on the Sports Card Freaks contest as well. Being easy to find cards for (Braves & Phillies), I found several cards he needed, and in return Bob sent a 2013 Joe Mauer base card, as well as these:

clockwise, from top left: 2002 Fleer eX Game Essentials #23 Brad Radke (jersey); 2009 Upper Deck SP^x Winning Materials Triple #WM3-NLB Joe Nathan / Francisco Liriano / Scott Baker (triple jersey); 2012 Topps Finest Xfractor Refractor #83 Joe Mauer; 2007 Upper Deck Future Stars Gold #58 Johan Santana [36/99]; 2008 Topps Moments & Milestones #87 Johan Santana (Strikeout 226) [21/25]; 2006 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection Game Materials #UGM-HU Torii Hunter [19/50] (jersey)

Time to start piling up cards to trade for round two. Thanks again for the trade, GTB Bob!

Here are some Twins AU that have arrived recently as well, including my first AU of Garza, Rincon, and Dinkleman:

clockwise, from top left: 2007 Topps Updates & Highlights #HA-MG Matt Garza (auto); 2007 Fleer Ultra Ultra Graphs #UG-JN Joe Nathan [140/299] (auto); 2000 Bowman Draft Picks Autographs #BDPA26 Juan Rincon (auto); 1997 Score Select #103 Todd Walker (auto); 2008 Upper Deck Ballpark Collection #143 Nick Blackburn (auto); 2008 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP283 Brian Dinkleman (auto)

Florida Keys — Wildlife Edition

Here is the promised post with a select few of some of the wildlife of the Florida Keys from our recent vacation…

While at Theater of the Sea, this parrot (wish I remembered its name) was giving kisses, even making a kissing noise 😉

Mo gets a kiss

We even had some wildlife at our hotel (no, not that kind!) — at the bayside waterfront out back we discovered five manatees, two of which came up to the beach. K was able to touch one, which then rolled over to try and get a belly rub. We didn’t know at the time that interacting with the manatees is frowned upon, and we’re glad the contact never got more than that.

K and friend

Also, besides gar and other types of fish, we saw this stingray along the beach one day.

stingray combing the sand for lunch

It wasn’t the best time of year for looking for interesting Key insects, but I did catch a few: here’s a Great Pondhawk seen while hiking at Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park…

Great Pondhawk (Erythemis vesiculosa)

…and an Io moth caterpillar seen at Anne’s Beach.

Io moth caterpillar – Hodges #7746 (Automeris Io)

And a couple cool spiders as well; saw three Spiny-Backed Orb Weaver near the water at the Laura Quinn Wild Bird Sanctuary.

Spinybacked Orbweaver (Gasteracantha cancriformis)

Also saw three larger Golden Orb Weaver along the Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park hiking trail.

Golden Silk Orbweaver (Nephila clavipes)

I’m not much of a bird watcher, but there were a plethora of sea fowl seen during our vacation — yet, the first bird I saw on our first day at the Keys … a cardinal! Go figure.