Is that a Parrotfish on my header?

Yes, I've switched out my header again. Just wasn't feeling the love with the spotted moray eel and needed a "lighter" feeling to the header, something more welcoming. What better way to welcome visitors then the sweet and funny face of a Parrot Fish. They have powerful jaws and teeth that look like the beak of a parrot. I adore these goofy looking, brilliant colored species with their parrot shaped beaks that give you the appearance of them grinning right at you.

To me they are the closest thing to swimming cartoons with their bright colors and funny faces. They are the most common and most colorful of species living on coral reefs around the world. All sizes and colors (I have seem some as big as a 50 pound dog), friendly and unafraid of divers, they will often follow you as you move around in their world. (photos enlarge when you click on them.)

Stoplight Parrotfish - male. Named for the brilliant yellow stoplight on its tail (pectoral fin).

A sex changing fish, the colors of the Stoplight parrotfish in the initial phase (below) when it could be either a male or female are dramatically different from when it is in the terminal phase (above) sporting brilliant colors when it is definitely a male.

Stoplight Parrot Fish either male or female in initial phase.

Princess Parrotfish with a cheeky grin. Always a brilliant blue and the face of my latest header.

Bi-color Parrotfish - male How can you not be passionate about this species with so many brilliant colors to choose from?

The parrotfish diet is primarily algae extracted from chunks of coral ripped from a reef. You can actually "hear" them crunching the coral while swimming with them. These coral crunchers pulverize the coral with the grinding teeth in their throat and most of the sand in their region is actually the ground up and undigested coral they excrete.

Wishing you a colorful day and thanks for stopping by. Sea Witch

It's chaos, I tell you, chaos.

Can you believe it???

That Thanksgiving is 27 days away and that Christmas follows 31 days after that. I have two Holiday Open Houses during the week of November 19th and my living room looks like a Christmas warehouse that threw up in it. Vintage and holiday items are strewn everywhere. It's a good thing my honey is up at deer camp hunting with his friends or I may have lost him among the garland and snowmen.

It always amazes me how a room full of "stuff" can come together in a booth. Just last week, I was stepping over harvest items and yet, it all pulled together as shown in this pic of a 1930's play pen repurposed as a buffet by laying an old shutter (also from the 1930s) on top of it.

So, as if I don't have enough to do, I stop in the middle of all of this to put together a new header for my blog. This shot is of a Spotted Moray Eel who was nested next to a huge spiney sea urchin. Those are the large, knitting needle size spines you see next to him. These creatures are as beautiful as they are frightening looking. As long as this is a mixed bag of blog conversation, why not close with a pic of me at work today. I knew it was going to be nutz here as it is on every Friday, so why not wear a "little" mask to break the hectic pace.

Have a safe and fun Halloween if you celebrate and for for those of us who are under Daylight Savings time, remember to roll back your clocks this weekend. Sea Witch

Feeling new headerish

Fall is definitely here and it spilled over to my header. I just felt the need for a change and autumn leaf colors so I pulled one of the first underwater photos I had ever taken. This was with my dad's old Nikonos film camera from the 1980s. One of the first point and shoots for snorkelers and was touted for its ability to withstand 15 feet of compression. This photo was actually shot at 25 feet under the sea at a reef in the Bahamas called the "Aquarium". You are looking at a shot of elkhorn or stag horn coral with a Parrotfish going through its mottled stage - hence the rich red and checkered looking body along with Sargent Majors (vertical striped fish) and French Grunts (yellow with fine horizontal striping). This reef was rich in sea life and I came away with some really colorful photos.

As you can see, I am playing with my description size so it won't detract from the background photo. Your insight and comments are always appreciated. Have a wonderful Thursday. Sea Witch

Stop by and take a peek at my

latest header. After doing battle with my blog header design several weeks ago, I had decided that I would periodically change it out utilizing photographs I have taken of my sea world experienced first hand. I received many emails regarding the below photo featured in the posting, Things in my House" (http://musingsofaseawitch.blogspot.com/2009/07/things-in-my-house.html) .

Macro shot of the lampshade made out of sea shells.

This is one of those marvelous "finds" that I came across at my local Goodwill store. It was tossed in the corner of the sporting goods section. I nearly squealed with delight when I saw it and unbelieveably, not one shell was broken. It now resides in my living area and is one of my favorite pieces when lit (other than my hubby...okay, bad joke, but it begged to be said).

Below is a macro shot of the shade with the light turned off. You can see the fine sand that was used over the grout to give it the appearence of a beach covered with shells.


I love the look of the lit macro shot as it played against my blog background colors that I thought it would make a wonderful blog header. So a little photoshop magic and my narrative copy now fits the new header color scheme and the Sea Witch blog has a new header...or at least until the winds of change blow in again. Have a safe and delightful weekend. Sea Witch

New header for Sea Witch

Those of you who have been stopping by my blog over the last few weeks have seen first hand my wrestling matches with shifting backgrounds, funny fonts, and header placement issues. I finally got those pesky little html problems corrected and then began to work on my header design. The more I played with it the more it began to look like the logo for another installment of Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean." (side note--however, if this would bring Johnny Depp back for another pirate romp I will gladly put it back up)

So I dumped the Disney look and decided to use different photos that I have shot under the seas or around aquariums. After all, a Sea Witch really should share her time under the sea with others. I like the clean look of the new header and with the new font for the narrative text making it easier to read. Now all I have to do is tweak the color/hue of the header title. (made these header changes on my lunch break and didn't have time to finish the tweaking...look for final tweaks this week) .

As the direction of the wind changes in my world, I will also change out the photo. You will have to periodically stop by to see what swims to the surface.