Lotus Flower

That photo up there on the header - it is unretouched. I took it at the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. A lotus flower. Isn't it simply amazing?

Is that helpful?

TravelSmith emails me regularly with their tempting array of travel worthy comfortable clothes.

This item, on a clearance flyer, made me laugh out loud.

Does anyone really think it would be helpful to have 39 pockets in a jacket? It would take me half an hour to find my keys...

The birds aren't that hungry after all...

We do have a lot of birds in our yard. And I'm likely the only one in the neighborhood who bakes their seed...but goodness...those feeders seem to need refilling a lot.

Well...last night...about midnight, I caught a trespassor. I was too sleepy and dumbfounded to get my camera this time. I stood right at the window and was a foot away from a huge doe who was sucking the seed right out of my feeder with her long tongue. Last time I saw her I was so amazed that I kept my distance and got a photo. This time I was just kinda mad. I tapped on the window, she looked at me and went back to chowing down. I opened the window and clapped, and then she took off in a flash - jumped the fence and was literally just *poof* gone.

Of course after she left I was wishing that I had taken a photo from so very close. Last time I took this one.

So, in the last week I've spied a very large raccoon eating up the spilled seeds, and a now a doe eating and spilling for that coon.

I need to find a discount bird seed distributor. Seems I'm feeding half the forest!

Red at the bedroom window feeder...

Really, you need to appreciate that photo. You have no idea how many times I crawled (yes, literally) to my purse to get my camera only to have him fly away. Red is rather camera shy.

The little round heads in the foreground are a small horizontal grouping of sculpted birds that I have perched on the window sill.

I do love these feathered friends.

King of Spring

As I nestled in with coffee, journal and Bible before work, I enjoyed the antics of many birds as they discovered the newly filled feeders. I heard the cardinal, and then spotted him in our maple tree, sitting there regally like the king of spring. This photo is shot through the bedroom window, VERY QUICKLY as he tends to be skittish, and turned out so well, even showing the various stages of buds in the maple tree. (Right click and make the photo screen sized if you can!)

The photo below was taken from my loveseat vantage point. Even on a grey day the view is breathtaking. It's amazing that I ever manage to emerge and go to work...

I want to...

Brownie Report

Well, the wedding was lovely. And the desserts were divine. Pictured is just one of three tables covered with home baked treats. Even after 260 guests had their fill, there was plenty of dessert left.

I'm exhausted. And I still smell brownies in the air.

Happy New Year!

Cardinals

My mom loved cardinals. And now I do. I can't help it - I think it's genetic. When a bright red bird arrives on my bird feeder I drop everything. They mesmerize me. A couple mornings ago a small female was on the feeder - must have been a 2008 nestling.

Today at The Clinic (there on business) I wandered into the art gallery on the first floor where there are always interesting displays of (expensive) local art. Today there were a lot of gift items for the holidays mixed in with the art.

I spotted cardinals. In birch trees. I LOVE birch trees. And so this plate came home with me. There is something about it that simply makes me smile. When I have more time I'll do a cardinal display around it on a shelf for the holidays.

I think it's time to put more black sunflower seeds in the feeder...baked, of course. I really do love those cardinals...

Happily Noted

It is humbling to see yourself in your children. Sometimes it is nauseating. Occasionally it is gratifying.

This morning as I headed downstairs to the treadmill, I heard water running and checked in the girls' bathroom. Anna had assured me that it was clean for Emily's Thanksgiving homecoming, but I hadn't inspected. I jiggled the toilet knob, and happily surveyed a very clean bathroom. Yes, she got that clean gene from me, but that was not the best part.

On the mirror were two post it notes. Upon closer inspection I saw a devotional quote and a Bible verse. My heart is full. Thanksgiving is real in me this morning. Our 16 year old daughter is imitating what she has seen me do with Scripture. Thank you Lord.

Sad Puppy

Boomer had a softball sized fatty tumor removed yesterday. It was benign, but large and growing. So today I have a very sad and dopey dog.

Starbucks

Words and Coffee...a winning combination.
Here are some wall murals I've found at Starbucks:

Signs of the Times

I do love words, so I stop and take pictures of great signs. Enjoy.

At a local hospital:

At a restaurant in Lacrosse:

In Kenosha:

At a shop in Genessee:

The Journey

This photo is of a path near our old home...a path Boomer and I walked hundreds of times. It reminds me of life's journey. While there is plenty of beauty and wonder in the here and now, we have positively no idea of what might be around the corner...
In the photo, for instance, the path leads to a man made lake - a treasure in the suburbs, and a walker's delight.

Heaven

I think that I was so excited about the sign outside this store that I couldn't hold my hand still for the inside shot. That's my story on why that second photo is so blurry...

This little piece of heaven was on the road somewhere between Boulder Colorado and Winter Park Colorado. We stopped for coffee to go, and it's a good thing we were on a tight time schedule because otherwise I might have camped there for a very long time. What an enticing sign...books, coffee and ice cream. And a peek inside just got me salivating. Books from floor to ceiling, and little reading nooks here and there, all aglow with twinkle lights! What a delightful stop.

Bird Plantings

The birds have been gardening. I pulled a million starts out of the garden (before I got smart and started baking my bird seed - an hour at 300 degrees and the spilled seed won't sprout!) but I left a couple sunflowers to see how they'd grow. And grow they did! This lovely plant, in the front entry garden, has multiple blooms and is supported by the birdfeeder. The birdfeeder belonged to my mom.

Back of a Flower Shoppe -- faces the parking lot

State Fair 2008

Wisconsin State Fair is famous for its cream puffs. In fact, I read that 382,000 of them were sold during the eleven day fair which just ended on August 10th This year eight of the eleven days broke single-day-sales cream puff records.

And so, for those of you have not experienced the cream puff line, which winds through the cream puff building, I took some photos. The lines winds by windows where you watch the puffs get filled and powdered: the best marketing scheme available. By the time you reach the check out you're pretty sure you need a six pack... (yes...they do come in six packs...)

Enjoy the photos -- they are non fat and low carb.

Oh, and the 2009 fair is scheduled for August 6-16. Plan ahead!

Scroll Down!

I'm new at this blog stuff...forgive me.
The only way I can get my slideshow to actually fit in the space allowed (without major unplanned cropping) is to have it way way down at the bottom. So, please go look! The winter scenes inspired me to review the summertime ones...of our glorious garden outside the living room window. There's also a shot of our oldest, Joe, with his 20th birthday cake, another with he and his gal on our screen porch, our girls last August, and our youngest, Jake, on his first day of school. Look CLOSELY at the bird feeder in that last one...caught a chipmunk in the act! Enjoy the kick back to summer...

Whiteout