Day by Day in Fabius

A bevy of birds

2012-01-25T12:52:00.000-05:00

They came for my birthday last week. Too bad a few Blue Jays didn't show up!

A bounty of B's awaits you at ABC Wednesday, so briskly betake yourself there.

Ancestors

2012-01-18T10:31:00.000-05:00

Addled was my feeling yesterday about what to post for A as Round 10 of ABC Wednesday began. Then anxiety set in and anchored itself in my psyche. How was I to avail myself of an adequate answer of what to post for A?

Should I absent myself from contributing, except to comment on others absolutely arresting additions? Should I simply stay abed and abjectly abandon, abnormally abdicate, any role in the start of Round 10? No! I acknowledge that is not acceptable! Is there an acquaintance, or better yet! an ancestor I could admit to Round 10? Whew, ambling around on the keyboard had once more unaddled my brain. I not only have ancestors, I have ancestors whose name begins with A -- the Archambaults of South Bend, Indiana and Saint Roche de l'Achignan, Quebec.

In this photo from circa 1905 all are gathered around the matriarch and her children and their spouses. The second person from the left in the front row is my grandmother, Eveline Archambault McCauslin. She is sitting next to her mother with the beautiful name of Chantal Desormiers Archambault who came to South Bend with her husband Jean Louis Stanislas Archambault just after the U.S. Civil War. He went to work in the Studebaker Wagon factory. My grandfather is the first person on the left in the back row, Augustus Holmes McCausland, who came from London, Ontario, first to Chicago, then to South Bend, in the late 1890's. In addition to the Archambaults and McCauslands are a Bale, a Charron, a Donahue, a Doolin, and a Landgraf.

For less ancient additions to A, please visit ABC Wednesday.

Winter Zen

2012-01-11T11:18:00.001-05:00

Contemplate a world of z-words at ABC Wednesday!

Morning rays

2012-01-06T11:33:00.001-05:00

Link up to skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday.

Sun + snow = winter at its best

2012-01-05T12:01:00.002-05:00

Yeoman's work

2012-01-04T15:04:00.001-05:00

I yearn to buck the crowd, but, yikes, I am yielding to theurge to post this photo and join the throng of mellow yellows* on ABC Wednesday.

My neighbor at 84 continues to do yeoman’s work, clearing her quarter-mile longdriveway of snow, and this week shedid it two days in a row! This is not the Yukon, but we do live in the southwest Michigan snow belt. Lakeeffect snow buries us when cold northwest winds blow over the warmer water of southern Lake Michigan.

We have one of these scoops, too. We call them Canadian snow shovels, but I don’t find reference to this nameon the web. We also have a littlesnow blower and a friend with a plow on the front of his pickup. Compared to Joanne we are wimps!

*Donovan did a lot with Colours!

Winter pond

2012-01-03T10:04:00.002-05:00

Steffe, we took your admonition to heart and didn't stay only by the fire yesterday, but wandered through the woods, oohing and aahing at the beauty of the snowfall which continued all day. And as requested, took photos.

Our pond is a vernal pond that has lasted into the winter given heavy rains these past months, so this is an unusual sight for us to see it surrounded by snow-covered fallen trees (2011 saw a bonus crop of fallen trees all around us that started with last January's ice storm, became violent with an F1 tornado in May that devastated the Hermitage and Abbey woods, and ended with soggy ground that couldn't hold onto some trees this fall).

2012-01-02T10:37:00.002-05:00

Lake effect snow has been falling since yesterday afternoon and has continued into today. A winter wonderland is perfect for a holiday when you can snuggle up at home in front of the fire and watch the snow fall through the window!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T08:37:00.002-05:00

The X-factor for ABC Wedesday

2011-12-27T13:52:00.000-05:00

Pheno gave us so many examples of X's, I felt unable to find any more and then this video came along from a friend. This is the Australian version of American Idol or Eurovision. I wish us all the courage of Emmanuel Kelly in the coming year and the peace John Lennon dreamed of.

Willow in the winter

2011-12-21T10:26:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month Willow waited to hear my wishes on which way to go, the lower pond path or the upper. That was a wonderful snowy morning, but today is woefully without snow as we wend our way to Christmas. We are witnessing fog and rain and temperatures quite above normal. So the lyrics of the Wassail Song are very appropriate to our winter weather:

Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a-wand'ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year.

Whoops, I got ahead of myself. Let Good King Wenceslas and me wish you a very Merry Christmas, first with Robert Shaw Chorale

and then wigging out with Mannheim Steamroller. Happy Holidays to all!

Many more holiday wishes await you at ABC Wednesday!

Victuals on ABC Wednesday

2011-12-13T10:27:00.001-05:00

A vintage kind of word for this week's ABC Wednesday: victuals. Defined as food fit for human consumption, three of its synonyms also start with v: viand or vittles or vivers.

Never quite certain what vibes or little voices in my head cause me to visit a particular word to visually share with you. But this vitamin-filled breakfast omelet (spinach, mushrooms, yellow peppers, one real egg and 1/2 cup egg substitute) with homemade whole wheat artisan bread (also with a butter substitute) inspired me to find the camera when Gene served it up several weeks ago. And by the way, that is V-8 juice in the glass. I know I didn't have ABC Wednesday in mind, it just look so delicious -- and it was. Gene could be a very successful victualier. Best be voracious when approaching a breakfast creation by Gene!

As some of you know, many weeks I share with you my wanderings through references to the word that is my "victim" of the week, finding amazingly that I am never really alone in using even unusual words. For example, go to the Vintage Victuals, a blog by Ellie to share old-fashioned and family recipes. Or just explore good foods and their photos at Brooke's Victuals & Libations blog. If you want someone else to good bread for you and you live in Berkeley, California, try Vital Vittles, an organic mill and bakery.

To read the fascinating history of the airlift of food to Berlin during 1948-49, called Operation Vittles, check out this excellent Wikipedia article on the background of a divided Berlin, the Soviet Blockade, and the US and British response. Keep reading and don't miss the story of Colonel Gail Halvorsen who dropped candy to the children of Berlin (they called them "raisin bombs"), an idea adopted by all the Allied pilots and called Operation Little Vittles.

I must admit to being a victim of verbomania...... Vive la verbose!!! And please visit more purveyors of vivacious V words at ABC Wednesday.

The Used Book Room

2011-12-08T11:39:00.001-05:00

Hanging among many others, this sign is from the Long Lake Food and Book Shop and one more in my series in homage to the shop's utterly unique owner, Joanne Holden. The new owner will start another store, but it could never be the same unusual place that Joanne made it. Many will miss it!

More U blogs are under construction at this week's ABC Wednesday. Utilize your time well by going there!

Once a sundog....

2011-12-02T15:31:00.001-05:00

Until I had my camera in hand, there was a sundog in the middle of this cloud fragment. Yesterday was only the second time I have seen a sundog and the first was also afternoon of a cold day. I think of them as miniature rainbows, perhaps a better description would be a section of a rainbow. The sundog, or parhelion, is ice crystals reflecting the sun.

I recommend these Wikipedia articles: Sundog and Atmospheric Optics. And for a great novel, please read Jim Harrison's Sundog

November goes out like a .....

2011-12-01T11:17:00.001-05:00

This is what walked in early yesterday morning. If March can go out like a lion, this November went out like, well, a polar bear! There are still three weeks until winter officially comes and all the signs point to a snowy one.

Giving thanks!

2011-11-29T15:31:00.001-05:00

T'is T-week on ABC Wednesday and Troy reminded us allthat time is of the essence. Last week there were allthe preparations for Thanksgiving to be taken care of and thus I found myself running out of it and never even getting an S-post up. How terrible! How could I even try to make it up? Suddenly I had a taste for more of thatwonderful gathering of family and food (the best of American traditional foods: a stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, cranberry relish and pumpkin pie)

So, I am taking you to another time and place for thissecond Thanksgiving and celebrating with you my ancestors from a photo I found again the other day. The place isstill St. Joseph County, but in Indiana this time and the date is 1939 not 2011. Gathered for the Thanksgiving celebration aremy parents, grandparents, aunt and uncles, and a bottle of Hoosier Beer. Sitting are my Uncle Willy Archambault, my father John McCauslin, and my grandmother, his mother, Marie Evelyn (Archambault) McCauslin. Standing are my other grandmother, Helen (Stuckey) Turnock, my Aunt Anna (Charron) Archambault, my grandfather August (Buck) McCauslin, my uncle Chuck Borowski (waving the Hoosier Beer above the teetotaler Aunt Anna's head) and my mother, June (Turnock) McCauslin. Since Grandma McCauslin has on her apron, I am assuming that they had all gathered at her home on Notre Dame Avenue. Missing from the photo are my Grandpa Ted Turnock and my Aunt Evy (McCauslin) Borowski. One of them must have taken the picture.

So, please take Troy's advice, waste no more time here, but take a trip with all the tantalizing T-words brought to you by the teasers of ABC Wednesday.

the glimmer of hope on a snowy morn

2011-11-18T09:44:00.001-05:00

For Skywatch Friday, another look at last Friday's first heavy snow and the glimmer of sun on a snow-filled cloud.

Keeping warm

2011-11-17T08:39:00.001-05:00

Two golden-haired ones huddle by the fireplace flames to drive away the cold and forget about the lake-effect snow flurries that hang over the day.

Ramiferous on ABC Wednesday

2011-11-16T09:32:00.001-05:00

It feels like I am rather reaching with this R-word. The recent snow and cold has reduced myrationality and rattled my brain. Sensible restraint has been relinquished and I reluctantly offer you“ramiferous,” defined as bearing branches.

Thefirst Google entry (ramiferous in botany) is from a less than recent 1832report and the next from 1920. Before I retract this recondite entry, let me retire repentantly. I do not want to leave you recumbentand so I refer you to Reggae music to revive you! And check out this story from NPR on the newest Reggae stars: Non-Jamaican Reggae: Who's Making It And Who's Buying It

Another kind of reflection: What is this place?

2011-11-13T10:35:00.001-05:00

Here is Joanne's answer to the question as she posted it in the store several years ago:

2011-11-11T13:50:00.001-05:00

Winter came with a snow that began around noon and didn't stop until a heavy, wet two inches was covering everything when we went walking this morning. The clouds were trying to part to let the sun come through and hopefully take the snow burden off the trees. It was the evergreens that were groaning under the weight since most of the deciduous trees are bare now. Luckily we did not receive the snowy blast that hit the U.S. east coast almost two weeks ago. Some have just had electricity restored this week.

To escape snow skies, please stop by Skywatch Friday.

A Flowering Quince for ABC Wednesday

2011-11-09T12:06:00.001-05:00

In order to find a contribution for Q on ABC Wednesday, I had to search through last spring's photos to find this closeup of the flowers on my quince bush. The flowers emerge generally before the leaves and make the still cold days of spring brighten with their intense hues. Today those blooms are gone and even the leaves have deserted the branches. Fall is queen today!

I can guarantee more Q's to quaff your thirst can be found at ABC Wednesday.

Apple Poster for ABC Wednesday

2011-11-02T08:54:00.002-04:00

You are inside the barn at the Spirit Springs Farm just across the county line from us in Cass County. If you seek an amazing variety of apples, this is the place to come. We have a standing order each year. The farmer who started these orchards, filled with heritage apples, is dead, but his four daughters return every fall to pick and sell the 70 + varieties of antique and unusual apples. One of my favorites is the Roxbury Russet, small and slightly tart but tasty. And I found out researching for this post that the Roxbury Russet may be the oldest variety of apple in the United States, according to the website, Orange Pippin. Click here for some interesting facts about apple production in Michigan.

By the way, speaking of P and Michigan, our new tourist industry motto is "Pure Michigan." And for more postings on the prolific P, please pop on over to ABC Wednesday. Thank you to Mrs. Nesbitt and her crew for pushing me every week into exploring our world!

But was it?

2011-10-31T10:06:00.001-04:00

The answer is no, the room was not empty, but filled with empties! A visit to the Long Lake Food and Book Shop was always quite a trip!

Official, but not officious!

2011-10-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

You are back in the Long Lake Food and Book Shop with me touring the original signage Joanne created over the years. You are about to enter the Book Room, actually several rooms that are filled with new and used books. Michael Moore looks down on us from the ceiling as Joanne cautions, "Enter at your own risk!"

Thanks for coming

2011-10-24T11:08:00.003-04:00

With Joanne's retirement in July, the Long Lake Food and Book Shop is closed and its sale is pending in November. The plans of the new owner are not clear yet, but I am pretty sure this will now be the only way to see the Joan Hector window and the "thank you for coming in" sign on the entrance/exit way. And I am certain that there will be no more of Joanne's wonderful messages scattered throughout the store. I will post more signs this week to honor this local institution and its almost-former owner who turns 84 this week.

Nimbostratus for ABC Wednesday

2011-10-19T12:57:00.000-04:00

I was feeling like a numskull. I had neglected to even negotiate my way through the N’s inthe dictionary and I was very nervous. Here it was Wednesday morning and I had no new entry for ABC Wednesday,nary a one, nada, nichevo. I hadthe notion to skip doing an N-blog, but then I really did not have the nerve tobreak the nexus with the ABC gang. That wasn’t the notoriety I craved. So stop being a nattering nabob of negativity, knuckle downand nab a dictionary, I said to myself. So I did!

And next thing I knew there was the word I needed and I evenhad a photo to illustrate it.

This nimbostratus cloud (a low dark cloud that precipitates rain, sleet, or snow) appeared one day when we were in theUpper Peninsula of Michigan just a month ago. You are viewing Lake Superior from Shelter Bay and it couldcertainly be raining over Au Train Island.

Please do not neglect checking out the numerous contributionsto N-Day on

ABC Wednesday.

Odd man, but not out!

2011-10-17T10:41:00.003-04:00

We were visiting the Little Store on the Prairie (over in Cass County northwest of us) to stock up on items they carry in bulk (flour, nuts, rice) plus cheese and grass fed meats.

In the barnyard next to the store we came across this feeding frenzy. The chickens really had no choice whether to allow a guest -- a Highland cattle whose head is bigger than they are!

Misty Morning

2011-10-12T14:21:00.000-04:00

Misty mornings are the norm here in Southwest Michigan, especially this past week of absolutely delightful Indian Summer. Temperatures in the 70's (most definitely above average) during the day and ranging from 39 to 50 at night have us all meandering about outside as much as possible.

Find many more M's to marvel over at ABC Wednesday!

Once more the Mighty Mac

2011-10-09T08:42:00.002-04:00

Yes, once more we are crossing THE bridge of Michigan between the lower and upper peninsulas, the Mackinac (pronounced mak-in-aw) Bridge, or the Mighty Mac or the Big Mac. The clouds do reflect my sadness at leaving the Upper Peninsula again, although unlike before retirement I didn't actually cry!

I recommend a Jim Harrison novel, Sun Dog, to you. It tells the story of one man from the UP who worked on the building the bridge in the 1950's.

I also recommend Louis LaVache's Sunday Bridges for more bridges to somewhere!

Animal Rescue Fund (ARF)

2011-10-08T14:04:00.000-04:00

Every October two- and four-legged friends gather at the Meyer Broadway Park in Fabius Township to help ARF raise funds to help protect the four-legged residents of St. Joseph County. Here we are strolling along on one of the trails participating in the ARF Walk-a-thon. Willow, in the lead, is the same color as the leaves on the right side of the path. She is checking up on whether I am keeping up!

Sleeping Bear sky

2011-10-07T10:06:00.000-04:00

It seems as if the lakes below are reflected on the sky and not vice versa!

This photo, looking east toward Big and Little Glen Lakes, was taken from the Lake Michigan Overlook on the Pierce Stocking Drive of the Slepping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

For more wonderful skies, please visit Skywatch Friday.

L is for lace-curtain Irish

2011-10-05T17:45:00.000-04:00

I was loathe to leave behind my first idea for L, inspiredlast week by Roger’s fine take on the Kennedys and the memories his entry for Kon ABC Wednesday brought back of growing up Irish in South Bend, Indiana. That choice was “lace-curtainIrish.”

Curious about an “official” definition, I looked it up inlots of places with lousy results, in the sense that agreement is a loser inthe debate. Is it a slur or acompliment? Only American or alsoIrish in its usage? Did it referto making lace? Or hanginglace curtains, or simply aspiring to hang lace curtains, in your windows? The American Heritage Dictionary (my favorite)says: “aspiring to or emulating the middle class.” One side of my Irish family haddefinitely moved into the middle class (Brigid Flynn married an English Protestant!) and the other side (the Irish-French Canadian union) qualified because they aspired to it.

But then I could not even find the photo of lace curtains inmy very own house! Did I have theluxury of continuing to look in old hard drives? Was I just being lazy not to come up with another of theluscious L words that would leap to mind if I just tried longer? Or would the legendary “luck of the Irish”see me through to finding what I remembered as a lovely photo which I wouldhate to lose?

Well, it is now late afternoon of ABC Wednesday. I have lavished hours on the search ofseveral back-up drives. Finally Iturned to my last hope, launched the very old Star-Max hard drive (which wasleft behind several computers ago), and, lo and behold, there it was, the photoI call “My Redon,” a late summer bouquet in front of the lace curtains, I hope it brings a smile to your faceand a lilt to your gait!

Do not linger here any longer! Lope on over to ABC Wednesday for lucid and lustrous blogson the letter, L.

Late summer day at Sleeping Bear Dunes

2011-10-02T15:52:00.001-04:00

It would be hard to find a road with more spectacular views than that of the Pierce Stocking Drive at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in northern lower Michigan. We chose to spend the night on our way home from Lake Superior at this second of the two national lakeshore parks in Michigan. This was the frosting on the cake of our week on Lake Superior!

Reflections from around the world can be found at this wonderful site: Weekend Reflections.

K is for kayak

2011-09-28T07:27:00.002-04:00

A perfect day for kayakers in the waters of Lake Superior around Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was also a perfect day for walkers like Gene and Willow and their favorite photographer, me! There was sun and warmth in the September air and a calm and colorful lake at Miners Castle Rock near the west end of the PRNL, a day to treasure.

To pick your way through more K's, please visit ABC Wednesday!

Just a week ago

2011-09-23T11:18:00.001-04:00

Sunrise over Lake Superior's AuTrain Bay last Friday as we prepared to head south at the end of a week in our favorite part of Michigan, the Upper Peninsula. It was the last day with pasties for lunch and no more whitefish at every supper for another year!

Please find more skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday.

Just joking?

2011-09-21T08:15:00.002-04:00

Driving along H01 in Alger County last week we came upon an unexpected sign in the forest, a very folkloric-looking sign. It stood out amongst the trees and vegetation of the Hiawatha National Forest and I had to stop and grab the camera while Gene and Willow waited patiently in the car. My guess was that since we were definitely in Finnish-settled land of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan the language of the sign was Finnish. What does it say?

If you have very good eyesight, you might be able to read the English in the lower right hand corner of the sign. I don't; so when we arrived home I went straight to Google Translator and was startled by the translation possibilities. See for yourself what I discovered is the translation of Harran paska puro. You can see the creek in the second and third pictures. It doesn't look quite that bad to me! OK, OK, it is a little brown.........

For more jollity, please visit ABC Wednesday!

AuTrain in the rain

2011-09-15T10:39:00.001-04:00

Since the rain is keeping us inside again today, let me show you a moody view of AuTrain Island on this cold and windy day. The moods of Superior are always spectacular!

I is for island

2011-09-14T07:22:00.000-04:00

Incredible morning on Shelter Bay with AuTrain Island silhouetted against the horizon of Lake Superior.

More I's at ABC Wednesday!

H is for hot dog

2011-09-07T15:31:00.002-04:00

No we are not still in Chicago. Chicago, its hot dogs at least, came to Three Rivers for Harmony Fest. There were not only dogs (two vendors) but also ribs and chicken barbecued in the drum right before you and finger-licking good (forget the Colonel!).

For the hottest H words around, visit this week's ABC Wednesday!

Harmony Fest

2011-09-06T12:47:00.000-04:00

An annual event in downtown Three Rivers on the Sunday before Labor Day is Harmony Fest. Main Street is closed off for a block with musicians at the south end and vendors' tents down both sides of the street to the north with food, crafts, and displays of local projects. The middle of the street has picnic tables and plenty of space for putting your lawn chair up close to the bands while still leaving room for a "dance floor."

I wish I had done this shot as a video so that you could hear and dance to the Gratitude Steel Band as these folks were! Leading off the jam were the Waseppi Bluegrass Band. After Gratitude came the blues from the Vincent Hays Project. You can catch the whole lineup and learn more about Harmony Fest at the Harmony Fest Website.

Chairs on the terrace at the Shedd

2011-09-04T12:42:00.000-04:00

Shades of black, blue and gray dominate the sunny cafe tables and chairs on the terrace of the Shedd Aquarium on downtown Chicago's Lake Michigan shoreline. And only one pigeon!

Lots more shadows to see at Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

Lake Michigan's reflection

2011-09-03T12:20:00.000-04:00

Just a week ago we were sitting in The Abbott Oceanarium* of the Shedd Aqurium on Chicago's Lake Michigan shoreline when I noticed that we could view the lake in front of us and also behind us.
When the show begins, a rather large curtain drops down to hide the windows on the lake and the dolphins come out to play and delight us.

To see more of the world reflected in a photo, please visit Weekend Reflections brought to you by James and friends.

*"which immerses you in the vibrant coastal ecosystem of beluga whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, sea otters and sea lions. You’ll also find a host of fishes and invertebrates that make their homes where freshwater flows into the ocean or where tides turn seascapes to landscapes and back again each day."

Chicago sky perspective

2011-09-02T15:22:00.000-04:00

A variety of lights in Grant Park compete with the former Sears' tower for prominence of place in the Chicago sky. It tickled my fancy to see the lights and the ivy outshine the tower....

Visit other sky views at Skywatch Friday.

G is for gargantuan and generals

2011-08-31T10:40:00.002-04:00

For G-Day on ABC Wednesday here is a photo that involves two generals and a gargantuan building in that great town, Chicago. We had gathered in Chicago for the wedding celebration of young friends on Saturday evening and had all day before the train would take us back to Fabius. So Sunday morning we strolled through Grant Park (named for U.S. President and Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant) on our way to the Shedd Aquarium and the special exhibit on Jellyfish. It was at the corner of the park at 11th Street that we passed this monument to the Civil War general, John Alexander Logan, an Illinois hero and congressman (not necessarily synonymous).

The building behind General Logan is the Aon Center. I knew it once as the Standard Oil building. To its left is the Two Prudential Plaza building and on the right our insurance money at work, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower. The Wikipedia article on the Aon Center has an interactive panoramic view of downtown Chicago in which you can see the relative height of all the city's skyscrapers. Click on any building to learn more.

For Carl Sandburg's homage to Chicago, visit Chicago Poems, while you listen to Frank Sinatra sing "Chicago, Chicago, the toddling town, I'll show you around":

Explore the world of G's beyond Chicago on ABC Wednesday.

Weird and Wild Weather

2011-08-26T11:30:00.000-04:00

Earthquakes in Virginia and Colorado, Hurricane Irene bearing down on the mainland US, two nights of fierce thunder and lightening storms here in southwest Michigan on Tuesday and Wednesday nights racing toward Canada with tornadoes in Wisconsin and Ontario -- Weird and Wild Weather indeed. These two photos were taken Wednesday night about five minutes apart and show the turmoil and strange orange light that followed the initial storm. For more skies, some definitely gentler, please visit Skywatch Friday.

nobody home

2011-08-26T07:01:00.000-04:00

I think this alien-looking creature is the case of a cicada. After watching it not move for several hours, I had the courage to touch it and found it empty. It sure fooled me!

Frogs for ABC Wednesday

2011-08-23T14:51:00.000-04:00

Seen out the screen of the kitchen window yesterday while we werefinishing the breakfast dishes was this froggy foursome. Finally, a perfect feature forF-day on ABC Wednesday!

But then I was floundering around with a flotilla of F-wordsto accompany the foto; nothing fully fit. I figured I needed to focus better on those frog fotos, and oh, for heaven's sake.......... found myself humming this old folksong, FroggieWent a Courtin’.

Did I first hear it sung by Burl Ives? (I definitely remember BlueTail Fly (done here not by Burl but by Big Bill Broonzy) and Big Rock Candy Mountain from aBurl Ives record of my parents.) After further forays into recordings of Froggie, here is the fulsomelist of recordings --folksy, funky, funny, whatever you favor! -- that I found:

Brothers Four

Elvis

Flat Duo Jets

Kermit

National Film Board of Canada

Springsteen

Tex Ritter

Uncle Pecos fromTom and Jerry

Washboard Jungle

I bet you now have your fill of Froggie, so I must ‘fess up and be furtive nolonger about my favorite version: Bob Dylan

So flee from thr friggin' frogs and fly on over to ABC Wedneday!

Eavesdropping on ABC Wednesday

2011-08-16T15:00:00.003-04:00

Ruby may not especially enjoy my eavesdropping on her while she is eating...... Her eyes and ears are expressing a warning should you get any nearer her treat, "I am not an effete nor an endentate!" "Well, excuse me!" I exclaimed, and exited most energetically.

Explore more E's on this week's ABC Wednesday.

Dancers

2011-08-10T06:52:00.003-04:00

The fairies have disappeared with the sunlight, but the mushrooms are still dancing......
For truly delicious D's, dive into ABC Wednesday this week.

the yellows of summer for ABC Wednesday

2011-07-05T11:24:00.003-04:00

Last round of ABC Wedneday, Y fell in winter, in January in fact, and I showed you the yellow glow of kitchen lights viewed from the outside on a cold winter day. Now I take You on a tour of yellows from the warm days of late June on Lake Michigan.

Did I tell you that this western shore of Michigan (the eastern shore of the lake) is called the Third Coast? The other two coasts may have their New Yorks and Montereys, but our coast has the largest collection of fresh water dunes in the world according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. Learn more about all the shores of Lake Michigan in this Wikipedia article.

EnjoY manY more Y's at ABC WednesdaY.

She never even moved!

2011-04-05T13:56:00.000-04:00

What I didn't capture was the next moment when Willow was on the ground just behind Abbey Rose in the "let's play" posture. Abbey finally looked at her, but still sat there unmoved by Willow's whimpering entreaties. Both Kali and Ruby would have given Willow a merry chase. Abbey is now 10 years old and less inclined to frolic than she once was.

Notice that green grass! It goes with yesterday's willow tree as hopeful signs of spring. Stayed tuned for more such signs.

Sign of hope

2011-04-04T10:42:00.001-04:00

Springing to life is this Willow on Pleasant Lake. As March ends, the willow branches are the first to show life and reflect hope that, yes, there really is a spring coming.

This tree has captured the imagination of many all over the world for centuries. Here are just a few! Poets have written about it, from Robert Herrick (To the Willow Tree) in the 17th century to William Carlos Williams (Willow Poem) in the 20th. And for children, there is Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, from which AA Milne took his play Toad of Toad Hall.

Great Blue Heron sees his shadow

2011-04-02T14:13:00.001-04:00

So quiet I tried to be after an earlier attempt to photograph this Great Blue Heron in the marshes southwest of Pleasant Lake caused him or her to flee. This time I succeeded with a series of shots as he fed and then sauntered slowly over to another Great Blue whom I assume was a mate.

The shadows of the bird, grasses and sedge only struck me when I cropped the original photo. I am grateful for the digital world when a photograph keeps on giving!

Enjoy more shadows and reflections this weekend by visiting this sites:
Weekend Reflections
Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday

Blue Jay in a blue sky

2011-04-01T13:37:00.000-04:00

We heard him before I could see him to take his picture. He was singing away as happy as we were with the week-long string of days with blue skies. Since you have heard me complain regularly and probably too frequently about the lack of such skies, I must now report on the lack of clouds. Bill the Channel 8 weatherman says we have had a record-setting number of sunny days this week -- five in a row. Whew! Seek more blue skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday.

P.S. You might remember that this is the same guy who looked so cranky just a few weeks ago.

Couch kitty for ABC Wednesday

2011-03-29T21:47:00.000-04:00

This kitty has a knack for finding comfort, not that I am kvetching. If only she were (k)nodding off and (k)napping on a kilim rug, my K-blog would not have gone kaflooey. But the kitty, Miss Abbey Rose, is a knock-out, isn't she!
Enjoy less kerflooey K-blogs on Mrs. N and company's ABC Wednesday. And take the time to kibitz about them in the comment section!

Mary and Joe's beautiful eggs

2011-03-28T13:22:00.000-04:00

Friday was a banner day for Mary and Joe's chickens -- all 22 laid an egg that day. This is a portion of them Mary brought me when we had tea and a confab that afternoon. I dedicate this photo to the girls at Mary and Joe's and the girls at Mrs. Nesbitt's. Nothing better tasting than eggs from free range chickens!

Reflecting shadows

2011-03-27T11:33:00.001-04:00

Two for one: Weekend Reflections and Shadow Shot Sunday! A handmade kaleidoscope on the cherry table in the eastern nook of the house gives color to the shadows of the lamp and rosemary plant
.
Yes, the sun is shining again today, and to help you understand why I seem to harp on sunny days here is a statistic from today's Kalamazoo Gazette. The average number of sunny days a year in Southwest Michigan is between 83 and 116. Yikes, nowhere near even half! Hmmmm, maybe I should count up how many times my blog has featured sun in the past year.

How we feel about a sunny day

2011-03-26T08:23:00.000-04:00

Willow and I took a long walk on this sunny day, and as I started to flag she was still roaring to go. Still no real green in those old grasses, but soon we hope. Again this morning the temperature is below 20, but it will be sunny again today!

Update on yesterday's crocus: somebody ate it last night!

Spring?

2011-03-25T09:56:00.000-04:00

Brrrrr! this crocus is saying. Despite the sun, our temperatures are starting the day much below average for this time in March. 20, not 30, or even 35, which are the averages according to the Channel 8 weatherman. So this little guy seems uncertain about opening up just yet. Yesterday, the day time temperatures made it over freezing, but just. But that was OK for a long walk in the woods with Willow. Tomorrow I will show you how she is feeling about the sunny days.

Super moon downsizing

2011-03-24T11:17:00.000-04:00

It is a week later and the super moon of 2011 in on the wane this morning. So sorry to see it downsizing. The moon will not be this close to the earth for another 18 years, 2029. Hmmmm, wonder if I will be here for it?!

For more skies from around the world, please visit Skywatch Friday.

Searching for j's on a monument

2011-03-22T21:21:00.001-04:00

There is trinity of J's juxtaposed in this monument to the French explorer, the Rene-Robert Cavalier, Sieur de La Salle -- jabot, Joseph. Jesuit. First, around LaSalle's neck is a jabot, a piece of lace or cloth, very popular in the 17th and 18th centuries. Second is Joseph, as in St. Joseph, the patron saint of New France and the name of the town where this bronze plaque is joined to a glacial boulder found in the river of the same name. And last is Jesuit. For LaSalle had left the Jesuit order to travel to New France, marry, and become famous as an explorer. About that jabot -- did he wear it as he sailed through the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes and down the St. Joseph River.

This monument is on the shores of Lake Michigan, just a couple blocks south of the St. Joseph River which divides the two towns of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor in the southwest corner of Michigan. The river also flows through Three Rivers in the county of St. Joseph where there is a monument to a Jesuit Mission in the 17th century. LaSalle continued down the St. Joseph River to what is now South Bend, Indiana, on his way to the Kankakee River and the Mississippi.

Find more jovial, jaundiced and/or juicy explorations of J at ABC Wednesday.

early days of Spring

2011-03-21T13:34:00.000-04:00

The swans are back in the marshes that line Coon Hollow Road. The red branches behind the grasses are either brambles or red dogwood (osier) beginning to come alive for another season.

Big Moon Shadow

2011-03-20T13:21:00.000-04:00

Our big moon night was a little too hazy with thin clouds hanging around, so here it is with a shadow or two to set it off. The night before it was dazzling, but I thought I would wait for the full-moon version. Mistake! First day of Spring resolution: no more camera-procrastination.

For much more intriguing shadows, visit Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

a good morning in March

2011-03-18T09:27:00.000-04:00

For more good skies, please visit Skywatch Friday.

An acquired or possibly gene-based taste -- the Irish pipes

2011-03-17T11:54:00.003-04:00

More music for you -- the only way to celebrate St. Patrick's day. This is a video about the Irish pipes (Uilleann pipes) and one of the most famous pipers, Finbar Furey, with views of the west coast of Ireland and a visit with a pipes maker.

And here is my favorite Irish group, from my own hometown of South Bend, Indiana, Kennedy's Kitchen. This is a promotional video, but it introduces you to the members and gives you a sample of their wonderful music-making. One afternoon when they were performing at the Carnegie Center in Three Rivers, I did my knees in doing the jig to their great playing.

Ireland and Irish music for ABC Wednesday

2011-03-16T00:01:00.004-04:00

Indulge me, please! It is but an instant before THE celebration and the imbibing of certain liquids called whiskey in Gaelic (translated, the water of life) can be initiated. And I invite you to include Irish music in your day-- dance and sing!

A few of my favorites:
First, the incomparable Sinead O'Connor and The Chieftains sing the Foggy Dew about the Irish Easter Rebellion of 1916.

Second, at my father's wake, we danced jigs and sang this song several times -- Van Morrison sings Marie's Wedding live in Scotland in 1988, but you can find it also on the Irish Heartbeat from The Chieftains and Van Morrison.

And from the same Irish Heartbeat album, the Star of the County Down

And from the group who brought Irish music to America in the 1960's, here are the Clancy Brothers singing Finnegan's Wake, a particular favorite of mine, the source of James Joyce's title of the same name.

One in, one out

2011-03-14T14:16:00.001-04:00

The cardinal about to land and the house finch off to the nearby bush. Still working to catch my birds in flight, with a camera.

Lake MIchigan ice on Shadow Shot Sunday

2011-03-13T09:28:00.001-04:00

An amazing scene is a Lake Michigan beach when the winter wind and cold has sculpted massive structures of sand and ice where once you lounged on your beach towel. So we drove the 45 miles from home to St. Joseph on Friday to see them. I was certain given the amount of ice we still had that there would be a shore filled with these sculptures. This is it -- the ONE remaining example with the wreckage of the sand/snow fence beginning to emerge at Silver Beach. The front loaders were working to move the migrated sands from the parking lots and road along the beach back in place for summer.

Visit warmer shadows on Shadow Shot Sunday.

March is a green month, particularly on the ground

2011-03-12T09:36:00.000-05:00

Moisture, either in the form of rain or snow and lots of it, has brought green back to our woods. The light snow was melting quickly and turning to water almost before our eyes at the base of a tree where the moss was "blooming." We did this walk twice yesterday so I could bring my camera the second time for close ups of these hints of spring. However, the path up the hill facing north is still impossible to climb because of ice.

sky watchers

2011-03-11T07:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's late winter was a somber gray. This view of the angles of the brown roof struck me as symbolic of the day. With only very small white flakes of snow falling, the satellite dish and tired, old sunflowers reach for the sky, seeking more lively scenes and the return of color to the northern world.

For skies of more color and life, go to Skywatch Friday!

Who is that masked man?

2011-03-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

This was last Sunday when the sun was shining bright -- not today when the snows are flying again but not too seriously. The snow and ice are still clinging to the north slopes and the shaded areas of the woods. Two pathways can only be tread, still, in yak-traks-covered boots.

So birdwatching is de rigueur from the kitchen windows. I am trying to catch the birds in flight but am also coming up with little tableaux like this inquiring house finch and cardinal. Is that sun flower seed shell falling from his beak?

Yesterday Willow and I tried to follow the cry of the Sand Hill Crane. He or she was across the road, up a hill, and try as we might, he kept himself unseen but heard, oh so close. We came back home and heard him once more, and then, could see him flying overhead and to the south. No photos of him, just the sky where he had been!

Harbinger of Spring! for ABC Wednesday

2011-03-09T00:00:00.005-05:00

Because of this harbinger of spring, the Snow Drop, my heart is no longer heavy! I am able to horse around on this ABC Wednesday and cry, “hip, hip, hooray!” as, here in the northern hinterlands, we head out of winter.

Homonyms, both harry (and hairy like Hobbit feet), hurry around in my head. Honey dew melons and honey-do lists. The hoary question, “how humorous need I be to hit your humerus?” So many aitches hurtle, hustle, hover and holler their way through me until I am high on haitches!

Heavens to Betsy! hells bells! my mother was often heard to say, depending on how harried we five had made her feel. Heavens to Murgatroyd! said Snagglepuss in the 1960’s cartoon. Gilbert and Sullivan used the name many times in their 1880’s play, Ruddigore. (see http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/heavens-to-murgatroyd.html). Holy Toledo! how this H-search leaves me feeling hassled! A hideous horde of haitches have and hold hostage my brain! Hoist on my own petard!

Before I hide out, can you handle more H's? How about horns from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, A Taste of Honey?*

And in Hamburg, the Beatles version of Taste of Honey was most popular! Here it is from the 1963 album, Please Please Me.

* a little bit of history: Taste of Honey was on the 1965 album Whipped Cream and Other Delights, my favorite dance party music in those years. The title song, Whipped Cream, was written by the great New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint under the pseudonym of Naomi Neville.

Welcome!

2011-03-08T15:43:00.001-05:00

The house finches are so happy with the milder weather!
According to scientists, the total House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) population across North America is between 267 million and 1.4 billion individuals. Whew! Once confined to the western United States and Mexico, they were sold in Long Island in 1940 as "Hollywood Finches" and guess what? They escaped their cages! Learn lots more at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Sunday Shadow Shot

2011-03-06T09:33:00.000-05:00

The sun came out today warming everything in its path, in or out. Here it highlights a cherry chair made by local Amish and Mennonite craftsman. The cherry desk is much older having been made by my great-great-uncle, Henry Stuckey.

For more light and shadows, visit Sunday Shadow Shot.

Blown ice!

2011-03-05T13:49:00.001-05:00

The ice is gone, except on the north sides, and more than half of the snow has disappeared. The first Snow Drops are up, but I am still fascinated by the ice and the many forms it took over the last two weeks.

Seeking summer skies on Skywatch Friday

2011-03-04T11:14:00.000-05:00

And I can only find them in old photos or in this wonderful watercolor by Kalamazoo artist, Susan Badger. This is a photo from the exhibit at the Carnegie Center for the Arts in 2007 of her experiments with small works done on site in northern Michigan. Exquisite works that help me dream of sunny skies! For other skies filled with a sun that is not a dream, visit Skywatch Friday.

Goodness, gracious great Golden dog!

2011-03-01T22:03:00.015-05:00

Here is the true gem of this blog for G-day, Willow, aka Lady GG (for great girl or good girl or goofy girl) and also Gold Feather with whom we have been bonded for just over a year now. We are grateful to the Great Lakes Golden Retriever Rescue group and the patron saints of Goldens in St. Joseph County, Lynda and Tom Molter, for granting us the gift of her company.

Now grant me leave to give in to the temptation for doggerel (no offense, Willow) with which I have been greeting you during Round 8 of Mrs. Nesbitt's ABC Wednesday!

First, gather glittering words to build
the books of Ginsberg and Graham Greene,
also Germaine Greer, the so-glib guild.

They grant us visions of glamorous gams,
a gaffer in galoshes and the gentle geranium
midst gruff goats and gamboling lambs.

Gravy and gulumki help grow our girth,
Garbage and gardens galvanize the earth.

What guarantees this grim verse mirth?
Gadzooks! how much is a gag order worth!

And in case you are not already grumbling, here is Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Fire from my goofy teenage years when we gathered at the 5 & 10 to greet the latest rock and rollers who are now old geezers!

Jerry Lee Lewis - Great balls of fire
Uploaded by rocky91. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

my favorite part of town for CDP March Theme Day

2011-03-01T09:29:00.001-05:00

We are in the city of Three Rivers just across the street from Fabius Township and you are in my favorite part of downtown. Smiling at us is the Carnegie Caterpillar who inhabits the grasses on the north side of the Carnegie Center for the Arts. The caterpillar and the outdoor gallery were created by children in the Summer Full of Art program in 2006.

The Carnegie library was built in 1904 and became an arts center in 1980 when a local group of women led the fight to keep the old library building from being demolished. The radiators are from another historic building in downtown, the Riviera Theater, which was being renovated and the old steam radiators had to go. The art teachers, Kathy Bingaman and Kim Glessner, with their students recycled them into this marvelous creation. Another class came up with the gallery showing the elements of art.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

One more ice shot!

2011-02-28T14:21:00.002-05:00

Just yesterday, a week after the ice storm, this much ice remains on the Japanese downspout despite the rising temperatures. The trees are mostly bare but the ground beneath them still carries shards of the ice that coated them completely. Why does water that doesn't flow anymore so fascinate?

Last night we had another thunder and lightening storm and pouring rain, but the temperatures hovered around 32 and today the snow left on the ground, and there is still several inches of snow on the ground despite the rain, is brittle and frozen. Tough to walk on now if we had tramped down the snow on previous walks. The driveway is just simply a rough ice rink! It is the last day of February, a month that was like January in its winter wallop, and hopes are high for March to bring a thaw. Even the lovers of winter are now desperate for a respite!

End of the ice for Shadow Sunday

2011-02-27T12:31:00.000-05:00

The snow under the pines exhibits the dents of falling pieces of ice as the "weeping" pines lose their cover of frozen water.

More shadows appear on Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

Last of the ice on Skywatch Friday

2011-02-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

Yes, the sky in southwest Michigan is blue today -- at least, it was this bright at noon today, although now at two in the afternoon the clouds are back. So it goes.

The sun was working its will on the ice remaining on our trees. In trying to capture the falling ice, I chanced to catch another cardinal. I thought this additional posting featuring a cardinal would satisfy their hurt feeling, but they are now clamoring for header status like the bluejay!

Please seek out more skies from the around the world on this week's Skywatch Friday.

Equal time for the Cardinals

2011-02-24T15:53:00.000-05:00

These cardinals saw that bluejay in the header and staged a sit in for equal time. So here they are: fire in midst of ice!

Residing in ice

2011-02-23T16:34:00.000-05:00

A closeup of the Red Pine between the houses encased in ice. It is "weeping" like the White Pine in the front yard and blocking the walk. We have had to forge new pathways in many places since Sunday night's ice storm.

In fine fettle for ABC Wednesday

2011-02-22T12:40:00.003-05:00

Fixin’ to find a seed or two to keep themselves fit as a fiddle, my feathery friends flit about the feeder. Finally, in a flurry of feathers, they fly off to fresher venues to further their fight for winter survival. P.S. I think this is a female finch.

Fiddlin' around on the net to find out more about the idiom, “fit as a fiddle,” I discovered that it was a song in the movie Singing in the Rain. And then found this You Tube video of Gregory Hines and Steve Martin singing and dancing their way through it. Fabulous!
And for finer and definitely refined f-blogs, please visit my unfeathered friends at ABC Wednesday.

Yikes! now an Ice storm!

2011-02-21T14:13:00.000-05:00

There in the middle is a white pine who has turned into a weeping pine from the the weight of the ice that came last night. Electricity has been out in SW Michigan for thousands. We are some of the lucky ones whose power is back -- on again at noon after going out at about 3 am last night. It was a cold dark world we awoke to, but beautiful once it was light out. Unfortunately there are many broken tree limbs all around us.

Ready for summer

2011-02-20T10:17:00.002-05:00

A pale winter sun is setting, and highlighting these two empty Adirondack chairs on the shores of Pleasant Lake. Most but all of the snow cover is diminishing in the 40 degree temperatures of the last few days, there were still brave, or nutty, ice fisherman on the lake, but no one prepared to sit themselves in the setting sun.

For shots of shadows, please visit the intrepid photographer "Hey Harriet."

Cloud travels for Skywatch Friday

2011-02-18T09:53:00.002-05:00

Imagine a cloud traveler nestled in the warm, bright billows,
Wandering past the moon and sun, wondering at the worlds beyond.

So swept up in golden clouds, all words fade into stardust.

Find other sky dreams at Skywatch Friday. There Klaus has shared a magical sunrise with us.

the amaryllis that could!

2011-02-17T10:36:00.000-05:00

This Picotee Amaryllis has taken its sweet time to bloom. Another Picotee, purchased from the same grower at the same time (in October), bloomed just before Christmas, while this beauty just opened last Sunday! Now it is the ray of light against a gray day.

A fan of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show

2011-02-16T12:37:00.000-05:00

Here's Willow watching the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show last night. She would leave her post when a commercial came on (just like her human friends), unless the commercial had dogs in it. She took the elimination of the Golden Retriever in stride, but took to her couch when those yippy little terriers came on!

We are celebrating the 1st anniversary of her adopting us today.

Egregious

2011-02-15T15:58:00.002-05:00

Egregious (how many pins can dance on a baseball hat?)

More egregious (and why does a piece of cheese dance on its top?)

most egregious (and what is that noise those angels are making?)

You see before you the extravagant accoutrements of an excited fan, an esteemed friend. So I fervently hope this E-Day entry does not ensue in enmity of any sort between us. Why did I bypass exemplify or epitomize or a simple excellent for this extraordinary display of team loyalty? Will I end up paying for this; might I eventually have regrets?

I will admit: even I was excited for the Packers, once they exited the Bears from the National Football League playoffs. Super Bowl Sunday is a great excuse for a party and we had a very enjoyable one. So why I have now engaged in coupling this ecstatic Packer fan's accoutrements with this particular adjective? Because I love this word and it was the first e-word to enter my noggin as I worked on exactly what to do for E-Day Egregious is wonderful to the ear as it glides off your tongue. Then the problem became how to exemplify it...........

Eureka! a Packers cap and cheese horn! I am afraid the definition fits exactly and excellently. Yes, we see the conspicuous in these photos, and, especially, the conspicuously bad. But who has ever expounded on the good taste of football fans?!

P.S. Webster also gives “distinguished” as an archaic form of meaning -- an egregious error when applied in this case!

I extend an invitation to you to visit other E-Day habitues at ABC Wednesday.

Revealed by the thaw

2011-02-14T13:46:00.000-05:00

Temperatures in the 40's for the last two days are bringing buried items to light, like these seed pods of the money plant. Willow and I tramped through the lower woods today, slipping and sliding in the wet but still deep snow. There are deep deer tracks everywhere and we followed their lead, for the most part.

Contrasts

2011-02-13T08:53:00.002-05:00

It was a magical day in the woods. Sun-sparkled snow contrasted with densely-dark tree shadows. Going forward for more magic was hampered by deep snow! Find more scenes with shadows on Hey Harriet's Shadow Shot Sunday.

Today's sunny vistas

2011-02-12T15:25:00.000-05:00

It is time to stop the complaints about gray days! This is today and the sunny vista from the top of the hill looking west. We actually got into the woods today with Gene blazing a trail on snowshoes and me tramping down snow behind him. It was hard work except for Willow who was everywhere, of course, delighted to be off the driveway for the first time in a week and a half. It is amazing how little the snow has compacted, but that will probably change this week with temperatures in the upper thirties -- a veritable heat wave for us.

Typical winter sky, almost

2011-02-11T14:41:00.000-05:00

Typical in that it is snowing and the skies are gray. Not typical in that the sun is also almost out. You will be happy to learn that this weeklong lament for the winter sun is over.

Happy Skywatch Friday from Michigan!

Reality

2011-02-09T15:53:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was dreaming, today is reality........... However, I must admit the drifts of snow in the sunshine are beautiful, too! The tree trunks mirror yesterday's sail masts, but no one is strolling through this snow. Willow and I have been kept from the paths in the woods for a week now and we long for a thaw.

Dreaming

2011-02-08T15:17:00.001-05:00

Dazzling sunny day, dunes behind you........ definitely perfect for dawdling on the sandy beach with your dog or drifting on the calm water in your dingy, be it catamaran or kayak.......... Or simply dozing in your beach chair after dashing, splashing, your way into a great lake........ Oh, drat, my vision is damaged! It is but a dastardly day dream on a dreary winter day..........

For more or less dreamy words beginning with D, please visit ABC Wednesday where the denizens are determined to delight you each week.

Sun and shadow

2011-02-06T08:36:00.001-05:00

Our card table in the nook is warmed by the sun and wood of the bright light of a February day in winter. My cousin Tom rescued this old cherry table at least 25 years ago and restored it to its present beauty. It began its second life as a card table in my parents' living room. That tradition continues with cribbage, canasta, and Russian Bank mornings after breakfast. Retirement is a tough life.

After the blizzard

2011-02-05T13:00:00.000-05:00

She came by with her mother to check out the cedar trees right next to the kitchen windows. The snow cover for the last month plus the addition of the deeper snow during Tuesday's blizzard has made finding food difficult for the deer. But I don't think she looks too skinny. At our neighbor's the deer are helping themselves to the sunflower seeds set out for the deer. Another friend feed them corn. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources advises not feeding the deer, but it is hard to follow that advice in this severe weather.

Morning moon

2011-02-04T11:58:00.000-05:00

This simply beautiful waning moon brought me joy on a cold January 31st morning!

More skies await you at Skywatch Friday.