~ Terry's Life ~

Moving On...

2012-05-22T09:51:00.000-04:00

As I am sure that most of you already know, my daughter passed away April 26th. It was quite a shock, and now the family is going through the grieving process and trying to get on in their every day life. I think most of us walked around in a zombie like state for a couple of weeks, I know I did. She was such a wonderful person and will be forever missed.

I have finally gotten back into my gardening. We had planted a white flowering Crab Apple tree on the last day that Connie was alive and my husband said we needed to name it 'Connie's Tree'. The swing she gave to me as a Mother's Day/Birthday present many years ago sits near the tree where I can sit and think of her. Ted got me an angel this Mother's Day that we set beneath the tree and I will plant a few flowers there. I know I will always feel close to her there.

She looks young and at peace, as I'm sure Connie is.

I went to my Quilt Guild meeting and saw a wonderful quilt show and had a great luncheon. I signed up to take a star table runner class in June.

On Mother's Day we had an early dinner at the Kilkare Inn, with 4 of our friends. It was a nice day.

I have also kept busy at a friends house helping her sort out everything in her home and we are having a garage sale for her this weekend.

So I am moving on, saddened by my loss, but grateful I had her in my life and knowing she is at peace. I love you Connie.

Spring Has Sprung!

2012-04-14T14:27:00.000-04:00

The first Tulips are opening.

Daffodils are blooming.

Nesting material is disappearing, so nests are being made.

We had our first outdoor fire in the yard

Angel is happily chewing on her first stick.

Life is good!

Ted and I had lunch at a restaurant on the river yesterday. It was yummy. He has been busy again with real estate, I have been busy getting the yard cleaned up, and doing my quilting. Ted has had a few rides on the motorcycle but it has been too chilly yet for me. My neighbor and I have been going out birding quite a bit. I saw a lot of different birds this year to add to my list.

The bird club went to the Ark to see all of the rescued critters and birds and watched them being fed. Those Red Tailed Hawks are beautiful. Found out that those large owls have 250 lbs. of pressure in their claws and can break your arm. Ouch!

I haven't been working on my ancestry for awhile and the other day I was contacted by a gentleman that is a direct ancestor of part of my family tree. Pretty neat! So that has spurred me to get back to work on it again.

Which way do I turn? What do I do? The garden is calling to me, the woods and the birds are calling to me, I see my sewing sitting there waiting for me, and of course the computer is always a temptation. Not enough hours in a day! Which one will win out today? Well, as you can see, I'm on the computer. But I am going to go out and sit in the sun for a bit, and then I am going to sew for a bit. Tonight I will get back on the computer. So I may do it all!!!!

Have a great one every body. Terry

Easter Blessings

2012-04-08T12:03:00.004-04:00

Wishing all of my family and friends a truly wonderful and blessed Easter.

Terry

Weather and such...

2012-03-23T11:29:00.000-04:00

Hello to my family and friends.

First, you had to notice I changed my page look, but not sure I will keep it or not! I'm going to play around with it some more.

The weather has been VERY nice the past few weeks, high 70's and sunny. Yesterday we started getting the rain and cooler temps, rain expected for the next couple of days. Also going to cool down to the 50's - 60's. Well, it's that time of the year. I am hoping it will be half way decent Saturday. I want to go to Hartwick Pines for the Maple Syrup Festival. The thought of maple candy is driving me nuts!

The tulips have been up and should bloom within a week (some of them, others bloom a little later). Iris's are popping up and there are buds on just about everything. Yeah Spring! We also have a lot of brown oak leaves that are now falling off the trees so it looks like Autumn!

At the garden club meeting there was a speaker on growing Orchids. I'm not into that but it was interesting.

I have gone out birding a few times, a lot of the winter migratory birds are coming back. I went to Reedsburg Dam and saw Ducks I have never seen before. There were over 100 Redhead Ducks that end up further northwest of here. First time I have seen one. Check out my bird blog page for neat photos.

Had fun at the quilt guild meeting. We donated quilts to be sent to Alabama for the tornado victims. This is a wall hanging that I was working on. It is now finished and hanging up.

Since it was cool yesterday I made a pot of turkey soup, and a slow cooker full of stew. I feel more like cooking when it is cold outside.

On another note, I have a niece that is only 50 years old (and has a 16 yr old son) that has severe cancer. A large mass in her colon which will be operated on next week, and I believe there is some in other areas. Please keep her, and the family, in prayer. Thank you.

Today I will do the usual laundry and picking up around the house, and then do some quilting. Hope that all of you have a great weekend.

Terry

A Winter Drive

2012-03-06T15:12:00.003-05:00

I went to town today to get a few groceries and some photos developed. Made a stop at the bank and headed home. I was proud of myself for getting my errands done so quickly and decided to take a side trip to the river on my way home. I had my camera with me and wanted to take a few pictures.

Lansing road takes you past some homes and eventually turns into a gravel road. A little further and you come to The Ausable River which twists and turns all over between Houghton and Higgins Lakes. You can't fish off the bridge there during spawning season, but other wise you usually find a little fishing going on. (In good weather of course) The water is still mostly open as the river has quite a flow. I snapped a few pictures and headed further up the road. It is usually a well traveled road even though it is gravel but there has been so much snow that there was only enough room for 1 car to get through. Well I couldn't turn around, so I had to keep going, eventually it would come out on M18.

Ohhhhhh, there were some deer ahead, grabbed my camera and managed to get two shots off before I saw something I didn't want to see. A truck coming in the opposite direction! We both just sat there and I'm saying to myself, come on buddy, you're the one with the truck...go around me! Well, he wasn't moving so I tried backing up where I saw some previous tracks to try and get out of his way. I'm sure you know what happened. He went on by and I got stuck. Luckily for me he waited to see if I could get going. He tried pushing me and finally decided he would go home and get a tow rope. He finally got me out, but what really got me was what he said....."You should have let me go around you, I could have got through!" I said, "Well I waited but you just sat there,sooo." But anyway I got out and home safe.

I won't use that road again before summer, and wait until hubby hears I got stuck again. I'm used to driving my Jeep (which I don't have any more, but I still want to do the things I did when I had it! I'm a nature girl and I want to be out in nature, what can I say?????

You can click on any picture to enlarge it. Terry

March - Winter!

2012-03-03T15:36:00.002-05:00

MARCH HAS COME IN LIKE A LION!!! On top of what we already had, we got an additional 8" of heavy snow overnight. Today we have another 3-4". I have shoveled the porches and sidewalks twice and Ted has snow blown the driveway 2 times. And the bottom part a third time after the snow plow went by. We also have to do the road in front of the mailbox. That was so bad from the plows that he had a guy with a plow on his truck clear that out for us. Whew!

The birds are very hungry! I always have to shovel the snow away under the feeders so they can get at the seed that falls to the ground, and some, like the Doves like to ground feed. So I have 3 areas that I clear for that! But it's worth it, lots of activity at my feeders and I take a lot of photos.

And here is Ted out doing the driveway, you can see how much snow we have!

And our garage roof has collected so much snow we have to get someone out here to clean it off. House too I guess. The fish are cozy in their little pond with the heater keeping it from freezing. Hope you all stay warm and safe.

LEAP

2012-02-25T15:27:00.001-05:00

Strange title, but I had to post a photo for Foto Finish over on Cat Patches. The category was leap. I couldn't get a link to work from Flicker, so I am posting the photo on my blog and linking from here.

Anyway, the photo is of my 6 year old calico cat Mattie when she was a tiny kitty. We don't know how she did it but she got up in the rafters of the garage. It must have been some big leaps up, or it could have been a really big leap down. Glad we got her safely back to ground level.

The Month Of Love

2012-02-07T13:16:00.001-05:00

February is the month that everyone starts thinking about their Sweethearts. Why? Because in February we celebrate Valentine's Day. Cards, candy, flowers, restaurants, theaters etc. all draw our attention to the day of special remembrance to our special love. They make big money on this holiday, and some may object to the commercialism of it all. Which is true, but it is also very romantic. What lady or gentleman doesn't glow in the attention of the one they love?

Even in grade school we had Valentine's Day parties, and you surely hoped you would get a valentine from that little boy or girl you had your eye on! When we grew up wouldn't be upset if our significant other forgot to get us something for the big day? Oh my, no pressure here is there?

I think there has to be some degree of romance in each of us and we should use it however and whenever we can through out the year, not just on Valentine's Day.

My husband is a very sentimental romantic. He is always thinking of me and often stops to get me a candy bar or some chocolate covered raisins. One time he was out listing a property and saw this big pudding stone in the yard. He talked to the owner about it and he brought it home for me. You see I love stones and rocks (you should see my yard) and even when he was working he thought about me. I'm a very lucky woman.

We got married on Valentine's Day! It will be 9 years next week, so of course this day is special for us. I'm not sure what we are going to do to celebrate this year, I'm thinking of a nice dinner and a show. There are a lot of good movies out right now and it's something we both enjoy.

For all of you sweethearts and lovers out there, I hope you plan something special to celebrate your love! Have a wonderful February and a Special Valentines Day to all of you.

And if you find yourself currently unattached or lonely....do yourself a favor and treat yourself or a friend to a special day. Because YOU are special too!

Terry

Another Winter Day!

2012-01-28T13:33:00.000-05:00

I like treats any time and any where, but when I spend more time indoors during the cold winter months, I like them even more!

I've been drinking a lot of cinnamon latte's lately ... uhmmm so good. I had an urge to bake something the other night about 8:30. What a crazy time to start baking, but I made some oatmeal crisp cookies. They seem to be almost all butter and sugar and melt in your mouth. Not good nutrition, but good!

We've been getting a little more snow so I went out this morning and shoveled the sidewalk and cleared where I put birdseed. I spend a little time every day watching the birds and taking pictures.

My computer is about 7-8 years old (maybe I mentioned this before), and it runs very slow. The computer guy said there is nothing wrong with it except needing more memory. It doesn't keep up with the speed and programs of what's online today. I have waited almost 2 weeks and he finally got the part and is coming over later today to install it. Sooooo glad, and hope it really solves the problem. As most of you have probably figured out by now, I spend a lot of time online. I love having a computer!

Have a wonderful day everyone

Terry

We Got Snow!

2012-01-17T14:22:00.002-05:00

First we got 10"! A few days later we got a light rain! Now it is snowing again and so far we have another 4-5". Waiting for Ted to come home and snow blow, what I shoveled is already covered up! Wiped off the bird feeders and sat inside to watch the birds.

Pictures say it all!

Backyard Birders

2012-01-13T17:52:00.000-05:00

The ladies of The Backyard Birders will be participating in the February bird count as well as thousands of others across the United States. You are welcome to join us, it is fun and easy. Click on the button below to go to the Bird Count home page for more information. Hope you will join us.

Our group met yesterday at Mary's home which has a lovely view of the river. Of course she feeds the birds and she and her husband put corn out for the ducks. They are lucky enough to see several different species through out the year, but right now the Mallards are hanging out at her house. They must feed them well because they certainly look healthy and well fed. We had our usual good time together and for next month we each are going to research a different bird and report on it. Below are some photos I took.

For all of you that got snow, be careful out there. Until next time....Terry

My Latest Finds

2012-01-04T12:02:00.000-05:00

Morning all,

Yesterday was 10 degrees but the sun was warm and the wind had stopped and it wasn't bad out at all. My neighbor Linda and I made the rounds of all the stores we needed to go to, and some we wanted to browse around in! One is an Ebay store, the owner puts things on Ebay for you, and there are lots of things in the store you can buy.

I found two cookie cutters that I will send to my sister who collects them. I also found this very interesting Vintage Vase. It said Akro Agate Slag Glass. I'm hooked on stones so I thought maybe there was agate in the glass. Well I was wrong. Looking it up I found that Akro Agate was the name of a glass company that started in 1914 making glass marbles mixed with color. Remember the marbles called 'aggies'? This is where they came from. Then they went on to make other products. The slag glass was made by mixing slag from the steel mill into milky glass and getting a mix of different colors. I never knew of any of this, I'm not into antiques and such. I just buy things I like. But I certainly learned something new and I now have this neat slag glass vintage vase.

There is also a lady that sells rocks, minerals and jewelry and I got another piece to add to my collection. It is Aragonite, which is another form of calcite. They are carbonates. It comes in 2 types, the one I have is a crystal cluster from a Moroccan lava bed where it formed at high pressure and low temps.

So I had a good day. Today I have a few sewing lady friends coming over so I better go get ready! Have a great day.

A Pet's Christmas!

2012-01-01T16:26:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas morning and I'm hiding out with the ducks! Do you think I fit in?

I think the family is up now and the dog is looking for her present. Think I'll get closer for a better look!

Yep, Angel found her present. Wonder what it is.

She's getting it open, looks like something green in there.

Oh yeah! A soft football, wonder what she'll do with that?

OMG! No! I can't belive it...

She pulled all of the stuffing out of it! Now how is she going to play with it? DOGS!!!!!

Now I'm a cat, I'm much smarter than a dog! I got a new mouse for Christmas and I'm going to save it for later and just play in the wrapping paper for awhile.

A Luncheon & Family Visit

2011-12-23T20:48:00.000-05:00

     Last Monday was our Garden Club Christmas Luncheon which was held at Timbers On The River. It was served buffet style with good food. We held a short meeting and then we were entertained by the United Methodist Bell Ringers. It was really good, they played several Christmas songs with the bells and then a couple of songs with chimes.

     Today (Friday) we drove to my stepson's home to see him and his wife Mandy and our 2 grandchildren. We snacked on cheese, sausage and crackers, yummy, and had a nice visit. We got to see the 2 new dogs that they got at the shelter, really nice pups. The kids were having fun and I don't believe that I didn't get a picture of Delaney. I do have one of Julian "Trying To Fill Grandpa's Shoes!" And one of Grandpa and one of the new dogs checking each other out.

     We had dinner later at Bob Evans and I got their delicious chicken pot pie! Below are the photos.

Free Yarn GIve Away!

2011-12-21T10:20:00.000-05:00

For all of my Crochet friends I thought you would be interested in a yarn give away over at AllFreeCrochet. Red Heart Yarn is giving away 3 skeins of Red Heart Yarn With Love. Enter here . It's nice yarn, good luck!

I just made myself a pair of slippers. Nice foot warmers, but beware, a little slippery on bare floors. lol!

Have a great day everyone.

Food, Food, Food!

2011-12-15T21:07:00.000-05:00

   The time seems to have flown by since my trip to see my sister. Before I knew it, it was Thanksgiving. Ted and I had a quiet day and went out for dinner. Soon after that I was getting out a few Christmas decorations. We had a nice warm day to go out and get our Christmas tree which is now up and decorated. I also got a few cookies made and put away for when friends drop in.

   And now December is moving swiftly by! The first weekend our friends Carol and Ed had a lovely Christmas party, the second weekend our friends Rick ad Jan had their annual Open House. Always good company and good food with friends!

   On the 8th The Backyard Birders got together for our Christmas meeting. Our little group of ladies is so much fun. We got nice gifts from each other had MORE good food.

   On the 14th the Quilt Guild had their Christmas luncheon. MORE good food, caroling, games, and gift exchange. Another great bunch of ladies. There were about 40 of us there.

   On the 19th is the Garden Club Luncheon so we will be eating MORE food, and having good fellowship as well.

   One day around Christmas we will drive down to Flint, (2hour Drive) to see some family and Grand Kids. We will be having lunch there. I am not even going to mention MORE food!

   I'm not sure yet our exact plans for Christmas Day. Maybe we will have some friends over for dinner as the rest of our children are out of state. It is so different when your children are grown up and gone.

   I have been busy working on some home made gifts, and I think I am done with what shopping I had to do. Most of it has been mailed out. Today I made fudge to add to one of my gifts.

   So I guess that pretty much brings me up to date with what I have been doing. Sure hope all of you are managing with all of the busyness of the season. I know we cut down on our spending this year, but I really feel sorry for families that have been out of work, and those with little children. They certainly will not be having a very merry Christmas. I certainly hope things change soon with our economy.

   Wishing all of you a wonderful holiday and a very merry Christmas. Good health and happiness to you my family and friends!

TREE HUNTING - THIS WASN'T THE ONE!

BIRD TREE IN KITCHEN

THE CHRISTMAS TREE

MARY, RITA AND ELEANOR - BIRD CLUB

LINDA, ELEANOR AND BARB

BARB AND RUTH

2011-11-29T16:26:00.013-05:00

Hello again family and friends,
I have been quite busy lately. In October I spent 3 weeks with my sister in South Dakota. We hadn't seen each other in a few years, and at our age you don't want too much time to go by without seeing each other! Had a great time seeing some of her things, helping in her gardens, going out for lunch and a little shopping, and frosting sugar cookies. Got to know her little dog which is a Maltese and very cute. This is my sister and I and Missy.

A lot of beautiful scenery, she lives in a canyon in the Black Hills and I love it! Here are a few pics of the area, and spots where I went rock hunting.

Since I've been home I have finished a winter wall hanging that I hung in my living room.

These are a lot of fun to do and I will be looking for one I like to do for spring.

     The weather is off and on but getting to be more off as time goes by. Very chilly and windy here today and we expect to soon have some rain and snow. The other day it was sunny and near 50 so we went out and got our Christmas tree. It is sitting in a pail of water in the yard for now. But soon it will be lighting up the living room with its' cherry glow. My husband thinks I'm nuts, but I still love hunting for a tree I like. He would just take any tree...NOT ME!!!!!

     We had a quiet Thanksgiving and went out for dinner. No working in the kitchen, no mess to clean up and no leftovers. Surprisingly I didn't even miss them. Hope you all had a wonderful day.

     An now Christmas will soon be upon us. We are going to be making that simple this year as well, but as of now I am planning on making some cookies and making Christmas dinner.

     Keep warm and stay healthy as we start getting that colder weather.

As always, until next time,   Terry

Remodel

2011-10-09T11:02:00.000-04:00

We decided to get a few things done before winter hits! We switched 2 kitchen windows around so that the bigger one was on the back wall facing our backyard. This gives us a better view and more light in the kitchen. The sun room is attached to the kitchen wall (on the end of the house) and the old outside door was still there which stood open all of the time so we could go into the sun room. We removed this door and replaced it with a pocket door so it is tucked away unless we want to close off the sun room. I hope this makes sense to you as you read this lol! Believe me it is much nicer. We also took off the outside door on the side of the sun room and built in a half wall and installed a window where the door had been. And then, we put a door wall in on the back wall of the sun room going into our backyard. This was a project Ted had been wanting to do for some time and it sure made a big difference. We love it.

Of course we had the help of our good friend and carpenter Scotty. If you remember he is the guy who helped us move some kitchen cabinets and get ready for the new counter tops. Thanks Scott for all of your time and hard work.

Scott took up the banjo about a year and a half ago and he is crazy about it. He is playing at different places around town with other musicians and is having a ball. He kiddingly said that we now have to refer to him as the Banjo Pickin Carpenter! He brought his banjo over one day and gave us a little mini concert after the days work was done. Good time Scotty.

Yes, I had to add a picture of Sugar, she is checking out the water in the pond which is covered to catch the falling leaves!

Happy Autumn! Terry

Ausable River Walk

2011-09-25T12:12:00.000-04:00

The Ausable River twists and turns for miles and miles. My friend Linda and I went just north of Roscommon and stopped at three different places where there was river access. We like to look for neat stones and particularly the Pudding Stone and Petoskey Stone. Not too much luck in that, found just one small Petoskey. The time spent in nature and enjoying the peaceful quiet and beautiful views was enough for us!

One such stop was at the Mason Tract Trail. The land there was donated by a man who wanted a place to be left that people could enjoy fly fishing and hiking etc. There is also a lot of canoeing on this river.

Hope you enjoy the photos I took. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

Summer Happenings

2011-09-11T23:37:00.000-04:00

I can hardly believe it has been about 6 weeks since I posted on my blog, it's been a busy time so I'll try and catch up!

We took a two week trip to South Dakota and took our Granddaughter with us. We stayed at my son's home in a very small town on the east side of the state. Not really anything to do there but they did have their annual "Corn Fest" while we were there. It was a huge pot luck with all the corn on the cob you could eat! There was a little entertainment, rides on a 1931? fire truck, and corn shucking contests. And that's what they do in this little town of maybe 300 people! We took a couple of days and drove to the west side of the state to see my sister and brother-in-law. He took my son and granddaughter to see Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse monument that is being constructed. Such a great experience for them. I had already seen them and stayed home to have a good visit with my sister.

After we got home Ted and I took a day trip to Reed City about an hour and a half from here. Not much there either but we did see a little covered bridge and a beautiful park with a walking trail that followed the river. That was really nice.

We had two grandsons for the night and Ted took them to a town that had train rides on a smaller scale train. The 'guys' had quite a fun day.

The week before we left for SD my step daughter from Florida was here for a week visit. Always good to see her.

I got more gardening done in the back yard. I've been hand quilting a wall hanging for the living room, and have read a few books. Our bird group got back together for a meeting after having a couple of summer months off. Such a fun group of ladies we have!

If the weather is nice this Thurs. we are going to take a day trip to the U.P.

So now, that sums up what I can remember from the last couple of months! Hope all of you had a wonderful summer too. Now it is time to start enjoying the beginning of Autumn! Yes, time does fly when you're having fun!

Fun Times & HEAT!

2011-07-26T21:39:00.000-04:00

Yes, the heat was almost unbearable here, especially with the humidity! Couldn't stay outside for very long at all. Finally however, the heat has cooled down a little and things are more back to normal for summer.

Our Garden Club had the Annual Garden Tour July 18th and I was a hostess at my neighbors home, as their yard was on the tour. It was a hot, sticky day without even a breeze. We sat near the garage door to welcome people and Paul put a fan right behind us to at least give us the breeze we needed. There was close to 100 people who viewed 8 different gardens. (In the heat!!!) We offered lemonade to cool them off a little. Linda and Paul have a beautiful yard with a pond.

On the 13th I went to my first Quilt Guild Meeting in town. Nice ladies, lots of fun. On the 19th the guild had a gentleman come in to show his fabulous quilts. I was amazed at his work. He used to be an architech and I forgot how he got into quilting but wow does he quilt, does shows, gives lessons etc. Here are just a few of those quilts

The pictures do not begin to show all of the detail and colors.

On the 15th I went to my 2nd annual Library Tea which was fun. Met 2 nice ladies and saw old friends.
We cancelled the bird club meeting as it was way too hot to go out looking for birds!

We just had 2 Grandsons for 2 days, they went home tonight. Took them to the lake both days they were here.

Tomorrow my step-daughter is arriving from Florida and will have about 1 week with us. She is bringing her little dog so Angel will also have company. One of the days she is here we will head downstate so she can visit her brother and his family and while she is there I am going to pick up my Granddaughter Jen and bring her back with us.

Kalyn will be going home on the 5th, and on the 6th Ted, Jen and I are leaving for South Dakota to see my son (also Jen's Dad). She hasn't seen him in a long time and he is very excited to see her. He went where he could get work. I am anxious to be going on vacation and see where he is living.

So I have been quite busy this month and will be busy next month too. I still have been able to do quite a bit in my garden. Opened up more garden space and added some new plants. Wrens are still nesting in the birdhouse, I think she is sitting on the eggs right now.

I probably won't be sending any more posts for awhile so I will just wish you all a happy August and try to stay cool.

Until nest time....Terry

Happy Summer

2011-07-07T12:55:00.001-04:00

Summer Comments Pictures - Photobucket

Hi everyone, hope you are enjoying your summer! I have done a little more digging to make more planting space in the garden along the back fence and the usual weeding. The lilies I put in last year bloomed nicely, there is a dark pink and a red one. Yesterday I purchased a yellow one with a little red in it, and an orange one. Still have to get those planted. This is the pink one.

The frogs in the pond have gone from 4 to 2. One died over the winter and one mysteriously disappeared. Do you think it was the cat????

We had 2 of the grandsons for a couple of days. They both love our pets and Ayden and I went to look for deer and stones while Chandler was busy with Grandpa.

My granddaughter Jen will not be coming up until the 1st of August and shortly after that we will be taking her to SD to see her Dad who moved to get work! This will be after Ted's daughter's visit the end of July. She is riding up from FL with a friend and will have a few days with us.

7/3 we were at our Granddaughter Delany's 4th birthday party. What a beautiful girl she is, even after she cut her own hair!!! lol 7/4 we went to a BBQ and saw some friends we hadn't seen in quite awhile.

Surprisingly I have not been to our Higgins Lake State Park at all this summer. I had better get busy and get in my beach time. I don't lay out on the beach but find a place where I can sit at the edge of the water and look fr pretty stones that you find there, and then take a long walk down the beach. It is a lovely park and I really enjoy it there.

We watched the Casey Anthony trial on and off, but were pretty tuned in this last week. Not Guilty! ok, well I'm not going to voice my opinion, but she is going to have a tough time when she gets out and I'm thinking she had better watch her back, lots of upset people out there!

Alright then, I guess this is it for now, I'm off to enjoy the outdoors. Until next time....
Terry

We Have Nesters!

2011-06-28T16:07:00.000-04:00

We put up a bird house that my step daughter painted and gave to us. It was only up about a week and some little wrens were checking it out. Now they are both flying around, in and out, and I assume they are feeding some babies! Boy do wrens make a loud call, and they call all day long. Anyway here are some photos I took.

Got another picture of my son's 14 month old boy. He is really growing.

Having a couple of rainy days here and have had 2 grandsons visiting. Gets a little boring for them when they can't be outside! Hope all of you are well and enjoying summer.. Till next time....

Terry

Backyard Birders

2011-06-10T20:42:00.000-04:00

"Backyard Birders" is now the 'official' name of our little bird group. Mainly because that's what we do, watch the birds in our yards and at our feeders, so the name made sense.

We did venture out of our yards yesterday however to make a trip to the lookout at our local nature water preserve, and then on to Reedsburg Dam. We saw some swallows, ducks and an eagle at the lookout. At the Dam we saw some grackles, a King Fisher and a family of geese. Other birds were heard but not seen.

We took our lunches with us not expecting it to be as cold as it was. 90 one day and in the 50's the next. It was suppose to warm up...but it didn't. Well we toughed it out and ate our lunches in the cold but since there was not much bird activity we headed back. We had met at Barbs home so when we returned there we went inside to see the baby raccoons. She volunteers at the Ark (an animal rescue) and is fostering 3 coons. They are really cute when they are little, when they are big enough they will be released in the wild.

We have a nice bunch of ladies in our group and our meetings are always fun no matter what we do. Not all were able to go with us on our trip yesterday.

Sunday the Ark is having an open house and Ted and I are planning on going with our neighbors. There is a contest to name the 4 new educational birds, hmmmmm???

RITA, LINDA AND ELEANOR AT THE DAM

RITA, LINDA, BARB, ELEANOR - BRRRRRR IT'S COLD

BARB SHOWING US ONE OF THE COONS


LINDA HOLDING THE SMALLEST BABY

Back to the garden at last!

2011-06-02T19:54:00.000-04:00

Feels sooooo good to be outside in my yard again working in my gardens. I separated some Hosta's and planted them around the yard. We get quite a bit of shade so these work well and you can't kill the things even if the dog runs thru them or the cats play in them! I got a couple more Arborvitaes to put along the back fence and a new Black Eyed Susan climber. Turning more dirt and digging out more grass just to make some of the garden bigger.

I have 2 tomato plants in (1 is a cherry tomato), just put some cucumbers in a big pot with with some stakes. This I can move around as the sun moves and keep them in a sunny location! I was so disappointed last year every time I went to pick strawberries the bugs had gotten in them. Well, you have probably seem those topsy turvy things that you grow tomato plants in upside down. I got a similar thing that has holes all over the sides of it that you can put strawberry plants in and keep them off the ground! So, I dug up most of my plants and I now have 30 of them in this new planter. The plants look pretty droopy from replanting them and I HOPE they perk up and stay healthy. I really want my fresh strawberries! My friend and neighbor (Linda & Paul) got me a new Spirea plant for my birthday. She knew I wanted to get one so she surprised me and got it for me.

Other than that I have been reading some good novels, doing a little sewing, and when I have to a little housework. Ted and I went out for lunch the other day and then went to Home Depot. He keeps really busy, actually he is gone again tonight. He went down to Mt. Pleasant to help with the Special Olympics with some of the Kiwanis people. The other day he was doing road pick-up. Busy, busy man.

Summer means the end to my regular tv shows, but there are a couple that we like that they have on in the summer time so there will be something to watch once in awhile. I have to have some down time in front of the tube!! I hope all of you enjoy the summer. Here are a couple more shots of Sugar helping her mama.


SHE WORKED HARD AND NEEDS A NAP!