May 27, 2016 It's Official ~ Bug Season is Here!

It's that time of the year when the wild flowers are blooming ~ baby animals are being born ~ new life is  springing up all over the place.  It is so nice to wander about and observe all that is happening around us.   Unfortunately, with that pleasure comes the little black flies ~ to soon be followed by the mosquitoes.   I just don't have a lot of patience with bugs anymore.   Not like I ever had a lot.........

I have been out and about this week, trying to avoid them.  Some of these are on the shore of Lake Superior ~ such as the ones above ~ bird's eye primroses.  I have always thought these were such pretty little flowers.  They are pretty dainty.  They are also really taking hold in some of the places I used to find one or two plants.  There are now lots of them ~ which is why you see a large group above instead of a close up of one plant.   I am so pleased.   It's always nice to see some of life's pleasures expanding their ranges and spaces rather than disappearing.

Of course, Miss Betsy always enjoys our wanderings ~ whether by Lake Superior or back in the brush.   I think our trips in the brush are done, as far as the extended wanderings, for a bit.  On Monday we were over east ~ around beaver ponds and just moseying all over the place.   It was a sunny day with a good breeze until the storm clouds moved in.  So, to start the black flies weren't bothering.  However, with the heat of the last few days also came the ticks.  They really came out.  I looked down and they were crawling up both legs as fast as their little legs would go ~ lots and lots of them.  I got to the creek crossing and picked and pitched a heck of a batch.  When I got home, the jeans came off as did the socks.  I turned everything inside out too.  You wouldn't believe all the ticks!  It's been a couple of years since we had ticks in that kind of numbers over there.   It was just about the time I like to hike into one of my favorite ~ mostly unknown ~ water falls.  WELL.......that isn't going to happen any time soon now.   I have been bitten a few too many times by ticks, that I managed to miss.   So far, I have been lucky.  One never knows when that luck runs out.   And ........ I know for a fact some of the tick borne diseases aren't pleasant.   So ~ sometimes, better safe than sorry.

To end ~ here is one of the more difficult flowers of Spring to photograph.  Ginger.  No shortage of that around anyway.  They are definitely an interesting plant.   Too bad they aren't more useful, since there is an abundance of them.   I did harvest a bunch of nice fiddleheads again this Spring tho.  They are always tasty.  Spring has sprung ~ enjoy it!

May 14, 2016 Egrets ~ beautiful egrets!

Just for something different to do ~ we went on a road trip for a couple of days and watched these beautiful birds building nests, bit of mating displays yet, sitting on nests, and just doing what they do.  It was interesting watching a large bird like this walking around in the spruce trees.  Here, we have much smaller birds hanging out in them.   There isn't a lot exciting going on here at the present time ~ just waiting for Spring to come to stay!  26 degrees, cloudy, gray, snowflakes on roofs, decks and railings this a.m. ~ not exactly "Springlike" weather!  Plus, we got to visit with folks we don't see often.  So, this was fun.  Miss Betsy enjoyed getting to meet a new dog friend too!

Over in this area, it looked like Spring.  The leaves were out.  The trees were all blooming!  It was just beautiful.  One of the first photos I took, upon getting out of the truck, was an egret playing peek a boo with me from up in a blossom covered tree.  Talk about beautiful!  Now, if I had only had some blue sky to work with instead of gray and drizzles ~ I'd have really been in my glory!  I guess I was anyway ~ but, the contrasts I'd have gotten with the blue sky and white birds would have been amazing.

A number of photos like this ~ when I caught some in the open with their displays and nest building ~ would have looked so good with the blue sky.  Oh my ~ I really will have to go back there.

Here is just one example of all the birds nesting in one of the trees.  Cool and gray ~ they were just hunkered down and that's the way they stayed.  There were quite a few of these trees full of birds.

There were also some cormorants on the island.   I captured some with sticks for their own nest building projects.  They really are pretty cool birds ~ even tho, I know a lot of people don't like them.  I guess they compete with the fishermen too much!

Here is one busy working on the nest.  It never did turn and face me but it was a shot with color to set off the plumes blowing in the breezes.   Watching the mates bring the sticks and the hand off and then the placement was pretty cool to watch.

Here, again, just a posing in a tree shot.  But, what a difference the blue sky would have made.

It was also cool to watch them walking around on the ground.  Whether in flight, trees, or on the ground ~ they are beautiful birds to watch.   It would be fun to go over when the babies are hatched and getting fed in the trees.  But, I really want to get there on a beautiful Spring day next year for the mating rituals, for sure.

Here is one more photo of a group in the trees.   So, if you are a bird watcher ~ you should be enjoying the little photo story of some birds I have always admired from a distance ~ whether it be on TV or in a book.  Now, I finally got to watch them in person.  Once isn't enough!  :)

April 22, 2016 Spring?!

One step forward ~ and, three steps back!   Sound familiar?  That seems to be Spring this year.  Every time we seem to be making progress, we back up a lot again.   I guess that is par for the course in this neck of the woods.   It happens many years.   This year, early on, I did think it was going to happen tho.
Betsy and I have been busy lately.   We had dog walking trips with her best buddy, Kirby, for two weeks.  She loved that.  Kirby is a wonderful dog so we both enjoy those days out in the woods.  We have been having more adventures all the time since it is shed hunting season.  As the snow melts and we can access more areas ~ we do.  Betsy hasn't gotten all that interested in sheds yet.  Maybe she never will.  However, there has been a rabbit explosion around here and she is all into that ~ 100%.  She loves to get a chance to chase a rabbit ~like she has a prayer!!

Every now and then, even on the shore, we have to try something different.  It was a pretty day on this trip so I crawled into the culvert under highway 61 and Betsy came in to see what I was doing.  Thus, this photo of her wondering what the heck I was up to.  This isn't the sort of thing we usually do.   But, she may learn all sorts of things while traveling thru this life with me.   Life is full of surprises ~ and, some of them are even fun!  :)
Recently tho ~ I had one of those surprises that aren't!  I was getting ready to go to bed one evening ~ taking my jeans off ~ actually.   And, this little pop ~ or something ~ happened.  I thought, well, I don't think that was good.  I assumed I had maybe pulled a muscle ~ since I have done that a couple of times in the past 5 years.  Not pleasant ~ but, doable.   Can't stand up straight and a pain to walk around for a couple days.  However, I am usually good to go in 3-4 days.   Well ~ that was not to be this time.   I woke up around 12:30 and started to roll over and stopped right dead in that move ~ right now.   Cramps or spasms ~ whatever!  Not pleasant.   It was like which way to move or not move that didn't cause them.  I was not having fun.
After a week of this, I went to see a friend who does massage therapy.  She told me my muscles were really tight and tense.   Ummm ~ yes.   If you were worrying about getting a cramp or spasm every time you moved, you probably would have that issue.  Anyway, she got some of me fixed up and I walked out of there upright.   She suggested I might want to see a chiropractor.   So, after not getting better, 2 1/2 weeks after the fact and getting X-rays, which they require, I am seeing one.  In fact, I have another appointment this afternoon.  I guess it must be helping.  I am not getting the spasms.   I am still getting stiff if I try and sit a few minutes.  Tho, even that is getting better.  I can at least stand up straight now.   So ~ old dog is learning new tricks........
Now you know why I haven't been doing this.  I couldn't sit that long.  I sure have been getting some long walks done tho.
I will leave you with a "cute" for the day.  Our photography group recently had a weekly contest that was "close ups."  So, I took a few of these.   Enjoy!

March 10, 2016 Change in the weather!

We have just finished a few days of warm weather ~ hitting 40 degrees ~ and making mud.  This was taken just a couple days before the warm days hit.  I love finding the icicles on the shore and trying to catch some light on them.   They are always pretty.  Today, however, it is snowing again.  Plus side is, no mud.  I can live with that.

Here is some action from my morning.   The deer had been a bit jumpy all morning so I knew something was around, They all jumped again and I wondered what was up.  This time, I saw the fox coming.   It hadn't been around for over a month, so ~ I didn't have anything handy to feed it.  I just grabbed the container of leftover soup from a couple days ago and brought that out.  My foxes, a few years ago, loved venison soup with barley.   This one ~ not so sure.  He quickly grabbed the piece of meat out of it and chewed it up.  He was really checking out the rest of the "stuff."  By that time, I remembered the bucket of scraps that didn't fit in the freezer ~ and now would!   I wondered if it had started to thaw.  Sure enough ~ so off I went.  Happy fox then!  He was just sitting there, watching me, as if to say ~ you know what I like!   Anyway ~ I hope it is back for a while now.  I quite enjoy having him around and watching the antics of it and the deer.

Here is a shot of him eating some of his "good stuff."  Shadow is in the front, looking this way and one of the "eyebrow" family deer is the other.   We always thought this family grouping of deer we call the eyebrows looked like they had their eye makeup on ~ eye shadow and all.  Thus ~ the Eyebrow family!  Eyebrow, in particular, was getting pretty good at stamping her feet.   They all but ignore the foxes when they are there every day.  Except, of course, when they make a posse and gang up on the foxes and chase them.   Too funny!

Here is a very contented fox with a full belly now.  Nothing like a little good food to make one happy!

Then, there is the little buck fawn splashing in the puddle.  They love Spring when this puddle forms.   There have been quite the deer antics in it this week.  This little guy proceeded to lay down in it and take his Spring bath.  I have never seen that before.   And ~ when it comes to deer, there isn't much I haven't seen!  Just a couple of days ago, the whole flock of bluejays had their bath in this puddle.  They were having a heck of a time.  Life is interesting!  Nature is grand.  Gotta love it!

February 19, 2016 Bah ~ Humbug!

I have just been having fun on what little ice we have on the shore the last few days ~ and, now it's raining!  I have no problem with rain ~ when it's in season.  But, when we have serious rain in the winter, I get perturbed.  No school today.  I suspect they were worried about everything icing up.   The road is icy in the tracks where vehicles have driven today, for sure.  The neighbor kids were out playing in the rain when Betsy and I were out for a walk.   But ~ dang it, it's melting and ruining the good ice and snow!  I guess it's called global warming............

What little ice we do have along the shore this winter has been quite striking.  These ice formations hanging from the trees on the way to the island were just gorgeous.  I didn't get there until afternoon ~ but, I bet they would have been really striking had I been there in the morning with a bit of sunshine on them.

The deer, on the other hand, have been busy running around and jumping just like Spring!  I think maybe they have "spring fever" today.  It's warm.   But, the snow isn't melting yet and there are no puddles to jump in.   One of those two bucks, above, finally lost his left antler this week but is hanging tight to the other.  Tough to lose the antlers and status!  This is true even if you are the biggest buck in the yard.  Antlers trump all!   Even a little spike buck can be the boss if he is the last one standing with antlers.   I've seen it and it's hilarious.   You keep thinking ~ boy, one of these days he's going to shed too and really get his butt kicked.  But ~ it's also amazing how fast things settle down when they are all "equal" again.
Anyway ~ it's being quite a week.  The deer are laying under the trees out of the rain for now.   Until mealtime ~ anyway.  I'm sure the yard will be full in  the usual 2 minutes flat ~ then!
Have a good rainy winter day ~ all!

February 12. 2016 Winter has arrived!

Winter has finally arrived in the valley!  We have finally gotten serious snow and the cold too.   It was a while coming.  I went almost to the very end of January wearing nothing more serious than ankle high hiking boots on my feet!  That is unheard of.  It is for me ~ anyway!   Usually the snow is too deep and my feet get cold.  Neither is fun in hiking boots as a rule.  So ~ I now have trails to break again and get my skiing back underway.  It has been blowing so much after all that snow, I haven't bothered to break trails ~ only to have them all drift in again before I get to go the next day.
Along with the snow fall ~ we get the wolves coming out of the woods to hunt where it is easier going.  Tuesday afternoon, just before 5 o'clock, we saw one going by our driveway on the MVR.  It didn't come up the driveway anyway, which was good.   When I went down there later, he had been marking territory.  Further down he left a good pile in the road.   I started out on my early morning walk with Betsy this morning.  Just past my driveway, he had peed on that same snowbank ~ high up again ~ and just past that, left another pile.  So ~ I knew he was around.  So did Betsy.  Her nose works.   I got a ways down the road ~ Betsy busy playing snowball without a care in the world ~ out of the woods comes the wolf.   I watched it a minute and then turned around and headed for home.  No sense looking for trouble.  I kept watching over my shoulder tho.  A minute later, it was back out on the MVR diddling around.  It finally went into one of the neighbors' yard.   There is a little cat that hangs out there and has managed to avoid all the predators and not starve for at least a couple of years now.   They say a cat has 9 lives.  Well ~ that one must.  I emailed and Facebooked all my neighbors that the wolves were back.  One had seen two of them on the road yesterday at 12:30.  So, yes, it is the season!  Be vigilant if you don't want your dog eaten time of year.   But then, that is pretty much the case year around up here.  I don't think there is a month of the year I haven't seen them.

You will notice by my photos it is also the time of the year for nice ice.  I took this one this morning when I was out and about.  Sometimes, it is nice to find those details.  See the fiery colors in this one. The sun was shining directly on it so it was sparkling!   The one up above is a "bigger picture" style.  This neat ice formations hanging on the trees were too neat!  I took that on the way home from Grand Marais and doing errands.  Days like today, -10 with a sharp wind, my fingers don't hold up too well. Doesn't take them long to freeze.   But, the ice is worth trying for.

I took this one of the neat ice hanging off the old Hovland dock today too.   They were pretty neat a few days ago.  However, with the cold, the bottom drops had gotten a lot bigger and they were reflecting nicely in the water.   I always, always, enjoy the ice formations.
Also, now that we have "winter" again ~ the Hovland ladies are going to get back in to our group that likes to go snowshoeing.  We have our first outing on Thursday next week.  We will definitely have plenty of snow to go tramp around in now.  Then, we go have coffee in Hovland or at one of the homes and visit for a bit before getting on with our day.  We have snowshoed to some pretty fun places in the past winters.  This year, between the damage ice storms did to all the trails and woods in the area and also the fact the warm weather kept many water areas from freezing up properly, we have had a few less places we could go explore without working seriously at it.  Crawling over and under iced down brush on snowshoes isn't fun.  Neither is going through unsafe ice.  SO....we are going on an expedition where we shouldn't have issues with either ~ even if it isn't quite as exciting.   So ~ off to winter endeavors!

Weather Changes ~ January 20, 2016

Yesterday was one of those beautiful sunny days we dream about this time of the year.  If you sat by the window, you could feel the heat from the sunshine streaming through.  Nice.  After so much gray ~ I was ready for that.  Betsy and I headed down the shore to this area to take some photos, explore, and just enjoy the lake on a sunny day.  Jeez ~ it felt so nice.  The wind wasn't howling either ~ even better.

We headed west first of all.  We hiked the ice and snow covered shore until we got to where the houses start.  Then, we headed the other direction until we did the same.   It was so pretty it would have been fun to just sit on the beach and enjoy it.  Betsy wouldn't have minded.  She is always up for something.  These days, if she has an ice ball or a stick ~ she's a happy girl.
It is always just fun to walk the shore after all the rough weather we have had ~ just to see what kind of ice sculptures Mother Nature or Lake Superior has made.  They can be some pretty awesome things some times.
Once we got down the shore the other direction, I took some photos of the old fish houses there.  They had a bit of ice covering them also, besides the nice ice on the shore getting there.  My new grippers on my hiking boots worked out nicely.  I walked that slick, shiny ice the whole way down without any issues.  I was still careful, since I don't appreciate taking a tumble and possibly ending up in Lake Superior.  I prefer to pick and choose my own time and place to take a swim ~ thank you.  I don't like breaking cameras either ~ because of nasty tumbles.  So far, so good!

Now, when I got up this morning, it was right at 0 degrees.  It was clear and pretty. I could see the sea smoke and clouds down over Lake Superior.    So, I was already thinking about what Betsy and I would do on our adventure today.  Usually, I would have some time at my mother's while playing Scrabble to decide that too.  The table is at the window overlooking Lake Superior so while playing, I can watch all the weather is doing and critters ~ if there are any.   I managed to come down with a really nasty cold late last week, cough and stuffed head, runny nose ~ the works!  ARGH!   I am not enjoying it particularly.  I haven't had one in a couple of years so it makes it all the more irritating to put up with.  So ~ I am not playing my weekly Scrabble game with Mom.  I didn't figure she would appreciate getting my cold either.   In the mean time, it has completely clouded over and is snowing out!  It's just flat gray blah out there with snowflakes!   I guess unless it changes quickly again, Betsy and I won't do anything too terribly exciting today.  But, some days are like that.

Here is one of Betsy out being photographer's helper yesterday.  She really can be quite a ham ~ when she wants to be.  She pays attention to her surroundings ~ most of the time and acts accordingly.  Of course, it probably helps that she has to do that from the minutes she goes outside with me every morning.  We head out the door and there are anywhere from two to ten deer standing right by the basement door.   She has to check her options on which way to walk through them ~ since, they aren't going anywhere.  They are ready for their treats.
A couple of days ago, while putting out the morning treats after her early walk ~ which comes first ~ I got head butted by one of the year and a half old twins of Miz Spectacles.   When I walk around with the 5 gallon bucket of corn, they are backing up in front of me all the way around.  As soon as I stop to put a bit more out, the want first dibs ~ out of the bucket ~ not off the ground.  One  of the older bully does, Plain Jane, who hasn't had fawns in a while now ~ was being her usually crabby self and trying to kick eveyone's butt.  One of the twins jumped back and sort of upward so fast we knocked foreheads together.  I think I felt it more than she did!  Since my face is usually only an inch or so from theirs, I can see that happening.   However, it never has.  I am always more concerned with watching their feet as they have some pretty fancy footwork when they are defending their stuff!  So it goes........a new adventure or experience every day.  When you have critters around, there is always something happening.  
So.........it's still gray and still snowing........time to figure it out!