November 29, 2017 Winter has arrived

Winter has arrived on the North Shore.   I have been keeping busy.   Nothing like some waves and ice to keep me occupied.   The gales of November will always keep me running to the shore of Lake Superior to see what they are creating.   Heck, they started in October this year.   Some of the waves were absolutely amazing already then.

Some of the waves this week have been pretty darned amazing too.  Three days in a row, I had just awesome waves to watch.   I'll tell you, I never know when to stop when I get out there on this type of days.  There is just always one more big wave to catch up with.
I did miss a few days out there with Thanksgiving and the Hovland Arts Festival all in a row.  But, I seldom miss much on that big lake.   She is just too inviting, with all her moods, to miss out on ~ even for one day.

Here's another particularly fun wave I captured yesterday when I was out and about.  The wind was just howling so the spray blowing off the tops of those big waves was just as amazing as the waves themselves were.  I love to have this sort of thing going on at sunset.  It was pretty obvious we weren't going to have any sun shining thru at sunset yesterday tho.  
Well, now that all the big projects ~ and little ones ~ are put to bed for the season, maybe I can get around to thinking about my blog a little more often again.   The deer are starting to show up.   I have some orphaned triplets to take care of and hopefully get thru the winter.  There is always something going on.  I just have to sit down long enough to "write about it!!"
And ~ with that, I will leave you with one more photo.

Another day this week ~ colors were to die for.   So were the waves!

August 10, 2017 Deer Games!

It is the season ~ deer games are on!   The fawns are big enough now that the does can let them all play together.   And, they do.  They run and jump and have a heck of a time!   The little squirts can really run now too.   They are quite a pleasure to watch out there.  Even the does get in on the action. This morning, there were several does running around in the rain ~ and, I mean really all out running and jumping.  Soon, they were breathing hard and their tongues were hanging out.   I guess it keeps them in shape for when they really need to be able to do that.  The wolves and bears don't go away.

Here is one from this morning ~ a gray, rainy morning. The deer are quite inspired out there.  The yearling buck showed up and is just standing there watching the action.   His mom is Shadow's oldest surviving daughter.   So, he's one of the gang.  Now that the fawns are bigger, they aren't having an issue with him being around.   When the fawns are little, early on in their first couple of weeks of life, the does don't tolerate much of anything out of anybody!

This is another one from yesterday when things were settling down just a bit after some serious playtime had been had.   The average is 7 fawns out here at one time.   I'm still not sure exactly how many we had early on.  The does have lost a few to the predators.   Shadow is down to only one.  She had twins.   Miz Spectacles still has all 3 of her triplets.  Many still have their twins.   But, with the family units coming together and not always bringing their fawns ~ Shadow's family alone has quite a few ~ it makes it hard to know how many we really still have.

Here's another from yesterday.  I had walked out to try and photograph some of them after they were done running around quite so fast!   Cloudy and foggy ~ not the best light for fast action shots.   I was taking some candids out there ~ just walking around.   They usually have to quit what they are doing and watch what I might be doing instead.  
I do love having my deer friends around.  They sure can bring quite a source of amusement into our life.  You never know what antics you will be seeing on any given day.  
You have just gotten a small glimpse of my daily life with the deer!

Summer is Here! July 28, 2017

Summer is finally here ~ I do believe.   We have had some pretty hot, humid days lately.  Plus, we have had more than one day in a row without rain and gloom.   Wow!  Things are sure growing tho, like the excellent crop of radishes in the garden with the rain we've had.   The wild flowers are some of the best I have ever seen them.   I'm getting out on Lake Superior kayaking since it hasn't had big waves every day now ~ or fog ~ or both!   Wow.  

Then, I have had another issue lately.  See that plant.  It is a water hemlock.  Google it or look it up in a plant book.  The description starts out about it being one of the most violently poisonous plants in North America.   I got 'em.  Am I happy ~ no, I am not.  I am also not happy with Cook County's take on it.  It is considered a native plant, not an invasive.  So, they are all but totally ignoring my issue.  After I got about a 100 samples in to them to look at instead of just photos, they decided I had a good eye and was correct.  They are water hemlock.  This one was 8' high.  It was in the ditch in the county right of way near my driveway.  Because it is a native plant, they absolutely seem unconcerned.  I had filled out the noxious weed report.  Of course, our weed man had just resigned.   I was told to try Diane Booth.   First email got no attention.  I got a bit more "bitchy" about it and she did answer and wanted the  real samples, not just a photo.  I obliged her.  It's a batch I didn't have to burn or dispose of.  I had disposed of quite a lot already.   I was told I can eradicate the ones on my land but she wasn't so sure about the ones on public land.   She was going to confer with someone and get back to me.   I couldn't frikken believe it!   They pay people in this county good money to keep a handle on nasty plants.  I get one of the nastiest there is and they don't even want to come and look!   I am mighty unhappy with some of these paid hotshots right now.  The deer are thinking it's just fine to nip the tops off of them.   They keep popping up by the ditch.   What the heck ~ do I now have a full time job trying to keep on top of them?   So ~ anyone else know of any of these around.  I've always been in to plants and critters.  I will be 65 in November.  I have never seen these before and was having a hard time to ID it when it came up.   Once the flower head appeared, I had more to go with and had no problem.   So ~ people ~ do we really want these things getting hold in this area just because they are "native" plants!!

Ok, back to happy thoughts!  Rant finished, temporarily anyway.   Here is from yet another beautiful day on Lake Superior this week.  We were fishing on this trip.   And, we got trout.  It couldn't have been a more beautiful day.  Period.  What's more, a more perfect day on Lake Superior.   We had also finally gotten in a camping/fishing trip over by Isabella, which was fun.  Bugs were a bit friendly ~ but, outside of that, we had a good time and got fish.  I got my first crappie ever.  They are pretty tasty too.  We live in a mighty beautiful area.   But, it still is fun to go explore a little elsewhere now and then.
I'm sure it won't be too long and garden projects and vegetables will keep us busy.   Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy what summer we're getting!

July 6, 2017 Summer is here!

The Hovland Arts Festival is done for another year.   That is always a nice feeling ~ no matter how much you love it!  It's a lot of work.  Still a few bills to pay ~ but, mostly ~ the loose ends are tied up.
Now, we have had a couple of days of sunshine mixed with the rain ~ so, it's hot and humid out there.  Boy, having grown up on Lake Superior ~ when it's 85 degrees and humid ~ it's HOT!!
Tuesday, I took my sister and a friend to the bog.   We all love the cool flowers that grow in them.  They had never been there ~ while, I go on a regular basis.  We had a fine time and the flowers did look amazing.  There are more pitcher plant blossoms every year.  It really is something to see.

Here is on of the "big picture" views of the bog.   Looking west, rather than north, you saw more of those pitcher blossoms sticking up.   There is some cotton grass here, as well, to add interest.

Here's a grouping of sundews.  I was rather proud of this.  I have tried, for years, to get a good shot of those tiny little plants.   With hairs glistening and pads facing all directions, on a close-up, it's hard to get it all in focus.  But, I did it!   These little carnivorous plants can eat all the bugs they want.  Plus, all the pitchers out there.........maybe that's why I am never bothered by insects out there!  :)

Of course, here's another of my favorites ~ the dragon's mouth orchid.   There are a lot of these growing in this bog now.   I have never come upon these anyplace else in Cook County.  I'm sure there are some ~ some place.  But, I don't know about them.   They are so colorful and cheerful.   They are just a joy to see.  Plus, I did find a few tight groupings that had all of the favored items in one little area and got them all in one photo.  
A lot of people tend to think of bogs as just wet sloppy places that are a pain!  However, when it's warm out ~ I don't mind getting wet to go out and find all these treasures!   There was also buckbean, cranberries, potentilla (just starting) and iris out there.   I also was able to show them the only wild lilac I have ever found in the county.   It was well budded and ready to start opening ~ but, hadn't opened any of the blossoms yet.  
Pitcher plants, on the other hand, I have found around a number of the shallow, swampier lakes in the county.  This spot has no lake ~ it's just near Lake Superior.  But, there is always water standing at least ankle deep.   Lot of moss.  Beautiful!
So ~ next time you get bored and don't have anything special to do ~ go find a nice bog and go for a walk!

June 28, 2017 Another month flew by.......

I will say it ~ we've had some pretty days.   I sure have enjoyed them when I had them.  But, in between a few of the nice days ~ we sure have had more than our share of rain.   Honestly, I can't even keep up on the mowing with all the rain we are having.  It's all wet and so saturated, all I do is make a mess and make mud.  On the other hand, we don't have to spend much time watering the garden.

Then, there are all the days like this.  So foggy plus the rain coming down.   Got lots of healthy weeds and wild flowers this year, that is for sure.  I am hoping all the baby ruffled grouse don't drown in their nests this year.  I have seen a few babies; but, not too many yet.

On the other hand, all the rain makes this kind of a photo possible.   There sure have been some pretty  puddle reflections the last few days.    This is on top of a hill besides.   Lots of water out there.  Of course, the creeks are pretty full and really roaring these days too.  Someone, on one of my Facebook posts, made comment about how pretty this was upside down.   I went back into photos and flipped it ~ you know, it really was.  Sure was a different look.

Here is one of the local rivers after all the weekend rain.   It's moving.
Anyway, it's almost July and we are getting ready for the big Hovland Arts Festival.  Our 12th year.   We have a new pavilion to stage the music in now ~ which they just finished wiring.  No more extension cords running all over the place.   We bought a bunch of big tarps to side it and hopefully keep the musicians dry.  After years of steep tent rental for them ~ we are trying this.  We have the tarps.   Cost about the same to buy all the stuff as to rent the tent.  Now, we just have to put them up and take them down each year.   We will see how that goes.  Trial and error for so  many things these days.  Big winds are always the biggest issue with tarps.   It blew darned hard yesterday afternoon so I will go see what happened since we hung everything later today.

One more story for this post.   These are Shadow's fawns at 3 days old.  I was walking down the road with Betsy and saw all three of them ~ Shadow and her twins ~ along the side.   I kept walking but told Betsy to sit about 50 yards back.   Right away, Shadow saw my camera ~ was just carrying the Sony as it's small and it was looking like rain again.   She was focused on that ~ and I was keeping a good eye on her, believe me.   Well ~ I got a couple of nice shots like this of the twins.  Had a couple with Shadow in too.  She had still been giving the camera the evil eye so I was going to leave.  However, Shadow beat me to it.  She walked off into this woods here ~ twins following.   She was almost out of sight in the alder when the trailing fawn had a change of heart and decided to come back, across the road, and come and smell my knee.  Well, in all my years around deer and fawns, I have never had that happen.   Well ~ Shadow happened to look back and see that and was immediately unhappy.   She came back out of the woods and up on her hind legs so fast, it wasn't even funny.  She started swinging those legs and the camera straps broke the first whack.  Camera was on the ground.  I turned to let my back catch more of it as she proceeded to give me a pounding.  She got up on her hind legs 3 times and gave me what for!   Well ~ that was enough.  She got down and looked at me.  I said ~ "Shadow, that wasn't very nice.  I didn't do anything."   She walked off.   Shadow is now 10 years old.  I have known her and fed her by hand, petted her, whatever, since she adopted us when she was orphaned at 6 months old.  She has since brought the fawns into the yard ~ when it is now ok to be nearer them.   But, not too  close yet.   She walks up to me and Betsy like nothing ever happened.   I had a black and blue arm like you wouldn't believe.  My back was sore for a few days too.   All a part of life in the northwoods with the critters ~ I guess.   Life is interesting.........

Strange Winter.........March 30, 2017

I have been busy lately ~ enjoying Mother Nature's craziness.   I sometimes don't know what to think, from one day to the next, about this weather.  One day, I need long johns.  The next day I don't.  The lake is almost always rough.  I just decided to go with what ever the day brings and really enjoy it.  On this particular morning ~ I was enjoying a sunrise from "my" ice cave I discovered on the shore of Lake Superior.   I had been trying to get in there for this type of experience ever since the warming trend and the bigger icicles melted out of the hole.  I could now get in here ~ if......and that's a big if........the lake would settle down.   I had tried to get into it a few mornings earlier when some promise of color ~ which failed to materialize ~ looked promising.  

Here I am, part way in the hole, on a morning of a slight pink color up in a narrow band on the horizon.  It lasted a few minutes ~ but, not much.  Enough waves I couldn't get all the way in the hole, as you can see.  A few days later, most of the nice icicles had been all melted off and just a few stubby ones remained.  It was after sunrise, but I was going to have a try at it anyway.   I got drenched.  A bigger waves came in right over the top of me.  Luckily, I was in full rain gear and blew dry in the wind in just a few minutes.  Things like this don't happen all the time ~ so, I was really hoping Mother Nature would cooperate.  :)

Here's a view of the icicles before the storms broke them all off.  The heavy outside ones had melted off, finally, so I could see out thru them.   I barely had any room inside either.   So, with some melting came the ability to get in there.  However, I still needed the lake to settle down so I and my camera didn't get drenched.

Here's a photo taken from outside of it on the day I got drenched.  See the more stubby, short icicles.   I hadn't stood here watching long enough to know how big the waves were in this little cove that day. Needless to say ~ I got a surprise.  It was a good northeast wind and the waves weren't as big as I have seen them here.  However, I guess I hadn't been here with that wind direction before.  So ~ I was caught totally by surprise.   Anyway ~ it's all fun!
The warm spell has put an end to my traveling all over heck in the woods to a stop too.  That extreme warm spell and rain, followed by quite cold weather, made the snow hard as rock out there.  Boy, Betsy and I were up the hills and over the swamps and really made tracks ~ because we could.   One spot on the east shady end of a tall hill, in a gap where a creek ran thru, didn't get the message.  It was soft in there and I was in up to my butt in the snow.  Had to crawl on my hands and knees a short ways to a deer trail to get going again.  Mind you, I was in my running shoes.  It's always a blast while it lasts.
Anyway ~ I've been busy having too much fun.   Hope you are too!

It's a Strange Winter! March 5, 2017

It's been a strange winter ~ I need to say that.  I can't recall, ever in my lifetime, a winter with so many warm spells and rain.   It is really hard to get acclimated to our winter this year as one day it is 40 degrees and the next 0 or below.  A 30 degree switch hasn't been uncommon.  That does nothing for those trying to make and maintain ski trails for skiing either.  It gets warm, ices up the trail, we get a bit more snow, track it again with the HOK skis to pack it ~ and it's warm again.  I haven't hardly been on my "real" cross country skis this winter.  Strange.  The snow is so hard now after rain ~ and plenty of it ~ and then back to sub zero temps ~ I have been walking around the woods ~ not on trails always ~ in my running shoes!   The deer can even walk around ~ out in the open ~ on top.  Some of the deep balsam and spruce woods can be a bit more tricky!

Yesterday, Betsy and I hiked up the hill behind our house, to the Superior Hiking Trail.  Yes, in running shoes ~ not waterproof ones either!   Here we are a ways east of the valley on one of the overlooks on the trail.   Quite a view.  Most of the going was really great.  The only place I had a few issues was when I went off the east side of this big hill.   Creek bottom, shady most of the day, big spruce and balsam ~ and, you guessed it.  Not completely hard snow there.  I went in crotch deep and had to crawl about 30 yards on my hands and knees to get to a spot that would support me again.  Hit a deer trail and I was in fine shape.   But ~ yes.  Back to strange.   It was fun tho and we sure got our exercise.  If I did that every day all winter ~ boy, would I be in fine shape.  I usually rely on cross country skiing to keep pounds off in the winter time.  Hasn't been easy this winter!

On the other hand ~ it has been a great winter for new ice formations.  On shore ones ~ caused by a rough Lake Superior.  It is rough more often than not.  So, between the warm spells melting off the nice details like you see here ~ there's another storm and cold to make more.   It's always a joy to behold this kind of beauty.  I never tire of hitting the shore and finding these treasures.  I do miss not having ice on the lake tho.  That is always a favorite of mine.

I will leave you with a beauty I found a few days ago.  All the colors in this spot were amazing.  I regularly find turquoises a bit into winter.  Sometimes the ambers or golds.  This has them all.  It was just too beautiful for words.  
I do hope you are all enjoying your winter tho ~ even if I am muttering about all the warm spells and rains.   I probably should have posted photos of all that too.  But, time to get out and have a hike with Betsy.  It is, after all, above 30 already this morning and supposed to rain ~ again ~ sigh...............