Merry Christmas Everyone

I took this picture last January. In Kewaunee Wi.
Merry Christmas everyone!!
Here is a link to one of my favorite Christmas songs...

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=OExXItDyWEY&vq=medium

Summer and winter

Please Summer can I have just one of the toys??? Tanner just waits until she is not looking and then takes one. Of course she takes it back and adds it to the pile around her. Sassy puppy!

 

She had to get tired sometime!

 

We recieved about 5.1 inches of snow today. We recieved about 4 inches yeaterday. I think we will have a white Christmas. lol. Then it is suppose to snow again on Christmas.

There were a lot of different ducks at Voyager Park in DePere. This one is very pretty.

It just seems funny to see pelicans in the icy water. But as long as the water stays open they will be o.k. There are about 8 or so there right now. In the spring there are a couple hundred. It has only been in the last few years that they have been back here in this part of Wisconsin. Now most of the lakes, rivers, laggons, etc have them.

This is a different sea gull then we usually see. Isn't amazing how birds can stand on the ice like that without their feet freezing! Nature is wonderful!

This is a bald eagle flying over a mill in DePere. I am so glad that I went there last week as I stopped by twice this week and didn't see any.

3 different kinds of ducks.

I noticed this pelican this past summer. He has a bad wing, but he seems to be doing o.k.
I can not believe that Christmas is in 3 days! We are getting together with my family on Christmas day. Jeff will see his dad and step-mother on Christmas Eve. I have to work. Now if they would just understand that I work in a hospital and can't get everything off that I want to have off. Oh Well!
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year. Hugs, Teresa

Cold, cold, cold

Even this little guy does not like the cold. look at the look on his face! It has only been anywhere from 0 degrees to 18 degrees lately. But the wind chill have been down to -30 degrees. Today was the nicest that it has been in about 2 weeks. A whole 18 degrees!! Yesterday was the first time in about 2 weeks that I have been out to take pictures. I stayed out about 30 minutes. Came home because I was too cold. I have to take allergy meds if I go out into the cold because I will have a bad reaction to cold and change of temperatures. So I really have to be careful in winter. Actually early spring and late fall can be worse as there are alot more temperature differences. I am starting to have cabin fever and camera withdrawl with not being able to spend a lot of time outside. I was looking through my newest pictures and I don't have many that I haven't shown already. I like to stay seasonal and I don't have a lot of winter ones from this year yet.

I did get this bald eagle picture yesterday. He and about 7-8 of his buddies were flying by a paper mill in DePere Wi. They seemed to like to fly in and out of the smoke. Maybe monday I will go to the west side of the bridge and try to get some better ones. I can walk onto the pedestrand walkway and should be able to get quite close. I was too cold yesterday to try it after going a to a park where I first saw them. I am not complaining as I could have something a lot worse then this allergy!  You will see a reason for this later in this post. Plus of course looking at other peoples illnesses.

This is a picture of a 1902 stone barn. I am not sure if I like the very red doors and window trim. This barn has been restored. The land will be made into a park. The barn will become a farming history museum. This is a through and through barn. This means that they could drive into one end of the barn and out through the other end. The doorways are also arched to accomidate the wagons with their rounded loose hay. The walls are two feet thick! Can you just imagine building this without the equipment we have now. All block and tackle.

Our albino squirrel is back. He seems to have taken on a brownish tint to his fur. It must e as protection in the winter. He has pink eyes and squints a lot. I wonder how sensitive they are to the light?
I have a favor to ask of you. Please pray for my niece. She was in a car accident yesterday morning. She lost control and hit a tree. She did break her neck. But luckily she has feeling in all parts of her body. She will be in a halo for quite some time yet. But she did get out of intensive care late today. YEAH!  She hopefully will be out of the hospital soon. This could have been so much worse then it was. Luckily she was alone and no one else was hurt. No other cars involved. News like this can really make a persons heart stop as the first thing you think of is if she was paralyzed. She is 23. Thank you in advance for any prayers said! Hugs, Teresa

Alphabet in Nature==A challenge I was in!

A man who writes a gardening column for our local papers ( alot of the state papers are run by the same company. Gannette). Has challenaged us for the last few weekends on his Facebook page. Yard Md. This weekend was (is still) alphabet in nature. We were to take pictures of letters of the alphabet as you see them in bark, tree branches, rocks, etc. Where-ever you see a letter.
The one I have on the top picture is the letter O.  

 

This bees attenea are a perfect V

Egrets neck is an S

This begonia has a lot of P's.  Or small r's depending on what You see.

I will post the next two on his page later. The tree has a V

This monarch has some M's in it's markings!
Last week we had to pake pictures of grey. Which could be greys, greyish browns, silvers, etc.
The weekend before was browns.
These challenges are fun. Plus they make you look at things differently.  Who knows what he will have us do next weekend!!!
Dark, gloomy and small snow flurries here today. The highest tempurature we had today was 10 degrees F. And that is now at 3:30pm. Windy also. It doesn't take long to feel cold when you go outside with this weather! I was hoping to get out and take some eagle pictures. But too cold to be by the water for me. There is a city not far from here where the bald eagles winter over. I guess yesterday there where 8 adults and 16 immature ones roosting in a grove of trees! They hae been around for the last week or so. They are suppose to all over that area starting in Jan. (at least if it is like other years).
I did some Christmas shopping today. We don't have many to buy for. I hope you are all having a good holiday season. (Thanksgiving , Christmas and New Years). Hugs, Teresa

Day trip at a farm

This farm was an alpaca farm. They come in so many colors! Yhis was the fluffiest. They look so soft. But they didn't come close so I don't know.Isn't that coat gorgeous!

 

More colors. And look at that Cria!

 

I see spots!!! Isn't this just crazy! He made me smile.

There is a log cabin from 1880 there. They had an art sale going on. It is now the place they use for sales, etc. So interesting.

Then there were Emus. Two of them. They are such crazy looking birds! They make such a different sound. I can't really describe it. Kind of a humm.

This guy had a crazy hair day. Well I guess more then one day.

Close up of emu feathers. Look how they overlap. Not at all like other bird feathers. They make the whole bird look round.

My what big feet you have!

Now he is beautiful! Looks like he is on stilts! He is making sure that the ladies are o.k. At least I think that is what he is doing. :)

His ladies! Seems like everything on that farm comes in many colors or textures.

These were the "guard" dogs of the gift shop. You had to walk over them to get inside. They just laid there taking in the world! 

Just an interestin barn door over run with vines. I like the contrast!

Just a silly Alpaca face.

Of course you have to have at least one cat on a farm. He didn't like attention at all! Sure he didn't!!

Then I went a little way farther down the road and ended up at Lake Michigan. I love how the ice and snow stuck to this piling and then the wind whipped it around. There was snow and ice all along the shoreline. I did find a place to soak my foot though. Who would have thought that the water would be on this side of the ice/snow line. lol.

Just another picture with more ducks. Love the green heads.

The waves were coming in at a fast clip. Not huge, but they sure made themselves known. I love the water and while I was in the vacinity I had to go there. Trying to make the most of my days off before winter comes in. It was in the 30's today. Which was so nice.
On facebook a gardening guy has a page. He works for our newspaper. Well for a paper in Appleton. But our paper is run by the same company so we do get some of his articles in our paper. Well any way, the Yard MD has put out photo challenges. This weekend was grey. I think I managed to find grey things to take pictures of. :) These
"challenges" have really made me look at things differently. See things that I might never have noticed before. So it is helping me grow in my hobby of photography. It has been fun. I wonder what he will think up for us next weekend!
Otherwise there isn't a lot going on here. We did have a good Thankgiving. Alot of family and food. I can't believe that it is Dec already. I really don't know where Nov. went!
I hope everyone has a great week. Try to take it easy and don't stress over getting ready for Christmas. I know, I know it is less then 3 weeks away now. Hugs, Teresa 

I am trying to find answers from blogger forums.

I have a question out to a blogger forum now to try to get an answer for the pop ups when you try to comment. Hopefully they will be able to help. I am so sick of this happening. You guys shouldn't have to get this when you post comments to my posts. I value your comments.

Nature is wonderful!

I "found" a park near me that I wish I would have checked out sooner. Now I know to check it out in the different seasons. It is bigger then I thought it would be. 46 acreas. Not huge by any means, but very nice. Is does seem huge though when the temps are in the 20's. I have seen a lot of birds the 3 times i have gone there and i only found this park late last week. I am obcessed. This little blue jay is all puffed up to keep the cold away. See how he tucked in his little feet? The park is called Sherwood Forest Park. It is in Ashwaubenon Wi. Actually on the border of Green Bay and Ashwaubenon.

 

Can you see her? This doe was in the open. But my camera wasn't turned on. :(
As I was turning it on she heard the sound and walked into the brush. She just stood there watching me. Peek a boo. I can see you. We stood like that for awhile and then walked farther back into the brush. How can anything this big be so quiet!

This is one of I think 3 bridges. The walking paths follow a creek. There is also a couple of boardwalks. Everything is nicely kept up.

Here is a cardinal just munching away on berries. I think I might print this one and make a christmas card for my mom. She loves carinals.

This huge wasp nest was found at Voyager Park in Depere. I find them interesting.

This sea gull and pelican are facing off over a fish. You can see it right in front of the gull.

And last but certainly not least is this sunset I was blessed to see. I went out into the country hoping to get some sunset pictures. As the time went on I thought that the colors weren't going to be so great...and then this happened! I am so glad that I took the drive out there. Not that the country is so far from my house. lol. I can drive for 10 minutes and be outside town. lol. This was about an half an hour away. But I do hate driving in the dark. So kind of scarey coming home. I saw two deer. Luckily they ran back into the fields. Hunting season here so they are moving alot at night.
Today is my birthday. So I am just being lazy this morning. I have to go to work this afternoon though. Have a great day. Hugs, Teresa