I think everyone had the same idea

It was so nice out that I think everyone decided to fill up and go for a drive! I took this from the car window while Jeff was filling up the car. Seems like everyone had a lot newer car then we do. :~ At least they all look new. I haven't seen so many lined up like this in a while. I like the the way this one turned out.

There were a lot of coots at the preserve today. It was pretty quiet. A lot less ducks then last week. There was a family there shooting catfish with a bow. I don't know what they did with the fish. They were HUGE and there were so many rolling in the water. Not sure of what I think of this kind of "fishing".

Pied grebe. You can tell by the ring around the beak. He really swims low in the water.

Red winged blackbird. Believe me the red was there.

There were a few geese. But not as many as I thought there would be.

This was a treat! I wanted to get some pictures of sandhill cranes. I saw these on the way home. By the time we got back to them they were near this house. I wish I could have gotten them while they were still in the field. But I finely got some close enough to photograph them. HUGE! I am wondering if this is a pair. Coloring is a little different on each bird.

Can you imagine looking out of the window and seeing these looking back at you! Beautiful!

We also went to a nursery that we never visited before. It is going to be great when they get everything put out for sale. Up until this weekend it had been too cold. But it is in the country and very pretty. We will go back in a couple of weeks. We went back to Stein Gardens and picked up a magnolia tree. Not the one we were looking for, but very pretty. We are hoping that the yellow on this one is as bright as the other one. We checked around and no one had the one we wanted and weren't getting any in. This one has a lot of buds so it should be gorgeous when it blooms. The buds are very swollen so it shouldn't be long. I will have to check back as they still didn't get the clematis in that I want. The sign is there, just waiting for the shipment.
It was a gorgeous day. When we got home we planted the tree and worked in the flowerbeds. Every day brings more and more plants to life. It makes me happy to see things coming back to life. It is suppose to rain off and on the next fe days, so I really appreciate the beautiful weather this weekend!
I hope all of you have a great week. Hugs, Teresa

Happy and sad kind of day.

This was suppose to be on the end of the post. But blogger thought it should go first I guess!
This is what we are seeing a lot of around here. the past couple of years. Look how high this span of the highway is going to be! I never thought I would see this in our city! I guess we are "growing up" in more ways then one. You can't drive any where with out running into orange cones and barrels, closed lanes. etc. A lot of construction and deconstruction. We have so many round abouts now it is rediculous! Sometimes 3 in a row. I am getting use to them, even though you feel like your head is on a swivel some times. lol. I can't imagine what the view will be from here. Might be interesting for picture taking. With Jeff driving of course. Right now it looks like a theme park ride! WHEEE!

The sad part of today is when we took the burlap off the Japanese Maple. We always covered it in the winter as they are not truly hardy here. When we took the burlap off we found that a mouse, vole, or whatever got to it and ate all the bark off. We know that it wasn't a rabbit as we have the yard blocked off with hardware cloth stapled onto the privacy fence. We check it often. Anyway I had to go in the house for a short cry. I was so upset. I know that this sounds weird but let me tell you the story behind this tree. Jeff didn't see me cry. But he knew what this tree meant to me and really felt bad that he couldn't save it. He would have tried any thing, but there was to much damage. Here is a short story of the tree:
I planted this at the house I had before we got married. I had a golden ret. at the time and she was usually a big help with gardening. Carrying hand tools, etc. Anyway she must not have liked where I planted it and dug it up. It did survive her torture. She actually ran around the yard with it. It never got higher then 3 feet tall as the leader was broken off. Tiffy passed away a couple of years after this one was planted. So this tree kept some of my memories of her. I didn't realize it until today how much meaning this tree had for me. When we got married and I moved into Jeff's house this tree and a weeping hemlock moved with me. So it was a real shock when I uncovered the maple today! I don't think I really realised at first what had happened! Here are some pictures of it in fall color, summer color and what we found today. Plants come and go, but this really hit me hard. Still teary, weird as that is to some people.

 

Fall colors

In summer colors. Much redder then it looks here next to a fern.

This is what we found today! So sad looking. Barkless!

We also have to take a ornamental Newport plum out. Very much a Japanese Beetle magnet. But it was infested so much last year that it weakened the tree. Another beautiful tree that has to go! Sometimes I wonder why I garden.
But then I remember this:

We are now looking for a Butterly Magnolia tree. They are suppose to be hardy and not many insects like them. Hard to find in the tree form. Saw bush for biut we want the branching to start farther up. Not block other plants. A nursery near here is suppose to get some in. We are going to go tomorrow and see if they will call us when they come in. This place is new to us and I want to check it out. Even though some plants won't be in yet because of the cold weather we had been having. But it was closer to 70 today. So spring may come yet. I also saw that another nursery is getting in a clematis that I am looking for. I will have to check with them again.
Blogger keeps changing my pictures around changes font size. I am not retyping this again. Three times already! Bad Blogger! So I am sorry for the small type.
Contrary to most of my post we did have some good times today. It was beautiful out. Sunny and warm!  It was so nice to go out with-out a coat on! Tanner got to play fetch and he is one tired pup tonight! Yard was dry so he could actually run and not look like a mud speckled dog. Every day I take a walk around the yard and see new plants poking through. I think about 3/4 of the plants are coming up now. Always makes my heart sing to see all the new growth! This is the time of year to count your miracles. New growth and new beginnings. Even with the downer I had today with the maple I am still happy. I am very blessed with everything in my life.
I hope everyone has a great week. Hugs, Teresa
 

Looks this way this year!

I really wouldn't doubt it this year!!! Very wet and cold today. Rain and snow flurries. Only a week and a half until fishing season opens. I don't think we will be doing this any time soon. In fact we are trying to sell our boat. With the difference in our schedules we just can't get it out enough. A friend and her hubby looked at it today. He seemed VERY interested...but who knows if he will want to buy it. I am hoping that he does. Then we won't have to advertise it.
Yesterday it was nice out. On the cold side, but very sunny. We went to a wildlife preserve that a friend from work told me about. Pretty place.

Alot of ducks! Canvas backs, mallards, coots, northern shovelers and redheads.

 Good looking pair of mallards!

Very pretty place. I think we will go there often. It is only about an half an hour away. Near where I was going to see the swans which have moved on now. This area always changes in what you will see.

Northern shoveler. So Pretty!
I don't know why I didn't know about this place. I have gone past it SO MANY times. Especially when I was looking for the swans. We also saw 2 sandhill cranes. But they wouldn't land near enough for pictures. Also a ald eagle flew over the car! SO COOL! He was beautiful against the blue sky.
We also went to a dog show yesterday. A friend I know ( breeder of my first English Cocker and also of our future puppy) had 8 dogs showing in conformation. These dogs were all from her litters. Owned by others now. I was put to work holding a couple of dogs for people. Of course I didn't want to do it. Yeah sure! They were all 1 year to 6 years old. Lots of puppy kisses. :)  Well, I hope everyone has a great week. Hugs, Teresa

Prayers said

Prayers for peace and healing for all for all those involved in yesterdays events in Boston. As a nation we weep! Sometimes it is just so hard to believe that HUMANS ( and I use that word loosly) can have so much hatred for their fellow humans. Some times I wonder how much more God will take from us before he says ENOUGH. This is out of control! We were meant to love eachother.

Another day trip! Ice shoves.

The ice really came close to this building!

This is a better shot of just how close it came! Huge chunks!

Piles of ice off the Lake

Just a shot that I like

Ice is breaking up, but didn't get shoved into the shoreline.

More ice breaking up.
The shoves are created by high winds pushing the ice onto shore. Some of the piles were about 20 feet tall! This was near Stockbridge Wisconsin. There were pockets of shoves all along the shoreline. Oshkosh really had some huge ones! But we didn't get there as the exhaust on our car went out and we thought we should get home! NOISY! I would like to have seen those also. But it wasn't to be. Those where in a neighborhood and came very close to the houses. Ruined alot of docks and small buildings! The winds can really push the ice a long way onto the shore. People who live on the lakes never know from year to year if they will come in near to where they live. Beautiful, but so distructive!
Jeff had to work today and had to take my car. You can really get a lot done when you are confined to home!!! There are thousands of geese (5 varieties) about an half an hour from here. Maybe they will still be around next weekend. Never know. I will save on gas with staying home. :)  The weather is really crappy today so I am not missing going out too much. Drizzle, sleet and gloomy day. Yesterday was much nicer! At least there were breaks in the clouds. Tomorrow is suppose to be in the 50's! But I think it is suppose to be rainy yet. Maybe more snow on wed. Winter just doesn't want to leave!
Have a great week everyone. Hugs, Teresa

Very funny Mother Nature!!!

We had sleet, rain, thunder, very bright lightning, high winds with a topping of snow over night. Still very cold and windy. Everything is covered in ice this morning. The yard was bare. Tanner loves it. First thing he did today was take 10 rolls in the snow one right after the other. Did I say he loves snow! The last couple of days we had small patches of snow here and there. He used them all. He thought he was in heaven this morning. Corgi's. at least this one, are like that. Anything is a game.  Not sure how the roads are going to be going to work. Jeff had to snowblow this morning. The plow came through and as heavy as that was on the end of the driveway there was no way we were going to drive through it. I heard that we could get more in the next couple of days. Spring here is always a guessing game! But it looks like the whole country is haveing weird weather again. Funny thing is that we can go from this to 80 degrees. Never know. Guess it keeps life interesting. I went out and took pictures, of course. Here they are:

Our swing has a new fringe! The yard WAS bare!
 

Weeping Norway Spruce. I just noticed that she looks like she has tears!

Poor Harry (Lauder walking stick)

Tree in neighbors yard.
 

Even the knot holes are covered! Notice the moss that was growing on the trunk in the last few days? The trees would actually be beautiful if the sun was shining. All sparkly. But it looks like we could get another round as dark as it is out there. It is funny how changeable Mother Nature can be.
Have a great day everyone. Off to work soon. Hugs, Teresa

Too nice to stay home!! 4/7/13

So I took a little drive! This Wequiock Falls. It is about 45 miniutes or so from where I live. On the other side of the Bay Of Green Bay. This is about the most water that I have seen going over these falls in years! Depending on how much rain we get this summer it can become dry. 

Water in the middle and ice on the sides. Cool contrast! You can hike about 1/2 way to the falls. Or I should say that is as far as I could get. Not as young as I use to be. :( . Plus it is slippery.  There was a sign after this point to stay back. In the summer the water is a lot lower in the creek and you can walk behind the falls. Well, if there is any water falling.

Good amount of ice yet.

The water was really moving! Very rocky creek.

Have to keep us safe on the upper part of the falls. Don't tell Jeff but I climbed through to get some of the shots from the top of the falls. SHHH.

Then I stopped at the Bay Beach Sanctuary. I called this guy the sentry as he was watching over the parking lot. Their are many animals and birds here, but this was just a fast stop.

Still guarding. He honked and hissed when I went by.

I like this shot. You can see the ice that is still on the lagoon. The building is a replica of a duck hunters building and blind.

Luckily it isn't used anymore. Look at all the birds near it.

I finished up on the other side of the bay and about 45 miniutes from home.There were at least 200 swans in this field. Tundra swans. It was hard to see them clearly as they were way back in a farm field. I had to use my camera with the zoom all the way out. (15X). I really didn't know what I had until I got home and put them on the computer. It is hard to keep the camera steady when on the highest zoom and it was windy also. So I am so glad to get some pictures.

The swans are so pretty!

On the way home 4 sandhill cranes flew over my car. This is the only one I could find after turning around on the highway. Of course he had to be way back in the field. But it was such a cool experience when they flew over. They are huge!

It was so right out today. Not real sunny, but gorgeous anyway! Nothing like going in two different directions from my house. But it was worth it! Spur of the moment trips are sometimes the best. I went to see the swans yesterday, but didn't see quite as many and it was drizzling. They were pretty hunkered down. Glad I went back today! Wasn't going to...but.
I hope everyone had a great weekend.
Hugs, Teresa
Whew two posts in two days!

This is what I felt like yesterday!

This is what I felt like yesterday when I saw the sun out! Bring it on! But then I had to leave for work. :( But wow was it great to see! Today is very gloomy. Drizzling off and on. We had about 1 1/2 inches of snow over night. It is gone already. YES!
I did take a drive today. Before the rain started up again. Went swan hunting (with my camera of course). But they were way back in the fields again. So no good shots. But it felt so good to go somewhere. You would think that I never do anything with that statement....but it has been a VERY long winter. Tomorrow is suppose to be so much nicer. Sunnier then today. At least that is what they are saying. :)  I was suppose to take a class on gardening for hummingbirds tomorrow but it got canceled. To few people signed up. But with how hard it was to even get a hold of anyone to register I think people gave up. Being the off season there were only so many people working there. I don't get to take classes often because of my work schedule so I was so excited to go. Oh well, something will come up some other time. I may sign up for a "free" container garden class. You bring your own pot and they help you design an arrangement. The information is free. Like how to pick out plants, etc. But you have to pay for the soil and any plants you pick out of course. But it is like getting professional advise free. I use to work in a nursery, but that was years and years ago. (like 20 years...WOW I am getting ancient!)  I need advise as mine always seem to be lacking something. I bought some canna bulbs today. The name is Pretoria. Orange flowers with striped leaves. Green, yellow and orage striped leaves. Narrow stripes. Even the stems look colorful! Now to pot those out to give them a good start. They are growing in the pkg. Every day when I go outside lately I find more and more plants coming up! Today I noticed the fern leaf peoney poking out of the ground. I just love it when plants start making an appearance! Spring is really showing up. Had my doubts for awhile that we would see it. lol.
They announced that Greenleaf dollhouses is going to show us the new contest house in April. I am not sure if I will do one this year or not. I always wait until I see the kit and see what my imagination tells me. Sometime the kits just don't click...no ideas. so I never get excited until I see what the kit is. This is where my imagination took me last year. I didn't win...but I really learned a lot of new skills. I have to give hubby credit. He thought up the solar panel. They (the ones on the large roof) were suppose to be sky lights. That was just too many windows for me. Needed something different.

Well I guess I have rambled on enough. I hope everyone has a great weekend. Hugs, Teresa

 

The stitching coop has a giveaway!

  The Stitching Coop   is having a giveaway!! Hurry over to her blog and get your entry in. This little quilt is so pretty!

ENDS 04-20-13