I'm so glad you could stop by. This is my personal blog of daily life and my journey through life. You will find a strong emphasis on family and friends as well as finding my ancestors through genealogy. Unlike my other blogs this blog is more of a catch-all so any topic is fair game.
The Cottonmouth Snake
May 12, 2013
We spent most of May at our vacation home in sunny Florida. As is customary, I go for a golf cart ride around our resort after dinner. There are many interconnecting small lakes and ponds so there is an abundance of wildlife. One evening, my husband and I decided to take the ride together. A few roads from our house we spotted a snake. I'm not fond of snakes by any stretch of the imagination especially any larger than about six inches long. I immediately knew this was a poisonous snake but wanted a picture anyway. Let me tell you, it was hard for me to get a picture because I was shaking, hoping we would not spook it enough that it would strike. The picture was taken from inside the golf cart about twelve feet away from the almost four foot long cottonmouth snake. Needless to say we gave this snake the respect it deserved, took our pictures then scurried off looking for more photo opportunities!
Turtles Sunning Themselves
May 12, 2013
My camera is always close by. Since moving into town almost two years ago, I have had less photo opportunities for wildlife. It's not that I don't have photo opportunities, just not as many involving wildlife. However, there are endless photo opportunities for wildlife at our vacation home. During our spring visit to our vacation home, The water levels were the lowest we have ever seen them drawing wildlife out from their hiding spots. We spotted several turtles sunning themselves on the banks of the many ponds in our community. Normally, we only spot one or two so this was a rather nice surprise!
The Creek
September 19, 2011
Our vacation home is located in a beautiful resort with many, many gorgeous bodies of water. This small creek is a short walk from our house so I visit quite often during my walks. I love how the sky and trees are mirrored in the still waters. The water is quite clear revealing fish lazily swimming by. I haven't seen any gators at the creek but the nearby larger pond is known as a popular gator breeding area. Part of the pond is shown at the top of the picture but it expands quite some distance to the right (not shown). It's quite common to see gators sunning themselves along the shore of the pond. There is also an abundance of waterfowl at the pond. I always take my camera with me when going for a walk as there is just so many wonderful photo opportunities.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Snow Drift
March 6, 2011
Last Saturday afternoon the weather turned nasty with high winds, heavy blowing snow, freezing rain and very slippery road conditions. The following day, I noticed a rather interesting snow drift outside our family room window just off the lower patio. The sun caught it in just the right light so I had to take advantage of this gorgeous photo opportunity. I think it is quite pretty with the shadow play!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Dusk at Pelican Island, Florida
December 24, 2010
Pelican Island in Florida is a must stop for nature lover young and old. There are so many gorgeous photo opportunities that it is well worth the stop for photo buffs as well. We will certainly be visiting this nature resort often. I can't hardly wait to see the wildlife!
Garden Gnome
Big Bird at Busch Gardens, Tampa, Florida
December 16, 2010
Sesame Street was such a big part of our daily routine when our kids were young. Now our grandkids are watching Sesame Street. During our visit to
Busch Gardens we spotted
Big Bird and
Elmo greeting visitors in the
Sesame Street Safari of Fun. Grandma just had to get a picture of Papa with Big Bird for the grandkids. Papa is quite tall but Big Bird towered over him by at least a head. Papa came up to Big Bird's neck! It was a great photo that I immediately emailed to the grandkids when we were home for the evening. I must say that Big Bird is one of the friendliest birds you will ever meet! What a great day!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Now that we are back at our primary residence after being on vacation with a home base of our vacation home for a month, I'm taking some time to go through all the pictures I took. There are a lot of them, 1,793 to be precise. It is such a blessing that we have so many pictures to remind us of our first extended stay at our vacation home! I have plans to share some with family and friends as well as readers of my blogs. Some will be used to create a digital scrapbook. I feel very blessed not only at having the opportunity to get out of the cold for a period of time but to also have brought back such great memories.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2011
Evening Promise
August 21, 2010
There have been a lot of storms in our area recently. The hot and very humid weather has created the conditions for pop up thunderstorms, some rather violent. The resulting clouds have helped to create some incredibly vibrant sunsets. They are just absolutely amazing! Pictured is the sunset from a couple of nights ago. It was stunning to say the least, just gorgeous! True to the say a
red sky at night, sailors delight the following day was rain free.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Evening Sky
July 26, 2010
A couple of nights ago I packed a simple picnic dinner for us to enjoy on the boat. We boated upstream for awhile then turned the motor off and drifted while enjoying our dinner. It was a peaceful, relaxing dinner. As we headed back to the marina I took a few pictures of the sky that will still laden with storm cloud remnants. The storms have certainly provided several photo oppurtunities!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
The Algoeast
July 3, 2010
We spent a wonderful day on Saturday lazing on the boat at our favourite swim hole at the mouth of the St. Clair River. What better way to enjoy a warm, sunny day than anchored on a sandy beach, rocking gently to the motion of the waves. Occasionally a lake freighter went by giving a few wonderful photo opportunities.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
The Web
June 27, 2010
A couple of days ago the weather turned cool so we woke to very heavy fog conditions. It is always pretty here when fog envelopes everything leaving just a few feet around the house just barely visible. The boat horns sound through the heavy fog - one blast every minute to make sure other boats know they are there. This is the perfect time to grab the camera looking for photo opportunities. I spotted several spider webs heavy with the moisture from the heavy fog.
Spider webs are greatly under-appreciated works of art! Their intricate fine webbing is enough to make anyone who crochets jealous. Quite often spider webs indoors are hastily brushed aside when cleaning not realizing that they are a tell tale sign of air leakage. Outdoors spider webs are swept from window wells and door ways because they look unsightly without considering how many insects spiders trap each night. Outdoors during times of heavy dew or frost spider webs become magical, mystical works of art to be enjoyed for a short period of time. What a great photo opportunity!
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Interesting Camera Artifact (Sunset)
June 24, 2010
We have been experiencing some rather turbulent weather in our area recently. The result of this has been several great photo opportunities. My husband snapped a few pictures of the sun shining through rain clouds a few days ago. The appearance of sun itself was a fluke due to the fairly heavy cloud coverage. It did not appear as a break in the clouds or as a beam, just simply as a bright, white sphere and only very briefly for not quite 2 minutes. In two of the pictures the sun actually appears a rosy pink as pictured. The above photo has not been altered other than adding the copyright mark and frame. Essentially a couple of lucky shots captured the sun shining through rain breaking down the white light into colours the same way a rainbow forms. In this case only one colour of the prism was caught by the camera's lens.
Garden Gnome
©2006-2010
Sun in WillowApril 1, 2010Spring has definitely sprung in our little corner of the world. I was amazed that March came in like a lamb and left like a lamb! The spring is predicted to be warm and dry here which is not good news after a mild winter with below average snowfall. A few days ago I grabbed the camera to look for signs of spring in the gardens. The sun was peeking through the willow giving an interesting effect.
Garden Gnome©2006-2010
Frost and FogMarch 6, 2010March came in like a lamb this year. The mornings are cold and crisp with fog coating surfaces to form a thick layer of frost. The effect is quite stunning. As the sun rises higher in the sky it burns the fog off. While this happens the fog forms long striated bands hovering from the ground rising towards the sky. These are the days when the sap starts running! The sugar bushes are already starting to produce local maple syrup giving us one more reason for a road trip.
Garden Gnome©2006-2010
Frosty LaneMarch 6, 2010I love traveling through the countryside on cold, crisp frosty winter mornings this time of year. The fog settles on trees and other surfaces forming a thick coating of frost while giving the surrounding landscape a hazy, mystical appearance. At the same time the sun peaks through the fog just enough to make a gazillion dance and sparkle on the snow and frost. It really is quite pretty!
Garden Gnome©2006-2010
Canadian Geese
March 4, 2010
With most of the ice gone from the water the Canadian geese have taken to visiting the shoreline. While they stay fairly close to the water's edge it is not uncommon to see them wandering from yard to yard and even occasionally down the driveways. They are impressive birds to say the least. I love taking pictures of them. What a great photo opportunity!
Garden Gnome©2006-2010
Arby's Restaurant SignJanuary 23, 2010I find advertising signs fascinating and am especially fond of older signs. Chain restaurant signs are part of their brand so that in itself makes them unique. Pictured is the Arby's Restaurant sign that joined my photo collection of advertising. I liked the way it popped out against the beautiful blue sky with wispy white clouds. Talk about a great photo opportunity!
Garden Gnome©2006-2010
Golden Evening SunsetJanuary 30, 2010This is a wonderful time of the year to enjoy beautiful sunsets. Hints of frost, fog and snow capture the sun's sinking rays adding a fairytale quality to the sunsets. I think they are gorgeous so tend to take a lot of pictures of them. What do you think?
Garden Gnome©2006-2010
Ducks on the WaterFebruary 8, 2010We have had a lot of waterfowl visiting us lately. I love their visits! Not only are they wonderful to watch in the water and as the take-off or land but they present great photo opportunities. The picture was taken from our dock. The two larger ducks with the reddish heads are Canvass Back ducks. The smaller white and black duck to the right is a Bufflehead duck. I'm not sure what the small duck near the top of the picture is. I'm still working my way through the Duck's Unlimited photo gallery to help me identify the various ducks that visit. What I find interesting is quite often there is a variety of ducks visiting at the same time. Aren't they gorgeous?
Garden Gnome©2006-2010
Blue Balloon in The DomeJanuary 23, 2010We had the opportunity to visit
Mitchell Park Conservatory (The Domes) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I found an abundance of photo opportunities. Looking upwards in the tropic dome I spotted the big blue balloon. I didn't see any indication as to what this balloon was so when I got home I emailed them but they haven't responded to my question. So what the blue balloon does is up to speculation. I think it made for a lovely photo opportunity!
Garden Gnome©2006-2010
