Sky and Pain
It gently rained all last night. The morning was cloudy and misty, but by this afternoon when I took this picture the sun was shining and the sky was blue with fluffy white clouds.

That yellow tinged vegetation on the bottom of the shot is goldenrod just starting to bloom, a sure sign that autumn is not far away.

Pain
Last week was a painful week.

Sunny's spondylosis flared up so we visited the vet on Monday for pain meds. She's better now and we have an adequate supply of painkiller on hand for next time.

Mom's broken arm decided to swell and be painful. We spent Friday morning in the orthopedic doctor's office getting her cast cut off and a new one plastered on. Mom also received an adequate supply of painkiller.

P is for Pileated Woodpecker


Today, for the very first time in my entire life, I saw a Pileated Woodpecker.

Their usual habitat is tall trees in deep, mature woods. Since part of our yard is the extension of a deep woods, there was always the possibility one might fly into our trees.

They have an extremely loud, distinctive call. Not easy to miss. Therefore, I didn't think there was much hope of seeing one since I never heard one.

Coming back toward the house after our dog walk this morning, I heard it. That in itself was a thrill. I looked up thinking I would never see it in all the leaves, and there it was in a break in the leaves of a tall oak tree! Big. Impressive. Awesome.

Note: I did not take this picture. Even if my camera had been with me, I would have been too busy gawking to take a picture.


Meanwhile, back in the field, the late season bluebird nest has three hatchlings.

Feed me! Feed me!

Time Out for a New Laptop
Yesterday DH Bob took some great pictures of a sweater I just finished knitting. When I went to upload them for posting, Internet Explorer wouldn't come up. Then many other funky things happened with my laptop that you really don't want to hear about.

Last October I got a new motherboard and a new harddrive. My laptop was acting like it had a bad motherboard again. I had a nervous fit and then spent two hours at Best Buy picking out a new laptop.

This morning I picked up my new 17" HP Pavilion. Now I need to load software, drivers, files, configure, and do all those little things that need to be done to a new computer that usually result in some kind of frustration and phone calls to a foreign help desk before they're over.

So, time out from everything that I thought was important to do yesterday and today while enjoy setting up my new toy.

Mom
Thank you so much for all the sympathy, kind wishes, and helpful comments on Mom's accident.

Her face looks better every day and we're hoping for a much lighter, shorter, maybe even waterproof cast when we visit the cute orthopedic doctor on Friday.

22
I've always considered 22 to be my special number, so I was surprised to see it when I entered my date into this Lifepath Number generator.

Your Life Path Number is 22

Your purpose in life is to use your power for good Of all the life paths, yours has the most innate power. Your power lies in your vision, and you must recruit others to help you in this vision. You are able to be a great idealist, but you still have the practicality to get things done. In love, you tend to be a big romantic - but you also tend to keep your distance. You have a lot of potential, and it's sometimes hard to live up to. Sometimes you just feel like slipping into obscurity and doing nothing. You tend to be prone to dramatic emotions, until you step back and look at things honestly.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

Changing Saturday Sky
In Michigan we say if you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes. In actuality, sometimes it takes a few days for the weather to change. But there are many times the weather does change in a few hours or less.

No one who has lived here long puts great stock in the weather forecasts. Sometimes they're right, and sometimes they're not. Many of them say things like "40% chance of rain" or "thunderstorms possible". I could write those forecasts without any expensive equipment or satellite images and be just as accurate.

This morning the sky was clear and blue. The weather forecast was for a 90 degree hot day.


By this afternoon, the clouds had moved in. The high was 83 degrees, and there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms this evening. Much nicer than the hot, humid days we had earlier in the week.

Where Have I Been?
Sunday the predictable routine of normal life was interrupted by a call from my mother in the emergency room. She tripped and fell onto the pavement outside her apartment.

Her arm is broken in three places. We haven't been able to figure out how she fell on the left side of her head while breaking her right arm. So far there have been no offers to reenact the fall, so we may never know.

The breaks are all in position to heal properly. No surgery needed unless something unexpected happens.

For those of you squinting at the tee shirt trying to read it, Maxine is saying:

I couldn't care less. . . But I'm working on it.

The swelling has gone down in her face and she looks much better than she did a few days ago. Yes, really.

See that dreamy look in her eye? She's dreaming of a long shower and being able to drive again.

It's going to be a while.

O is for Out


Stepping out the door for an early morning dogwalk, I find this beautiful moth on the step with a yellow leaf from the nearby tulip tree.

We leave a flood light on all night. The insect eating birds, especially the Phoebes, have learned to come get breakfast from the bugs the light attracts. This moth was probably injured by a bird, but it's not dead and I gently move it to the front yard before the dogs run out the door.

Later in the day I find wing pieces. The moth did not escape being a bird's breakfast.


After walking out to the back three acres, I aim the camera to the east for a sunrise shot.

Another hot, humid day is predicted. The sunrise is not spectacular and there are no clouds in the hazy sky.


Aiming the camera to the west, the mist is still visible against the trees.


We head down the path with the nest boxes used by bluebirds. Mama bluebird is sitting on her nest and peeks out at us through the hole.

She's hoping we walk by without bothering her because she's in the middle of laying her fourth egg. We click a quick picture and move on.


See the rabbit? It's right in the center of this picture.

Rabbits freeze in place when they see us coming. They are so well camouflaged that the dogs usually don't spot them as long as the rabbits don't move.


The dogs know the field is full of rabbits. Glory and Pappy delight in trying to find them.

They find a rabbit and head into the tall vegetation after it. The rabbit scoots out the other side and is long gone to safety while Glory and Pappy spend the next ten minutes darting around in the weeds looking for it.

I'd love to know what little Pappy thinks he is going to do with a rabbit should he ever catch one. Or maybe I wouldn't.

Friday Flowers and Berries
My Friday morning walk to cut wildflowers in the field without the dogs is becoming a favorite part of my summer week.

This morning's hike had a double purpose. Some of the blackberries have ripened and I wanted to pick enough to make my favorite, yummy Blackberry Bars for breakfast.

Most people consider blackberry bushes to be noxious, invasive weeds. I can understand their point. Blackberry thorns are numerous, long, and sharp. Walking into a patch with exposed skin almost always results in blood, either from a scratch or puncture.

On the other hand, blackberries can hardly be beat for encouraging wildlife and birds. I've even seen a box turtle standing under a berry branch chowing down on their sweet goodness.


Only one of my three dogs enjoys the blackberries. Glory has figured out how to be careful and not get her nose punctured while she eats them right off the bush.

She selects the very ripe, sweet ones and leaves the rest.


The bluebirds have been busy building a new nest for a late summer brood.

This is the messiest bluebird nest I've seen in the nest boxes. Either they are tired from the two previous broods or this is a different bluebird pair. Or maybe the dead grass is different this time of year and this is the best they can manage.

Summertime Sky
Weather forecast is for a hot, humid, miserable week. Since we don't have air-conditioning, DH and I have gone into take it easy and sit in front of the fan mode.

So far - but it's only Monday morning - it's not as hot as was predicted. Living in the woods, we are cooler than those who live in asphalt land. There is even a nice 15 to 20 mph breeze to help evaporate the sweat.

The dogs are getting abbreviated walks in the hot, sunny field. Usually we walk the path three to five times around. For the past few hot days, we've been walking around once and then heading back to the house.

That little spot on the electric wire is a hummingbird. They look so cute when they perch up there just like the big birds.

N is For Nest


Tree Swallow Nest
The tree swallow young are two weeks old, and they are looking like miniature swallows. This picture was taken on the last day I'll be able to open the nest box without the risk of them flying out prematurely.

I've been taking pictures for the past week with no success in getting anything that shows the little birds very well. I can hear them chirping as I approach the nest box, but as soon as I open it they dive down and cover their heads.

At the end of my ring finger is a little swallow peeking out to give me the evil eye. They want me to go away so their parents can bring more food.

Tree swallows like to feather their nest with white feathers. I read about a study showing the more white feathers, the more likely a successful nest. These swallows did a great job with the feathers and it looks like all six hatchlings are healthy and likely to fledge.

The tree swallow parents weren't happy with me being in the nest box. They were both flying in circles dive bombing my head while telling me off with their chatter.

Around the nest box were numerous fritillaries flying around. They like the sweet purple clover, one of the many abundant wildflowers in the back three acres.

Sky and Smiles
Saturday Sky
There's a popular meme in knitting blog land called Saturday Sky that requests a sky picture each Saturday. I haven't officially joined, but I did find myself outside with a camera this morning taking many sky pictures, of which this is one.

After some much needed rain on Monday, it was a beautiful week in SW Michigan. Not too hot in the daytime and comfortable, cool sleeping weather at night.

Today the sky was blue with a few fluffy clouds. Perfect summer weather.


Last month Mom and I went to Idaho to visit great-granddaughter/granddaughter Sydney.

It was the first meeting for great-granddaughter and great-grandmother. The results were just as happy as this picture indicates.

Thanks to son John for taking this beautiful picture.

Friday Flowers
After the morning dog walk, I put the dogs back in the house and headed back out to the field for some wildflowers.

(The red day lily isn't a wildflower, but I wasn't trying to be pure.)

I've been thinking of doing this for years and haven't. Why? It was very pleasant except for the deer flies and now I have a pretty little arrangement to look at for a few days.

Lately I've been thinking about something that came up briefly during the trip to Idaho: I have difficulty knowing what I want and/or asking for it.

This is a family trait and can probably be blamed on our easy going, peace loving Swiss nature. Much of the time it makes us agreeable and easy to live with. Other times we are very frustrating to those who love us and would like to know our preference instead of hearing, "I don't care. Whatever you want is fine."

What I've been wondering is this: When I say "I don't care", audibly or by default, is it actually true that I don't care? Or, somewhere deep inside do I really care? Am I thinking that the people who love me should be mind readers? Am I trying to avoid responsibility for a bad outcome if what I ask for doesn't work out?

If I start asking for what I want, assuming I can determine what that is, will my family resent it?

Have I read too many psychology books?

Maybe I'm having an old age crisis because I didn't take time for a mid-life crisis.

Send me flowers. I love them. Not roses. I've never cared for roses.

There. That wasn't so difficult.

100 Things About Me
Revised and updated July 6, 2006.

1. I was born in Chicago but moved to Michigan in the second grade and have lived in Michigan ever since.
   
2. Bob and I married in 1975 in a magistrate's office wearing matching flannel shirts that I made for the occasion.
   
3. We live on five acres in the country in SW Michigan in a small brick house on a dirt road in a wooded swamp.
   
4. My favorite flowers are the violets. There's a big violet patch in the West wooded yard.
   
5. We have hundreds of Hostas. Lily of the Valley grows like a weed here.
   
6. I am a terrible housekeeper, but I entertain dreams of getting better some day.
   
7. The queen of the house is Glory, an ten year old lab mix.
   
8. The princess of the house is Sunny, a five year old Papillon mix.
   
9. The prince of the house is Pappy, an eight year old Papillon rescue dog.
   
10. I spend two nights a week at doggy school doing agility, tricks, and some obedience with the little dogs. They both love it and so do I.
    
11. In 2003 I lost forty pounds in Weight Watchers. So far I have managed to keep it off.
    
12. I worked as an Information Technology analyst for twenty-four years. In April 2003 Pharmacia, my former employer, was acquired by Pfizer. In January, 2004 I was severed along with hundreds of other ex-Pharmacia employees in SW Michigan.
    
13. I am now retired and hoping I can afford to stay that way.
    
14. People who knew me well told me I'd be bored without a job. I haven't been bored yet and don't think it's going to happen.
    
15. In the 1980s, I was a COBOL programmer. Cobol will always be my favorite programming language, although I know better than to use it now.
    
16. In the 1970s, I went to college part time while my children were growing up.
    
17. I have a BS in Biomedical Science with a minor in Chemistry from Western Michigan University.
    
18. I never had a job using my major or minor.
    
19. My first job out of college was as a computer programmer. I wasn't sure what a computer was. They hired me because I tested super high on a programming aptitude test.
    
20. I've always been good at taking tests.
    
21. I was always a nerd, but in high school and most of my twentys I tried to not to show it.
    
22. I was able to play stupid in high school chemistry because the teacher was boring, but I was never able to resist excelling in math.
    
23. My high school math teacher was excellent. She taught me how to think through problems.
    
24. I played bass clarinet in the high school band. I was very good technically but not musically talented.
    
25. After high school I attended Wright Beauty Academy in Battle Creek and earned a cosmetology license.
    
26. While I was in beauty school I smoked a little rinestone studded pipe. I still love the smell of most pipe tobaccos.
    
27. In the 1960s, I worked as a hairdresser, doing beehives and other very solid hair structures.
    
28. My fame as a hairdresser came from my ability to create backcombed and hairsprayed dos that would not move for a whole week.
    
29. When I was ten, I had a pet painted turtle named Prince Albert Red Rattler. He lived in a large washbin and ate worms. Slurped them up like spagetti. His record was 100 worms in one day.
    
30. When it was time to let Prince Albert go hibernate, he was so fat he couldn't close his shell.
    
31. My maternal grandparents came to this country from Switzerland when my mother was a baby.
    
32. my paternal grandfather was a French Canadian named Gilbert LaFayette Monette. My paternal grandmother was Daughters of the American Revolution material.
    
33. My father had a heart attack and died when he was forty-five years old.
    
34. My mother is still living - and I mean living! You would never guess how old she is and I'm not telling.
    
35. I was present when my first granddaughter was born in 1995. When she was ten minutes old, she grabbed my finger and we've been loving each other ever since.
    
36. My daughter is smart, beautiful, and has a sparkling personality. She works as a property manager. I'm so thankful that she lives in the area so we can see each other often.
    
37. My son is a genius. He used to do calculus homework during the rests in orchestra practice. He ended up in a hotel/resort industry career because he's also a great people person.
    
38. My second granddaughter was born in 2005. She lives 2000 miles away, so I signed up for the frequent flyer program.
    
39. Starting when I was in my late teens, I dyed my brown hair red. When I was fifty-five I let it grow out natural. It's about seventy percent gray now.
    
40. I'm very nearsighted. I've been wearing glasses since I was ten.
    
41. I resent spending time on the daily routine things: taking a shower, brushing my teeth, blow drying my hair, doing the dishes.
    
42. I don't wear makeup anymore.
    
43. I've always purchased practical cars. Right now I drive a tan 2000 Camry. The tan matches the dust and mud from our dirt road.
    
44. I love knitting socks.
    
45. For me, the fun thing about knitting is to try different stitch patterns.
    
46. I very seldom follow a knitting pattern without at least one change. Often I just wing it.
    
47. One of my favorite things to do is knit while listening to recorded books.
    
48. I used to be an excellent seamstress but I haven't had a sewing machine in the last twenty years. Occasionally I get the urge to sew but it passes quickly.
    
49. I've always loved watching the birds and the wildlife.
    
50. I love embroidery, brocade, and lace - seeing it, not doing it.
    
51. I am the oldest of four children.
    
52. My three siblings are all very unique and gifted. I'm the boring member of the family.
    
53. If you are a brass player, you probably know about my brother, Dave Monette, maker of Monette trumpets.
    
54. My three siblings all think SW Michigan is a good place to be "from".
    
55. I'm the only sibling who has stayed in SW Michigan and I'm not sorry. I like it here.
    
56. We hardly ever watch TV or go to movies.
    
57. The last twelve years I've made a point of studying the Bible. I think it's the key to the meaning of life.
    
58. I don't think any of the churches have the complete picture of what the Bible is saying.
    
59. I believe we are here on earth to learn and grow. The lessons we're here to learn are the ones that are hard for us to grasp - the mistakes we make over and over and over.
    
60. I like to be around friendly, positive people. But sometimes I like to bitch and be critical.
    
61. My favorite kind of humor makes fun of life.
    
62. I'm an introvert.
    
63. I hate speaking in public but I can do it when I need to.
    
64. When I took Dale Carnegie training I won several awards for my short talks.
    Most of the people in my Dale Carnegie class felt the class was life changing. I didn't feel that it changed me at all. I'm still wondering if I missed something important - but I don't think so.
    
65. I hate shopping.
    
66. I buy most of my clothes from Land's End. My favorite shoes are New Balance.
    
67. My sense of direction is very poor.
    
68. I haven't had a dress or a skirt on since son John's wedding in 1999.
    
69. For ten years in the 1990s I made stone jewelry and sold it at craft shows. It started out fun but got to be a chore, so I quit.
    
70. I have promised myself I will never again take something I like to do and try to make it profitable. It takes all the pleasure out of it when you have to do it to deadlines.
    
71. I am less and less of a perfectionist as I get older and learn how little it really matters.
    
72. My favorite color has changed through the years, but I've always had red in my wardrobe.
    
73. My favorite color right now is purple. I don't and won't wear it with red.
    
74. I think Tennessee Ernie Ford sings hymns like God Himself might sound. I got through a stressful project at work once by listening to Tennessee Ernie sing hymns.
    
75. I am always apprehensive about driving through the car wash.
    
76. I could - and sometimes do - waste time playing Spider Solitare.
    
77. I'm the second of four generations with the middle name Louise. We all have different first names.
    
78. Every year around Mother's Day, the four Louises have a Louise Lunch to celebrate our love for each other.
    
79. There's a Tulip Tree in the front yard and one in the back yard. The breeze in the leaves makes them look like they're waving at me, which makes me smile.
    
80. We have a phoebe nest on the back porch and every year the phoebes come to raise a family.
    
81. If I had a second daughter, I was going to name her Phoebe. I love the sound of the name.
    
82. On the back three acres I have a bluebird trail of four nest boxes. They get used by bluebirds and tree swallows.
    
83. Every programmer I know is either a calendar person or a map person. I'm a calendar person.
    
84. I hate to hear people sniffle.
    
85. My favorite thing to do on Saturday mornings is to snuggle back in bed with the two little dogs.
    
86. Before I turned thirty I was very thin. Sometimes I was even way too thin to look good.
    
87. I wanted both my children very much. When I was pregnant, I would laugh with delight when I had morning sickness.
    
88. My favorite deserts are custard, flan, and cheesecake.
    
89. My favorite fast food is Taco Bell and Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich.
    
90. I enjoy quiet.
    
91. I like to enjoy my friends one or two at a time, not in groups.
    
92. I don't enjoy talking on the phone. In our house the answering machine answers all the calls and we pick up if it's someone we want/need to talk with.
    
93. I'm not good at keeping in touch with old friends but I think about them sometimes.
    
94. I'm a chocolate snob. I only like European chocolate without all the extra wax and preservatives.
    
95. I love butterscotch and caramel.
    
96. I get impatient with people who say they want to do something but won't try to do it.
    
97. I've worked as a geriatric nurses aide and as an aide in a home for the profoundly retarded during a time in my life when I was thinking of going into medicine.
    
98. I've never worked retail and I've never been a waitress. Hope I never have to do either of those jobs.
    
99. I have an IBM ThinkPad and I work with it while sitting on the loveseat with a writing board on my lap.
    
100. My little dogs like to snuggle up to me while I'm working on my laptop - but only if I tire them out first.
     

How Sweet It Is
I had a doctor appointment today and we spent some time talking about what I should weigh. Dr. V's conclusion: I'm in the upper range of acceptable and shouldn't be concerned about my weight as long as I'm not gaining.

Doctor V is a small woman in her thirties. I have confidence that she isn't going to encourage extra pounds. Therefore I've removed the weight loss rabbit from the Stitches of Violet sidebar.

According to a news item in the Washington Post:

Obesity is strongly linked with depression and other mood disorders.

Whether obesity might cause these problems or is the result of them is not certain, and the research does not provide an answer, but there are theories to support both arguments.

My theory - it's not the obesity that is making people depressed, it's the unhealthy types of food they are eating that creates the depression.

In my study of one (me), I have proven over and over again that when I eat sugar I want more sugar. And, when I eat a bit more than a little sugar I get the blahs. Sometimes I get depressed.

When I stop eating sugar, my mood improves.

It takes about three days to de-sugar my system. I start feeling better after a day. Once the three days are past the sugar craving is gone, fruit tastes sweet, and most pastries and candy taste too sweet to be pleasant.

There is a wide range of human biochemistry. What works for me may not work for you. But, if you've never tried fasting from sugar, I highly recommend giving it a try.

Happy Things
I love this picture of son John and granddaughter Sydney from my recent trip to Idaho. It's my new desktop.

Of all the impressive things my son has done in his life, I am most proud of him for being a loving, involved Daddy to his daughter.

Granddaughter Sydney loves to sit in the front window and wave when people come and go and watch for the dog across the street and yell "do, do!" repeatedly when she sees it.

She also likes to have her picture taken.


This is the second brood of bluebirds in this nest box this summer. The first nesting fledged five and it appears the second nesting is going to do the same.

It was overcast yesterday so I was able to get this picture without interfering shadows. The hatchlings are about ten days old.


About a decade ago I planted a patch of Tiger Lilies. They didn't do well and I finally ripped them out and replaced them with daylilies.

Part of a Tiger Lily bulb remained in the ground and I didn't have the heart to weed it out.

Every year it sprouts up and puts on a glorious display of tiger color. Every year I think about moving it somewhere else, but I don't.

It seems to be happy where it is and it makes me smile.


The dogs are sleeping today after a fitful night of fireworks and thunderstorms.

Hopefully everyone will use up their noisy 4th of July stash tonight and the dogs can resume their normal nighttime sleeping pattern by Wednesday.

Wishing all Americans a pleasant holiday today.

Sadness
After a wonderful trip to Idaho, I came back to very sad doings at home.

My first husband, the father of my children, died Sunday.

For anyone interested, son John wrote a beautiful blog entry here.

Note: Part of this post was originally posted on Seasons of Violet, December 8, 2003. Additions, including pictures, have been made.

I'm on vacation but I'd still love to read your comments.

---

Ant Protector Turns Violent
When I was a child, I was a total insect pacifist. Insects were wonderful, had their place in nature, and should not be killed.

At about ten years of age, I founded the "Ant Protectors Club" whose futile mission was to prevent people from stepping on ants. Even through the club had two catchy mottos, I failed in recruiting more members and it was a lonely enterprise.

Ant Protector Club mottos:

How would you like it if somebody stepped on your house?

Don't, don't, don't kill ants 'cause you might need them some day!

I'm still fascinated with the insect world and try not to interfere with nature. However, we live a wooded swamp and some species specific insect warfare has replaced my total insect pacifism.

We believe that our house sits over the world's largest and heartiest ant hill. The ants come into the house from every direction and can be found in every room. We are hesitant to use nuclear force and nothing else seems to work. To keep the population in check we use borax based poison that the ants take back to their nest. It cuts back on the numbers but never completely eliminates the colony as advertised.

These are little ants and they bite. It's amazing how hard a tiny little ant can bite. I do not hesitate to murder the little ant who bites me.

DH Bob is freaked out by spiders. I'm not overly fond of them either. Outdoors we leave them in peace. Once they cross the threshold we assume they've declared war and we whap to kill.

In the fall when it starts to get chilly, the spiders line up outside our door to get into the warmth of the house. I think Bob is whapping before they cross the threshold, but I don't want to know about it.

Other insects are gently removed from the house and put back outdoors. We assume that is where they would rather be and we don't require them to pay for their mistake with their life. The exception is the blood sucking insects. They don't even have to come in the house to get killed.

Mosquitoes are a no-brainer. They get whapped whenever and wherever we can whap them.

In April and May we have blackflies. They hatch in the cold, fast flowing water of the creek that runs through our acreage. Then they bite. They inject a chemical so you can't feel them and they suck on your blood. I'm allergic to their bites and I swell and itch for several weeks after being bitten. Even cortisone doesn't help.

In June and July we have wood ticks. Ticks are slow about finding a place to bite. They like to crawl around on you for a while and select the best spot. It's usually possible to remove them before they initiate their blood feast.

Before ticks start sucking they are flat, hard, and difficult to kill. A good whap doesn't even phase them. After a tick starts sucking blood and bloating up, you don't want to whap them. They explode and splat blood all over and it's very gross. If the tick was not detached before exploding, it is more difficult to detach after exploding.

After fifteen tick seasons, I'm very good at removing embedded ticks. My preferred method is to use the Ticked Off tick remover, but I am capable of doing it with my bare hands if necessary. I read somewhere that ticks hate water, so, bloated or unbloated, I delight in flushing them down the toilet.


In July and August, we have deer flies. Or, as the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University calls them, "little sabres of pain."

They dive onto their victim and immediately CHOMP! Ouch!

The result is a red welt resembling a mosquito bite. The welts don't itch and they don't last long, it's just that initial, painful CHOMP that makes deer flies one of the worse bloodsucking insect pests we have here.

I view them as one of God's annual reminders that we live in a fallen world.

Actual blood was lost and pain suffered to bring you this picture of a deer fly biting my knee. Am I a dedicated blogger, or what?

Home
Note: This post was originally posted on Seasons of Violet, May 24, 2004. Minor changes and/or updates have been made.

I'm on vacation but I'd still love to read your comments.

---

When I was a child I fell in love with nature. My two favorite books were the Golden Book of Birds and Golden Book of Insects.

We lived in a small town. There was very little diversity in the urban ecology. I dreamed of seeing the real birds and bugs instead of just pictures.

I remember one childhood evening when a rarely seen hummingbird visited the flowers while we were playing. I wanted the other kids to be still so I could watch, but I was the only one interested and the hummer quickly went elsewhere.

Many of my childhood dreams of seeing nature have come true since DH Bob and I moved to a home in rural SW Michigan thirteen (now fifteen) years ago.

Now the hummingbirds buzz us at the window if we don't keep their feeder filled.

We have so many hummingbirds in the summer it is hard to remember when they were new and novel. They are part of our life now. We share our home with them.


Our home is five acres on a narrow dirt road in a swampy woods. The road has a canopy of trees overhead. The leaves are so thick in the summer that a light rain never gets the road wet.

There are various types of wild violets growing on our land. I encourage them to multiply and I call our property Violet Acres.

There is usually something new and interesting going on at Violet Acres. This spring we have a pair of yellow crested flycatchers. I think they are nesting in the woods across the road. They come over into our front yard to catch insects for their young family. I see flashes of yellow going across the window and occasionally they perch where we can see their beauty.


In our neighborhood, no one cares if the lawn is mowed. In fact, no one cares if we even have a lawn. This picture was taken out the front window.

The front of our home is planted very informally in ferns, hostas, lily-of-the-valley, Solomon's seal, and other wild flowers that grow in the shade.

There are cement stepping stones that go around in a large circle. I like to go out, walk around on them, and see everything green and growing.


Violet Acres is narrow and long. The front two acres is mostly wooded except for the spring fed pond and the small brick house where we live.

The pond is for the wildlife. It houses small fish, water snakes, snapping turtles, and muskrats. Kingfishers and herons come to find dinner. Deer come to drink.

This time of year the frogs are so loud at night that sometimes it's hard to get to sleep. I lay there and listen to them calling for a mate and wonder over my good fortune to have a home in such a beautiful and noisy place.


The front two acres and the back three acres are divided by a fast running stream.

Glory the lab mix, Queen of Violet Acres, loves to wade in the stream. This mystifies the two little dogs. They prefer to stay dry at all times and always stare at Glory in amazement as she splashes around and climbs out soaking wet.

The back three acres has some woods, but is mostly open field that we let grow natural, complete with a few large brush piles to shelter the wildlife. This is where the nest box birds raise their babies and Pappy the Papillon, Prince of Violet Acres, meets up with his blue racer snake friends.

On the property next to ours there is an oak forest, so this field is what naturalists call an "edge" area. It's perfect for seeing a variety of birds and wildlife.

Today we learned that our neighbor has seen a mink. I'll be watching for it. Something new to love about my home at Violet Acres.

M is for Mom's Birthday


This is my Mom. This year we're celebrating her birthday in Idaho where she is meeting her Great-granddaughter Sydeny for the fist time.

Happy Birthday Mom! It's a pleasure to be traveling with you on this special day.

We share the same name, Marguerite Louise. Check out Mom's blog post on how her mother named her. While you're there, wish her a Happy Birthday in her comments.

Though we're very different in our interests, our politics, and our religion, we're also very alike in many ways.

We enjoy each other's company and acknowledge that an intelligent person may think differently than we do. That's because we are both intelligent and both think very differently.


The differences make life interesting. I learned that from my mother.

Something else I learned from watching my mother live her life:

• There will be bad times. Really bad times.
  
• Sometimes they get worse before they get better.
  
• When the bad times happen, you do what you need to do for as long as you need to do it.
  
• Knowing there will be bad times makes the good times all the sweeter.
  
• Good times or bad times, life is rarely dull.

A few other important things I learned from my mother:

• Keep growing.
  
• Keep learning new things.
  
• Stay interested in the world.
  
• Dance!
  (Actually, she's the only one of us who dances. But the general concept of "keep moving" is something I learned from mom.)

Thank you, Mom! I love you lots!

Today is packing day and the day to do all those little things that need to be done before leaving home for eight days.

Tomorrow is getting up at 4 am, leaving the house at 5:15 am to pick up my Mom and catch a 7:15 am plane for Idaho from the Kalamazoo airport.

This trip will be the first time Mom has met her Great-Granddaughter Sydney.

If I find time to sit at son John's computer for a few minutes, there will be posts while I'm gone. I have four posts ready to publish including one showing off Mom's birthday socks. Her birthday is Sunday the 18th and we're celebrating with bunch at the Coeur d'Alene Resort.


How time flies. I was looking at my 100 Things About Me and found this entry:

My son and daughter-in-law's first child is due in April, 2005. She will be my second grandchild and I wish we lived closer.

The exact reason I'm headed for Idaho! Sydney is 14 months old now and this is my sixth trip to visit. Trips to Idaho have become an enjoyable habit.

I didn't link the 100 Things because I'm updating them. I'll publish them as a post when they're finished.