Nature Girl

When I was a kid I LOVED to be outside absorbing various elements of the natural world around me. Seems like growing up has meant getting away from that. Not so for this blogger this past weekend. My dh and I took the boat out to a local lake and enjoyed a pleasant time fishing and taking in some warm sunny summer-time weather. I loved it! We caught fish, had a good time of togetherness and both of us enjoyed getting outdoors for a great day. I shot this view of the fish finder showing there's lots of fish in this lake. How cool it that?! Fish finders - what an awesome invention. It's good to know they're down there even when they're not biting. On this day, however, they were indeed biting. We caught a couple large mouth bass, a crappie, a sun fish and a trout. It was all great eating that night!

While we were out on the lake I had my camera out to snap a few photos. Under this little bridge we caught a couple fish while up above us the birds were flying in and out of their nests. These birds were quick, flitting to and fro.

Apparently I was paying equal attention to the local wildlife, other than the fish. It was fascinating to watch the birds that made their homes in the sides of these cliffs. Actually there were quite a few of this type of cliff creating the landscape around this lake. I had lots of opportunity to try to take photos of the birds, but have to say I missed them in a multitude of shots, or they were flying faster that the camera's shutter speed. I took lots of photos, but none of the birds showed up in any of the shots.

Here's a close up of the holes that make up the doorways to their nesting sites in the side of the cliff. Nary a bird in site although I witnessed lots of them flying in and out of these holes while we fished.

I have to admit with the recent acquisition of my new drivers license I discovered the state of North Dakota has required me to wear my glasses while driving. That's a first for me - to be required to do so. One of the pitfalls of aging I guess. Anyway, I invested several hundred dollars recently in purchasing a pair of prescription sunglasses so I could protect my eyes from the sun while driving and still meet these new state directives. Polarized glasses, no less - they're the best - especially when out on the water. But this view of the sun reflecting off the water had me squinting and averting my eyes. A somewhat cloudy day with the sun warming things up for awhile in a direct manor and other times hidden behind the clouds. This sparkling water was a glorious thing to see in person. I'm afraid a photo just doesn't do these outdoor scenes justice. It appears darker in this photo, but it was actually a VERY BRIGHT day and the light was blinding reflecting off the water.

All in all, it was a great day out on the lake. I got to spend time with my honey, we caught fish, enjoyed some warm weather and came home warmed, worn out and relaxed from the sun.

Introducing another household pet

We inherited this goldfish, Harold, from my youngest son, Josh when he came home for a visit during Spring Break. Since they closed the dorms at that time he couldn't leave the fish behind. Harold has since become our adopted fish. It's just a tiny little tank - what a lonesome life this fish has been called to live. But it has trained us well; when it keeps coming to the top corner of it's aquarium we know it's looking for food. Thus we oblige it a couple times a day. Pretty low maintenance with dropping in fish flakes and occasionally changing the water in the tank.


You'll never know how many times I tried taking this picture and just missing. I would have thought a little fish swimming round in circle would be a bit easier to capture on camera. I had lots of pictures of it just coming into view, just exiting from view, out of focus, glare from the tank, etc. I see a bit too much flash on the fish here, but this picture will have to do. It was the best of the bunch.

I ran across this stitch out when I was looking for something else the other day so thought I would share it. I made it using the PictureStitch module of my Husqvarna Viking Professional software program. PictureStitch works by turning an image into a stitched design. It can be done in a single color like is shown here in black, or with four colors of thread that are supposed to represent the four colors you see in printed images with cyan, magenta, yellow and black. I like the single color I chose for this rendition. The size is not more than 6", but they take a bit of time to stitch out. Obviously the four-color option takes longer than the single-color choice to stitch. It is a picture of me when I was a little girl. It is black thread stitched on an ecru muslin background. The project was for a software class I taught last year. I haven't made this sew-out into anything yet. It was going to become a page in a fabric book I was working on, but then thought maybe I'll make it into a totebag. Those seem to be so popular now with the decreased use of plastic shopping bags.

Well we've loaded up the truck and plan to head off to see the boys tomorrow. They're moving into an apartment together for the summer. So we packed up some of the last remaining "stuff" that belongs to our youngest son. He has decided not to come home to stay with us this summer. It looks like he's on his own from here on out. I've already started the re-arranging of that room to reclaim it for our turf. There still remains some lingering belongings from both the boys. They say they will come back to claim the last of their items sometime, but it is down to very little. I have already boxed most of that into plastic bins and tucked them away in a closet. It looks like we really are empty nesters now. Am I sad? Yes and no. It's a good feeling to see they are able to stand on their own. I remember that time of life as kind of fun when I did it, so I'm happy for them and know they will do well. Will we miss them? Yes, I think so. But I know we'll be okay with that. They are only a phone call away.