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Tag Archives: summer

Afternoon Delight

26 Sep

Each spring we help my Mom and Dad put in their Catalina sailboat in the lake for the season and then in the fall we reverse the process.

Life has been full the past few years so we haven’t had time to actually go for a sailboat ride during the summer, just partake in the launching process.

This spring we vowed that this summer would be different we would actually go for a ride on the boat. Several years ago we went for a ride on Dad’s last sailboat, a catamaran. It was a beautiful Fourth of July weekend. We turtled the boat and ended up spending a bit of time floating in the lake with lots of boats zipping around us until another boat stopped to help us. We formulated a plan to upright the boat and were on our way again. I was hoping we wouldn’t have a repeat of the previous experience.

Summer has come and gone here in Minnesota and no sailboat ride until yesterday. While at a birthday party for my sister on Saturday evening my husband made plans with my Dad for our sailboat ride. Yesterday afternoon after church we headed over to Mom and Dad’s for our ride. It was just a quick ten minute ride to their home.

When we arrived Mom was already had treats ready for our ride, a bottle of wine, cheese and crackers. We walked down to the dock and started getting ready for the ride. we motored away from the dock and about a hundred feet from shore and Dad started putting up the sails. First the main sail then the jib and we were off.

We tacked back and forth across the lake with the sails full under clear blue skies. It was a perfect not too windy day. We could see seagulls gathered on the lake as well as the loons as we sailed with fishing boats here and there.

The afternoon brought back many wonderful memories of Dad at the helm and family times spent together on the boat.

 
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Posted by on September 26, 2011 in Fall, Family, Photography, Sailing

 

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Dance of the Hummingbirds

05 Sep

This morning I was reading a daily devotional of the Proverbs 31 website.

http://devotions.proverbs31.org/2011/09/beauty-and-meaning-in-unlikely-places.html

It was talking about taking time to notice the ordinary in the midst of our busyness. This afternoon as my husband and I were heading off for a motorcycle ride I glanced over at my garden.

These days there doesn’t seem much new or special about my garden. There aren’t any new flowers blooming and a lot of the flowers that have bloomed profusely have all but stopped. Flowers are fading with our cooler night temperatures as fall approaches.

I saw something move above my garden that caught my eye. I had my camera in my hand but didn’t have my preferred lens on it. As I focused my camera on the movement I noticed not one but two hummingbirds flying around the Phlox in my garden.

It was a brief visit from the hummingbirds but an exciting one as they danced around the Phlox. As quickly as they appeared they were gone.

Even when everyday things seem ordinary they often deserve a second look……

 
24 Comments

Posted by on September 5, 2011 in gardening, Inspiration, Nature, Photography, Reflections

 

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It Doesn’t Get Much Better

14 Aug

Friday evening my husband and I took our daughter and her son with us to the racetrack. My husband hasn’t raced much this summer but he had his truck ready to go and we went.

When we arrived at the track after an hour and a half drive first thing on our list was to unload the truck and get something to eat.

My grandson’s favorite is a corn dog which I knew they had at the food stand. And yes, that little guy did eat the whole thing although it took him awhile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we unloaded the truck we headed over to the pit grandstand to watch a couple of heat races before my husband’s turn to race.  Jack didn’t take his eyes off the track for a minute and was concerned when they had to send a tow truck out to take a car off the track that had spun out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jack’s favorite movie is “Cars”.  This was like seeing “Cars” in person. He pointed at everything and talked in his two-year old jibberish about everything he saw and every other word that came out of his mouth was “race car”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squeals of delight were heard as the racecars turned corner number four. Our night was cut short by storms rolling in. We ended up running to the truck in pouring rain and driving in torrential rains home. We will head back to the track on Thursday for  “King of the Dirt” night.  Hopefully he will get to see Grandpa race.

 

 

 
20 Comments

Posted by on August 14, 2011 in Family, Photography, Stock car racing

 

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We All Start Small

02 Aug

For weeks I have been watching my garden and waiting.

I planted many flowers over the past few years to attract butterflies, specifically Monarchs.

This past week I managed to catch a Monarch on one of my Echinacea.

Last evening after my grandson’s birthday party was done and all the guests and kids had gone home I walked out to the garden and found signs that caterpillars were present on my milkweed plants.

I searched the bottoms of the leaves until I finally found a caterpillar. The first one I found was medium-sized from what I have seen in past years, about an inch in length.

I continued my search in hopes of finding more caterpillars. Next I found this tiny caterpillar eating its way through the plant.

A little perspective on the size. The caterpillar is at most only a 1/4 inch in length. I had to use my camera lens to magnify it to make sure what I was actually seeing. Probably not necessary for someone with good eyes but mine needed help to see it.

I heard an interesting comment on the radio yesterday about caterpillars, butterflies and moths about their brains. It said something that the caterpillar has two brains. The first in the caterpillar is designed for eating and then through metamorphosis its old brain is made into a new one designed for flight that is needed for a moth or butterfly. Two distinctly different brains.Signs of the first are gone after metamorphosis I thought it was interesting. Why not just one capable of both? I still am in awe of the metamorphosis process.

The Insect with Two Brains | Creation Moments.

 

I’m still looking for the elusive butterfly eggs to photograph.

 
31 Comments

Posted by on August 2, 2011 in Nature, Photography, Uncategorized, Wildflowers

 

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Three Kinds of Sweet

19 Jul

Each year in my garden I wait for the milkweed plants to start blooming. I love to watch the butterflies and bees that come for the sweet nectar.

This year in my yard I have three different kinds of milkweed plants. Only one of the plants I purchased and planted as a perennial. The other two have grown wild in my yard.

I purchased this plant a few years ago to attract butterflies. I wanted Monarch butterflies to come and lay eggs and then collect the caterpillars for my classroom to show them how they formed the chrysalis and then hatched into butterflies which we later released.

Last year I found Common Milkweed growing in my garden on it’s own and I decided not to pull it up like I would have done many years ago before I discovered Monarchs. I let it grow and go to seed. Now I have several plants to attract the Monarchs.

The last milkweed plant is the same kind of milkweed plant as the first only it is one that I found along our lakeshore this past weekend. It grew there naturally. It is a Swamp Milkweed.

This plant is in it’s happy place and I was excited to see it growing naturally. This past weekend I saw my first Monarch flying around the garden. I wasn’t able to get a shot of it with it’s wings open but only hanging on to the higher branches of our pine tree.

I’ve planted a lot of flowers over the years to attract butterflies, especially the Monarchs. These three plants along with my Butterfly Bush that isn’t blooming yet are sure to attract the Monarchs. The butterflies also like my Echineacea plants,Phlox and Monarda or Bee Balm as it is sometimes called. It’s been a treat to see the butterflies visit the garden each year.

Hopefully some butterfly pictures to follow over the next few weeks.

 
24 Comments

Posted by on July 19, 2011 in gardening, Nature, Photography, Wildflowers

 

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The Old and the Young: Eagles

08 Jul

Earlier this summer while out on the boat I spotted a  eagle next to a nest. This past weekend I went in search of the same eagle hoping to catch another glimpse while we were out on the boat. I was not disappointed.

The adult eagle that I saw was not next to the nest where I saw it earlier but in a tree just to the north of the location I first saw it. I’m assuming it’s the same eagle but not sure.

As we went a little further south in our boat, just a few feet, to the location of the nest and this is what I saw.

This young eagle was sitting in the location where I first spotted the adult earlier this spring. I was reading another blog this morning, one of my favorites Naturally Curious with Mary Holland http://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/bald-eagle-nest-update/

and learned that it can take up to four years for the young eagle to gain its white head and white on its tail. The young eagle was sitting and flapping its wings.

When we were travelling home just two days ago near the Mississippi River I saw an eagle soaring in the sky. Such a beautiful sight. I haven’t seen the eagle on our lake soaring overhead but I guess they have been busy tending to their young ones.

 
20 Comments

Posted by on July 8, 2011 in Fourth of July, Nature, Photography

 

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I Think I Am Down A Pint…

07 Jul

This evening when I finally got home I decided to take my camera and walk down to the lake in hopes of getting a picture of the very vocal loons that I heard last evening.

It was a very still, humid evening. Just perfect for mosquitos and not so much for me. (Yes, That is my arm being sucked dry by this mosquito and many others.)

As I wandered around my yard to check out what was new blooming in my garden I was already swatting mosquitos but wasn’t intimidated enough to head back in yet.

I walked out on our dock in search of the loons but they weren’t around our dock area and I couldn’t hear them in the near vicinity.

As I was walking I continued swatting mosquitos. I could have used spray but I don’t like to because that means a shower before I head to bed.

Down by the lake the grass was moving with my every step. Here is what was on the move. Hundreds of them. They were really quick and it was very challenging to get close enough to one and get it in focus before it moved.

If you look at the size of the frog compared to the clover you will notice that they are only about one inch in length now.

Today on our drive home from a funeral we saw this wildflower growing along the roadside. It is the first I have seen of its kind this spring/summer season. It is a Cow Parsnip and it is a very large and tall plant. It was about four feet tall in the ditch where we stopped.

The Cow Parsnip plant reminds me a bit of the Dill plants that grow in my husband’s parent’s garden.

There is not much blooming for color in the wildflower department lately. Mostly yellow or white flowers. Soon some pretty pinks will be added to the mix. Can’t wait to share them.

Heading to bed in hopes of being sung to sleep again by the loons, frogs, and the waves on the shore but not the buzz of the mosquito.

 
18 Comments

Posted by on July 7, 2011 in Nature, Photography, Wildflowers

 

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