The birds are coming, the birds are coming!!

A few weeks back I reported about what a failure I was at attracting birds to my yard. I've been giving it my best shot and it is starting to pay off. Very slowly..... the birds are starting to come. I've had my feeders up for several weeks and just 2 days ago I saw my first bird. Woo Hoo!! And even though they are still really sparse I am happy with the variety I have seen. Just today I have seen robins, red breasted nuthatch, white breasted nuthatch, chickadee, goldfinch, house finch, and even downy woodpeckers and red bellied woodpeckers. I sat at the kitchen table today with the binoculars really enjoying the scene. I'm hoping that the few birds that are around will start spreading the word.
This little goldfinch was the only fellow that allowed me to photograph him. I'll get the rest of you little birdies, you just wait and see.

Craig helped me make our first bird house this morning too. I was really happy with it. I'll show you tomorrow what we came up with. We are getting ready to go back out into the garage to tackle a few more.

Jordan had her oboe state solo judging this afternoon. It was almost a disaster. We were already in the car on the way there and I asked her if she had the judges copy of her music. All I got was silence..... Apparently, she never got the original copy back from the district judge. This is a problem as the judges will only accept original copies of music and not photo copies. To make a long story short she was nearly disqualified. The judge was not happy and expressed his displeasure but under the circumstances he allowed Jordan to proceed. Alls well that ends well. Jordan received a 1 rating, the best you can get and proudly walked out with her division 1 metal.

Chapel in the Pines

I know I said I was done with vacation posts but I wanted to show you all the "Chapel in the Pines". It really moved me. This is a tiny little log cabin chapel in the middle of the old growth white pine forest at Hartwick Pines in Grayling. It was quite a hike to get there especially as cold as it was that day. I was aware of the chapel from reading about it at the welcome center but I figured there was no way that we were going to end up walking all the way back there to see it. We started on what I thought was going to be our short little walk and before long signs were telling us it was just ahead. I really wanted to see it so we proceeded on. Apparently someone anonymously donated the materials back in the 50's for this charming little chapel. It looked like it couldn't seat more than 15 people
It only had one window in the shape of a cross. Below the cross was the most amazing plaque inscribed with a nature prayer. I stood there reading the prayer and when I was done I had to compose myself before I could utter a word. I wonder how many others have had the same experience that I had there. It really was a gift.
As Craig and I were walking away I said "Craig, I want to get married there.... Oh yea, I'm already married".

"Nature's Prayer"
Our Heavenly Father Creator of all that is nature. We humbly come to you in the midst of nature's splendor to thank you that as Americans we are free to worship as we please, work as we please, and move about as we please to enjoy all that is nature....It's mountains, it's hills, it's valleys, it's lakes, it's streams, and the living things that dwell therein; We pray unto you that someday the world may be at peace and all men be free to enjoy nature's abundance. We ask you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that we be guided to protect this priceless heritage which we in America are privileged to enjoy. Amen

A sure sign of spring

My Dad told me that he saw a Robin a few weeks ago. I found it hard to believe that he had seen one this early but today I saw my first one. It was in the courtyard of the hospital (seems like a lot of birds are visiting me there lately). I never really liked robins much. I guess because they are so common that they are easy to take for granted. Even if I do nothing to attract birds a robin will be in the yard. But... I've decided to like robins this year just for that reason. Because no matter what a robin is always there to greet me. And the Michigan state bird is the robin so I should like him!

I didn't take this photo. I stole it off the Internet. But I'm sure soon robins will be allowing me some photo opportunities.

Craig returned home late last night from California and we are glad he's home!! He made the comment that he hasn't been home on a weekend in 4 weeks in a row. He's done traveling for a while.... Woo Hoo! We are celebrating with pizza tonight!!

Profile Photo

I was leaving a few comments this morning and noticed that my profile photo was missing. It was a pine tree that I had gotten off a google search a long time ago. I don't know what happened to it but when I logged into my settings it said the photo was invalid. I figured this was a good time to switch to a more personal photo, one of my own. I used my current favorite of the chickadee in Jordan's hand. So if you see a chickadee on your comments it's still me!! :-)

Jordan's Portrait.

I'm not sure how well this will show up but I wanted to post this. I posted about this portrait of Jordan before. Jordan has been very good friends with a special someone named Emily since they were 3 years old. Through the years she has become a very talented artist. She did this portrait of Jordan in chalks and gave it to Jordan as a gift to her for her 16th birthday. Emily's family had it professionally framed and we are just now getting it hung. It is in Jordan's room. I love the sayings across the top. It is so Jordan.... we love it!

The Old House

I took a drive today just so I could take pictures of this old house. It's located about 5 miles from my house on a dirt road way out in the country. It sits all by itself in the middle of farm fields. Not another house can be seen.
It's been empty and uninhabitable for as long as I've been aware of it. I love this house!! It looks like it has so much history behind it. I wish I knew it's story. Who built this house? They must have been wealthy. Who were these people? What kind of family did they have? What was their occupation?
In it's day I'm sure this house was magnificent!! If I had an indispensable amount of money I would buy this house and bring it back to it's glory.

I heard a rumor that a dairy farm recently bought this house and all the surrounding land and has plans to demolish the house. It saddens me. That's what prompted me to go take photos of it. I don't know how much longer it will be there. I stood out on the road and took the photos. I wanted to walk up to it and peak in the windows but I didn't have the nerve.

Weird Object Friday

Here is my weird object Friday. This too came from my friend at church that was having the barn sale of really old stuff. My parents ended up with it because they can use it for what it was intended. The first photo is the end of it. It is a sturdy metal with a long wooden handle.
This is my Dad holding it up so you can see how long it is. I would guess it is 6 feet long.
This is a demonstration of how you would use it. What is it????
This photo should give you a clue.
It's a chicken catcher!! You use the hook to grab the chicken around the leg. It works too.

Happenings from home

It's been a boring week, but I'll take boring over crazy busy stressed out anytime. It's a really slow week at work too, which I was not expecting so I'm trying to find things to do to fill the time. You don't hear me saying that very often, usually there isn't enough time in the day! Here's a list to catch you up on the Mullauer's...

Caleb & Jordan at Silver Lake last summer
1. Caleb has taken a leave of absence from his job to get him through these last few months of school. Mainly the musical. Rehearsals are getting frequent and intense and there was just no way that he could keep it all up. Craig and I always told him that school was his first job and that work was optional during the school year so we stand behind him on this decision. Soon his job at the golf course will be starting up and the timing will be better.

Jordan's speciality
2. Jordan's busy too. Last week she had Science Olympiad competition. Her and Emily placed first in music and instruments. They built their own instruments and had to play music with them. First place out of 19 schools!!! I was impressed. She also went with the band to festival. The band received all 1's... she was pleased. She is also in the musical as a hot box dancer and loving that. She's trying to fit oboe and dance lessons into all this and then to top it all off track started this week. I don't know how she does it all.

Father & Son
3. Craig was gone to Indy last week for a trade show. His company was displaying there. This morning Craig left for California for another trade show. This one he is not displaying in. He is looking at products. He woke me up at 3 AM to kiss me goodbye and about scared me to death. And the big news is that he finally finished my car this week. That was a huge job and I'm so grateful that he knows how to do these things. My car is purring like a kitten.

Seadra & Zo-Zo
4. Seadra is doing better and has only a slight limp from her shoulder injury. She either dislocated it or pulled a muscle. She was laying around here crying for days. I'm expecting she will be all better soon. And Zoe is..... well just Zoe. She's my happy go lucky, never has a care in the world dog.

She didn't really put her lips on it
5. The hamsters had to be separated this week. For a long time we thought they were playing with each other but it has become evident that they are fighting. One bullies the other. It got so bad this week that I think one was near death. She just laid in the corner for 2 days. The other one would jump on her constantly. The final straw was when we noticed that she had bloody paws and a hole bitten right through her ear. Jordan was beside herself and quickly relocated her to another home. She still isn't moving around a lot. I'm thinking she's trying to recover from the trauma. I keep telling myself.... "It's only a rodent".

Mommy & Seadra from last summer
6. And I am ready for spring!! You know our whole family loves the snow and we have fun playing in it but the time has come to be done with it. The snow melted so much this week that I could see the grass in spots. But that also revealed how much yard work there is to do and I am ready to tackle it!! I'm starting to get a little cabin fever. Yesterday I took a drive over to Sarett Nature Center. I thought I might watch the birds and take a walk on the nature trails. I didn't know that Wednesday was classes for home school children so I couldn't get into the observation rooms to watch the birds and then I decided it was too cold to walk the trails. I did pick up a list of classes and things to do. Hurry up spring!!

Caleb & Jordan Wizard of Oz from last year
Tonight I am going to the musical rehearsal. Since this is Caleb's last high school musical (I'm wiping away tears) I decided to volunteer and get a little more involved. I am in charge of newspaper articles and advertising so I'm going to take photos and write up a press release. And I am also in charge of organizing food for dress rehearsals the last week leading up to the show. The kids are fed dinner and snacks the last week to help with the stress. I have to call all the parents and arrange that. And then my favorite thing is that I am the official photographer. For me that is fun and creative. Last year I made 4 big poster boards and displayed them in the halls showing the kids rehearsing, having fun, and getting ready. Anyway, you can see I'm getting excited about the musical.

Can opener anyone?

So tell me, do your canned goods look like this after you open them? I'm going TODAY to buy myself a new good old fashion can opener!!! The manual kind that you crank with your hands. I can't tell you how many times I have been in this situation in the last few years. We have one of those "gizmo" electric can openers. It works pretty well.... if people remember to put it back on the charger. And I will admit that I am guilty of this too. It took me 10 minutes and multiple tools to try and get my can of tomatoes opened. But alls well that ends well. My beef stew is in the crock pot and dinner will be ready at 6:00.

Patience and Persistence

I'm leaving the hospital at 10:00 this morning and I am walking out to my car in the parking garage. This mini van was parked next to me. Look what was there to greet me. A Red Tailed Hawk. And you cannot see it in the photo but he had his claws wrapped around a small bird. He must have flown into the garage after the bird. Why else would he be in the garage? And Margaret.... I think this was the same bird you saw in your yard a few days ago. He told me that you sent him up to Michigan to visit me. Thanks Margaret!!
Speaking of the birds.... I am going to confess that I am a failure at attracting birds to my yard. After our vacation it made me realize that I really wish I could do better at it. I love birds!! And I am so envious of my Dad's backyard birds and my brother in law Brian gets amazing birds at his feeders too. So off to the "Family Farm and Home" store I went yesterday. I bought 2 new feeders and fancy birdseed.
One of my new feeders is this window one. I didn't have it up but 30 seconds and it fell to the ground breaking the base where the birds are suppose to perch. I glued it together with gorilla glue, which didn't work, so I just rigged it together. I hope it can withstand the weight of a bird.... I'm already feeling like a failure again. Maybe if I have patience and persistence I will someday see a bird in my yard.

Zoe proofing the house

I don't have to be to the hospital until 10:30 this morning. This gives me a change to get my last few loads of laundry done that I didn't finish over the weekend. And visit a few blogs, do some blogging.....

Who could stay mad at this face?

Zoe has been a bad girl lately. Not really but she's doing some naughty things. Zoe was a chewer when she was a puppy and even for a few years after that. She had to be crated when we were not home or she was destructive. About a year ago we started trusting her to have the run of the house when we were gone and for the most part she's been fine. But in the last few weeks she's getting a hold of things and chewing them. A few weeks ago it was the case for a movie we had rented (I had to explain that one to the movie rental store), yesterday it was the leather photo album that I had just put together that day of our vacation pictures. And her favorite thing to do is get up on the kitchen table to see what goodies she can find. If we leave a kitchen chair pulled out from the table she thinks that is an invitation to jump up on the chair and then onto the table. Friday I had brought home one of those long loafs of bread from Panera and she helped herself to it. I found it under the coffee table in the living room. It really is impossible to stay mad at her. She's the sweetest most adorable dog. I just have to do a double walk through when I leave the house to make sure it is Zoe proofed.

Last vacation post

I just had to do a post about snowmobiling while we were at the cabin. I promise it's the last one! This is one of those self photos where you hold the camera out in front of you. Craig and I went snowmobiling by ourselves most of the week. Caleb, Jordan, Glen and Sue came up on Thursday and joined us for the last few days to go snowmobiling. It was absolutely beautiful!! During the week the trails were perfectly groomed with plenty of snow. We couldn't have asked for better trail riding. The scenery is what gets to me. I can just be riding along and start squealing because some areas really touch me. The trails are through every kind of terrain you can imagine.... woods, fields, hills and valleys, over rivers and streams.It was very cold and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to stay warm but that wasn't a problem. We just bundled up really good and thank God for heated hand grips. As long as we were moving and my hands were wrapped around those grips I stayed toasty. Whenever we stopped and I took my mittens off to take photos is when my hand froze.This was one of my favorite trails. This one had a long area that was through a pine forest. It was like riding through a tunnel. Personally I rode about 350 miles for the week. Craig rode almost 500 miles as he rode a lot more with the kids and our friends when they came up. I was happy that they gave me a little break. Here's Craig and Caleb leaving the cabin to hit the trails. And Jordan too.

Thanks for letting me share our vacation with you. If any of you are interested in where we stayed here is the website for the cabin we rented. Click here. The owners are great and they think of everything to make the place so comfortable and cozy. I'm sure we'll be back again.

Weird Object Friday

Happy W.O. Friday. Sorry I'm so late in posting mine. My W.O. is simply what it looks like. A frog singing in a microphone. Who would buy such a thing? Me. When we moved to our house 6 years ago Caleb and I had in mind to do his room in a frog-turtle theme. We never really quite got it all the way there but we did buy a few things with that theme in mind. I especially liked this piece because it reminded me of my son...... singing. For those of you that don't know my son he's very theatrical and sings beautiful. At the end of march he will be staring in "Guys and Dolls" as Sky. We can hardly wait.

Hartwick Pines Old Growth Forest

Tuesday morning we woke up to the coldest morning. It was minus 10 degrees and wasn't rising very fast. It was too cold to go snowmobiling so we decided to visit Hartwick Pines State Park. I'm the nature nut in the family but surprisingly Craig really enjoyed the visit too. One of the main attractions at the park is a 50 acres white pine old growth forest. It has a 1 mile walking trail through it. So what is an old growth forest? Apparently it is one of only 3 forests in Michigan (the other 2 are in the U.P.) that was spared the logging days of the 1800's. These trees are 300 to 400 years old and they are massive!! Not to mention beautiful!!
It had snowed the night before we visited and the forest and trees were covered with the most beautiful new fallen snow. It was like we were walking in Narnia. And because it was so cold we were the only humans that braved it that morning.

The wind would blow and a fine mist of snow would fall from the trees making it look like it was foggy. Craig and I would just stand in awe.

We really had no intention of walking the whole mile but the further we went the more we were drawn in.

I thought I was going to be disappointed with the photos I took because I forgot to switch to my wide angle lens. All these photos were taken with my telephoto lens but I really like them. They captured it pretty well.

Later in the week when the kids came up Jordan and I paid another visit to the park. It was much warmer that day. That is also when we fed the chickadees out of our hands. I'd like to visit this forest in the summer. I bet it is equally at beautiful then.

Where the deer and the antelope play

OK, so there weren't any antelope at the cabin but I liked the title. We arrived prepared for the deer. In anticipation of the deer at the cabin we bought 80 pounds of deer feed with us (corn). When we first arrived the deer would scatter whenever they spotted us. We would turn the lights off in the cabin so they wouldn't see us walking around watching them. Even our shadows scared them. As the week progressed we saw more and more. I guess the word got out that the Mullauer's were handing out free corn. At one point I counted 17 deer in the yard at one time. We usually put out the corn at morning and at dusk. The deer are pretty smart. By the end of the week I think they knew when meal time was.

Of course I wanted to get some great shots of them but most of my photos of them were taken from inside the cabin. I was pretty satisfied with what I had gotten during the week but I had no idea what I was in store for the last morning we were there. Craig and the kids were inside packing up to leave and I decided to put out the last bit of birdseed to see if I could attract any last minute birds. Out I went with my camera around my neck. A few days leading up to this I had noticed that the deer were slowly becoming less afraid of us. They wouldn't totally run away when they would see us but they kept their distance in the woods peaking around trees. I'm sure they were watching to see if we were putting food out for them. Anyway, I put the birdseed out and I suppose the deer thought it was for them. Ever so slowly they started to approach me. I couldn't believe it. There was a group of 6 of them. Several were very young. I stood as still as I could and they just kept coming. I was able to raise my camera and I had the most amazing photo shoot with them. It was like they were giving me a going away gift. They actually came within 20 feet of me. The young one's were braver than the older ones.

These first 4 photos tell a story. This adorable little baby reminded me of a teddy bear. He looked so soft. I wished I could have hugged him. You can see how intensely he was watching me. Very slowly he kept coming......
At this point he was almost to the feeder. I was standing near the front of the feeder and he was trying to get to the back of it so he could keep watching me. Finally he was behind the feeder still not taking his eyes off of me. This is my most favorite photo of all the deer. Just look at the innocence in his eyes. I love this photo!!!
What an experience!! Enjoy the rest of the photos.