Free to a good home

I picked up this book at a flea market for $1 and I found it really interesting. I wish I could come across a book like this for my area in Michigan but this is the only one I've ever seen like this.

The title of this book is "Birds of the Toledo Area" by Lou Campbell with illustrations by Patricia Eckhart. It was published by the Toledo Blade Company with a copyright of 1968. If you are from the Toledo area and you enjoy birds or nature and you think you would like this book just let me know and I will be happy to mail it to you for free.
What I found so interesting was that it talks about the Toledo area specifically listing nesting areas, sightings by specific people. In migrating birds, it tells the earliest arrival sighting, the average arrival and the same with departures and the years of these recordings. The book gives general description of the birds but then goes on to give details about each bird specific to Toledo. And although the data is 40 years old I think it's still fascinating to know this data from that long ago, especially if you are from this area. And if you are really into birds it might be neat to compare the data to now.
If you are interested just email me at... seadrazozo @ hotmail.com (leave out the spaces that I put in for spam). And if you not from this area but know someone who is please send them my way.

WOF & Friday Outing

It's a rare occasion when all 4 of us have the day off so we decided to go to Saugatuck for the day. Saugatuck is this little artsy town on Lake Michigan about an hour north of us. Most of the shops have unique pieces of art that are way out of our price range but it's fun to look just the same.

I found this while we were there. It's my WOF offering. This was hanging out the upstairs window of one of the shops.
We had lunch at Coral Gables. It's a restaurant along the board walk of the marina. We walked along the boardwalk and looked at the million dollar yachts. Only in our dreams....

Most all the shops had seating outside along the sidewalks. These Adirondack chairs were so comfortable. Now I want to make some for the back yard around the fire pit.

We found this incredible chocolate fudge shop.
Jordan and I decided to splurge and treated ourselves to a "Turtle Caramel Apple". Yummy!!!

WOF coming later....

To all my WOF friends... We are spending the day in Saugatuck, Michigan, an arts district where I am sure I will find some great WOF objects to share. I'll be posting mine later this afternoon..... Happy Friday!!

Happy Birthday Dad

Happy Birthday to my Dad! Today my Dad is 64. We spent the evening celebrating at our favorite Mexican restaurant and then relaxing in my parents gardens.
This is the birthday gift that we gave Dad. As some of you might know from my blog this was the year of the bluebirds for my Dad. Throughout the summer I was able to get some beautiful photos of his bluebirds so I printed out some of my favorites and put them in a collage for him. I also found this bluebird figurine at an antique barn when we were at Silver Lake a few weeks ago. He was very happy with his "bluebird" gift.
After dinner we went back to my parents house and raided the gardens.

Craig got eggs from the chicken coop. He loves to make chocolate chip cookies with fresh eggs.
And look what Mom and Dad have been growing for me, actually for my birds. I've been bringing these beautiful big sunflowers home and hanging them to dry in the shed. This fall/winter when they are dried out my birds are going to love them!!

Nothing pleases my parents more than being able to share. It is a labor of love.
These were all the goodies that we came home with.
Happy Birthday Dad...

HELP!!!!!!!!!

I need help fast!! Someone wants to give me a puppy. This is one of the litter. I need strength to say "no thank-you". We are going to see them tonight. Please I need help fast!! Give me strength to come to my senses and know that I don't need a puppy, even if I want one. Oh no, I'm in trouble!!
Update... Wow... help came fast! We just got a call that they only have males left. We would only take a female. That was a close one!!!

Falling Leaves and Caramel Apples

With the upcoming holiday weekend I'm thinking more about the approaching fall season that is lurking around the corner. I'm ready. I'm not sure if I have a favorite season but I do have a least favorite. You might be surprised to know that it is summer. I am not saying that I dislike summer, I just know it isn't my favorite. There are many things I love about summer... my gardens, being outside, the sunshine. But with all that it also tends to be a very busy time in our household.... places to go, things to do, people to see, obligations to attend. By the time the end of summer comes I am usually ready for the kids to get back to school and things to get back to a normal routine. And of course my favorite part is cooler weather!!! I absolutely do not like hot weather!! I'd rather have 10 feet of snow in subzero temps than hot and humid. Good thing I don't live in Florida.

So here's to falling leaves, caramel apples, and cooler weather.......

Remember us?

Hey Mom!! Remember us? When are you going to let us off the porch?Yea, can't you put that camera and those binoculars away? Forget about those birds for once.

Morning in all it's glory

I love to go outside each morning to see what the morning glories are offering. I have four varieties this year, compliments of my Mom. She grows them from seeds early spring and then pots them up and brings them over to me. This one is pale and delicate but beautiful.
I especially like this one. I don't think I've had one like this before. I love the blue streaks.

And this one is my favorite! It's as big as my hand and the color is so unique.

WOF

Here is my WOF for this week. These are some pins that I picked up at a craft show. A lady makes them out of clay. She makes every kind of pin that you can think of.... every occupation, every holiday, school mascots, you name it. She is always at this one particular craft show in our area each October. I figured that they were appropriate for me since I am an OR nurse. I occasionally wear them on my scrubs and when I do I always get comments on them. They have "weird" looking faces but that makes them cute.

Battling the Bees

OK, so all summer I've been battling the critters when it comes to my bird feeders. I've been quite successful in the war with the squirrels, raccoons, ground hogs, skunks, the neighbors wild cats.... But this is a new one. I'm not sure I'm going to win this battle.

Outside Happenings

One of the first things I always do in the spring is hang 4 flower baskets around the front porch. But what usually happens this time of year is that the baskets begin to look awful and are anything but pretty. Anyway, I decided that if I could find some ferns they might look good for the rest of the year. Much to my delight I found a lady at the farmer's market last Saturday that was trying to get rid of her last 4 ferns. She was selling them for $5. I couldn't pass them up. I'm so happy with them. They look so big and healthy and give the front porch new life.
Unlike my flower baskets that die off this time of year my wine barrels are looking the best they have in a long time. My typical wine barrel from years past were mostly just impatiens and vinca vines. Mom convinced me to go out on a limb and try something totally different this year. I'm glad she did.

The next two photos are my new bird feeders. Well, kind of. I've had the feeders for some time but the pole systems are what's new. I still have to get the raccoon baffles on the poles and then all my feeders will be raccoon and squirrel free.

This will be a major goal accomplished for me as I am tired of putting away the feeders each evening and putting them back out every morning.
And I leave you tonight with a photo of the most adorable dog... She has her "Why are you putting that camera in my face again?" look.

Log Cabin Reading

My online friend Shelly from Birding in Michigan and Building a Log Cabin had an interesting post last week asking her readers to recommend books that would make good log cabin reading. Although I haven't read these books in a log cabin I think they would fit right in.

I love true life wilderness adventure books. I found "Indian Creek Chronicles" in an amazon search for such books and thought I would give it a try.... I liked it. It's about a college kid that takes a job for the state of Idaho where he spends seven months alone during the winter in a tent guarding salmon eggs in a river. He takes his dog Boone with him. I think that most people in this position would go insane from the solitude but he keeps busy and has some really interesting adventures to tell.
"Good Birders Don't Wear White" was recommend in a birding magazine that I was reading so I ordered it. I'm glad I did. It's easy reading and entertaining. Of course you have to like birding or bird watching to appreciate it. I learned a lot of little tricks from this book.

OK, so I had to stick a bird field guide in here, "The Backyard Bird Lover's Field Guide". What would a log cabin be without a field guide? Since I have become so engrossed in birds this year I have acquired a little collection of field guides. I maybe have 5 but this one is my favorite. In addition to bird identification it also has lots of little essays and interesting tidbits. The birds photos are wonderful and it categories birds according to area of the US, such as the Midwest.
My last book I couldn't find a cover photo on Google so I posted the author's photo. This is Roger Troy Peterson. He's probably the most famous birder in all of America in his time. He also was an incredible artist. He published his paintings of birds in the Peterson Field Guide that you may be familiar with. Anyway, he also had a show on National Public Radio "All Things Reconsidered" (hence the name of the book). This book is a collection of he birding adventures that he talked about on the radio show. It is fascinating. I loved the one about finding the elusive Ivory Billed Woodpecker. Again, if you like birding you will love this book.

I attached links to Amazon in the book titles if you would like to read more about them. Happy reading!!

From Cover to Cover

I'm sure it is no surprise that Birds and Bloom magazine if my favorite. And if you subscribe to Birds and Bloom "Extra" then you get it monthly. It's such a treat for me to open the mailbox and see my issue. My "Extra" arrived today so I won't be blogging much tonight... I'll be reading my Birds and Bloom from cover to cover.

Hummer Happenings

The Hummers seem to have exploded in my yard the last few weeks.
I have 3 Hummingbird feeders in the back yard and I have to fill them every other day. I'm not complaining... I love it!
Today I pulled up a chair and sat within a foot of one of the feeders. The Hummers just buzzed all around me, not the least bit disturbed by my presence.

They are amazing little birds!

Camouflage

Can you see him? Click the photo to enlarge if you can't.
Something has been eating my Coleus. Maybe it's him! Now click this photo and look at his details.

Aprons from the past

Most of you know my love of antique/junk stores. Just recently I have discovered these adorable vintage handmade aprons. Most all the antique stores have them. I guess I just never paid attention to them before. In the last few weeks I have picked up these 3. Sometimes they are pricey but I got these for less than $5 each. And I am actually wearing and using them. I love to wipe my wet hands on them as I am working in the kitchen. When I put one on I always wonder... "Who made this apron, was it a gift for someone, what did they like to cook?" That's one of the neat things about antique stores... the stuff you find has a history but is a mystery at the same time.

The Ormsby Twin's Reunion

My Grandmother was an identical twin. They grew up and had families of their own but their families grew up close together and have many fond memories. Every few years we try to get together for a reunion and today we pulled another one off. It was great seeing everyone. For a lot of us this is the only time we see each other. I'm not trying to bore my regular blog readers with all the photos but I wanted to post them all so that everyone who attended could have a place to view them. The group photo turned out great. I'll be sure to get you all a copy. Can't wait to see you all at the next reunion!!