UNUSUAL

My backyard is about 1/3rd of an acre with about 10 mature oak trees (60-80 ft tall) A few are red oaks but they are mostly white oaks which are resistant to oak wilt disease. We used to have lots of elm of various sizes but now most of those have been cleared because of Dutch elm disease. And we had to remove a couple of oak trees in the 23 years here. We have a bit of the woods cleared with a cement curb edging around to separate the grass from the wooded parts. I have planted some hostas, shrubs, and a few Colorado blue spruce to give us a variety of trees , bushes and flowers. My neighbor says it looks like a park in my backyard.

This week was unusual as we had two sitings of birds not typically found in my backyard. For the last two weeks we have seen a large pilleated woodpecker on the suet feeder and in the tree. Now this bird is about 15" tall and has a red head. It is very wary of any movement and the picture, although not clear, at least will show you what he looks like. Bill snapped the photo from inside the family room and about 10 ft away from the window. We hope to get a better photo at some point. He has been here three times, so is hungry. I plan to leave the suet feeder full when we go over to WI soon, so there will be suet for all the woodpeckers and other birds who like it.


The next unusual bird I saw, is an eagle! YEP! and I've got the picture to prove it! I was up early that morning this last week, and as I sat in my recliner looking out the window, I thought I saw a stump or something large up in the tree about 100 ft from the house. It had been raining and all the trees were wet. Then this thing moved and I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped this one photo. I ran to get the binoculars and as I tried to get closer to the window, it must have seen me. Just those few seconds and it was gone. Bill enlarged and enhanced both of these photos so you too could share in the unusual birds from my back yard. Thanks for stopping by. M

THE FLYING FAMILY

Our son and his family were able to come over for the long Labor Day weekend and it was such a blessing to have them here. Here is a photo of them at the airport. They all are so precious to us!

The airplane was pretty empty on the 40 min flight and each girl was able to sit by the window and look out side! Emma commented they even flew through a cloud! They also commented how small houses and trees look from the air. We all need to see the world through the wonderment and eyes of a child and hang onto those feelings.

They were able to make a couple of trips to the Mall of America where I rode the Log Ride with Matti and Emma rode with her daddy. That is their favorite. There was hardly anyone at the mall which made it nice...no lines! We also visited a Park Reserve that has some fun climbing towers. The girls spent a couple of hours playing there and we all had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (Jodi's fave!) after wards.

Thanks for coming over! You made the weekend wonderful for us! Love you to pieces!

COMPUTER GIRLS

Give a girl a computer at any age and STAND BACK! They will learn at such a rate as to make your head spin! These two love their Mamaw's little pink computer aka. PINK. They have a few games on it that they really seem to enjoy (Winnie the Pooh Pre School game where they can paint pictures, and learn numbers, and counting and adding and subtracting and looking for pictures that are alike for Owls picture album, and more!) They also enjoy their moms iPad and Matti (on the right), has been sending me pictures she colors on her mom's iPad using a free app for drawing and coloring. I think we have another Jackson Pollock here. Matti seems to love color and applying it to where ever is available. They both love drawing on the driveway. Emma is in Kindergarten now all day, and Matti in the 4K program at the daycare where teachers from the school district come out and teach the 4 yr olds half a day. It is mandatory by state law and some children who are not in daycare get bussed to school for half a day. Should give them all the preparation for being successful students the rest of their school careers. GO EMMA! GO MATTI! We are so proud of you both!

AUTUMN IS HERE!

Here in MN the temperatures are dropping at night, the leaves are beginning to turn and a few have landed on the grass! CRASH! Autumn is here! The peak color season will be here in a few weeks time and by the middle/end of Oct, most of the leaves will have fallen and blown around the yard and collect in particular spots and flower beds.

I have spent some of this month in MN cleaning out pantry cabinets and getting rid of items that are from the prehistoric age! LOL! And that is the kind of job that makes a mess first because you have to take everything out of both cabinets, and then move the canned goods over nearer the one by the stove/refrigerator. I have thrown away all the pasta, dry goods, and old items to make room for some of my craft items. YIPPEE! I love having a space for my stuff. I still have a couple of shelves above to clean out and need to wash down all the shelves and run the Tupperware through the dishwasher. I only use part of it and maybe need to get rid of some of it.

I did make a nice 6x6 Friendship card. I have included 3 photos here. I used a white card base, Basic Grey Indian Summer background., two panels of a rose pink shimmer CS, turquoise Bazzill "tropical", and a pretty piece of My Mind's Eye Bohemia "Bliss" "darling daughter" (this is a long name but has the rose, white and turquoise colors in the chrysanthemums on it). I just love this top CS. I stamped a 1994 Stampendous "Friendship blooms in loving hearts" in Baroque Burgundy from SU , cut it out with the Spellbinders Deckled rectangle die on my CB. I matted with the tropical turquoise and the rose shimmer. I added a piece of SU grosgrain in Baroque Burgundy ribbon down the middle and tied a small bow I made with my Bow-Easy. I added pink rhinestones in each outer corner. The third picture I took at an angle to show the two side panels popped up as is the saying panel. I'm liking it a lot!

I also have been coloring on some sunny sunflowers...one fromPSX (their botanical), a fall wreath also from PSX, and a THANKS with a row of sunflowers under it. These will be posted when I figure out how to use them for some Autumnal cards. Enjoy Autumn!

Thanks for stopping by. M

BOO! IT'S LUCI!

I promised a reveal of Miss Luci under the comforter...and HERE she is!

Here in MN we don't have as many windows on the world for the cats to look out and dream. They all sit on top of the love seat in the family room at one time or another to watch the bird feeders. Jack makes a "cak, cak, cak" sound when he watches them. Here they all three are looking out the front storm door. Two cats from next door come over for breakfast occasionally and I give them a little and they will sit on the outside and look in longingly as our three look out longingly. Not sure what they would do if they were together. Mine do not have their front claws so not sure who would be aggressive and who would run and be passive. I'm thinking it would be three against one! LOL!

BACK IN MINNESOTA

We are back after traveling the 5+ hours in our van with the three cats to get here. The cats do pretty well and usually settle down after the first hour or two. We bring along bins of my stamping stuff and I throw a big comforter over it all and they each find a place to sleep a little. We usually stop twice to stretch our legs and get a bite. We listen to audio mystery stories on the way and for us, the time passes quickly.

I have several pictures of the cats doing various things, and thought I could combine them in a posting since they are our "children". Here is our Mari cat in the vertical blinds on the window ledge at the condo in Oshkosh (I love those verticals for the cats because they can not damage them getting up on the ledge!). Our blinds hang free and the cats can get up there and get some rays even when they are closed. The ledge is about 6 inches so plenty of room.

Yes there is a cat under the comforter on the couch...can you guess which one? For some reason, Jack mainly but Luci sometimes likes to hide under there. Jack will sleep a while. Luci is usually just playing a little at Hide and Seek or her other favorite You Can't See Me! This is Luci. See the next posting for the reveal!

This is Jack on the girls daybed with their stuffed animals and soft pillows. He likes to be in that room with me as I am doing my crafting. The three of them provide us with such joy everyday. Even the work required to care for them is minimal compared to the joy we gain. They are just plain FUN! And make us laugh!

Thanks for stopping by...M

SUNFLOWERS

Isn't GOD'S creation marvelous. Besides all the flowers in His garden for us to enjoy, he uses birds as planters. We have a sunflower feeder off the edge of our decking in Oshkosh. The birds must fly over to the edge of the deck and while trying to crack the seeds, drop a few. We have four beautiful sunflowers growing there. Makes me want to make a few cards with sunflower images. I just received about 5 different stamps with sunflowers, so will work on it. Here are a few of the pictures I took. They are taller than our grand daughter Matti who is 4 1/2 yrs. She liked the bee on the one the best. Look around you at the wonders He has made for us to know HE IS!