From beginning to shed

It's been a few months since my last entry...oops. Time flies. I have been shooting senior pictures out by my lovely little shed. Since it was looking a little raggedy, I decided to paint it. Unfortunately, the color I picked (imagine Granny-Smith-Apple-green) was a ton brighter than I thought it would be; add to that, the walls were a lot more decayed than I thought they were. The paint didn't stick in some places, and where it did stick it looked awful. I decided to call it quits and re-side.

The past two weekends have been spent out in the yard, tending to the shed with the help of a freind. Brian was ever-so-kind to offer his time to show me "how to put up siding" on my shed. Ah, if only it were siding. It all started 2 years ago when I noticed the roof was pretty rotten and I should get a new one put on. $700 later, it was done. (can you say OUCH?!!) I guess I had a lot of trust in the guy who did the roof. Oh well, live and learn. So, now, I need to protect my $700 roof.

I have learned alot in the last 2 weekends.
1. Sometimes you need to rebuild a wall to re-side it.
2. Building a wall takes a lot longer when you put a window in it.
3. Hitting the nail on the head is not always as easy as it looks.
However, there are good people out there that are willing to help out and teach you something new. Building the walls feels pretty good and I have a new appreciation for builders and more respect for my shed.
Two walls down, and two to go. Hopefully, the newscasters in the area are wrong about the pending snow. It's only October!!!

Mushroom season?

I am not sure if it is because of the humidity and the hot summer days, but the mushrooms are back and better than ever. I have a few of the standard yard mushrooms and then the cool mushrooms growing in one of my trees. I hope this is not a sign that the tree is dying.
In a week this mushroom has expanded to over 18" across.

When it rains it pours

Cliche of this last week. When it rains it pours.
On Monday I drove to the Detroit area for a second interview with a large company and while I was on the road I got a phone call about a job on this side of the state with "Company B". Tuesday morning, while I was interviewing with "Company B" I received another call for a job with "Company C". After hanging up with "B" and scheduling "C" I received an offer from Company A and they wanted an answer right away. Unfortunately, A was on the east side of the state and although it would have been a great job, I had a second interview to go thru with "B". While on the second interview with "B", company A called back again. I told them that I needed to wait. Within an hour or so, "B" called me back to offer me a job. Same rate, but this side of the state. "A" wasn't going to pay taxes which meant "B" is now at the top of the pile. "A" didn't want to hear it and tried to up the anty. Unfortunately, "B" was a much better deal since I didn't have to leave my home. "C" was a permanent job and I interviewed with them on Thursday. No news on that yet.
I said to a friend that one of two things is happening, either the economy in Michigan is starting to move again or the planets have lined up in my favor. Either way, I will take it. I like to work.

Locks of Love - Part 5

Well, I have done it again. I donated over 10" to Locks of Love. As I have said before, it is the easiest donation I can make. My first donation was in June 1999 and I have been able to donate the minimum 10" about every 18 months. This time it was a little over 2 years between donations. Not because my hair wasn't growing, just because I wasn't ready. On 7/13/06, I decided that it was time. Choking in the middle of the night and the heat of the heavy hair were the two main reasons. The third and best reason, was receiving a magazine from the Locks of Love organization saying that it was time to donate again. So, I finally went in and had it chopped off. It feels so much better. The girl that cut my hair gave me the dutch boy (as my sister calls it) so I ended up cutting it again.

If you ever want to do something nice for someone you don't know and have a lot of extra hair, I would recommend donating to Locks of Love. To date, I have donated about 60" of hair. One of the women I worked with used to call me Repunzel. Hmm. Oh well, it is a great cause.

The snakes came out today

I have not seen a snake in a couple of years. Today I saw 2. The first was just a little garden snake (about 18" long) and then a Blue Racer snake which was over 3 feet long. I think they are out due to the heat. It was 95 here today. I wish I had my camera with me when I saw them in the yard. Oh well, there are plenty more hot days ahead.

And then there were none

The bermuda triangle of skunks has been eliminated from my yard along with 2 raccoons. So, my trapping days are now over.
I think only 1 of the 3 skunks is still alive. Jingles, the neighbor's rat terrior, killed two and the third I put in a skunk relocation program. Go Jingles!
Sorry Skunks, you stunk. May you rest in peace.

To Catch a Skunk

You need to catch a raccoon first. I borrowed the neighbor's live trap to catch the skunks. However, it was not meant to be; until today. I caught my first skunk last night.

1. Have a live trap.
2. Bait with Tuna fish or other enticing food.
3. Set trap by their den.
4. Wait until nightfall; they see the trap during the day and want no part of it. Nightfall is perfect.
5. Morning. Skunk is in the "house"
6. Throw a blanket over it. Carefully pick up the cage and place it in your trunk.
7. Drive to a remote location. Open cage, leave blanket on the animal end and walk away. When the skunk realizes you have stepped away, it will leave on its own accord.

Yeah!!! One less skunk. One more to go. The neighbor's dog got the 3rd one (she got sprayed, I didn't) Woohoo!

4 states in 4 days

Well, I have returned from my whirlwind journey of the midwest. I left GR on sunday afternoon and headed out to Milwaukee for a training class on Monday and Tuesday. I was fortunate enough to get to see many of the orange barrels in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and even Wisconsin. Yes, it seems they all have orange barrels blooming this summer. However, I must say, Chicago has them all beat with the most construction I have seen. I guess it reminds me of the big dig in Boston.

I can now say that I have been to Wisconsin. I even had to venture out to the lake so I could see Lake Michigan from the other side. I am quite used to seeing the sun set on Lake Michigan, but am not used to the sunrise on Lake MI.

It was a good trip. Apparently there is someone in the Brookfield, WI area that I look like because I had two people ask if they new me. Hmm, maybe a twin, separated at birth. Or not.

A couple new flowers

Here are a few images that I shot in the past few weeks. I haven't updated the blog in awhile as I have been busy with the business. But I have been shooting pics. I love this time of year as there is lots to photograph.

Free Kitty

Any takers? There are two of them. About 6 weeks old and Oh, so cute. Free to a good home (other than my own).

Arts in Ada

Well, I completed my first craft show. I borrowed a tent, bought a table, and brought a bunch of my photographs. It was a perfectly sunny day interspersed with a few wind gusts and clouds; not too hot and not too cold with just the right amount of traffic.

It sounded as though I was the only photographer at the show and I was pretty specialized at that. If you did not like flowers or lighthouses, you most likely skipped by my booth. However, those that stopped in had very positive things to say and walked out with something in their hands. I had photo note cards, matted 8 x10's and sketch books for sale. The sketch books were a bigger seller than I would have thought although there were a few people that passed on them because the pages were not lined. So, next time I need to have both.

As far as my presentation goes, next time, I would need to up it a bit and frame more pieces, have credit card ordering, and better display racks. All in all, it was a good learning experience and enabled me to get my name out there a bit more.

Tulip Time

It is time for the tulips in West Michigan. Here are a couple I shot in my yard. They are so beautiful this year. But, I wonder, what happened to all the tulips that came up last year? Are they done for this year? I thought they were all perennials. Oh well. I am enjoying these. I won't make it down to the Tulip Festival in Holland, but that is OK.  

Pileated Woodpecker

Update on the "red-headed woodpecker" I had in my yard the other day. It was a Pileated Woodpecker. According to the bird book I purchased, this bird is rare to uncommon in Michigan.
I am glad that I ran out of the house (half-naked -- good thing I have a private yard) to photograph it.

I have never been much of a bird watcher until I moved out to the "country" where I have nearly 3 acres for wildlife to meander about. I love it out here as there is lots to look at all year long. I grew up in the Metro Detroit area yet am enjoying my new "country" life.

Red-Headed Woodpecker

Today, as I was getting dressed, I saw a huge woodpecker fly into my yard. Being the photo geek that I am, I decided to go shoot it. The bird was the size of a crow! (not one of those wimpy sparrow-sized woodpeckers).

I got a halfway decent shot of it. He totally reminds me of "Woody the Woodpecker".

Thank you for smoking

While I am not a smoker myself, this movie seemed as though it would be quite interesting. My friend Greg and I went to see it tonight. I enjoyed it a ton. The main character - a tobacco lobbyist - was hated by the masses. However, he was very good at winning an argument. He was the ultimate spin artist and could convince you of anything. I liked how his mind worked and I am amazed by people like that; someone that can convince you of anything. Someone that never felt that what they were doing was wrong.

I say, Go see it!

Yellows are in bloom

The Daffodils and the Forsythia are in full bloom this week and are quite beautiful. I love the vibrant yellows against the blue sky or green, green grass.

Ceramic Tile replaces Vinyl

After the long and grueling task of ripping out the vinyl and removing the adhesive, the new light and bright ceramic tile has been installed. It is a sight for sore eyes and lungs.
the old and ugly vinyl is below...

vinyl off-gas > asbestos health risk

In an effort to get my studio space in shape, I decided it was time to get rid of the vinyl flooring in the entry way. It had a terrible off-gas odor and since it was 30+ years old, it was time to go. Since the flooring was on the concrete foundation, it had been glued down very well and had to be heated and then scraped to get it up off the flooring. What a pain. My friend Greg joked with me about asbestos and that was all I needed to go surfing on the internet. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a clear answer as to the asbestos content. Sites said that manufacturers of vinyl and other building products "MAY" have been using asbestos until the mid 80's. OK, that is a "May" not a for sure, right? I dug thru my pieces of vinyl and found one that said Congoleum so I went to their website to see if anything was posted like: Vinyl created/installed before "X" date had asbestos or didn't have asbestos. Ha! Wrong. Why would they post that? Fortunately, I did find a customer service form that I could send them a question with. I gave them the details and I got the following info:

Congoleum was using asbestos in their vinyl flooring until 1985. It did not pose a health risk unless I scraped, and dry swept the product. The dust is damaging to the lungs as it gets trapped in the lungs. Smokers are at a greater risk of having issues, but only a trained professional should remove it. LOVELY!!

I did not find this out until it was already too late. I had done everything wrong. So, I put myself at risk without even knowing it.

My questions are as follows:
Why would anyone install vinyl when ceramic costs about the same and looks better? (and no off-gas odors)
Why was the manufacturer still producing the vinyl with asbestos until 1985?
Why aren't there postings on Congoleum (and other manufacturers) website(s) that state: ALL products manufactured before 1985 contained asbestos. Do not scrape, peel, dry sweep, etc. Contact the following to have it properly removed and disposed of?

How great is my risk? How many other people are ripping it out without knowing the consequences? I have to believe I am not the only one who ripped out vinyl with asbestos.

I know that we are all going to die, we just don't know how, when or why. I just don't want to have major lung issues that cause breathing and life to be a bigger challenge than it needs to be.

Butterflies in Bloom

The butterflies are in Bloom at Meijer gardens. While I was not expecting it to be packed this afternoon, it was. Lots of kids off school. Lots of wanna be photographers with their cell phones trying to capture the beauty of the butterflies in this exhibit. There were also a lot of higher end cameras there. Mostly Canon products, and one Nikon in the crowd. Being the photo geek that I am, I am always checking out the other guys' cameras. I was the only woman with such a camera. Most of the women were shooting with cell phones or point and shoot cameras wondering why they could not get a good shot. Point and shoot cameras will not cut it in this type of a situation.

I very much enjoyed the display of butterflies and even had a couple of them land on me. The place was packed with people and kids of all ages. I think a good time was had by all. 

Spring is here

And the crocus are in bloom to prove it. Today was a beautiful day. Warm (70 degrees), sunny, and windy. My ideal weather situation. I love spring. So, I decided to head out with the camera and see what was coming up in the yard. I found some crocuses and some mini irises (not the technical term) but enjoyed seeing them none the less. The daffodils are working their way up. In another two weeks they should be ready (depending on the weather). In my new garden the tulips are popping up but it appears someone has been munching on the foliage. Grrrr. I thought I was getting animal resistant plants...
Oh well, hopefully they did not ruin the plants and just did a little munching on the leaves? 

Invading Spaces

This week I am hosting a recording session at my home. I have a nice studio space where I typically shoot photos, but since it is not in use this week, I decided to help out my friend Greg and let the band record here.

So far just the drum tracks are being recorded. A mic is needed for every piece of the drum set so each instrument goes onto its own track. Cool. I guess it is like layers in Photoshop and when all the tracks are combined, it will make a "pretty picture" or, in this case, song. I never knew how much time and work went into recording music.

It is fun to have the gang over here and invading my space. Perhaps "Invading Spaces" could be a new reality TV show? Anyway, I can't wait to hear their new CD.

First Day of Spring

Yes, the vernal equinox is here so the days are getting longer and the weather will begin to warm. WOOHOO! I love spring.
It is hard to believe that March is almost over, this year is flying by already. I guess time flies when you are having fun? Well, whatever the case, I am enjoying the sun that was present in the area today. Winter is just not bright enough.

Spring was here today

It was in the 60's here in west michigan and felt AWESOME! I love spring. It was sooo good to hang out in the yard, light the grill, think about gardening, etc. I know it will not last, but it felt so good.
My plan for this summer is to tackle one of the Raspberry/Brush beds and turn it into something enjoyable. Below is a photomerge of my backyard with notes of what I would like to do. I took the pics today and then put them into photoshop to play with ideas. Ah, I can't wait...

A pond runs thru it

This morning I woke up to a sight I had seen a couple of springs before; a pond in my backyard that had formed overnight due to the heavy rain. While it seems innocent enough, last year the pond found it's way into my basement which was not fun. So, instead of ruin the carpet and contents of the basement, I decided to be pro-active and pull the carpet back Just In Case. Perhaps I am being a worry wort, but I do not have another $700 to shell out to a basement drying company.
Until I can get the deck off the back of the house, the dirt re-graded, and gutters on, I will be proactive. The joys of spring. : ) 

a little bit of this

and a little bit of that. Lots of bright colors and textures to photo in and around the honey creek today. It feels like spring is upon us although next week will be cold like winter again. (Bummer) 

De-Barking of a Tree

I am pretty sure this is not the technical term for a tree losing its bark, but the tree is definitely losing it. The tree is dead (which could be why it is losing it's bark) but was it sick and then died and is now shedding? Or do they just naturally let go of their bark after they die? Who knows. I'm not sure what kind of tree it even is but it is really shedding it's skin. I don't see any signs of bugs although it appears as though the wood peckers are feasting. Nonetheless, I am enjoying it visually.

St. Joseph Lighthouse

On Feb 28, I ventured down to the Benton Harbor area to meet with an agency about my work. While I was in the area I decided to take a walk down to the beach and out to the pier to shoot the st joe light. It was a beautiful day (albeit it very cold) and lake Michigan was very flat. However, based on the ice formations on the pier, it had been quite windy, wavey, and cold.

Some people love the summers at the beach, I actually like it in the winter so I can shoot the lighthouses without a bunch of people milling around.  

Mango salsa for Carribean Chili

My Mango Salsa - for my carribean Chili is now complete. The inside of the mango is very different looking than its outer skin. Nonetheless, it turned out good. Tonight I will make the chili to go with it since the chili and soup season is drawing to an end.

 

Mango

 

Mango Time

A friend asked me to give her my mango salsa recipe which prompted me to go out and buy a couple of mangos. So, being the photo geek that I am, I had to shoot them. They look so pretty. The poor things will look a lot different when I get done with them today. : ( However, I am sure they will taste yummy in their new role.

 

Food for Thought

I was having lunch with my friend Greg today and we ended up talking about a few household items (among other things).
Which way should you store your drinking glasses in a cupboard? Top down (bottom up)? or Lip up (bottom down)? Apparently, the way you store them depends on how your family stored them in the cupboards. We are such creatures of habit. I have always stored my glasses upside down so they do not collect dust in the part you drink out of. My family does the same thing. Yet Greg stores his glasses the way his family stored theirs, Upside right or Rightside Up so that the lip is not touching the cupboard shelves. Hmm, after all these years of doing it one way I wanted to know which way was correct and if there was a scientific reason for one way or the other. I found the answer here.

OK, so the next obvious kitchen question was, when loading the dishwasher, do you load the flatware (spoons, forks, etc) handle up or handle down? I was my knives handle up, but everything else goes handle down so when the water runs down them it does not collect on the part you eat off of. I guess that is correct, but I could not find a definitive answer since the site I found referenced "load according to manufacturers instructions". That did not quell my curiosity completely.

How do you store your glasses in the cupboard?
How do you load your flatware in the dishwasher?
If you handwash your dishes, do you use the same towel you dry off your hands with or do you get a new towel out that is used only for drying the dishes? I have a dish towel and one for my hands. All of them get washed weekly.

Those are my deep thoughts for the day. Silly, but Oh well. I am sure there was a Seinfeld episode that had similar questions.

walk the line

I finally went to see the Johnny Cash flick Walk the Line. It was great. I could not stop myself from moving my leg or tapping my hands to the beat of the music and found myself wanting to clap a couple of times when they were done performing. Had I watched it on DVD I would not have found the urge to clap after the songs. They did a great job with the movie, filming, editing and acting. Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix did a great job and were very convincing.
One of the other things that kept going thru my mind was what an incredible time for music that was. Many of the greats travelling together on the road. I think it is very different now. There are so many one-hit wonders these days and perhaps more music is being produced so nothing stands out as great. I don't know. I enjoy music but am by no means a music critic.
At any rate, Walk the Line was a great movie and should win a few awards at the Oscars.

Ice Storm and other crazy weather

Maple tree is touching the ground.
The cedar tree reminds me of a Dr. Seuss tree. : )

Yesterday was a day full of weather depending on where you were in the state of Michigan. To the North they were buried in snow receiving about 12" during the day.
Here in the Grand Rapids area we had snow (on the 15th) and rain, thunderstorms, high winds, hail and freezing temps (on the 16th) which produced a beautiful icy day today. South of GR (in Kalamazoo) they had 59 degree temps, thunder storms and tornado warnings. Kalamazoo is just an hour south of GR. How bizarre. So far today we have 21 degree temps in the GR area. Tomorrow should be even colder with highs of 10 degrees. (A good day to stay in the house) I wonder if ice will be able to melt from the heat of the sun since the air temp and wind chills certainly will not allow it. I only lost a few branches this time and did not lose my power. (Yahoo!)
At any rate, all the ice made for a few beautiful pics.

A few dollar store items

In my attempt to shoot a bunch of tests to see how my new lighting works, I ventured into the dollar store to see what stuff they might have that I could shoot.
I found a good variety of stuff but my two favorite items were the "school projects" dissection toys? I found Human Body Man (made of clear plastic and an opening so you could go in and remove the major organs) and then I found the classic Frog. I remember dissecting a frog in high school. Yuk. I hated the smell. This plastic one, although probably not very accurate smells like nothing or at the very least plastic. So I wonder, were these actually meant to simulate a dissection? Surely not. Perhaps it was just to get kids thinking. And interested in something other than video games? The parts are pretty small and probably a choking hazard so they would not be for the little ones. Hmmm...Maybe that is why I found them at the dollar store?
OK. Another dollar store find? Monica Lewinsky's biography just after it was released (years ago). I guess it was not the big seller they thought it would be? I bought a couple of them and sent them off as gifts for people to read. I thought it was interesting. The dollar store is full of surprises.