Summer, come and gone, then back

Summer has come and gone but it made an appearance here in Michigan and reached the upper 70's. It was an incredibly beautiful day. I spent the morning in front of the computer but dedicated the afternoon to the great outdoors. I mowed the lawn, mulched some of the leaves that have fallen, and even cooked a burger on the grill. It was the first burger I have had since June and it was great. It was good to just relax and take it easy outside today instead of spending so much time at my computer.
This weather has been so strange lately. Hot, then cold, then warm but I am enjoying the beautiful blue skies that and bold fall colors before the gray of winter sets in. Perhaps this year we won't have winter. The rain returns tomorrow which is perfect working weather. : )

More Spots

After working on the computer for many hours yesterday I decided to stand up and look outside to give my eyes a rest. When I looked out my office window, I saw two spotted deer laying under the crabapple tree in my driveway. They are losing their spots so they are getting older, but there were no parents in sight. The following comes to mind, "do you know where your children (fawn) are?" They will love it under that tree in a couple of weeks when the crab apples are ripe and start falling of the tree. In years past, I have seen deer standing on their hind two legs eating crab apples out of the tree. It was a nice computer break.

HollyHock & Queen Anne's Lace

I was out shooting in my yard today; laying on the ground looking up at flowers when I should have been working? I try and capture the flowers around the house when they are at peak. This year I had a bonus year of Queen Anne's Lace since I have not mowed the lawn in nearly a month (too dry). The QAL lined the driveway and reminded me of summer vacations at the cottage when I was a kid. Most people nowadays spend money to have sprinkler systems installed so they can impress the neighbors with deep rich green grass. Part of the joy of living out in the "country" is my yard can still have a bit of a that country feel.

Seeing spots

During a lay down in my hammock, I spotted this little one. I would have thought the spots would be gone by now. I guess not.

A beautiful night

A beautiful rainbow appeared after a crazy burst of clouds and rain came in at sunset last night. The mini storm seemed to come out of nowhere, but I am glad it appeared so I could see the spectacular rainbow.

Relay for Life

I participated in my first relay for life last week. I walked 4.6 miles in memory of Judy Horrigan, who died 6/27/07 after a 15-year battle with breast cancer. Judy was one of the bravest women I know. Judy, you were, and continue to be an inspiration to me. The world needs more people like you. Strong, funny, talented, creative, and caring. I can only hope to make such an impact on the people around me.

The Simpsons Movie - 072707

Woohoo! I am looking forward to it.

FireFlies are out tonight

Summer must now be here. I love the fireflies. When I was a kid my sisters and I would catch some in a jar before we went to bed at the cottage and watch them until we fell asleep. Never saw them in the city, but they were always a treat to watch up north. Now, I am far enough away from the city that I get to enjoy them all summer long.

explosion of calories

I met a friend of mine for lunch the other day and we went to a local "pepper" restaurant. Dave, being very good on his new program wanted a burger but opted for the black bean burger to cut down on the calories. I decided to get the quesadilla explosion salad. It is quite the yummy salad and way too much food for one sitting. So, Dave got me thinking, "what is the calorie count for that salad?" I went to the "pepper" website and found the salad I had ordered. Unfortunately, I did not see the Nut Facts. So, I sent them an inquiry and they replied back saying all that information is located on the site. (not on each page, but...) So, much to my surprise, I found that the salad that is considered by them to be "one serving" is nearly 1000 calories. OMG!!! How can a salad have that many calories? That is crazy. Perhaps it was the little crunchy things, or the 4 little quesadilla wedges? I wish there was a breakdown of it somewhere. I would have them take off the crunchy things and dump the quesadilla wedges. Would it be better for you then? Would it cut the sodium levels down then? OMG! I am still in shock. Luckily, it took me 2 sittings to eat it. I guess we have no idea how many calories we are eating. Yikes.

an incredible day today

Today was one of my favorite days this spring. Actually, it could be considered a perfect summer day. It was warm, sunny, and quite windy which is a good combination. I think the temp topped out around 90 today but the thing I loved best was all the wind. Seeing the leaves blowing on the trees and the birds gliding in the sky. I have a lot of turkey hawks (or vultures) in my area and they can be seen gliding above the fields in circles looking for something to eat. It was truly a wonderful day. May the rest of summer be warm and windy and remind me of days at the cottage when I was a kid. Just tromping around with nothing particular to do, just enjoying life around me.

Draining the h2o tank

I woke up Sunday morning and decided to get in the shower and realized that I had no hot water. And, while a cold shower can be quite refreshing on a hot summer day, it is not too hot this week. So, I stood under the cold water for as long as I could stand it forgoing my hair until after the h2o heater could be fixed. I called the plumber that installed my NEW water heater three years ago and they called me first thing Monday morning. I was hoping they could get out Monday morning so I could wash the body and my hair in Warm water. Unfortunately, there were other clients that had more pressing issues first thing in the morning so I would have take the COLD shower. Ugh! It was bone-chilling cold. It was miserable but I made it through. Those are the times I wish I had short hair that was easy to get wet and clean. No such luck. I have a thick-healthy head of long hair.
The guy came out and replaced the burned out element in less than thirty minutes. However, my h20 heater had 2 heating elements for just such an occasion. Unfortunately, when they installed the heater 3 years ago, they did not check to see that the top heating element was working properly. The plumber said it had jostled loose when it was installed and wasn't touching the top part of the tank to determine that it was hot, or cold. So, my question is, if they didn't make sure that the unit was working properly before they left 3 years ago, weren't they partly to blame for the lower element burning out in three years? There was some calcium on the burned out element (because apparently I should be draining the tank yearly), but who does this? Does every homeowner actually drain their water heater annually? Or more importantly, do they drain a gallon or 2 a month like the manufacturer requests? I had know idea.
I do now. I went out on the web in search of "how to drain your water heater" and found lots of different results. The one I followed? My manufacturers directions. A long process, but hopefully, I won't have to invite the plumber out every 3 years.
80.00 labor/15.00 part -- not covered by warranty.

Shed of evidence

From beginning to shed...part two. My friend Brian came over on Saturday to help me with the shed. Before the snow hit last year, we got 2 of the walls up. Totally rebuilt, from "scratch". The last 2 walls, are in much better shape and do not need to be completely ripped down and rebuilt. So, we will add a few studs and then add the new sheathing to the exterior. One of the last things we need to do is build the doors. Barn or shed doors. Look easy, but they are definitely something to contemplate. It seems the shed has been a large contemplation process. Since I have not built a shed before (or any household structure) and I like to do things right, we contemplate every move. Brian has been awesome, taking time away from his family and helping out when he would really rather be doing something else. He is sticking to his commitment to help and I really appreciate it.

The Icicles - Arrivals and Departures

Arrivals and Departures – CD Release party My friend Greg and the girls from the Icicles launched their new CD – Arrivals and Departures in Grand style tonight. The girls were all decked out in Red Stewardess uniforms custom-made by Jolene (on Keyboards) and Greg (on drums) showed up as the pilot. They always have great costumes but these were really awesome. You can tell a lot of work went into this event as they were not short on ground crew, additional flight attendants serving peanuts and beverages, and back-up pilots. There was even an astronaut boy (in full flight gear) dancing to the tunes and I must say he had all the little girls charmed. There were toy planes hanging from the ceiling, a giant airport scene behind the stage, runway lights, fasten seatbelt and no smoking signs along with all the safety messages one would hear when flying. It was all a great way to launch their new CD. The venue was packed and everyone was singing and dancing to the tunes. One of my favorites, La Ti Da, seemed to be a big hit with the group and it was great to see the kids dancing to the tunes. If you like indie-pop or the previous release from the Icicles, you will love Arrivals and Departures. Congratulations Icicles! Here are a few pictures I shot at tonight’s event.

The icy Alamo

Here are a couple images I shot at the Alamo on Jan 17, 2007.

Icy adventure - San Antonio style

I ventured down to San Antonio for a photo conference (1/14-1/16) and ended up getting stuck for a few extra days due to the freak ice storm they had. While the conference was good, the weather was lousy. being from Michigan I am used to the cold weather. I am not used to the drastic changes they had. (when I flew in on the 12th it was 70 and when I left it was 38) However, I on the morning of the 17th, I packed up my stuff to get to the airport by 5:30 am. I slept in the airport until people started showing up for the "delayed" 6:30 am flight at 7:30. They said the flight would be delayed but that I needed to be there. Funny, no one else was there at 5:30. Oh well. Around 8:30 or 9 am the ground crew started "working" on the plane. Hmmm. Very interesting. At one point one of the guys on the ground crew had a mr. coffee-pot of hot water and poured it onto the steps where we would eventually board. (Hot water + freezing temps = more ice!) Oh well, this is Texas. They are not prepared for ice. So, the guys still think they can get the plane to go. Ice, sm'ice. When the pilot arrives and sees the ground crew banging on the wings to get the ice off the plane, I asked him what his thoughts were. Are we going to fly out this morning? Reply: Based on what I see? NO. The pilot was from the Midwest and he was used to snow and ice. They had no de-icer in San Antonio. At some point, the ground crew found an orange home depot bucket and filled it with something that looked like window washer fluid (which in Michigan contains a de-icing agent) and threw the liquid at the plane. Excuse me, guys, it's a plane; how many buckets are you going to throw at it!?!) it was pretty comical to watch the ground crew trying to get the plane "ready" for us. They were working hard, but pounding on the wings does not seem like a great idea and everyone with a camera was taking pictures of them. The pilot had the final say; canceled. I love to fly, but I prefer to be safe. So, if the pilot says no, its a no.

So, after booking my new flight for Saturday the 20th (1st available) and picking up my luggage, back to the hotel it was. Instead of staying trapped in my hotel room, I packed up the camera and headed down to the Alamo. Me and all the other photographers that were stuck in town. I am sure there are tons of pictures with Ice on the cactuses.

Oh well, the next day got a little warmer and I took another adventure. More on that later.

Lemon Tree very pretty

Or at least it was! Within the last two months it has shed all it's leaves and just before Christmas dropped the annual lemon it produces .
: (
I am so bummed. I love my little lemon tree that has been in my house for the last 7 years, flowering and bearing one lemon a year. The thought that it may have met it's match, will sadden me. Any ideas? I will be buying some new potting soil tomorrow in an effort to give it some new life. I have been fertilizing with an acid loving fertilizer for the past 7 years as well which is why I think it was able to bear fruit. But it is not looking so good now.

New Year

Wow, 2006 flew by. The beginning of the year started out quite slow but ended up finishing quite quickly. I am amazed how time flies.
Last night was great. I went to Saugatuck to watch Greg and his band The Truckstop Cobras play for new years eve. Dinner was awesome - the steak was way too big so I ended up giving half of it to Greg. The opening act was good and ended just before midnight so we could celebrate the new year. Kiss, kiss then outside to see the fireworks display on the Kalamazoo river that leads out onto lake Michigan. The fireworks were great and the weather was surprisingly warm for Michigan. Once the fireworks were done, we all went back in to see the Truckstop Cobras. They sounded great and the crowd seemed to be enjoying them quite a bit.
Only one fight at the bar. Two guys with a little too much booze in them and a girl trying to break it up. It was interesting to watch the guys as the guys were throwing their chests at each other (which totally reminded me of a cockfight) However, I did not see them throw any punches although I ended up with beer all over me as they dropped their bottles. Shortly thereafter, they ended up being escorted out of the bar by the bouncers and the cockfight was over. Silly boys. Anyway, it was a good evening.
We pulled in at 3:45 and I was out like a light. I actually even slept in past 7:30 am and made it out of bed by 11:30. Wow. I must have needed the sleep.
Well, 2007 is here and I hope it will be a good one. Cheers!