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.