2 birds, 1 watcher

Barley just loves to watch the birds out the front window. 

Barley - on the job

I put a finch feeder sack of thistle seed on a hanger off the front deck and this beauty has been visiting.

Goldie on maple branch

Bambi X2

Yesterday when I was driving to Spooner on Hwy 53, I saw 2 fawns in the ditch munching on grasses.  They were so close to the road I was worried about them with all the traffic on 53.  Today, I went to Spooner to do my shift at the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum I came over a small hill on Hwy 53 and saw these two fawns, likely the same ones I saw yesterday, grazing along the road.  Life is timing, no cars behind me and a turn lane for a country road, so I pulled right over.  The fawns let me walk quite close to them even though cars were speeding by and I was clicking a camera.

They hardly noticed that I was walking towards them.

Too busy chowing down to notice me.

The front fawn sneaking a peek at me.

Finally I get a little attention from one fawn.

What big ears you have.

Oh, now the 2nd fawn sees me.  Click on picture to see enlargement.

Checking me out now.

The 2nd fawn finally figures out I am getting in their space.

Very cute and hope that they stay off the road.

Once they started to bolt I yelled at them to stay away from the road!

Sunday Morning in RL

Dad and Ev came over yesterday to spend a could of nights here with me and the kits. We had 'garage happy hour' last night, admiring my progress on the organizing of my tool bench.
It is a stunning summer morning and Barley is enjoying the guest room window for sun bathing while I lounge for a bit.
Happy Sunday!
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Orioles Back

I was so happy to see the orioles back today.  This one was trying to get a drink out of the hummingbird feeder so I quickly put out a bowl of grape jelly.  This one came back for that and then the male made a visit too.  

Sneaking a peek at me

Grape jelly on the beak

I Hate Hail!

At 3pm today a hail storm ripped through Barron County depositing quarter to golf ball sized hail.  My house and yard took a beating!

It really came on quick, with a big wind, rain so hard I could not see that car in the photo and then once the hail started, I could see the car.

Big quarters or small golf balls - either way TOO BIG!

Looks like snow.

Just for scale, I laid my phone down next to these two stones.

The hail piled up at the sliding glass door to the deck on the back of the house.

Camouflage on my house?

This was my beautiful ruby begonia plant.
RIP

What's left of the leeks, wow.
~~
Luckily The Red Sled was safely inside the garage!

Oh what a night

For the first time since I moved to Rice Lake 2 years ago, we had tornado warnings last night.  

Rice Lake blew the tornado sirens at least 5 times.  

It's good that I can hear them even though I am 2 miles from town, but it made me pretty nervous.  

I moved the laptop and a chair into the walk-in closet, no basement in this house, and waited out the storm.  

It was a non-event here, 1/2 inch of rain, no wind and some lightening...that was it.

This morning I took this photo of a lily in the backyard, she's a beauty, eh?

My Visit with Anders

On Monday I drove to Durand to stay for a couple of nights.  Kris and Lora needed some help watching Anders for Tuesday and Wednesday mornings.  Anders loves his books, he's such a big boy now.

Unfortunately, I had a cold and once I got to Durand, the cold got really bad so I spent a couple of days being sick with Anders.  He was so good for me.  

Both mornings Anders slept past 8am.  Then, during the morning after breakfast, he sat on my lap and watched Nickolodeon while I snoozed.

He loves bouncing on my air bed, what a goof!

Tuesday evening, Lora and Anders & I went to The Pizza Farm.  It is located in the country near Stockholm, WI.  It's an interesting thing going on there.  People bring their own tables, chairs, silverware, plates, napkins, drinks, etc. to eat a pizza.  Then they pack all their stuff back out to the car including their trash.  The Pizza Farm is only open on Tuesday evenings.  The pizza was good and made from ingredients grown there on the farm.  We'll go back and be a little better prepared, luckily Lora insisted on bringing a cooler with some pop in it.  I was pretty surprised that they didn't well any refreshments at all.

Lora and Anders went to check on our pizza, we waited about an hour from the time we put in our order.

People watching was good at The Pizza Farm - I was amazed at how much stuff people hauled in and set up.

Anders enjoyed the people watching too - he was pointing out a baby on a blanket.

Anders was very patient while we waited for our pizza.  Lora had brought some trucks and cars for him to play with so that kept him busy for awhile.

I thought the candelabra was a little much.

Check out this article about The Pizza Farm

~~

Anders enjoys watching Sesame Street.  I got a kick out him pointing out both Bert & Elmo on the band of his diaper as I was changing him.  He's talking more and more everyday.  It was great to spend some time with him, can't wait to go back when I'm not battling a bad cold.

(So far no one in Durand has come down with the cold, that is the good news.)

Chetek Osprey

The DNR put an Osprey nest platform just North of the Chetek exit on Hwy 53.  As I was driving to Durand on Monday, I noticed the adult was on the nest and I had a chance to pull over and take a few photos.

Even with my zoom, hard to get a good shot, this thing is really high.

It wasn't too long before it flew.

Away it flew

Off to the trees

A couple days with my buddy

Anders is getting to be so grown up. I am staying with him a couple of days. He says many words now and loves to read books.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Another parade - Spooner

Saturday was the Spooner Rodeo Parade.  Angie and Aaron had a conflict so I drove Emily to the parade.  Michelle Tomlinson, Luck's Princess, also rode along.  Debra Kirk, Emily's grandma who lives in Texas, was in town for a weekend visit, so she went along also.  

It was a very fun day for me as Debra and I went to school together, she's 1 year younger, so we know many people in common.  She and I dropped off the girls and then went and had a nice lunch and visit at Nick's in Spooner.  We discovered we have much in common, including our love of Brighton Collectibles jewelry.  We checked out a few of the shops in downtown Spooner and happened on a jewelry store that sells Brighton, so we both added to our jewelry box.  

The parade was great, bright sunshine and quite warm.  As soon as the Luck float was done in the parade, we scooped up the girls and headed back to Luck.  I enjoyed the visit with Debra as well as getting to know Michelle a bit.

Wanda and Debra with their parade parasols.

Spooner parade start

Rodeo girls (the bank name says Shell Lake but we were on main street Spooner)

The 2010 Rodeo Queens all glammed up

Gorgeous draft horses from Texas

These horses were something!

Spooner Rails Marching Band, they looked and sounded sharp.

Our girls were 'hot' and very hot.  Warm sunny parade.

Ode to Jackson's First Catch

At Big Moon Lake, on a Wednesday night, after we ate,

Out to the pontoon boat we all went, Jackson said “Mom, can you grab the bait?”

 The sunset was pretty and the lake was quite still,

In the air there was even just a bit of chill.

~ 

Jackson, Daddy Dana, Mommy Erin, Brother Jake and Aunt Wanda all were aboard,

Out on the lake after the rain, it had really poured.

 We found a nice spot at the end of the lake,

Some time to cast a line we decided to take.

~ 

With his Batman fishing pole, Jackson caught on quick,

Learning to cast his own line, he tossed it out with a little flick.

 ~

His patience for watching a bobber was just a little short,

Needing to check his worm he said, reeling and casting became part of the sport.

But then, after one especially nice cast,

A bite on his bait, and things got exciting very fast.

 Tempted to help him, the adults cheered him on, it was such fun,

As all by himself, Jackson set the hook, reeled it in and landed his first ‘big one’.

 A crappie a little too small to keep, but still a prize for sure,

The thrill of the catch is a disease for which there is no cure.

 Jackson, a fisherman, for this Dana and Erin had been wishing,

Before bed he even told his Daddy to wake him up early so that they could go fishing!

Things will never be the same I’d be willing to say,

Jackson’s life changed forever with that catch of the day.

July 7, 2010  --  ode by wjo