Sailor or Shovel

The sunset last night was a beauty.

Red sky at night

Sailor's delight

Not sure about sailing, but they say snow is coming this afternoon.

I'm ready.

Thanksgiving with my Waumandee Family

I had a great trip to Waumandee, good visit with the Rosenow clan, and a delicious turkey dinner.

It was nice to see Roche & Tom and LeAnna again.  We had time to chat and had lots of laughs.

Paul took this picture of 3 intelligent, successful women!
Wanda, LeAnna, Rochelle

Paul has been remodeling his house and the windows to the South provide quite a view.

Roche, John, Dale, Betty

Betty Rosenow is one of the nicest people I have ever met.  She is my 'other Mother'.  It was nice to spend a couple days in Waumandee so there was more time to visit.

Betty Rosenow

I asked the Rosenow's to let me take a few photos of the family before dinner.

I'm not good at these group shots, but this one turned out pretty well.

John, LeAnna, Betty, Rochelle, Paul, Tom, Dale

This is the barn on Paul's place.  It's a beauty.

Red barn / Red Sled

 The weather was a little iffy driving down to Waumandee, but dry roads on the way home.

The Red Sled did well.

It was a great trip.

Thankful

On this Thanksgiving Day, I'll leave a short note,

To wish you all well and remind you to wear your coat.

The weather has changed here, some ice and some cold,

That should take care of the rest of the flowers and any mold.

I'm traveling to see Colorado friends in the SW hills of our state,

I hope I make it safely and that on the roads I don't skate.

I will be on the road in my Red Sled,

Traveling with my trusty air bed.

This poem makes very little sense I'd say,

Owell, it's the holiday.

O yeah, this is an ode to Thanksgiving and thankfulness and such,

I hope you all enjoy your holiday very much.

Thanks for continuing to stop here to look,

I'll be back soon with enough photos to fill a book.

Happy Turkey!

Stuff that stuffs my camera

Sometimes I can't resist taking pictures of the winter birds and...other stuff.  The images are not award winning, but I enjoy taking the photos none the less.

This guy was a little far away, but it sure was pretty sitting in the maple tree in the snow.

Mr. Cardinal

In my photo class on Saturday, the instructor talked about taking photos with repeating patterns.  

This was the front deck this morning as the sun started to come out from behind the clouds.

There is something about a nuthatch.  They are fun to watch as they crack the nut.

White breasted nuthatch.

 I don't have too many squirrels, that is not a bad thing.

This guy had been up in the feeder but then saw me through the window so he scamped a little ways away.

He was keeping an eye on me to see if it was safe to go back to the food trough.

Grey Squirrel

Instant Gratification

When the cats were kittens, my amaryllis did not make it to the blooming stage.  

Now that the cats are 2, they are not interested in messing with my plants (Praise the Lord).  

So, here are 4 shots of my amaryllis.  

The first 2 were taken a day apart, the last 2 were 2 days apart.  

What a fun plant to have this time of year.  

Instant gratification!

We always had a couple around our offices at the brewery, (so if you are reading this Carol, I'm thinking about you) an easy way to brighten up a room.

November 17

November 18

November 20

November 22

It is the second day in a row of freezing rain, sure helps to have a pretty flower in the house to brighten up the day.

National Eagle Center, Wabasha, MN

I attended a photography workshop at The National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN on Saturday.  It was a one hour classroom lecture followed by a one hour photo shoot with one of the resident eagles.  

Carol Knabe of By Golly Creek Photography was the instructor.

All of the following photographs are of Angel.  

Click on her name to read her complete biography, here is an excerpt:

As a fledgling, Angel was found near Grantsburg, WI, in Burnett County, hatched in 1999. Angel is a fighter. According to the individual who found her, she was on the ground close to an eagle nest. It is supposed that she survived starvation by feeding on fish and fallen chicks from a nearby Heron rookery.

Johansen Hunters

I thought I would share a couple of photos that I received today.  

The Johansens are well represented in the woods this weekend.  

Kyle and Jack in the woods.

So far, the only successful hunter is Payton.

Sunday Update:
Kyle is also a successful hunter now.

A few geese

I stopped on Lakeshore Drive in Rice Lake yesterday and watched the geese for a bit.  

It's not going to be too long before there is ice on the lake, but for now, it is a haven for about a million geese, give or take a couple.

Docks are out, waiting for ice.

1, 2, 3, 4....maybe a couple of thousand geese?

I still get a kick out of how they tuck their heads in when they want to rest, doesn't matter how many times  I see it.

This is a nice spot on the shore.