A Mama in the neighborhood

I was sitting in the living room, & heard a metallic clang, looked around the house, saw nothing.  The cats were looking out the back window, I didn't see anything.

Then I noticed a car drive by the house a couple of times, really slow, I wondered what that was about, and almost went outside to see if they were lost  Then I saw my neighbor Dave was working in his garage driveway, figured that was where the clang noise was from.

But I went outside anyway, just to make sure there wasn't any funny business going on. I kept hearing some kind of screech, thought there was a crying baby at the neighbors, which would have been weird, but that's what it sounded like. 

Took a little walk about my yard, watered some flowers and then my neighbor drove up the drive way and pointed out the visitors. The cubs were up his willow tree, Mom was no where in sight. He went to see if she might have been hit on the road. 

It wasn't long before Mom came from around the back of my house, limping on a injured hind leg, but moving along pretty well. 

  One cub got spooked as Mom was gathering her tribe, up the tree he went until she gave the signal.

 Once gathered, she limped off into the woods with her 3 babies.

I went out to get the memory card out of the trail cam hoping to have more photos of Mom, but there were none, she avoided the trailcam lens.  I did notice that my birdfeeder by my bedroom window had been tipped over.

I guess I know what the 'clang' was. No more leaving bird feeders out at night.

That Mom will have her hands full with 3 cubs and a lame leg, I hope she heals up fast.

Mom was a bowler

My Mom, Pauline, was a bowler.  

She loved to bowl and hang out with the other women in her league and on her team.  

I think she attended several state bowling tournaments over the years 

and always had a blast acting up a little with the girls.

Yesterday, I was digging through a tub of Mom's stuff 

looking for something and came across this keychain. 

When you hold it up to the light and look into it, there is Mom.

Mom's bowling score averaged about 150 and maybe in this photo she was throwing a strike.

I'm getting motivated to purge some of the stuff that has been sitting in my garage,

who knows what else I'll find.

The Johansen Cousins

Last weekend was the annual gathering of the Johansen cousins, this time in Des Moines, Iowa.

I left home Friday morning for the drive.

As I rounded the front of my yard, I saw this beauty standing in the yard, munching on some weeds.

As it turned out, this was one of the few deer I saw on my 800 mile drive.

I stayed in Altoona, IA at an AirBnB.

The host, Donna, was a very nice woman and we had a couple of nice chats,

I got her whole life story & she got mine.

The room and bathroom were spotless and comfy.

I will stay with Donna again when I go to Des Moines.

The cousins gathered at Grand View Park in Des Moines.

It was raining all morning.

Nancy rolled Aunt Johanne through the rain when she arrived.

But, by mid day, the rain cleared and it was a pleasant day.

It was a good day of visiting.  

Aunt Johanne led us through some stories and answered many questions about our ancestors, both in Tyler and in West Denmark.

Cousin Bob's children Timothy & Amanda joined us for the day, they were immersed in learning the family tree and likely overwhelmed by the many stories.  It was good to get to know them and share the day together.

On Sunday, a few of us met up at Aunt Johanne's building and had lunch together.

It was a nice ending to the weekend.

My drive home was uneventful.

I tired of the Interstate traffic at Owatonna and took state highways the rest of the way home.

That worked out great, and I will take that route again.

By luck, I was about to drive past the driveway of Coors pal Ann, so I drove in.

She was home and we had a short reunion.

She sent me home with some Lily of the Valley to plant & some sample beer from her brewmaster son.  Certainly worth the stop!

I arrived home before dark which was my goal.

We will host the reunion in Luck/West Denmark next year.

The Big Show

Today is prime time at the peony patch.

I do love these flowers; 

there are storms in the forecast, 

so that may not be the best news for these delicate blooms.

Glad I got to see them this morning.

A Multi-Unit Rental

I'm going into the rental business....

I've been thinking about building a bird house to put on the 5 foot tree stumps in front yard. 

Today I found one on Facebook Shopping for $25.

Friend Bruce stopped by and I asked him to help me get it home.
I took the post off the house, now you can see it better and appreciate it's character.

 It's huge.
All cedar, Martin house. 
It's much bigger than I thought it would be.

This is the stump where this house is going to sit.
I can't wait, but I do need help to hoist it up there.

I love it, $25 treasure.

Romance

I was romanced by the idea of a camera that could zoom far and wide, yet focus on the petal of a flower.  I saw examples of this camera's work and I fell in love.

But, the romance is over.

The Nikon P1000 is a great camera if you are into long distance shots, 

use a tripod,

 or have a steadier hand than I.  

For me, it was a fun toy for the week I had it, but it didn't improve on what I already have for sports photography, so for that reason, I ended the romance while I could still get my money back.

So, I'm back to my Nikon and Pentax, 

and seriously, 

that is enough for someone who dabbles in taking photos.

This Yellow Peony is really showing off in the backyard.

I love it.

Softball

It's going to be fun watching my great nieces play softball this summer.  

The youngest, great niece Wynni played last night.  

Her games are coach-pitch and the girls rotate positions every inning.  

The games go fast as there is not much hitting.  

I sat on the bleachers so that I could visit with Kaija & Cordell during the game.

Newly pierced ears on Wynni so she had to 'tape up'

Mom Kaija & little brother Cordell.
He kept busy with a package of dinosaur stickers and a clipboard of paper.

Through the fence, but it was a good hit.

Ugh, the fence is in focus!
Wynni had a good out at first.

All for fun and learning the game.

It was a perfect night at the ballpark.

Another test

On my drive on Friday, I ended up close to the ski area, Hardscrabble, in the Blue Hills.

I practiced with the P1000 zoom on the view of the ski hills.

You can see the ski slopes carved out of the trees in the distance.

A slightly better view.

It would be fun to come back in the winter when there are skiers to see what I can get.

I might have to use a mono pod to better stabilize the camera for these long zoom shots.

It's a learning curve.

I checked out an Eagle's nest that I have followed.

I'm not sure it was active this year.

Maybe the Bluejay is the landord?

 Hello Mr. Bluejay

All of these photos are SOOC, no crop, no edit.

Sitting in the car I was able to roll the window up part way to use as a stabilizer.

Now to learn the settings for better light control.

This morning I took a quick snap of a yellow peony that bloomed overnight.

The fun continues.