Still Cold and Random Thoughts - Beavers!

It was cold again this morning, but not quite as bad as yesterday as the wind wasn't blowing when I went for my walk. I was so excited to see a beaver today!!! Asylum Lake is still mostly frozen, but the beavers have managed to open a small area. Really made my day today! When I got to the beavers' lodge, there was only a pair of Canadian Geese in the small area of open water, but as I arrived a pair of Sandhill Cranes flew in and landed. This caused the geese to swim down closer to the beavers' lodge. A beaver promptly popped up as though to warn them they were too close! The same one (or another one) popped up a little later close to where the Sandhill Cranes were standing. For a while it was pretty eventful. I love watching nature, animals, birds and their interactions with one another! A little later three more Sandhill Cranes flew in and for a while, as the two that were already there walked across the lake to the newcomers, I was sure they were not going to be happy with one another. It was lovely to watch them all end up walking together! What a way to spend the early morning. 

After my walk, I dropped off some items for shipping, picked up a couple of things I needed and then headed home. It was a semi-productive day at the house. I got all the things checked off my list. I was trying to find five items to declutter, and I found it a real struggle. I did manage it, but barely. It really shouldn't be that hard. 

I have pulled out a few books to look through and let go. 

I found one quite fascinating and might struggle to let it go lol. It is going though; I've already made my mind up. 

I really like the pressed flowers cards. They are really beautiful. I think I'd like to give it a go. I don't think I've pressed a flower since I was a child, but I really like the way these were done and presented. It looks like it might be fun. Has anyone pressed flowers properly? How do you do them? I looked on Amazon and there were a couple of cheap-ish presses I'm thinking about buying. Thanks for the input!

False Spring OVER

It was a very dreary, dull and snowy day yesterday. Our Sunday adventure didn't amount to much. We couldn't see a lot of anything at the lakeshore as it was snowing and very windy! We got out a couple of times, but the wind and cold forced us back into the car. Oh well, I did enjoy the false spring while it lasted. 

The plan had been to drive along the lakeshore for a while and check out some smaller roadside parks and see what ice there was left. I usually enjoy this as there are some out-of-the-way spots that have fantastic ice hills and such. Although we couldn't see a lot, we did see that there would have been some lovely spots if the weather had cooperated! We have decided that, if the weather cooperates, we'll try again next weekend. The weather is colder again this week - not above freezing until Friday so the ice shouldn't melt. 

There were quite a few Mergansers at this spot, and I did manage to brave the weather enough to take a couple of photos of them - it was fun watching them fish!

This poor female caught a fish, and a gull immediately flew down and nabbed it!

Before I went to bed last night, I wrote my list for today and managed to stick to it. It wasn't a bad day, quite productive. I struggled to stay warm today though. I went for a walk this morning and it was brutally cold, dull and windy. Quite a change from last week. I didn't stay out long, but I couldn't get warm. It took until late afternoon for me to warm up! I did keep busy and usually moving around helps but not today. Maybe it's just taking my body a while to adjust back to the cold lol. 

Hope everyone had a good start to the week!

Saturday

Another dreary day. It started off a little icy as there was a thin coating of snow/ice overnight. Husband and I took a drive to the Amish shop. We haven't been there for a while and it's a treat, so we got some donuts, cheese and bread. Yum. Definitely something we only do once in a while. 

For the rest of the day, I got together a few of the things I need to ship on Monday, listed a few things and then spent a bit of time up in the craft room. As usual, there was more moving things around rather than getting rid of them. I think I ended up only pulling 5 items out - sigh. It's five more donated than I had earlier lol. 

I had a chat with daughter by herself and then a video chat with Baby A. They think she has her molar teeth coming through as she is very grumpy. Every little thing seems to upset her. Poor her and poor parents. 

Tomorrow, we're off on a Sunday Adventure. Not sure where it will be or how long as there is predicted to be a bit of snow overnight and into the morning. Not a lot of point going far if the snow is obstructing the view!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend

Photo today - the Sandhill Crane couple are back at Asylum Lake. It must mean Spring is on the way!

Friday

Thanks for all the comments about Living Simply/Slow Living. I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or even the losses perhaps. Whatever the reason, I know it's something I want to think about, especially with husband sliding into retirement, working on what kind of life we want to live and what's important to us. 

Today I woke before the alarm, a common occurrence lately. It was noticeably colder this morning, Our False Spring is over for now and it was snowing this afternoon and this evening, the winds howling up a storm outside too. I did manage a walk this morning and only got a little bit wet, an improvement on yesterday. 

I didn't have to go anywhere after the walk and went straight home. Husband was off work early as he had put in his 40 hours and they don't want overtime. He took two boxes and three large bags to the charity store for donations! I have already started another bag. I'm glad the items left the porch (where they had been stored) though.  

This afternoon I actually went up in the craft room! It's still quite a mess  a big mess, but I want to make a point of going up there and at least looking at things. I sorted out a bottom shelf on the one of the bookshelves I have and threw out a few bits, tidied things up and sorted a few bits for donation. There is some space on the desk, and I pulled out a couple of 3d decoupage pages and put them together. I find it kind of soothing to sort out the layers and put them together. That's as far as I got but it's a start! 

There are sentiments that came with them and when I put them together on cards hopefully, I'll take photos and share. I paid 10p for the pages

75p for this one, it came with more bits I haven't put together yet. I think I got it because it reminds me of the deer in the garden. 

I spent a bit more time up there working on some mini albums again. I kind of have to get back in the groove again to make those. I'm hoping to go up there again tomorrow. I had to stop as there was a Zoom meeting I had to attend. 

Dinner tonight for the guys was Chicken Chilli. I don't eat meat so it's hard to taste these things. I usually toss in stuff and hope it works. They liked it so I'll mark that down as a win. I stuck it in the slow cooker early this morning. I really need to find more meals like this as it's so nice to have everything ready to go by the time I'm running low on energy late afternoon.

Hope everyone had a good day! What are the weekend plans?

Thoughts and...stuff

The days seem to be flying by. I kept thinking today was Friday as I messaged with my sister today as she is going away with her children and grandchildren for a long weekend at a holiday camp. I also had quite a long video call with Baby A. Daughter picked her up from daycare and she was a bit upset and said she wanted to talk to Nana, so she was in her car seat with the phone and crying. I asked if she wanted to hear a story and she said yes so, I had to grab a book (luckily, I knew where I had one stashed) and read to her. It quietened her down a bit and then we chatted some more when she got home. It did my heart good to know that she enjoys chatting with me. Sometimes, it makes me a little sad that I am missing out on so much as I am so far away. This is one time that makes me feel good that I have a mobile phone!

I've been thinking a lot lately about the simpler things in life and living a simple life. What makes a simple life? There are a couple of YouTube channels that I enjoy (Beltaine Cottage and Joy of Things) but if you put in simple life (usually over50 goes with that in my case lol) there are a lot of channels that pop up where the people just seem too perfect and not real. I want to watch, listen to, simple life over 50 but I don't want perfect people with perfect bodies, perfect make-up and perfect houses. That doesn't scream simple to me. That would take too much work! 

Is it Simple Life or Slow Living or are they the same? Sigh. Big questions lol. I'm not even sure what I'm searching for, perhaps just less of the stuff and more of the taking life as it comes. I sometimes think about moving as I'm not entirely happy living where I am now. I'd love to live somewhere with a bit more space around me, not a bigger house, but just less neighbours lol. A place where I can sit out and not hear traffic (it doesn't help that the main road adjacent to us is a lot busier now than when we moved in and people race up and down our hill to avoid it). I'm not sure it's feasible. I am really thankful that we do have our own house. I know a lot of other people aren't that fortunate. Should I instead think about how I can cultivate my space to make it closer to what I'd like? 

Perhaps all these questions racing around in my head are why I can't sleep! Or perhaps I'm going through a (really late) midlife crisis lol. You have to laugh. 

Things That Made Me Smile today

* Having a lovely chat with sister. It's always lovely to catch up and we always find lots to chat about

* Video chatting with Baby A. She is adorable. 

* Having a walk despite the rain. I got wet, yes, but I was distracted by seeing two Great Horned owls in the trees. We're back to snow this weekend. 

* Pulling out a different mug and having a nice hot cup a soup

Thanks for listening. I'm not moaning, just writing down random thoughts that have been on my mind. Let me know what your idea of simple living/slow living is. It seems to be the 'in' thing right now. Maybe I'm already doing it and not realising! I certainly don't try to keep up with the Joneses. 

Not a Bad Day

I've had a couple of fairly productive days. The list making helps. I got more done today than I anticipated as husband texted and said he'd be home early (he had to go on a driving trip for work, and it was shorter than expected). When he comes home differently than expected it throws me off. I know that I should go with the flow, but I find it really difficult to do. After all these years, husband is finally getting it and said he'd stop in and see his dad for a bit and then take my car for a (much needed) oil change and car wash. 

Oil changes are not cheap. I checked the website for coupons and then (for some reason) decided to google whether they had a veteran's discount. They did, so I told husband to ask about it. He did and ended up with 25% off! Glad that's out of the way again for a bit. 

Tomorrow is more of the same. One of the piles I wanted to tackle has (sort of) been tackled. Another I was starting to sort through when husband said he'd be home soon, so I put it all back away again. Sigh. It will be tackled tomorrow! I'm going to be positive and get it done. Wednesday is one of my quieter household-y days, so I'll have time. No excuses. 

Things That Made Me Smile today

The Light on Asylum Lake - the temperatures here have been really mild the last few days, but the lake is still frozen. Loved the sunlight on the ice today. 

My Merlin App picked up a Red-winged Blackbird today! It's the first sign of Spring here in Michigan. I think it's more of a false spring though as temperatures are expected to drop dramatically on Friday!

A Cooper's Hawk sitting nicely in the woods, ready to be photographed. 

How was your day? What made you smile today?

 

Lovely Weekend

We had a lovely time away. The weather was really good. It was sunny and mild-ish. A lot different form the weather we had the last time we went away! 

We meandered our way up the lakeshore, stopped wherever took our fancy, treated ourselves to a (very rare) meal out, had a good night's sleep and then meandered out way back down the lakeshore (a different way) and home. We stopped at several places we'd like to visit again when the weather is warmer. There were a couple of little towns that had interesting little seasonal shops. They would be fun to visit when they are actually open! 

We had a lovely sunset and sunrise. Our hotel wasn't far from Grand Traverse Bay where the water has frozen over for the first time since 2019. There weren't too many people around too. Always a bonus in my book!

It was quite foggy and it looked really serene and mysterious at the same time. It was well-worth standing out in the cold morning air. It was very quiet out, just me and some ice fisherman on the bay. 

This was one of my favourite walks that we took. The beach was pretty free from snow, but there was ice along the shore and ice pancakes and floating ice bits as far as the eye could see. The sky was really blue, and it was quite mild. Just wonderful. Sunshine really does make me feel a lot better!

It's back to the normal daily things now. At least for a while. We shan't be going away again until (maybe) next month. Our next planned trip is not until the end of April though so we shall see!

Plans this week - doing some organising! There are a few of those pesky spots that have gathered piles again. I swear they seem to multiply! I am going to take care of those this week. I put cleaning out my car on the list and I did that today. I had a collection of coats, gloves and scarves (all thickness for all kinds of weather) on the back seat as well as an overflowing bin so I took care of all that and it is a lot tidier now! I have planned out all my meals this week and I went to the shops yesterday so I shouldn't have to go out much this week. I am also hoping to get the piles of donations off the front porch and to the charity shop this week. 

Today

Thursday already. I thought I'd slip in a post as I won't be posting tomorrow and maybe not Saturday either depending on what day we get back! This turned out to be a good week to go on a mini-adventure as husband has already worked 38 hours this week and they wouldn't want him to work overtime. He'll only have to put in for 2 hours of holiday/vacation pay. I said about taking a short week, but he likes to stay at 40 hours so that's what he'll be doing. 

Today my friend and I went back to the Fish Hatchery. It was a good choice. It was well below freezing this morning when we walked, but the trails were a lot more accessible, so it was easy to walk around them. We saw quite a few birds including the resident blue heron - one of the very few that stick around the area for winter as there aren't many open water areas. I suppose this one has its pick of the fish as there are plenty around lol. There were several trumpeter swans which make a lovely noise and lots of different kinds of ducks. We even saw a Kingfisher, another of the birds we don't often see in winter due to lack of open water. 

I did my everyday cleaning today and then settled down to 'chat' with sister. I asked her at the beginning of the week if we could change our day to today so that I can spend time with her without being rushed due to our time away. She was happy to change the day. Time always goes so fast when we are catching up with our week. I always wonder what we're going to chat about as I don't seem to do a lot, but time passes so quickly and before I know it, it's time to wrap things up. 

Not sure what time we'll be leaving tomorrow. Our plan is, well, it's just to meander up the shoreline, stop at a few places and get to the hotel sometime later in the afternoon. We'll see where the road takes us! The weather is supposed to be lovey, sunny and a lot milder than it has been!

A couple phone photos from today

It was so cold this morning that the water I left in my car froze solid!

I hope everyone has a good rest of the week! 

Midweek - Little of This and That

I'm so glad I did my photography day yesterday. Today wasn't so nice. It was quite a bit colder - below freezing all day - and quite dull. I did a walk at Asylum Lake and really wished I hadn't bothered. The trails were horrible. I'll preface this by saying that the snow is quite deep - on some well-used trails it has been packed down and on others not so much. Because of the warmer temps yesterday and the colder ones today, the snow and ice melted, got trodden on a bit and then refroze. It makes for some (what I call) watch where you are stepping, or you'll break an ankle trails. In several places the melted footprints went down several inches. It's not a lot of fun. My walking friend and I have arranged to meet back at the fish hatchery tomorrow. 

I came home and did the usual everyday house-y stuff and then I tried to declutter. I am really struggling with it right now! I went up in the craft room, looked through things, declared that I'm going to use them and didn't get rid of basically anything. Sigh. I'm really thinking of pulling out a few things to put in a use-it-or-lose-it pile. 

I said yesterday that I was going to try to declutter at least 10 items today and I did manage it. I got rid of 16 items by the end of the day but that was a struggle!

Here's the photo I took of a few - they are mostly books but hey-ho, anything going is good, right? 

I ended up taking this sign off the bedroom wall and putting up another picture that I had purchased and was hanging around. 

On a side note - I have been posting photos of the mugs I've been using on Instagram, so I took a photo of one I'd picked up the other day and thought I'd check on Google, just to see if it was worth anything - sometimes I enjoy them for a while and donate or resell. I checked this one, and YIKES! it has sold consistently for $50+ dollars! I paid either 1.29 or 99cents for it. 

It is a blue glass celestial mug made by Libbey. When I saw it, I thought, cool mug. Now I'm thinking - I'm glad I picked it up. I almost didn't. 

Things That Made Me Smile Today - had a lovely chat with Baby A. She is hilarious! She took the phone and we hid behind the curtains in the living room while she held a bunch of stuffed animals on her lap and read me a book. She was so chatty! She is just so delightful. Was lovely to hear from her as I've been feeling down. It's funny how such a little thing like a video call can make all the difference. 

Nice Walk - Things That Make Me Smile

I went on a nice walk today. By myself. I took it as a photography day. It was so lovely out - our temperature got above freezing - YES! - and the sun was shining. I think it got to 6C/43F which is a heatwave for us after the last few weeks. Our main roads are completely clear and even most of the side roads are looking a lot better now. Our driveway is a mess - melted packed down snow melting and then freezing at night. Ugh. It's the time of year when I have to be careful not to slip and fall. 

I stayed until early afternoon, stopped at a couple of places on my way home and didn't end up getting anything done at home except my dailies. Oh well. I didn't want to waste such a lovely day. I did make it back in time for my online camera club meeting. A few people from the club were giving talks on project they have done. I'm glad I participated as it was very interesting. 

As I did more play than work today, tomorrow is going to be the opposite - more work than play. That includes doing a bit of listing items for sale, as well as a bit more decluttering. I am keeping up with the item a day challenge this month - I have 20 in total so far! - but I'd like to declutter at least 10 tomorrow. I have a half full bag that is going to the charity shop, and I'd like to get it filled up before adding it to the pile that needs to go. 

A couple of phone photos from today - all things that made me smile. I'm not sure which one to use as my 'Smile' project photo for the day

Lovely blue skies

Bench buried in the sand and snow

Remnants of an ice volcano. These form along the lakeshore as the ice comes to shore. Water erupts from the middle and spurts ice on the shoreline. This is in what is usually the water - though there is a lot of ice behind it!

What made you smile today?