I can't believe that ten days have passed by already. I have been busy with life and updating my family blog. We went to have our taxes done and visited the Chippewa Nature Center in hopes of being able to view the birds from their little viewing room. I was sorely dissappointed as they are in the middle of a remodel and will not have the main visitor center opened back up for another year. I was however able to some pictures as we drove around the little drive back to the old school house, sugar house and farm stead. I had this great squirrel shot but was frustrated when the squirrel took off just as I hit the shutter button. Anyway I did get some turkey photos and we took time once we drove back to town to walk along the Tridge pathway and spend some time there. Overall we had a good day. Some really exciting news and some disappointment. Nothing is ever perfect though now, is it? I hope to work on some images this weekend and start posting them soon.

Revisit of Augusta and Sepia Scenes

I have been following the sepia scenes meme for a while and this is my first time participating. This image comes from a set of photos that I took this past fall. The original post on this trail can be found HERE. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year to take pictures. This image in particular really seemed to lend itself to this type of processing. I hope everyone enjoys.

For more Sepia Scenes visit HERE.

Downy Woodpecker

I am pretty sure this is the Downy Woodpecker; although, it may be a Hairy Woodpecker.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Dark-Eyed Junco

White Breasted Nuthatch

American Goldfinch

Mirrored Image

You Can't See Me

A female cardinal, resting on a small branch.

Cute, Cuddly and Acrobatic

I took these images a little less than a year ago. They all hail from the Chippewa Nature Center in Midland, MI. This is my favorite nature center. I love the observation room in the visitors center and could sit in there for hours watching all of the antics of the squirrels, birds, and such. They have wild turkeys that regularly visit the feeding stations here and I am always excited to see those. Turkeys are probably my favorite bird both to watch and -gasp- to eat. I am not a big meat eater but I love my turkey and of all things I like my turkey to be dry. The drier the better. Okay enough about eating turkey. We go to Midland at least once a year so that we can get our taxes done. This is a highlight of our year. Generally because we get a decent return. Only once did we have to pay the government and that was the year we had no deductions take from our pay nor did we pay our quarterly taxes like we were supposed to. I took this as a lesson learned and from hence forth have made sure that some money was deducted/paid toward taxes and have had a return ever since.


Anywho...Midland is such a beautiful area. They have the Tridge, Dow Gardens, Chippewa Nature Center, and many other wonderful things. We usually like to stay in a hotel over night when we go up to get our taxes done (besides it is a tax deduction) but were not able to last year nor will we be able to again this year. This makes me sad because I like my little get away weekend that we typically have this time of year.


About four or five years ago, we discovered The Chippewa Nature Center and have been several times since then and always after we get our taxes done. It is a great way to contemplate how we should spend our return. And dream up all the ways we could spend what we are getting. Now usually we can do one or two of the small things, the rest is used up playing catch up on some of our bills that may have gotten behind, like the winter utility bills. Cold weather is a killer on the old heat bill.


Okay, enough train of thought writing i.e. babbling. What I was intending to say is that over the next few days I will be sharing the images I took that day last March. When I first took them I was disappointed in them, but now that I have had time away from them I realize that they are not as bad as I thought they were. I am actually pleased with the way the turned out. Granted I took close to two hundred pictures that day and only a hand full are worth showing, but nobody gets the images they want every time all the time now, do they?

Four Directions of the Wind

While working on this image, I realized why I was so drawn to this image. The trunk of this tree is relatively small and there are four branches coming from the trunk each seemingly to go in a different direction. I love how it is lightly covered with a blanket of snow. I look forward to seeing this tree come spring when it starts to bud.