Butterflies in Bloom 2014

So over the Spring Break back in April, our family went to Dow Gardens in Midland and got to view these beauties!

We enjoyed our time in the greenhouse, then embarked a a short stroll through the gardens.  These little white beauties were a wonderful sight letting us know that the winter freeze we had had was not going to keep us in its grip for much longer!

My two cuties in a great photo spot!

More Gobblers

Gobble, Gobble

A few images of the turkeys out at the Chippewa Nature Center in Midland. The only birds that I was able to watch the day that I was out there. I was afraid that I wouldn't see any birds when I got out there and saw that the main building was under a remodel. We decided to go ahead and drive around back to the homestead farm, sugarhouse, and schoolhouse area. I look forward to when the bird viewing room is accessible again so I can see more of a variety. Also my favorite little walking path is not easily accessible right now either. Being able to walk along the trail again will be nice, also.

The Last Freeze

Hopefully this is one of the last icycles that we will see for quite a while around here. I am ready for warm weather to be here to stay for a long stretch of time.

Breaking Up

I will post the details about my give away later tonight.

Thawing Out

The Sugarhouse

The Sugarhouse is another favorite. I look forward to taking my boys back to watch them making maple syrup, not sure if it will be this year but definitely next year. This is such a great time. I have taken my two oldest nieces to experience this and they had a lot of fun especially my oldest niece, she was 4.5 years old at the time. The staff are always so friendly and helpful and allowed for the experience to be a truly personal one. They take the time to personally answer questions and explain things on a level that is appropriate for the age group they are talking with. I love this experience and have tried to go back as often as I can.

This is my first time participating. For more views of the world just visit MY WORLD TUESDAY.

One-Roomed Schoolhouse

One of my favorite parts of the Chippewa Nature Center is the one-roomed schoolhouse. In the few years that I have been visiting the nature center, I have taken several images of the different buildings out there. However, most of them are in black and white and are hand processed. I love all of my images but will admit that I am rather partial to my B&W images. These are from before some of the transformations to the building took place. The bell had a roof over it and there were steps going up to the door of the building. While I understand the reasoning behind the dirt ramp up to the building as far as the handicap accessibility aspect but I don't understand why the roof over the bell was removed. Anyhow, I love the blue skies in this image a promising sign that spring is truly on its way.

A Pecking Order

Well things are starting to get back to normal around my home, well as normal as a household with two little boys under two can get. I have the images for my give away picked out and will post more details on this later. My one year blogging anniversary for this blog is on April 13 and I have already passed my 5000th unique visitor during my small hiatus. I will have details about the give away posted around April 1 (and no this is not an April fool's joke). Keep watch for the details.

I will be sharing some new images and a few forgotten images over the next few days. I hope everyone enjoys. Thank you so much for all of your comments and for your wonderful friendship that you have shown to me. I have had a lot on my plate lately and having an oasis to retreat to has helped when I was unable to physically go somewhere. Thanks.

The snow glistening in the sunlight
The landscape a blanket of white



The brilliant blue illuminating the sky
The sporadic bursts of color diversified



The vibrant yellow contrasted against dark green
The light and shadows a sight to be seen



Overwhelmed by the beauty
That lies all around me



But what I don't understand
As I survey the beauty of the the land
How someone can say there is no God.

-CRW

The Burning Bush

Okay so I didn't actually take this picture in the last couple of days. This is from a few years ago, I think 2003. It is on the grounds of Dow Gardens in Midland. I used to love visiting there until I found The Chippewa Nature Center. The reason I like the nature center better is two-fold. One being that the nature center is free and come on who doesn't like free stuff and two it is nature in its finest not cultivated by man. I still enjoy Dow Gardens just not as often as I once did.

I had hoped to actually go out and get some snow pictures since the snowfall we received stuck around pretty well until late this afternoon. It is still here but the sun has had an effect. Sadly, yesterday I had a migraine headache and they tend to put down for two to three days. The first day being the headache and the second and third day recovering from the after affects of the headache. I hate this but it is a part of life that I must endure. Headaches, migraines in particular, seem to be a hereditary thing in my family. My granny had them, my mom and her siblings have them, and most of my cousins along with myself experience them. I say my granny had them because she rarely if ever gets them now not because she has passed. She has been forbidden to die. I depend on her to much for emotional and moral support. She is my confidant. I can tell her anything without feeling judged or belittle, not that I think anyone else in my family would do this I have just never been able to talk to other family members quite like I can my granny. When I went away to college she was the one I typically called when I needed to talk. She also was the closest to me geographically, only a short five hours away; whereas the rest of my family was twelve hours away. Knowing she was close enough to come if I really needed her meant the world to me. I have many fond memories of my granny and my grandpa. I need to sit and write these out as a treasure for my children if nothing else. Because when the time comes my boys will already have a strong bond with both of them and I am so grateful to see this interaction. Many people sometimes don't even have the opportunity to really know their grandparents and here my boys are getting to know their great-grandparents. We truly are blessed.

Hope you have a great Wednesday.

A Prick and A Poke

One of my favorite things to do is take close up images. I am especially fond of doing this out in nature. I like to see the intricate details that make up the whole, for without those details we would not have the whole. It is the little things that make things what they are.