Chasing my Dust Dragons

Posts have been few and far between lately due to a sudden disgust of dust and stuff. Here are the laundry room before and after pics. I'm now going to go finish my bedroom which I started yesterday morning. Laurel tells me that ten minutes of hard housework is worth one exercise point in Weight Watchers. I earned quite a few of those yesterday. I was flipping the mattress, shaking rugs over the balcony, and dusting down the walls.
I love working hard. Sleep is sweeter at night.

Ice Piles at Whitecaps Bay

Even with last week's warm temperatures, we still have some really awesome piles of ice built up along the Grand Portage shoreline. This photo was taken the evening of February 26th. Incredibly calm conditions that evening made for a surreal experience of exploring and photographing these ice piles. The intense blue color of the ice was breathtaking. Temperatures are forecast to be a little cooler for the next week, so this ice should hang around for a while yet!

A Proud Sadness

I haven't posted in a while, because we've started homeschooling for this year. This is our first full week, and I'm trying to stick to the schedule faithfully. The hardest thing for me to do is get in bed by 10:00. As you can see, it's 10:51, and I haven't had a bath yet. If I don't go to bed at 10:00 then I can't get up at 5:15. I'll get up instead about 6:15 which will give me time to have worship and exercise before waking Darcie at 7:00. I'll just miss writing in my journal and reading a book on creativity.
I got some bad news today. Garrett called and said he'll be leaving for Iraq on October 2. That only gives us two weekends, and he's not coming home this weekend. He's going to a Clemson game.
He kept asking me if he should go. Of course I'd rather he came home, but I wasn't going to tell him he had to. We'll get to see him for a long weekend the next week.
I hate this feeling of sadness I have. I have to keep telling myself over and over that I believe God is sovereign over life and death, and if it is his turn to die, he'll do it here in the U.S. or somewhere else. It doesn't matter where.
My heart says, "Of course it matters! I want him here in town where I can control things." Like I can! I'm having a hard time letting him go. I guess it's a mom thing.

Braybrooke - Dingley - Brampton Ash - Braybrooke

Just under 8 miles. With Barry, Gordon and Maureen. Quite wet, long spells of persistence, with drier spells at start and finish. Walking through thigh-high fields of beans is a guaranteed recipe to soak trousers. Plenty of stiles, some slippery in the wet.





We left Braybrooke from the road opposite the church. We parked on the grass at side, just by a footpath sign, which takes you over a stile on the left. We crossed the meadow diagonally, disturbing some of the cows which were lying down,to a point where we crossed the railway line. We continued to climb gradually crossing several arable fields, some with corn, and some which had been harvested recently, then more steeply to reach the A6. We had to walk along this road for about half a mile. First we were welcomed by a sign into Leicestershire, the heart of rural England. Soon afterwards we walked along the verge to a lay-by, full of trucks and a snack bar, and the smell of bacon butties.





Shortly after the old Kettering Road from Harborough joins the road from the left, we turned right on another footpath. We followed this down hill and to the right along the side of a hill, just touching the edge of Dingley Warren wood, before making uphill for Dingley Lodge Hotel, on the main Corby-Harborough Road.

Mud sticks to boots

Trust you to take a photograph now!

You can see from the photographs that the view would be pretty good on a clearer day, but those fields were hard work, as our boots grew heavier with every step.





We walked up to the road, and followed it to the right into Dingley. After a short distance we turned left on to a small residential road which leads to Dingley Park. A short way along this we turned right, past some stables and a dressage area, then continued through fields and short paths through hedge boundaries until we crossed a wheat field with a clear wide path, which took us to the Corby- Harborough Road again.





The weather was starting to look even less friendly by now, so we had our snack break, before walking a short distance towards Brampton Ash, and taking a footpath to the right.





So . . . behind the church, and Grange Farm, which now has a picture window extension with views over the valley, and out to the quiet road downhill.

The road turns to the right and a little further on we took a footpath to the left, leading down to farm outbuildings called 'Red Hovel' on the map. A quick google shows that 'hovel' can mean an open outbuilding for storage or for the use of cattle.





Next we climbed up to the ridge, where we turned right aiming for the edge of Hermitage Wood. If there was a hermit, he was keeping himself very much to himself today - well out of the rain, I imagine.





We rejoined the minor road at a settlement called Hermitage Cottages, close to a roundabout on the A6. We followed the footpath (Jurassic Way, Mid-shires Way, and Macmillan Way),through two large fields of wet beans to Braybrooke Lodge - another farm with several horses and foals and a dressage area. Across the minor road, over stiles and underneath the railway line before making our way across the fields and back into Braybrooke, past bumps in the fields which are the remains of a castle, which was built in 1304, was the home of the Latymers and Griffins, but was destroyed by fire in the 1500s.

Braybrooke's Millenium Monument

We learnt something of the history of Braybrooke from the Millenium Monument and the information board near by.

The Destroyer

This is a photo that you've seen before, although never composed the way you see here. I've shared two previous versions of this image, both of which were vertical crops. This version shows the original composition, cropped only slightly to get rid of some dead space on both sides of the image. I've always loved this shot because of the power and intensity of the lightning, but I was never completely happy with the vertical crops as they cut off part of the island. I love this one because it shows the whole island as well as more of the water. This is Pete's Island in Grand Portage Bay, and is the view that we see from the beach right in front of our house.

Frustrating Day

I was up VERY early this morning. Watched TV until there was a place to have breakfast. Was one of the folks in line at Ruby's waiting when the Restaurant opened. After breakfast, I quick stop back at the room and drive into the park to shoot some photos at sunrise.

A little late in getting in position. Actually, the sun was just up when I got Bryce Point. Was able to get a couple shots.

Was cold this morning - in the upper 30s. Loaded up the car and headed toward Red Canyon. Was still too cold when I got to the West end of the bicycle trail. So, figured I might as well head to Zion.

Zion National Park was a zoo. Traffic backed up at the entrance and tunnel. Most of the turn-outs were full. My plan was to get at the Visitor's Center to that I could check out the scoop regarding the shuttle buses. All of the parking lots at the Visitor's Center were full. Signs said to park in the town pf Springdale.

Even though I was needing to use a rest room, I said "screw it" and headed to Hurricane to find my hotel. Checked into the hotel. The desk clerk did not give me any hopeful signs that tomorrow morning would be any better at the park.

Decided to leave options open - plot some alternate plans. Since i also wanted to check out dirt trails, I found a bicycle shop in Hurricane. At Over the Edge Sports found out that this is Fall Break. That's why so many people in the park than it was a week ago.

There really isn't a good other place to spend the next 3 nights. So, guess I will rest, check out some singletrack, and do some local tourist activities, May go up to Cedar Breaks. Could even go the the Grand Canyon North Rim (it its still open). Across southern Utah, I found places closing for the season within the next week.

In the woods

Blue-eyed grass, Sisyrinchium sp.

Ragwort (Butterweed), (Packera sp., aka Senecio).

Carolina Larkspur, Delphinium carolinianum.

Coral Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens.

Oxeye Daisy, Leucanthemum vulgare.

Pink Phlox, Phlox carolina.

Cynthia, Krigia biflora.

Fragrant Sumac, Rhus aromatica.

Wild Petunia, Ruellia strepens.
Why does Susan's Coral honeysuckle bloom so much earlier than mine? (By a good two months).

Turtle identification made extremely difficult

Jasmine was barking like crazy at something in the middle of the back yard.

It was a turtle, laying eggs in a not-so-secluded spot.

I shooed the dog away, took a few pictures, and left her to it.

I went out later to try to find the egg site, but couldn't relocate it.
It finally did dawn on me later, that some previous mystery sites (small wet shallow holes) were places where turtles had recently laid eggs. Aha! I felt so smart. I mentioned this to my husband, and he said something along the lines of, "Of course, didn't you know that already?" Well, maybe I just forgot.
Anyway, this happened a few weeks ago. I found the turtle pictures again when moving some photos off the camera's disk. So I set out to identify the turtle.
I found a couple of good ID sites. One is the Turtle Field Guide. But it asked a lot of questions that I didn't have the answers to.
Then there's the Turtle Identification Guide and Checklist. I like that one better, because you don't have to know each answer before moving on to the next question. Plus, there are the drawings, and satisfying little check boxes.
But I'm still not sure which turtle this is. That would have required
1) Washing the turtle off, to try to make out the pattern on her back a bit better, and
2) Turning her over, to examine the pattern on the bottom.
Doing either of those things would fall into the "harassing wildlife" category though, I think.
I checked as many boxes as I could, but still came up with 11 possibilities. I think she may be a Florida Cooter, Pseudemys floridana. Or she could be a slider... Maybe a painted turtle. But I'm leaning towards Cooter.
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Submitted to the Friday Ark.

1st Meeting of the San Francisco Bay Area Golden Retriever Meetup!

Ashley and her golden, Moose, recently moved to the Bay Area from San Diego, where, as many of you may know, Sue of Random Ramblings started a Meetup group that has grown to almost 800 members! We were excited to have a group here finally and even more jazzed about our first gathering at Seal Point Park in San Mateo near the SFO airport.
Let's get this party started, Peeps!
Okay Ma... that's enough throwing to her; it's my turn! And here's a little movie of things gettin' goin'!

And here's a little of my play/kong action on the return retrieve heheh!
Here's a collage of what some of us doggehs were up to fur some pawesome fun meetin' and greetin'! (Notice my BFF, Sierra, in these pix?)
Below there's Maggie, cuddling up with Ma, who does rescue work in San Francisco with Norcal Golden Retriever Rescue, where I cames from!
Look who was anxious to join the pawtay - a bit too anxious if you asks me, pulling on that leashie likes that heheh!

Word spread that there were treats over here - nomzers!
And after a good time was had by all, we gathered for a group picture, some of us more enthused about it than others! Ashley, incredibly, had created a "goodie" bag for each of us to paw home!
WOW! Something smells really yummy (drrooool!)
Before I could get my maw around the nomzers, my evil sis took off with the pretty pressie!
Luckily, the contents spilt fur me to investigate!
What lovely gifties Ashley and Moose gave us to bring home. Ashley: you bringed joy to our lives today and we loved meeting you and so many other wonderful goldens (and other doggehs too!) as well as their super owners! Thank you, thank you! We had a most splendid time and look forward to the next Meetup!