Showing posts with label clouds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clouds. Show all posts

Monday, July 21, 2025

More beach pix

Our beach week featured a lot of calm, glassy ocean days and few clouds. Definitely my preference of ocean. Thing Three was a little grumpy that there weren't huge waves to smash into, but this was a good year for me to be calm and serene and slow. I kept my promises to my radiation doctor and have the ridiculous tan lines to prove it, but enjoyed the beach nevertheless. How could I not?!



I always forget how BRIGHT it is at the beach!



Small child sized footprint beside Thing One's. I like investigating the sand and thinking about how many critters have left their marks.



If anybody needs a road trippin' partner, I highly recommend Thing One. There's lots of singing, laughing, good talks, snacks, and carrying on whilst being an excellent, cautious driver. So proud of this kid!

 

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Has spring sprung?


I know officially Spring has begun according to the calendar. I know unofficially the migratory birds are showing up and the earliest flowers are putting on a show. Above, a few days ago, we had a bunch of red winged blackbirds carrying on in our neighbors' tree. I wondered what they were making such a racket about and then saw one of our local red tailed hawks swooping around. 
Below, one of the male bluebirds (I've seen two pairs- wahoo!) was eyeing me curiously from outside while I was on the treadmill inside. That has to be confusing. "I see that she's moving, but she's clearly not any good at this because she isn't getting anywhere! Must be because she doesn't have wings." 



We had a few warm days last week and the dogs were thrilled to be outside in the sun and not the wet for a few hours at a time. It makes me happy to see Honey feeling secure enough to snooze in the fresh air. She is such a big scaredy-chicken, poor old thing. Still has a young heart, even if her back end can't keep up with her front's exuberance. Especially going up stairs. 
Below, three of those four clumps are squirrel nests, but the big green one on the left is actually .... da da da DA.... the nest of the red tailed hawks! I knew they were local, but I had no idea they were here! So exciting! They're pretty much just outside our front door and straight up. Yay for new neighbors! Maybe they will eat Bosley. Kidding. 
I think.



We've also had some really pretty skies lately. I love it when sunrises and sunsets are colorful instead of just... dark. Being someone who despises Daylight Savings Time, I'm trying to embrace the opportunity for seeing more sunrises. Forget about the fact that it had already BEEN light outside at the bus stop for over a month and now it's dark again. *sigh* This photo below was taken this morning, and Thing Two remarked that he thought the photo shows off the fun clouds even more than it looked in person.


 

Wednesday, August 11, 2021

How’s your summer going?

 We’ve had, like many of you, a series of storms pass through this week, which doesn’t bode well for me getting sleep. This isn’t a pity post, it’s just a “oh, that’s why she is making less sense than usual,” notification. 

I happen to love storms and especially love listening to them. They remind me of camp, both as a camper on Lake Erie and as a counselor in the hills and forests surrounding the Allegheny River. Something so comforting about hearing the storms roll down the river, thunder kabooming over your adirondack, branches blowing in the wind, rain dripping off the leaves. I love it all.

However, our Great Pyrenees does not. Not even one little bit. She starts panting and drooling all over the floor as she paces, so it’s slippery inside and nobody wants to be barefoot to then step in a puddle of drool. She also won’t eat, which then calls for vigilance on our part to make sure that Bosley, who will eat anything, doesn’t mosey over to eat her food. That tends to not go over well. Think siblings with only one last candy bar. 

“That’s mine and you know it! Give it back!”

“Then you should have eaten it, shouldn’t you?!”

“I said ‘give it back!’”

“Finders keepers, losers weepers!”

*fisticuffs ensues*

“Mooooommm!”

“I’m going to clobber you both!”

Anyway. 

The rescue from which we got her claimed she was crate trained. She was for the first two weeks, before she started dismantling and sneaking out of it, sometimes becoming stuck to the point I thought she was going to cause internal damage to herself. Therefore, we gave up on the crate, call her Honey Houdini, and just try to barricade her out of the kitchen as best we can during storms. We’re getting good with arranging baby gates, chairs, and random pieces of furniture, which she is becoming adept at removing from her desired location through sheer brute force, dedication, and persistence. I also try to remember to close all the curtains before bed and leave a few lights on to minimize the scariness of the lightning, and leave Pandora on to help cover the thunder. Maybe it all helps a little, but I can hear her butting into the baby gate from upstairs along with other, sneakier sounds, so I usually end up downstairs on the couch to keep a closer ear on her. She's been known to get into drawers, boxes, bags, (haha, "packages, boxes and bags") and I'd rather head it all off at the pass than have to clean up after the fact.

This morning she got herself into Bosley’s crate.. he weighs around 45 pounds and she’s around 100. He was not pleased. Dada said to just shut the door, to which I reminded him that, while I was tempted, she would just destroy his kennel and then we’d be left with none and they’d both be loose. Neither of them can be trusted farther than you could throw them, so thanks but no thanks. Somehow she managed to turn herself around and got back out, but it was photo worthy anyway for your entertainment:



We've not had an opportunity to see the Perseid meteor shower yet because of the rain, but we've had some breaks in the weather with beautiful skies. 


I had just told Dada yesterday that I'd planted some additional, different morning glory seeds this year because we have bajillions of purple ones annually and I wanted some new friends to smile at, and I was lamenting that none of them had come up. I have an almost solid wall of them in the garden behind the garage and they are lovely. 
Then first thing this morning, I spotted this guy! YAY!!


I didn't get a good shot of it, but the clouds and rain were so cool the other day in different sections of the sky.


As most of you know, Dada and I have this ongoing argument over what is a flower versus what is a weed. To my consternation, these cheerful blue roadside flowers are called "Blue Weed." Figures. I love how they contrast with whatever the vibrant yellow flowers are and against the deep soybean green, which is one of my very favorite greens. This picture doesn't do the Blue Weed justice.


Monday, March 01, 2021

End of February

 Our typical Ohio weather (read: bizarre) had us frizzering back to back with 63 degrees the next day. Today it didn't hit 40 and the wind has been hovering around 20 mph. 

However, our clouds are fun! 



Grandmama says it looks like Siberia, hehe.

Most of our snow is gone, and good riddance, but I'm not naive enough to think it'll be gone for good. We still have all of March to go. 

In other news, we've confirmed that the killdeer and red-winged blackbirds are back from wherever they winter. I get excited when I hear them and even more so when I see them. I guess Spring IS on the way!

Friday, April 22, 2016

Springtime (finally) and the neighbors


We'll take a quick break from the Baltimore posts and rejoice that springtime seems to be here for real, finally. These were taken the 19th of April, so a little bit late but not too bad:






Some of you have received an enthusiastic email declaring that while we've heard owls for quite awhile at this new house, we'd rarely seen them and couldn't figure out where they nested.

We found them!



These two photos were taken last night, but I saw them for the first time early Wednesday morning. I wasn't awake enough to grab the big lens for the camera or even the binoculars, so I made up for it last night.

Then we saw this guy again this morning, who looked to be settling in for the day but spun around when he heard me go outside to get screen-free photos:



Dada thinks somebody's got a death wish. See the squirrel?


And the pretty sunrise clouds. Have a great weekend!




Monday, September 28, 2015

Moon, moon, pretty moon, with two eyes, a nose, and a smile... (and other stuff)



Did anyone get to see the fancy schmancy moon last night? We got to see it at about half and then a tiny sliver and then the clouds took over and we haven't seen it since. I've seen photos by friends of friends that are terrific, but we just weren't in a good spot, apparently. 

Anyhoo, it was another whirlwind weekend. Friday afternoon our poor Pepe the Pilot was scheduled to have a tire checked out as it had been losing air. On my way to our Honda dealer, two separate Good Samaritans pulled alongside me to let me know it was flat. Once I got there, I was sadly informed that there was a hole in the sidewall and it was irreparable. We knew we were in the market for tires anyway, so it came as no surprise, really. 

Once Pepe was all fixed up and road-tested and reset, I headed home, a bit too late to get the Thingz to karate. We went to the park to meet the rest of our home group and the kids had a great evening running around into dark. 

Saturday morning meant we had to get up and make up the karate class we missed on Friday, so up we got and did class. Then we raced home to finish packing for Boy Scout camping down the road at the historical museum. I made several trips back to our house to feed the dog, put the dog away for the night, let the dog out first thing Sunday morning, etc. I got back in time for tear-down and breakfast:




That was the line for pancakes, sausage, hot chocolate, juice, milk, and coffee. 

I forgot to mention there was some of this the night before:



This is the hot dog, the uncooked hot dog, that this child snatched from the table and began to eat, along with his bread.


Whose children are these anyway?

Said hot dog was snatched back, stuck on the above grill, and cooked as it was supposed to be, then returned to above child. What a nut.

Speaking of nuts, and seeds, this child found these:



And learned that they're way easier to cast if they're dry and fluffy instead of matted together straight out of the pod. It didn't stop her from spreading them with glee, it just slowed her down. I suppose she is her mother's child.

Oh, no, she can't be, because check out what she found in the creek behind the house once we got home:




Yes, that would be a bin full of snails. I ask you...

And look at the mess on the porch from that girl and those boots! Good thing PaPa wasn't here. He'd have had canaries. 


I can't believe there's an entire post about Boy Scout camp with no pictures of the Boy Scout. Shameful. He was there, I swear, drinking cups of hot cocoa, throwing footballs, hollering to gazillions of other boys, and generally having a good time. 

They all want to go back.

They can go back with their father. 




Saturday, August 08, 2015

Wood County Fair 2015 roundup


*We interrupt the beach vacation broadcast to bring you a blog post about life that is happening between blog posts. *gasp!* The horror! Carry on.* 

"Thaaaaat doesn't belong with the fair. What is he doing!?"

That would be Miss Carrie, commentating on the cicada picture below. True, he doesn't belong with the fair photos, but he was taken today as well. I went to hang out laundry and there he was, almost ready in his shiny new skin!




 
"BEE DOH BEE DOH BEE DOH!"
 
Yes, those are our children on the sheriff golf cart. Half of you will be relieved to know that they had permission first. The other half of you will wonder, "well, where's the fun in THAT!?"

 
One can find all kinds of things at the fair. Like friendly goats and carven giraffes,


 
and Marine Corps "big things" with wheels the size of the kids, and alpacas with attitude!


 
And reeeeeally hot chicken noodle soup, and handsome Liams. Hey, waitaminute, the fair doesn't get to keep him!


 
Cotton candy was devoured, whether or not children with braces are allowed to have sugar. Eh, it's the fair.
 
Skee ball! Liam would have played all. Night. Week. Long. Damon might have gotten one in if he played all week.



 
This climb-the-ladder game let Carrie get halfway and then politely dumped her off, much to our delight.
 
Damon was infatuated with the carousel, despite the petrified look on his face in many of the pictures. I told him to stop making the same face his horse was making:




 
I had to untwist myself clockwise several times when I climbed off.
 
The boys went from "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times" about five times. Every ride or game they finished was elating. Every ride or game they didn't get to do was devastating.
 
It's hard to be patient when you're five.

 
And when you're nine and a half.


 
But then, you get to bounce on a trampoline and end up in the clouds. Way better than the bouncy house you didn't get to go in last night...





 
And you can ride a firetruck in the sky!

 
And make cheesy smiles in line for a bumpy ride which whips around in circles really fast AND then goes backwards really fast over bumps! Wahoooooo!







 
You can be the shortest person in line for the tallest slide!




 
And then you'll have to sit and wait patiently again while your  sister decides to do the bouncy harness thing which your parents will tell you that you're too short for... 






 
...and that we'll come back next year even though you want to come back tomorrow. No, you never, ever want to leave and you never, ever, ever, ever want to sleep. And you do absolutely not want a bath even though you're covered in sunscreen, bug spray, dirt, grilled cheese, ketchup, chocolate milk, and perhaps chocolate milkshake. And maybe even elephant ear dust. And most likely sawdust.
 
Sweet dreams, fairgoers. Sleep tight.