Recent visitors

Red phase American Toad, Bufo americanus, in the garden.

Please stay and eat some bugs.

A nice webpage that includes info on how to differentiate similar species by cranial ridge patterns.

Cool red dragonfly: Carolina Saddlebags, Tramea carolina. Thanks again Giff Beaton.

A turtle I haven't identified yet. But now I see why they call it a turtleneck.

She was in a hurry to get somewhere.

Unwelcome visitor. One of the neighbor's cows, again. Tremendous painintherearus.

Changes

Here we are hugging up to Thomas Jefferson.  I bought a few Christmas presents in the shop behind us.  It's a Scotland-Ireland store.  I could have spend some big bucks in there.
Remember on our trip I told Laurel that I was discontent?  Well, it's getting worse.  This is more than my annual fall melancholy.  I'm going through some internal changes; spiritual not physical.  I don't know where God is taking all this.  I'm just trying to be still so I can hear what He's telling me.  No, I don't think God talks audibly anymore.  But if I'm fretting and not staying in his Word and praying, it'll take me a lot longer to figure this out.  I don't want to "kick against the goads" as Paul says.
The 29-day giving thing stirred up something in me.  I like giving things away that are hard.  I'll post later on that whole experience.  I keep decluttering the house, and it just keeps coming and coming.  And I really don't think my house is very cluttered.  I think I'm just being convicted about having too much; more than we need.  It's sucking the life out of me.  I spend way too much time going through mail, catalogues, e-mails, etc.  I want my life to be meaningful and to make a difference in this world.  Doing those types of things isn't benefitting anyone; me included.  
I don't feel called to go on foreign soil as a missionary.  I  feel called to homeschool my youngest child, to be a godly example for my children and grandchildren, to be an older woman in the church and teach younger women to love their children and husbands, and to be a prayer warrior for our world to be a better place.  But I feel very much hindered by the superfluous stuff in my life.
Anyone out there ever felt the same way?  How did you solve it, or are you still working on it?  Any words of wisdom are welcome.  Help!

Gold

I had to queue up to take a photo of the gold pillar box (mail box) on Hanover Street. The paint seemed hardly dry - as I waited a man who was being photographed clasping the box was anxiously examining his shirt for gold paint as he moved away, exclaiming "the paint still smells wet!"

The boxes are traditionally red, but in the Olympic fever that has at last gripped the nation for real the Royal Mail is painting a box gold in the home town of each GB gold medalist. So here is the Sir Chris Hoy pillar box in Edinburgh. If you're not on Planet Olympics at the moment, Sir Chris has just won his 5th Olympic gold medal in cycling. We hear a lot about him in our family - he attended George Watson's College, my children's school, where his name crops up any time there's a mention of 'achievement', 'endeavour', 'commitment', 'aspiration'... the list goes on! He wasn't particularly a cyclist at school - he rowed and played rugby for the school, and rowed for Scotland as a junior . He did take part in the Cycling Project, 450 miles around the North West Highlands, where school legend has it he was always in the lead.




The build-up to the Games has been slow here in Scotland. The most I could find last week were these Olympics touches in my local Tesco, of all things. A team GB cover on the security scanners, with a background of toilet paper and baked beans - perhaps a theme all of its own.





And a cardboard cut-out of the London Olympic skyline. This photo isnotable for the expression on the face of the Tesco employee - an expression well known to photo bloggers everywhere.





For a not-very-sporty person I'm now well into the Olympic spirit. So many fantastic performances, including the American swimmers and gymnasts.

The Lost World

Mysterious labels appeared in St Andrew's Square Gardens last week. Attached to loop-headed canes, they were so tossed and buffeted by the wind that I had to hold this one steady to get a shot.
After 'The Lost World', I came across:
Frustratingly, the shot I took of the reverse side of this label didn't come out - the wind was so strong that it blurred the words even in my iron grip. I went back yesterday to capture it - but of course the labels had all gone. But I can tell you that it read 'Mighty prehistoric monsters clashing with modern lovers', and that should give you the clue - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book 'The Lost World'.
So the little fluttery labels are a tiny part of a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of Arthur Conan Doyle, and the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin. 'The Lost World Read ..' is a mass read, and more besides, taking place in Scotland and England.
And this has taught me two things about photo-blogging: always take more shots than you think you'll need, and never assume that you can go back to take your photo another day!

Much Ado in the Muck, on the Mats...

Again, we were roused way too early on Sunday. Now where were we headed? (Avalon playing with Levi, her brother!)
Here, at a new place for doggehs and ducks. Avalon is definitely into those feathered creatures (as are her siblings, three of whom were there, and her Mom!), while I still have an affinity for the furred sort that dip down into burrows, or race up trees. But I will show you what I saw my sister and family do. Here's a little show all about Avalon (and her siblings' and Mom's) day in Denverton, near Suisun City.

Avalon was very happy to see her mom, Sporty (who is really good at doing this field stuff) and her brothers, who love the feathered creatures as much as Avalon. Here's a cool picture of them all - thanks, Christine of Tigana Goldens for fixing up this photo and helping my sister so much! Now... it's my turn!
Ready Ma, for my closeup heheh! I have a fun match this coming weekend, and at the end of October, there is a show that spans over 5 days near here. Mom (naively) thought it would be practical to sign up for an Open class for me on all five days, hoping that I could snag my CDX in one long weekend! Barbara rolled her eyes and told us to get ready for a full-on judged Open class, right then and there. Mom thought I was pretty ready. Here are both Sierra and I in a little show made just for our friends, so you can see that we're coming along at Barbara's school for "Finishing Dogs."

Uhhhh....ohhhhhh.

Well... all doggehs can get confused, right?
Here's Barbara making adjustments to Avalon's new bling.
And then it was time for all good puppers to play, as well as show our fabulous agility skills! See you soon again, pals!

Scoping Out "Going to the Sun" road

Slept in as much as I could this morning. still, I was on the road by 8am. The motel "breakfast" did not have any hot food. So had coffee and a packaged cinnamon roll.

With the start I had, I decided to head up to St, Mary to scope out the "Going to the Sun" road rather than drive US 2 to Kalispell. On the way to St. Mary I kept an eye out for a place to eat breakfast. There were non along the road until I arrived in St. Marys.

Got to St, Mary's at 9. One place did not open until 10. Other places had waiting lines. So, I entered the park and started drive toward Logan Pass. Stopped to take some photos on the drive. The photo here is a tunnel on the "Going to the Sun" road up toward Logan Pass.

Traffic was bad at the pass Visitor Center, so just kept driving down toward Lake McDonald. Missed the turn to the Apgar Visitors Center and before i realized it, I was exiting the park. By now (11:30) I was getting hungry. Gobbled up a patty melt and fries at the West Glacier Restaurant.

Back into the park to the Visitor Center to get books, post cards, and check on places to hike. The ranger suggested getting up early and driving up to Logan Pass. Nice, easy hike and there are still wild flowers at the pass. Back in West Glacier Village, picked up walking stick (with bear bell), a cap, t-shirts, and a couple more post cards.



Still lots of time to do things in Kalispell. Picked up a hydration bladder for my camera backpack. Checked into the motel. Moved bikes and other stuff into the room. Then, got directions to Wheaton's Cycle (local Trek Dealer) from the motel. Picked up an area trail map.

Talking with the desk clerk at the Motel. Sky was a bit hazy, though the temperature was pleasant. He said the haze is smoke from a forest fire about 2 hours to the South. No wonder I smelled something - wondering if the car, brakes, or such were overheating Hope we get clearer skies tomorrow..

Mom and dad are coming home in a few days.... Hoooray!

I've been having some great parkie times with my dear friend, Honey's mom....(Honey is now at the rainbow bridge). Honey's mom has given me lots of hugs, and taken me to our favorite places. We are always excited to see each other! And, I am super excited when my kong comes with us to the parkie.
There were some kong-snatchers at the park this day. But, I am good at keeping it under foot...or in my mouth!
I am going to be sooooooo excited to see mom and dad.....I have been getting brushed and bathed by my home host, so I will look all sparkly for my hoomans!! I know mom and dad are having a grand time on their trip. Can't wait for their hugs when they get home! Just a few more days now..... Hoooray!

Delicate Wonder

On our days off this week one of the places we visited was Cascade River State Park, where each year there are several stemless lady's slippers in bloom. These flowers are so beautiful and are an iconic subject of the north woods. We noticed that it is interesting how the "slipper" part of the flower hangs differently from the yellow lady's slipper. On the yellow slipper, the slipper sticks almost straight out and on the stemless slipper, it hangs almost straight down. Both flowers are incredibly beautiful and are a joy to find when you are out on the trail. We spent quite a while observing and taking photos of these flowers. Most photos I've seen show the flowers from the front but my favorite view of them was this angle from the side. I also love the blurry yellow clintonia in the background :-)