Happy

Joy to the World

“Nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own.”— Charles Dickens 

This morning we took a quick trip out to Madison County to look for Snowy Owls. The Ohio bird listserv reported a sighting near Rosedale.  We struck out on the owls but there were lots of other beautiful things to be seen in the winter woods.  It was really cold but my new Stormy Kromer cap kept my head really warm.  We stopped at Pearle King Savannah and took a couple hundred photos. The lighting was really dramatic this morning.

 Bittersweet

Andrew is looking out over Pearle King Savanna, one of the park district's landholding, and making note of what work needs to be done there this spring.

 Mountain Mint

Almost noon on Christmas day.

The Darby Wetlands

A perfect day yesterday for an outing to the Darby wetlands in Madison County. DH wanted to check on the prairie grass that he planted last season and also the burr oak trees to be sure the deer hadn't rubbed them.  I love clouds and the ones yesterday were spectacular; as were the fall colors which were at their peak.

 A field of prairie grass

 Woolly worms everywhere-gonna be a cold winter!

 The burr oaks are wrapped in the orange deer guards. One tree was lost to deer out of the 25 or so planted

 poison ivy berries

 dove feather

 beautiful fall color

 the waterfowl area

puff ball spewing spores

Litter-your point of view

Why do people litter?  I would love to know what you think. Please post a comment.

It's been a problem ever since I can remember.  This weekend we saw a couple different people chuck stuff out of their car windows...in different areas the state ranging from an affluent community to Appalachia-someone in a BMW and someone in a rusty beater.

Recently I saw a news post about a man who was asking people to document litter via Instagram to raise awareness so that people will stop littering. You can read about it here.

What about this fantastic artist who is collecting trash and making art to raise awareness regarding the staggering amount of plastic trash that washed on to the beach??  We saw her exhibit at the Franklin Park Conservatory last winter. It was amazing. Click here to view.

I think we need to start running this commercial again !
What the heck is wrong with people. It was a problem then - it is a problem now.

Litter=My personal pet peeve-now you know.
What are we doing to help you ask?  Picking up and recycling cans.  Taking a trash bag with us to collect garbage when we canoe on the creeks; recycling at home, consuming less product with packaging.  Every little bit helps.

 

Long-lost Friend

I met this young man on our annual family vacation in 1981. We spent some time together that week kicking butt and taking names in the fishing department. Wrote letters back and forth a couple times and then lost touch.  Never saw each other again.  Cross posted on a Facebook page of mutual interest about a year ago and "found" each other-had a short conversation and did a bit of reminiscing about the past and catching up on each others lives.  Found out that we have lived 8 miles apart for the past 24 years. This September decided we needed to get together.  Met at a local restaurant and had a blast.

It was like yesterday and not 32 years later. Anyone who didn't know better would think that the four of us had been life long friends-we had that much in common.  There are some people who cross your path in life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. I guess we get a bonus on this one.  We're all talking about going on vacation together next summer to our favorite place. You guessed it.  D.I.

  

The Way I See It

DH and I were asked by alumni relations at our alma mater to be the featured alumni artists for Homecoming. Our photography exhibit with will be up from August through November in the art gallery of the University library. Here is the write up that will appear in our alumni magazine:

“The Way I See It” by Andrew ’06 & Annette Boose ’94

When a subject is viewed by two individuals at the same time and in the same place the possibilities for capturing that subject in the form of a photographic image can be limitless.  We have combined our love of nature and the outdoors with our individual perspectives and technical abilities to produce this unique collection of seasonal nature photographs that we are pleased to share. Each of the images has been framed in old discarded lumber, whose time worn character serves to compliment the images, and enable us to contribute to our personal mission of environmental sustainability.

 Cardinal in the Snow frame=cedar (The cardinal is our University mascot)

 Frost on Blackberry Leaves frame=cedar and pine

 Sweet Dreams Are Made of These (Hepatica flower) frame= oak and cedar

 

Beaver Chew (frame=cedar and beaver chewed birch)

In conjunction with the exhibit we have launched a WEBSITE where people can purchase a variety of prints and greeting cards. We will be adding many new images over the next few weeks so please take a look now and check back from time to time to see if there is anything new that you like.  You can also see a feed of newly added images at the top right hand side of my blog. Most of our work is nature/wildlife related but you might find a few unusual other items as well (if we see it and we like it we photograph it). We have base priced items as low as $32 for a single art print in order to make it affordable for people who wish to purchase a nice piece of artwork. Please message us if you are looking for something in particular and we can get it up for viewing if we have it. 

Thanks to our friends and family who have supported us in this endeavor. We have been collecting wood, selecting images, cutting mats, constructing frames and assembling since March 15.  It's a labor of love but it has been much more work than we had imagined. (-:

Forty Six Years

That's how long it's been since we have all been together.  My brother Bob and I had childhood friends named Sally and Sandy who lived three door down from us.  All us kids in the neighborhood played together.  This 1967 photo was taken on my birthday in August. I was 4.  The 2013 photo was taken yesterday at Pasquales Restaurant here in town, where they have a kid sized picnic table, incidentally just the thing we needed to duplicate our vintage scene.  Sally and Sandy live in northern Ohio now and they came south to see us (and Sally's son and their sisters) as Sally is moving to South Carolina to retire with her husband and Sandi will be following as soon as her daughter graduates from college. It's really pitiful that it has taken us this long to do this. Sandi and I went to school together in kindergarten and 7th grade. They moved from our neighborhood when she was in first grade and we got reunited in junior high but alas only for a year as their parents decided to retire to Florida.  Sally 2 years older than us and my brother two years younger grade wise in school. Don't ya love it?

 1967

2013

Framing Photos

DH and I have been asked by the Director of Alumni Relations, to do a photo exhibit in the art gallery of the library at our college Alma mater for Homecoming (on display August through November). This is a huge honor and they are having an artists reception for us and everything.  After much deliberation and sorting through thousands of photos we have all selected our favorite images and had them professionally printed.  They are all wildlife/flora/fauna/four seasons themed. They let us choose our theme. Last weekend we cut the mats ourselves and are now working on the frames.  We decided the frames for our prints will all be made from re purposed, reclaimed, and salvaged wood materials. This is in keeping with our University's efforts over the past few years to reduce our carbon footprint. We have twenty-two frames (+or-) to make by August.  Here is a composite of some of the wood we are using including some beaver chewed limbs to frame an image of a beaver that Andrew photographed in the creek near our home.

And a mock up - this frame is not yet assembled but you get the idea. No two frames will be alike.  This is the really fun part in designing and creating the frames.  You look at the big jumble of wood-select a couple pieces and viola!

King George

I’ve been a George Strait fan since he came on to the country music scene in 1981 and have seen in him concert a couple times. When the press release came out last fall that George was doing his farewell tour I immediately checked the tour schedule for dates.  I signed up on the arena website and got advance notice and was able to buy tickets a day prior to when they went on sale for the general public in October so we got great seats almost on the floor.  This past Saturday night was the big night and we traveled to Lexington Kentucky to see George and Martina McBride’s The Cowboy Rides Away tour.  I splurged and got a room at the Hyatt which is attached to the arena so that made it extra nice in that we didn’t have to fight traffic before or after the show. Martina sang for an hour and then the stage was reset and George played for just short of three hours including a couple of encores.   It was hands down the best concert I have ever seen. The sound was fantastic and George was, as always spectacular.  Even hubby (the classic rock fan) said George was a great entertainer. The tour runs through June 2013 with more dates to be announced for 2014. If he comes with in a 3 hour radius in 2014 we are going again!!

Go West

On February 7^th I decided to go to Denver.  New babies in the family and an uncle celebrating his 70^th birthday on the 23rd prompted this trip.  I left central Ohio in an ice storm; DH and I always joke that on the rare occasion that we plan a trip bad weather can be expected.  Just a note here that I hate flying more than anything (right up there with driving on the outer belt  freeway during inclement weather) and actually got a prescription for anxiety from my physician in order to make the flight more bearable and it worked!  Better living through chemistry.   I arrived in Denver mid- morning and my uncle Henry from Ohio who had driven out with my aunt Patty picked me up and the airport and took me to my cousin Angie’s house that she shares with her partner Maureen.  Only a couple family members knew I was making the trip because I wanted to surprise uncle Ray, the birthday boy, who is also my godfather.  Aunt Patty got a surprise too, when I arrived, and it was great fun to see her expression when I walked in the door at my cousins home.  Of course a non-stop gab fest ensued right on through the afternoon and into dinner at The British Snug (dinner was fish and chips, the best I have ever eaten)  in downtown Denver, at which time my cousin Greg joined in on the festivities which were followed by a visit to a the Denver Art Museum.  At the museum there was, to my delight, a Georgia O’Keefe exhibit, a wine and cheese party and also a painting station where my aunt and I stopped to paint our own breathtaking masterpieces.  We got to bed at midnight which was 2 pm Ohio time. Rebbe, the Bichon Havenese, was more than happy to comply when I asked him if he to wanted snuggle.  DH said I better not let Daisy know that I cheated on her while in Denver. LOL

The next morning Angie, Maureen and I (aunt and uncle drove separately) went up the mountain (Rocky) to my uncles house near Conifer for the party.  We arrived early so as to have time for some extra visiting. Uncle Ray was totally surprised and excited to see me, as I hoped he would be and aunt Janet was pleased that we had pulled off the surprise.  Another aunt and uncle and a total of 9 (of 28) cousins were present. We have four new babies in the family all born between August and October of 2012 and three of them were at the party.  (I knitted baby booties for all the babies and fingerless driving mitts for my uncle). They were delighted. The babies were passed around and around and all of us “kids” got  to catch up with each other as our visits are infrequent due to everyone living all over the U.S.

At 2 pm I got a call from the airport telling me that bad weather was expected and I could change my flight with no additional charge.  An hour later the flight got cancelled. Darn!  I had to stay an extra day.

We went back down to Denver that night and the next day we had a blizzard. Conifer got 19 inches of snow and Denver got 10.  We were housebound all day and so we did what our family does best-cook and eat. For breakfast challah bread French toast (super yummy), lunch was Dagwood sandwiches and lentil soup, and dinner was amazing spaghetti –made that way by the sauce that my aunt whipped up from scratch. I didn't see any cars on the street as it was snowing and blowing so hard.  During a lag in the precipitation my uncle and I and Lucie the Labrador went outside to “play” and I used the snow blower to clear the driveway and my uncle did some shoveling.  That evening the Conifer clan sent me some photos as there were 15 mule deer in their backyard looking for something to eat from the bird feeder.

On Monday my flight was on schedule so we made the early morning trek to the airport in my aunt and uncle all-wheel drive vehicle.  Denver, unlike, Ohio is prepared for snow and people there actually know how to drive in it. And they use environmentally friendly sand for traction and not salt on the roads.  We were treated to spectacular rime ice displays along the roadside and my uncle stopped and let me take a few photographs since we had plenty of time before my flight. 

Needless to say I had an absolute blast and appreciated my hostess’s warm and welcoming home and of course am ready to go back tomorrow.  DH said twist his arm. Hope you enjoy the photos.

My bunny painting

 Driving/Hunting mitts

Me, Zoe and Uncle Ray  Prayers for baby Zoe as she has spinal muscular atrophy disease

I will cherish this photo.

 All the sweet babies ( modeling their booties) and their mom's Susan and Brianna,

 Emily and Leo, Eliza and Zoe

 Angie, Karen, Me, Emily and little Leo

 Rebbe and Lucie

 Fun in the snow

 Yummy french toast

 Mule deer

Rime ice

Antique Rabbit Book

I was perusing eBay not long ago trying to find a vintage book for hubby that he has wanted for some time.  While looking I came across a vintage 1948 edition of Rabbits by Herbert S. Zim and decided to purchase it for myself.  When it arrived the other day I was pleasantly surprised by the lovely illustrations done by Joy Buba and the inclusion of information devoted to the angora rabbit.  While seeking to learn more about the author I discovered that he wrote dozens of the golden nature guides of which I have probably ten.  My brother and I referred often to those books as children and seemingly learned everything we knew about natural history at that point from Zim's books.  Here are a few of the pages for your viewing pleasure. Oh and I did find the vintage book for hubby and gave it to him for Valentines Day. He was delighted.