From a few weeks ago

I am going to show you the deer we saw while at the Heron Viewing station last time we were there...the one north of Danville, Illinois.

 She just did not seem to concerned with us.  We were not far from her at all.

She finally strolled away.  I did not notice the 'things' at the top of her shoulder till I downloaded the pics and enlarged them

You can see them better if you right-click on the image and chose to open in another tab or window.  I've not ever seen anything like it.  Roger says deer get injured and get sores, etc...but these are two strange places to my way of thinking.

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I went fishing again out at Universal...I caught 5 or 6 large-mouth bass but all were really on the small side.  But was still fun to catch.  I fished for a couple hours and ran through the strip pits. 

It is just so strange out there.  I seen a Blue Heron and an Egret, and that is all I saw.  I may have seen two or three birds flying, but that is it...and I really don't remember seeing any.  It was as if I were on another planet.  I did not see meadowlarks, nor blackbirds, nor anything moving at all.  Not even a single deer.  Which almost any time we go through there we see something...a pheasant or a deer or a hawk.

I saw the one Northern Harrier a time or two about a month ago, and have not seen it since.  I have not see a short-eared owl yet...and haven't seen an eagle out there in ages and ages.  So I am beginning to wonder if it has all found some other place to go.

This is another from out at the strip pits...after someone reminded me on my post here, I think it is smartweed.  The leaves sure look like it, too.  I assume the above is not as mature as that in the photo in the link above.  I had not thought of smartweed in years..I have never seen any this big.  I was not bending over to take the above photo and and I am 5'3" tall.

We are going to see Sarah so am just scheduling this ahead...I don't have photos on my netbook that I take with me there.  I am trying to pack things now to get ready to go so unless I get time to add to this before it posts, it won't say much.

I will say I have made a start on the backing for the latest red/neutral log cabin quilt.  It will take a bit of time to make so don't hold your breath.  I did not go buy new fabric...I am using what I used to make the top itself.  Hopefully I will get busy when we get back and get it all together.

That is it for now...I will visit when I get back home.....

Overcast and rain...

Even though it was overcast, I headed out to the strip pits this evening...with a stop at a strip pit in Universal.  I stopped there to try to get some photos of water lilies/seedpods.  Even though I know they were there this spring, there wasn't a single one still growing...I don't know if it was the heat or if their life cycle normally ends early.

Since they weren't there, I snapped a few pics of leave, goose, and flowers...not the one above.  And then put the camera away and got out my trusty fishing pole.  I just wanted to throw in a few times from the boat ramp...it is basically the only place to get to the water.  Wouldn't you know, I got a hit right away.

Ended up I stayed there probably 45 minutes or an hour....I caught 4 Large-mouth bass and a big bluegill, plus I had two on that dove down and went through the moss and got loose.  And of those two, one of them just had that heavy, heavy feel.  Of the 4 bass I caught, a couple of them were really nice sized...oh, not a lunker or anything that big.  But still nice...one was just on the verge of being what I would call nice, and the 4th was just a youngster.  But I could have fit my fist in the mouth of the other three.

Fishing is like good medicine for me...it is good for my soul.  It puts me at rest...it really makes me feel better.  Whether I feel bad physically or down in spirit.  It is probably a combination of I am focusing on fishing, and not something bad.  And also, I am just enjoying nature.  While standing there fishing, there was a turtle that kept poking its head out...an egret flew over....I heard a kingfisher...and then the pair of geese that live there was there.

Anyway, left there to swing through all the rest of the strip pits.  I just crawled through the area...had one car pass me.  Didn't see another car till I was up close to where I leave the area...I glanced in my rear view mirror and there was a sheriff's car behind me...I pulled on over to let them by and they pulled up beside me, me with no seat belt on, and ask if I was okay...I showed him my camera and told him I was just out taking photos....so he said have a nice day and went on.

I was so thankful he didn't say anything about the seat belt...but he could see that I was just crawling along I suppose.  And not  like there is any traffic out there...sometimes I go and see three or four cars...sometimes just one or two, and sometimes none.
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We have had some really hard rain tonight...with some thunder and lightning.  But the important thing is the rain...it really has rained a lot at times.  And the way things are, every little bit helps.