Wildlife up north

One evening while we were up at Shipshewana, we took off in search of a little wildlife. We found the Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area...we were not disappointed. First we saw the geese near this bridge. It was the perfect place to fish and of all times, we did not have our fishing gear with us. It was late and lots of shadows...so this was the best shot of one of the geese. While there we heard sandhill cranes but could not see any.
We left there and not sure which came first without going and looking at the number of the image...but at one point looked down the dirt road and there were the turkeys and their babies. I don't know if it is two moms and their children, or one mom and her friend and children. If you look close there are ten of the babies...there are three in one blob right in the middle.
Then we came out and saw a couple of the cranes...I don't know how many shots I took and not one is decent. I have fooled with this one to try to make it more presentable but did not do very good.
That is all I got to photograph, but we also seen rabbits, deer and their fawns. And that was just in one short drive.

We hope to go back another year and actually do some fishing....

Blue Horse

This is not my image...it is one I found on the net.....
It is that time of year again....a time when kids return to school. Seems like it gets earlier every year. Every year I think back to my own childhood and remember Blue Horse Notebooks and loose leaf paper. Does any one else remember them? I don't know that there was anything special about them...just that they were what was available. I think we got points to redeem for things, but don't actually ever remember getting anything with them. I know I had at least one 3-ring binder that had that blue horse on the inside cover...it was the hard canvas type. And it had the little clip at the top of the front cover on the inside to hold your pencil....I was describing it to Roger and he had forgotten all about it.
When we were kids, there was not near the variety of things that is available now...we were lucky to get basic pencils and paper. I don't know what happened one year...I don't know if mom had a hard time getting to town or what, but when I was in second grade, I don't know how many days I had to borrow paper, and I think I got it all from one girl. I always think of her and how kind that she never got mean about it.
And when we were in the younger grades, I can remember all of us having our lessons returned to us, and we all used the back side of them and did another lesson on them. It wasn't just me, but I think most of us. We were 'green' before that was the in-thing to be.

I remember standing and almost drooling over pencils and paper back then, and after I got older every now and then mom would let me splurge on a sketch book...and I am not an artist. Don't have that gift at all as far as drawing and sketching...but I still liked to try.

And does anyone remember that back in our day, there used to be binders which held the paper at the top. And you could actually buy paper that had the holes at the top. The front cover flipped over to the back...and it was not rings that held the paper but plastic posts. And they had a little compartment to put a pencil or two. You raised the 'lid' to put the paper on the posts, or to get to your pencil.

I can still spend hours looking at these things...you don't want to take me to Staples or Office Max! For me, they hold untold treasures. I can never leave without buying some little something...even if it is just pens. But you can bet I want to spend more, though, just I don't have the excuse to get it. And in addition to the pens, paper, notebooks etc...there is also computer stuff to be picked up and looked at and read about...

From Northern Indiana

We got up to beautiful weather Monday, and Roger knew I would want to get out a little with the camera. Where to go was the question of the day though. I got on line and started checking weather...I cannot even remember why now. I think to see what the days ahead would hold if we didn't go Monday. I happened to check out Shipshewana and the weather sounded perfect.

It was too late in the day to head out then....well not really. But had a lot to do and did need tires on the Rav4...so, even though they could have waited, we felt better getting them on. And had errands to do in Terre Haute. So got all that done Monday, oh, and I had to make that couple jars of juice before we left...didn't want to waste the tomatoes.
Anyway, that is where I have been...the photo above is from out in the country near Shipshewana...look at that sky. The whole time we were there, we had beautiful skies like that. And the temps did not get above 80º while there...at least I don't think they did. I did not suffer with heat at all.
On the way there we went through Nappanee, Indiana...another Amish community. We saw these quilt blocks on the side of a building...I took them through Roger's window...he tried to stop long enough for me to get a good one, but people were turning right behind us so just had to be satisfied with what I got.

I love murals...and thought this was a wonderful one, but could not get a better shot. We actually tried to get in a better place, but it was just too busy, too many parked cars, too much traffic, AND they were working on the road going through town so that made it that much worse.
We wanted to go to the flea market at Shipshewana...I wanted to get a couple throw rugs there. But next time we go, we don't want to even go to it. It wasn't overly crowded and the weather was perfect, but just don't want to spend time there. I did go to Lolly's Fabric Store and to her Little Bit of Lolly's in the basement...and will definitely go there again...but there is other stuff I want to do.
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Right now I have tomatoes on to make juice with, and have clothes on the line. When I get the tomatoes done, I definitely need to mop....and just so many things calling to me. I want to visit blogs...

Oh, and that is another thing...the first evening we got to our hotel, I was able to blog a little bit. Even left a comment or two before we got out again. I thought that was great, that I had a great wi-fi connection. Instead, it became harder and harder to do stuff. I think I did a bit more that night, such as uploaded pics for two or three days on my other blog, but after that I could not upload any photos, nor leave any comment on anyone's blog.

So, I will try to catch up with everyone over the next day or two. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.