yellow daffodils

I stopped downtown as I spotted a big bunch of daffodils blooming by the museum. The first signs of spring downtown but with it 80 degrees the tulips are really getting tall and will bloom early if the weather stays like this for long. We might have the stem festival this year versus Tulip festival.

Soccer Girl

Today I made a couple of stops on my way home and then I grabbed the camera gear and off to a 9th grade soccer game. So today's photo is one of the girls on the team that I actually know. Ali is pretty aggressive player.

Deserted beach

We wandered the paths at Kirk Park. There is a mile loop that has lots of stairs so we definitely got our cardio work out in and some nice photo's of beach from high above.

Brown Bear Brown Bear, What do you see?

I see Lindsey, Alex and Kris looking back at me! Love that series of books! We went to John Ball Park Zoo today and my favorites were the bears and the eagles but the bears were not behind mesh fencing like the eagles.

March 26 beach weed

Wandering the shore of Lake Michigan again. So exercise and photography combination for me again close to sunset.

the puppy

This is Lindsey's puppy that she received as a present at Christmas. Adam bought her this and when I got home she comes to the door and says guess what Adam bought me for Christmas, a puppy! I guess the look on my face was priceless as Adam quickly added it was a stuffed puppy!

Broken fence

Spent some time with Alex at Riley Trails this afternoon, walking, talking and taking photo's. We took a different path than I took on my last trip their and ended up wandering through a very sandy area. I even walked down a steep leaf covered hill with out falling. I know this will amaze a bunch of you!! This fence is just past that pine tree filled sandy area and with the rugged tree behind it to give some added texture to the photo and I did a black and white conversion.

Blue Skies

Well today started out pretty overcast and gloomy and cool but the afternoon has brought beautiful blue skies and warmer temps. So I wandered around our somewhat soggy back yard as we had a couple of inches of snow yesterday and for the most part has melted. Leaning against some of the tall trees in the backyard I looked up to see what I could see. Yeah a little bit of Dr. Seuss! And it is still very nice outside so a walk is in the game plan too!

Breakfast of champions

If you know me you know I do like my sweets. So this is how I started my morning with a yummy apple turnover. I had Samantha our cat acting like a parrot over my shoulder begging for sweet flaky pastry.

my favorite crocus color combo

Okay this will most likely be the last crocus flower in my photo of the day blog. I love the color combination with the purple and white and then the POP from the yellow-orange stamen. Hope you enjoy the photo.

snow drops

Thanks to my friend Dave Cherry being very generous a couple of years ago and sharing some of his perennial flowers from his yard and his lovely neighbors yard I have my first snow drop flowers blooming. Go figure it is supposed to SNOW this weekend. Again I am trying new things, I was shooting in manual mode with a macro lens so another first. Trying to catch up with the talent and knowledge of my friend Alex!!! ;)

An Irish blessing

May the road rise up to meet you,

May the wind always be at your back.

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

and the rains fall soft upon your fields.

And until we meet again

May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Thank you Mary McNamara Lammers for your artistic talent with my awsome refridge magnet.

The claddagh ring I have had for about 15 years. It is a traditional Irish ring given as a token of love or worn as a wedding ring. The Claddagh's distinctive design features two hands clasping a heart and usually surmounted by a crown. The elements of this symbol are often said to correspond to the qualities of love (the heart), friendships ( the hands), and loyalty ( the crown).

I hope you enjoy the picture and the history lesson. Happy St. Patrick's day to all!

another crocus photo

I am not sure what my fascination with these flowers are but they they do catch my interest! You will see at least one more crocus photo as my favorite one has not yet come up!! This is an area that I did not clear the leaves and a very large hemlock tree limb brushes the ground as to nudge the flowers to come enjoy the afternoon.

stain glass

We like stain glass lamps, stain glass windows and sun catchers. So here is a close up of one of our stain glass lamps.

Purple Crocus

Wandering the yard yesterday afternoon I noticed the hundreds of crocus bulbs Dave has planted over the last two years were coming up through out the yard and through the pretty ugly dead leaves. So this morning I have been crawling around the yard pulling up the leaves from around them as I don't like the look of the flowers with the dead leaves. Pretty strong for a flower to puncture through multiple layers of wet leaves. So here is the first of the Kadolph crocus flowers in the front yard.

Squirrels dinner

Keeping with my exercise and photography challenge I went to Riley Trails and wandered through some of the trails for the first time ever. Still some snow and ice on some of the trails and pretty cool photo ops and can't wait to go back on a sunny day. Lots of acorns through out the the trails but surprisingly I did not see one squirrel but I bet early in the morning or evening once people and dogs aren't wandering about they are snacking on the plentiful acorns.

crooked tree on the hill

Okay so I am trying to incorporate some exercise with my photo of the day project, thought they would both be something good for me to do. So after a very long and somewhat stressful week at work I went to what we refer to as "our beach" by the power plant in Port Sheldon township. Hiking in the dunes I came upon a tree all twisted as it grew. So life has handed this tree some challenges as it is not tall and strong like the ones surrounding it.

the moose pitcher

It was late day for me at work so not out until after 4:30 pm and it was raining when I left work so change of plans for photo of the day. I wandered past my china hutch and saw the moose pitcher. It instantly brings a smile to my face with fond memories of childhood vacations in Syracuse New York at the breakfast nook at my Grandma and Grandpa Wands house. Eating cereal and getting to use the moose pitcher to pour milk on my cereal.

the puppies at the beach

There were a couple of puppies playing at the beach and they were so cute. Here is one of my favorites from this afternoon.

Pine cone

Wandering through a wooded area I came across a group of pine trees and spotted some pine cones nestled in the limbs of the trees. This will make for a good greeting card photo.

cool candle

I bought this real cool candle some time ago @ The Mole Hole for a Christmas present for my husband. Dave helped me play with some settings on the camera and fog outside made it quite dark in the house this evening. Hope you enjoy!

Rusty the scrap yard dog

Went to downtown Holland and shot some of the scrap yard art. So here is Rusty the scrap yard dog.

The Skiff paddler on Lake Michigan

Wandered a bit north this afternoon and again drawn to Lake Michigan for my photo for today. I really struggled with which photo to choose. I have decided that the older gentleman paddling on a skiff (I think that's what it is called) on Lake Michigan is my final choice. Surprisingly the lake was almost like glass this evening and the sky was full of color. I chatted with the gentleman as he paddled out of the lake and this was his first time on the lake since November. A few clouds would have made this a little more dramatic but since you can't control mother nature it is what it is.

pink flowers

Okay I am kinda cheating today as I did not like the photo's I took today. So I have pulled one from my archives. Thinking spring can come and stay until summer hits our area.

Late afternoon @ Grand Haven State Park

Back to Grand Haven to pick up the car so off to Grand Haven State park for some photo's. So today is a late afternoon sun at the State Park. There was a gentleman in a wet suit knee deep in Lake Michigan with a metal detector, but he was to far down the beach to get a good photo. So just enjoy the late afternoon on the beach and you can't even tell its March 4th and 38 degrees outside.

Ducks and the hunting dog

I was in Grand Haven today along the pier by where the fishing boats normally are and I come up on a flock of mallard ducks on the walkway. Approaching from the other way is a family with two dogs, a small dog in a sweater and a rather large golden retriever. The ducks just stand on the walkway not phased by the humans and the golden retriever sits down and looks over the channel. They family and dogs head to the parking as do I and the golden comes up to me all happy and wagging and jumping for some attention. So not much of a hunting dog but deffinitely peolple dog!

a stroll through Hemlock Crossings

I decided it was a beautiful sunny, blue sky afternoon and 40 degrees. So I thought I would venture to an Ottawa County Park close to home, so to Hemlock Crossings I went. They have added a new Nature Center that is really cool, I wandered the trails with camera in hand for about a 1/2 hour and took numerous photos. Note to self, walking on kinda sloshy snow in boots is like walking on the beach in the summer with shoes on, you kinda shift and are a bit unsteady, well at least that is all me!! So I was having trouble picking just one to post today so if you want to see the rest of the adventure check out my on facebook!

Planning on a vacation and a move for Lindsey come July. So it is Michigan to Virginia at least once this summer!