Fall is here!

Bad blogger (a.k.a. ME!) is back and excited for my favorite season - fall! We are headed up next week to the cabin for several days and the colors should be at their peak in Northern Michigan.




I also saw my first eastern Blue Bird! I was so excited - took several bad shots and the only one that was half-way decent was this one of him apparently snubbing me. Ah well, I probably deserved it!


How are the fall colors in your area? Have you been doing any fall baking?

Boat Ride

Do you think......




....that my dog.....



....enjoys boat rides?!




Watch Scout's mouth below open and shut with excitement on her cruise around the lake.

Meet my friend the Blue Heron

Heading to the cabin tomorrow. Hoping I have exciting stories to tell you. Just know it will probably involve birds, a lake, cabin, glass of wine and an adirondack chair! What are you up to this weekend? (By the way, do you think I'm the laziest blogger ever? I'm hoping not....)

For the love of lakes

A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature.

~Henry David Thoreau





A bad day of fishing is better than a good day of work. ~Author Unknown



Seems like the summer is going by so fast! Didn't it just get here? Long hours at work and school stuff has made me a dull girl but never fear....I have my escape planned. Next weekend we are heading to the cabin and having a family party. One thing I am most looking forward to is sitting in my adirondack chair and looking at my lake. Also....seeing Greg try to take Scout for a walk again.....ha,ha!

Log Cabin Feathered Friends

The bird watching has been great at the cabin. I currently have a wren, a chickadee and a tree swallow nesting in my bird houses. I am so excited - do you want to come to my birdy baby shower?! LOL!


Here's my nesting Tree Swallow. The male always watches over the nest box from a nearby tree and brings his sweetie some food while she's nesting.



A personal favorite is the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. They are at the feeders from morning to night. They sing such sweet songs.



I've finally been successful in attracting the Orioles (jelly, mealworms, orange sugar water and orange slices do the trick.) They are definitely the most spoiled bird at my cabin.


What birds are you seeing? What is your favorite?

I need to be quieter....

In the morning at the cabin, I get all giddy about running down to the dock to get some good bird photos. Greg said I sound like a freight train when I head out and snap twigs and branches and stomp on the deck. And also that it's any wonder I get any bird photos. But I do.....look honey.....I think they like me.....

Do you see why this photo cracks me up?

*Poor Greg! Do I mention that Scout doesn't do this with me? Nor the dog walkers I have come during the week when I'm working? In fact, they left a note last week saying how good she walks on the leash. I showed Greg the note and he is claiming it's a conspiracy, ha,ha!

Birds at the Log Cabin

One of the things I love about where our log cabin is located is all the bird watching opportunities. This past weekend I witnessed a Loon pair in love on our lake and I am hoping we have a couple loon chicks this year.

I've picked up a few new bird houses to put on top of our kitchen cupboards. Hobby Lobby has great birdhouses by the way.



The juncos are still plentiful which indicates how long winter hung on in Michigan this year. I like juncos, they're such friendly, hopping birds.




Sparrows are usually a dime a dozen, but I do think the Tree Sparrows are cute.



And here's my favorite little Chickadee - not a bird but my lovely niece of course! She has a megawatt personality and owns my heart. (I won't mention her pinching me and laughing last week....ha,ha!)

Game Night at the Cabin

I've gotten Greg's family (well now their my family, ha!) hooked on the game BOGGLE. Have you played this? If you have, then you know how many crazy words people try to make up and then get points for. Boggle does this to you!

Greg almost had me in fits over the word "Yaw." I was sure he was crazy....until I looked it up in the dictionary. Yep, it's a word. And he got the points for it. I think somebody is going to call me tomorrow and ask me for my spelling bee trophy back.

What are your favorite games to play with the family?

Why....

This is why you don't take your mom and aunt to the museum.




And this is why you need this afterwards....

This was my weekend....

And how was YOUR weekend? I don't know about you, but I'm ready to start seeing GREEN again!

Finishing the Cabin Basement

We've had the cabin for almost three years now and we've finally reached the point to finish our walk-out basement. I'm looking forward to using it as additional entertaining space. Greg has visions of putting animal heads on the wall....seriously, he's going to get me kicked out of my membership to Defenders of Wildlife & The National Wildlife Federation! :-)

Anyways, we decided to do the walls in tongue & groove wood to continue our theme. One of my unnamed relatives likes to remark about our cabin "it's too bad you don't have a wall to paint." It's a log cabin! And also I'm too lazy to paint walls......hee,hee!

Here's phase 1 - first wall is done and so is the stair landing.









Anyways, while Greg is dreaming about his potential man cave, I'm thinking about where the wine cellar is going to go......

Meet my new little friend...

While looking at the big tree in front of our cabin this weekend, I noticed a little head peeking out of one the holes.....







Apparently I'm the proud mama of a baby red squirrel!






I'm a sucker for babies!







It was sweet to see him so gingerly exploring his world outside his safe little nest.






And now I'm sure he's headed in for a nap and to dream about all the peanuts he's going to get off my bird feeders this year.

A winter walk...

Once again, Scout is going to take Greg for a walk. Whoops, I mean Greg is taking Scout for a walk....yeah....let's see how this works out.





First she sits down and refuses to budge.






Then they walk to the end of the dock. And as I call out to Greg to make sure she doesn't jump onto the lake (as I have terrible visions going through my head of my puppy plunging through the icy waters) - she promptly jumps onto the lake.





Yep, time to come on back before mommy has a heart attack!


(And if you're curious about Greg's other walking adventures with Scout, click here: http://logcabininmichigan.blogspot.com/2010/01/dog-story-from-log-cabin.html

Out and about the log cabin

One of Greg's best friends and his family came to visit us at the cabin this past weekend. With their 4 kids and my stepson - they out-numbered the adults. I won't even tell you about the volume level......







Greg and his buddy went out onto the lake to check the ice fishing conditions. Later on they caught a nice pike!





Of course we had to take everyone to see the elk herd in Gaylord, Michigan. The city maintains an elk herd of over 70 elk on about 104 acres. It's amazing to get so close to these beautiful animals. Some weigh over 800 pounds!





Here's our friend's children posing in front of the elk park.






And of course Scout was beside herself - so many children to love and lick! I think it was the only time she left my side for more than 5 minutes!


*We're expecting 12 inches of snow tonight in lower Michigan - they are saying it will be blizzard conditions and that it will be "thundering" tonight. Should be an interesting drive to work tomorrow! To my mid-west friends - stay warm and safe!

This photo needs no explanation...

Winter Foliage

First off - a belated Happy New Year to all my bloggy friends! Did I tell you that one of my New Years Resolutions is to be a better blogger, that includes getting around to visit you more often! :-)

It was in the 20's and very sunny at the cabin this weekend. We went on a couple winter hikes and dreamed about never coming home. A lot of you know how much I love winter and wanted to share with you some of nature's handiwork.

I don't know what this plant is, but I liked how the bright red contrasted against the snow.





Look at the snow crystals on this bush glistening in the sun.






Evergreen trees are always one of my favorites.





And here's Scout eating some of nature's handiwork. She wants to let you know that winter is very tasty!