What NOT to do!

Burnt Pot

Do not leave a cup and a half of water boiling on the stove while you take a phone call and answer a few emails. So much for my oatmeal this morning ;-(

The lid knob melted off. We threw the hot pot onto the snow.

Golden Eagle attacks White-tailed Deer

Golden Eagle attacks White-tailed Deer at Nachusa Grasslands in Northern Illinois! Spectacular pictures of interspecies interaction in nearby Lee County!  Enjoy! http://tinyurl.com/yhguvrr

Dreaming of Jamaica, Part 1

Sand Castle (from http://daveyboyd.com)

I had a bit of headache today, so I took a midday nap (nice, right) and dreamt of Jamaica to calm my head.

I dreamed that I was on the resort’s beach where I decided to spend the day creating the most elaborate sand castle. I worked all morning and afternoon. Small children joined me in my endeavor; gathering sand, molding sand, carving sand. When the castle was done, it was greeted with universal praise and astonishment. The resort’s owners were so pleased by the results that they offered me a contract on the spot to build new sand sculptures every day for their guests.

My dream gently ends with my husband moving with me to Jamaica as I continue to build beautiful sculptures in the sun.

ahhhaaaaaaaaaaa …

Black labs (are the best dogs in the world)

Two balls in one mouth people!
There is nothing more sad than a Black LAB who wants to go outside AND PLAY in the -5 degree coldness at 1:00 a.m. when the humans say NO!

Freddy with 2 balls in her mouth

A few weeks later …

Here are the snowmen a few weeks later … looking a little sad. We added lights to ours (left) but both snowmen lost their heads.

My snowman a few weeks later ...

The Farwell's snowman ...

The first snowman of the season

Two very different snowmen. Mine is the one on the left. The Farwell’s really outdid themselves. Their snowman looks like it could have come from Ikea. Which do you like?

Cats Who Blog

I have to admit that I am a newbie blogger.  Any info on how to effectively run a blog is right up my alley. Cats Who Blog http://www.catswhoblog.com is one such resource that has quickly gone to number one on my bookmarked list.

Seed Mixing day

Woolgrass

Common wood reed

November 20 was the long-awaited seed mixing day for the Kane County forest preserve. Every Wednesday from September through October I met with the regular seed team volunteers and the Kane County staff at various forest preserves to gather seeds. I learned how to identify various plants and seeds (like Snakeweed and Monarda).

I met the seed team volunteers and Kane Co Forest staff at Aurora West Forest Preserve. We mixed the seed in the white barns. Afterwards, we enjoyed a potluck lunch in the little farmhouse. I brought one of my “friendship” breads I made earlier this year. Surprisingly, the dessert was a hit.

The seed mixing process was fairly simple. The seeds had already been separated from the chaff. We volunteers grabbed a bag of seeds (already labeled) and one of the staff members directed us on the % of the seed to be mixed into various containers for wet, dry, meso prairie or woodland.

half dry -- half meso prairie

The author holding her bags of seeds

Staff members with volunteer

Prairie Burn at the Unitarian Church

Wednesday the eleventh, I participated in my first prairie burn. Although I stood by at the back of the field with my rack at-the-ready, I mostly observed and photographed the proceedings. It was interesting how the burn was organized. The wind was moving in from the east, northeast. I thought we would start at the east, northeast corner of the field which was adjacent to a corn field that we needed to protect. The experts, however, had us start burning at the western edge of the prairie, burning down both sides and moving to the center. This way we avoided getting the fire too big (so the wind gust wouldn’t feed the fire). Check out my flicker photos.