What on Earth Have I Been Up To????....

For you regular readers....(who I am surprised have hung in there with my blog all this time!)...I again issue a huge apology.  I am an awful Blogger in that I go months at a time and not post a single new blogpost.

It never used to be that way....

But then things got busy!

I have been blessed in that I am now doing photography on a regular basis and actually selling some of it! 

When I am not out hiking to take the photos out in wonderful nature, I am post processing them and selling them. 

Oh, did I tell you I also make stone jewelry and sell that too?? 

So, that is what is I have been "up to"....

And?

I am enjoying every moment of it.

So much for retirement, eh?  (She says with a happy twinkle in her eye).

So, today, I just stopped in to say hi and tell everyone I miss them terribly and think of so many of you, so often.

Here are just a few shots of where we have been over the last few days, capturing with my lens.

Enjoy, my friends!  I hope I can stop by this winter and read your blogs again. I have missed that terribly! 

If you'd like....you can "friend" me on Facebook, I tend to publish pictures more frequently on there. But only if  you want to hear about the other funny things in my life.  Just ask to friend Joan Haara.
And if you do, when you request to be my friend, remind me that you are a blogger and your blog name in a message attached to your friend request. Otherwise, I may refuse your request. (You'd be surprised how many people try and be your friend with devious reasons).  Also message me here attached to this blogpost to let me know you will be asking to friend me on Facebook, so I know it's coming).

Thanks, and hope to talk to you again soon!  Have a wonderful autumn.  I know mine will be CRAZY as it is the most beautiful season of the year here in the U.P. of Michigan and the time when I am out almost every day, all day, taking photos.....

BLLLRRGGGGGHHH!....STILL snowing here!.....

I know you probably get sick of hearing me complain

about our slow spring this year...

but I gotta VENT!

 

Today, April 19th we are in the middle of yet ANOTHER blizzard, folks!

 

And, we have not had the pleasure of ANY of this past winter's snow

even melting yet...

so that means we have YET to see bare ground since last OCTOBER!!!

 

Count them: 7 months (going on EIGHT) with all white on our ground.

 

 

Luckily in a week, I am heading to another tropical vacation to get away from it!

My nephew is having a destination wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

and

I can't TELL you how badly I need to be at the beach for a week.

 

So, today, again....I will delve back into my files from last April/May

to remember what real spring is like.

 

My only hope is that by the time we get back the snow will have melted during our absence!

 

Last Spring's images:

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow trout lily:



Cherry blossoms:

Ogemaw Falls in Baraga County, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, early spring:



New spring growth:

Side falls in early spring next to Ogemaw Falls:

Side view of Ogemaw Falls:

Little side falls between the mossy rocks:

I so look forward to getting out into our woods again

and finding the spring wildflowers

and

high flowing waterfalls!

 

Hope with me that by the second week in May

we thaw out enough

here for us to do so!

 

I love this part of the country with ALL my heart, but I am getting

SO IMPATIENT!!!!!!

Birds and Blossoms about a Year Ago.....

This year, we are really behind....

I took these photos in April and May

and right now, I am writing this on Easter Sunday

and we are getting

MORE SNOW...!!

 

Our ground has about 2 feet of white on the ground and

we haven't had bare lawns since last autumn.
 

I decided, in order to KEEP MY SANITY

I had to peek at what is to come,

(I hope, very soon)....

Do you see him???

(A handsome Wood Duck sits in the middle of the scene)

A Merganser couple...



Wood Duck couple...



 

 



I am hoping your Easter Sunday

is filled with love, family,  sunshine

and blooming flowers...

send the warm weather

and flocking birds and ducks back up north

to us, will you PLEASE????????????????????????????

Spring hopes eternal................Marsh Marigolds and Bloodroot Awaken

We still are all white here with snow...so today I decided to post more pictures from early of 2012 that I haven't shared yet.



Marsh Marigolds....

Bloodroot!....

Waiting for the snow to melt here, so these beauties will re-emerge from the forest floor, here they are still under more than 3 feet of snow....

 

Are you getting your spring wildflowers yet?

An Encounter!

We went for a hike last April, when the snow finally let us back on the

Spring roads....

and we rounded a curve and there was

THIS cute fellow!!!:

A porcupine!

We hadn't seen many in the woods for years!:

Contrary to beliefs, they do NOT throw their quills...

they just "display" them to warn you:

But after a few minutes of me slowly following him, clicking away with my lens, he settled down and figured maybe I wasn't such a threat after all:

 

Or, maybe NOT! (I am sure he was thinking: why is she STILL following me?):



I'll just stop and give her my "model pose":

I think they have such cute faces!

He had enough of me, and headed to the deeper woods.....

 

I was so happy to have spent some time with him!

 

In the woods: April in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Even though there are barely any leaves on the trees in our neck of the woods in early April,

it is still great to get outside with my camera lens and capture

whatever we can find.

 

I am looking forward to next month, when our snow will hopefully be gone

so I can get out again.

These shots were taken last April out in our woods...



This waterfall has no name, it only shows up in the spring when the snow melts:



Nothing like mushrooms on an old stump for texture!:

And, to get a glimpse at the first wildflowers in our area to bloom (Trout Lilies!) are a thrill:

Spring beauties growing by an old log:

And to see the first turtles in the melted ponds--it's always nice!:

Sunbathing in the new spring sun must feel pretty good to them!:

I can feel the warmth of the sun is getting stronger.

 

We still have very cold temperatures here, but during the day our icicles are dripping hard

and I hear the maple trees are starting to provide some running sap for maple syrup.

 

Spring can't be far behind that, right???

This Ongoing Winter is for the Birds!.....

I don't know about your neck of the woods....

but, here....

we are getting pretty tired of winter.

 

 

Even the birds seem to agree....

 

 

 

Chipping Sparrow:

Chickadee:



Purple Finch:

Junco:



 

 

 

 

 

 

Pileated Woodpecker:

Purple Finch Pair:

 

More snow coming down today.....

(sigh).

 

I say: it is for the birds!!

 

 

Hope you are feeling more Spring than us today!

 

I am trying to be patient about the "end of winter thing".

 

I see it's not working for me....