If you missed my first post about Como Zoo and Conservatory, click here.
Last week I shared about our photo scavenger hunt we made up for the boys. I shared some of our youngest son, Atticus' photos. This week I am sharing my husbands photos. He was on a mission to capture the creatures of the zoo. A few of these creatures where in the conservatory, like the fella up above.
No, thank you.
I loved how my husband captured the beauty of this guy.
"Good Morning"
This is my very favorite photo.
Zoological Building
The male and female tigers where together. The zoo is crossing fingers and toes that the two will decide to mate.
Como Zoo was successful to have a baby giraffe. Sweet as could be. When we visited him he kept looking at our boys. I think he wanted to play.
Thank you for coming along today, to Como Zoo and Conservatory.
The winner of the Spring Giveaway is Marilyn of Mountain Top Spice. Congratulations Marilyn!
1. 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder' What's something you've seen recently that you thought was beautiful?
We visited Como Conservatory the 1st of March. I loved walking the gardens. I thought the way that Saint Francis of Assisi looked in this lovely garden was beautiful.
2. Our culture and beauty...your thoughts?
My thoughts about our culture and beauty = a mess.
3. Age before beauty, beauty queen, beauty mark, beauty sleep...which beauty-ful phrase resonates with you today? Why?
Beauty sleep.
I have learned that I need my sleep and there is no reason to not be good to myself and go to bed at a time that works for me. I have less headaches and feel so much better with a good sleep.
4. I read here a list of the top ten beasts animals that scare us the most-
alligators, coyotes, black bears, birds (but pigeons in particular),
sharks, bats, bed bugs, rats, rattlesnakes, and the black widow spider.
Which 'beast' on the list scares you the most? The black widow spider. What is the
liklihood of you having an actual encounter with that particular beast? They do live in Wisconsin. I know they like dark areas. My grandpa saw one in an outhouse.
Did a movie contribute to your fear of this creature? The movie Arachnophobia did not help. I really have no idea why I watched it. I already was scared of spiders, why on earth watch a movie to make you more scared. Really, Silly Me!
Have you ever had a
real life encounter with any of the animals listed?
Bats
Coyotes
Black Bears
I grew up with bats. We lived in old farm house. I have many stories about bats flying in our room on a summer night. My sister and I both screaming "Dad!"
Black Bears, well, thankfully, my dad taught my sister and I early in our childhood to watch for bear. My parents farm is located in between Price County forest land and State of Wisconsin forest land. Every Spring a hungry bear, who is just waking up will amble out on to the pasture.
Coyotes also are frequent visitors to the farm. Sadly, a few of my lambs were killed by coyotes.
Itsy Bitsy Spider
5. Where were you when you last heard a bell ring? Was it alarming or musical?
The Catholic Church in our little Village of Cameron has bells ring at 6pm every night.
It is musical. I love hearing them each evening.
6. What's your favorite carb? How's that for random?
Bread
7. Let's wrap up another month of Hodgepodging and life with an acrostic. Recap your month using the word MARCH.
Melting, snow melting.
Air, the smell of fresh Spring air.
Roadtrip, we took a roadtrip to St. Paul, Minnesota.
Catalog, looking over seed catalogs and placing my order.
Hour, we lost a hour when we switched to Day Light Savings, and I complained.
a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties
and graces that make life magical
and to set aside time for gratitude each day
It has been a week of Ups and Downs for our family this past week.
Friday was a sad day for me, I was in a funk all day. I really was struggling to shake it.
We lost our two year old cat, Catsby. He struggled with seizures his entire short life.
We loved him and he loved us. He did share his love in a big way.
We all miss him.
Our dear friend, Deb lost her dad this week. We attended the visitation and prayer service on Thursday evening. Sunday we had dinner with Deb and another friend. We enjoyed sharing stories about Deb's childhood and her memories with her dad.
Taking time to remember the little beauties of life.
The robins are back. Tweet, tweet they sing in the morning.
It is a lovely sound to hear the birds of Spring.
Taking time to read a good book, with a warm cup of tea.
Trying a new recipe and having all the family like it.
And to celebrate the robins coming back to Northern Wisconsin, let us have a Spring Giveaway!
5 post cards ... perfect to send a Thinking of You Spring greeting to a friend
Dark Chocolate Mints and tea ... perfect to share with a friend
Fun green napkins ... to make your table pretty while you enjoy your tea and chocolate
To enter all you have to do is leave a comment.
If you are not able to leave a comment on my blog, please e mail me, you will be entered in the giveaway. The winner will be chosen on Thursday evening and announced on Friday, March 31st On the Road Friday post.
1. Setting aside the real March Madness (NCAA Basketball) describe
something happening at your house this month that might earn the title
'March Madness'?
My text book.
I am currently in school.
I am taking the Master Gardener course.
It adds a little madness because we already have the boys busy with school, extra activities, work and of course just keeping house.
In the madness, everyone helps make the days run smooth. I love that about our family. I am so thankful for it. My oldest son saying "Hey, mom, I can stop after work and pick up a few groceries."
My boys reaction when they first saw the size of it! "WOW, mom! You can do this!"
2. What's a favorite made up word from your childhood or a favorite from
your children's childhood? Does your family still use the word today?
If there's a story behind the origin please share.
My grandpa loved to make up words.
When asking for the afghan my mom crochet for him, he would say "Please cover me with my Afghanistan." He made up other fun words and sayings too. It was always a fun time to hang out with my grandpa.
3. Will you be doing any spring cleaning now that the season is upon us? I read here a list of 15 quick (under one hour) spring cleaning tasks. They were-
clean out a drawer, vacuum furniture, whiten tile grout, dust the
nooks and crannies you don't get to year round, degrease kitchen
cabinets, wipe down walls, go behind furniture, wipe down ceiling fans,
vacuum the mattress, clean the range hood, wash baseboards, shine the
stainless steel, clean out vents, tackle the windows, and wipe down
gadgets
Of the fifteen 'quick' tasks listed which two most need doing at your house? Will you do them?
Yes, we usually do spring cleaning.
After a long Wisconsin winter, it is nice to open the windows and let the fresh air in.
Yes, we will wipe down our ceiling fans.
We really should tackle the windows.
4. A favorite movie set in Paris or New York?
You've Got Mail
It makes me want to live in New York City! I love, love, love Kathleen Kelly's apartment.
5. What's put a spring in your step this month?
My garden seed orders are arriving. Each day this week I have gotten some in the mail.
I will have some exciting news to share regarding my Little Garden That Could in the next month.
6. Did you ever want to be a teacher? Why or why not?
I did.
I have a fun memory being a teacher.
As many of you know, I grew up on a dairy farm.
When my sister and I were younger, we would play in the feed room. My parents had gotten two chalk boards and hung them in the feed room so we could play school.
My sister and I would drag bring the farm cats into the feed room. We would sit them on the feed sacks and teach them how to not get run over by the milk truck, tractors and such.
We spent most of the milking time chasing the cats to get them to come back to class.
I wonder now, maybe they did not like the subject.
My sister also played school, I was the teacher. Me, being the older sister, I of course bossed her as the teacher. It never lasted long, I was back to teaching the cats.
7. What's your favorite floral scent? Do you have this somewhere in
your home or maybe in a perfume? How do you feel about florals in food?
How about wines with floral notes-yay or nay?
I love, love flowers.
I am going to say lilacs are my very favorite scent. Then when the lily of valley bloom, I will say lily of the valley. Then when the peony bloom, I will say peony.
I had a violet on top of a cupcake, but I did not eat it.
I am not sure about the wine.
8. Insert your own random thought here.
Baseball season is just about here. I am counting down the days.
I have the Brewers schedule on my fridge. I mark the wins and losses.
I am excited to see what the Cubs do this year.
I am a Milwaukee Brewer fan, but I can not help myself to like the Cubs too.
a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties and graces
that make life magical and to set aside time for gratitude each day
Girl Scout Cookies
The memories that come with receiving Girl Scout Cookies.
I was in Girl Scouts and my mom was very active in the program.
I was the top cookie seller for our troop!
The sweet Thank You note the we received with our Girl Scout Cookie order.
Setting aside gratitude for those people who make our automobiles.
A large rock came flying at me while driving on my Meals on Wheels route last week.
I took a photo of the damage on the windshield.
Just think if we did not have the amazing windshields we do! Driving along at 60 miles an hour and boom a rock hits you.
Taking time to say "I am thankful for those folks who spend time in making our autos safe."
Cadbury Mini Eggs
Yum!
My text book!
Class is going well. Our instructors are amazing. Very helpful and so excited to teach us.
I am taking time for gratitude to all of those people who enjoy to teach others. They have patience and take time to think of ways to teach in a fun, hands on way.
My boys!
They really had a chuckle over the size of my class room text book.
I also have online lectures and worksheets.
Setting aside gratitude to my family helping me study for class and take the time to listen about my my time at class.
I did not really go to Hawaii, I just received a care package from Hawaii.
My sister spent three weeks in Hawaii for work.
She sent us a wonderful care package.
Here we go, let us take a peek at what was packed up in our Hawaiian care package.
All the food items are made in Hawaii. I love receiving gifts made in the state someone visits. I enjoy trying foods from the state. We all have different foods in each and every state. How fun to try foods that we do not have here in Wisconsin.
Macadamia Nut Honey Coconut Peanut Butter
This was amazing. We enjoyed it on toast.
Waialua Coffee
100% pure coffee, this was delicious and did not last long.
Mango Maui Black Tea
A great flavor.
Honey Roasted Macadamias
I was not a big fan of the honey roasted macadamias.
A beautiful 2017 calendar, full of flowers!
Flower earrings for me. My sister knows my love for flowers and my love for earrings.
Coral off the shores of Hawaii.
My sister visited Pearl Harbor.
She knows how I love photography, she picked up the photo of the Victory Kiss made into a shopping tote.
She also sent gifts for the boys. Books and a model WWII airplane.
Thank you for coming along today, as we went to Hawaii in a care package.
Back in September 2016, our family hiked in Badlands National Park.
I am going to share the light changes in the canyons and pinnacles.
As the sun moves the painted canyons change in the colors.
You may see reds, yellows and deeper colors as the sun moves.
Midday light can be harsh and unflattering.
A photographers dream is just after a rainstorm. The colors become extra saturated.
Badlands National Park
I will let you scroll the rest of the photos.
Look for the colors, the blue of the sky, the patterns in the canyons.
Safety Tip
The Badlands can be a dangerous place to explore, particularly for the photographers who have their eyes glued on their veiwfinders! The rock crumbles easily and is very slippery when wet. Make sure that before you move your feet, you move your eyes as well - away from the camera.
Frank Lloyd Wright wrote in a letter to a South Dakota newspaper editor Robert Lusk:
Let the sculptors come to the Bad Lands. Let painters come Let the truest of artists come .... He who could interpret this vast gift of nature in terms of human habitation so that Americans on their own continent might glimpse a new and higher civilization certainly, and touch it, and feel as if they lived in it and deserved to call it their own
