Looking Back at Easter 2011

Do you remember Resurrection Day last year? This is what we had to go through to get to church on Easter morning 2011 ...

And this is what we did that Sunday afternoon...

Look under FLOOD WATCH in the sidebar label section for more flood pics.

We didn't want a repeat of last year. But after a mild winter with barely any snow, we enjoyed our early spring.

But it was not to be because we awoke to this yesterday morning...

And then a flock of robins were in a frenzy to eat the last of the Purple Royalty Crabapples - almost as if they were stocking up...

And then the sun came out and the snow melted off the trees. The Juncos basked in the sun and we were left with a yard full of slush.

And this is what our driveway looked like this morning...

The snow is melted on the gravel and pavement portions and despite how it looks, there's only a light covering on the grassy sections.

At 8:15 am, I looked out my window and saw the neighbor's cows had come over to wish us a Happy Easter. So nice of them except for the 'gifts' they left in the driveway.

And I almost missed the male robins in the hedgerow because their red breasts matched some of last year's leaves. After the feeding frenzy yesterday, they certainly look well fed.

What a wonderful, ever-changing world our God created.

Happy Easter!

Porcupine Climbing Down a Tree

He's ba-ack. Again, Nelson came home from work and said the porcupine was out in the trees. But this time instead of being on the ground, he was up in the tree. All I could see was a black bulge straight out from the kitchen window where the shelterbelt divides the yard from the prairie. Naturally, I grabbed my camera and scooted out the door. I stood in the driveway and filmed the porcupine as he climbed the 15 ft or so down to the ground.

Porcupine Climbing Down a Tree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NK5Btmje28

This porcupine is starting to make a regular appearance on the farm. But why in a tree? If he carried a telescope, I'd suspect him of spying on me. Haha.

Anybody know what a porcupine eats?

Punked By A Porcupine

I have to show you this video I made yesterday during our blizzard warning... that porcupine got the drop on me this time. LOL

http://www.youtube.com/user/anitamaed?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/mqbLdaiFBO0



I can't believe it took so long to sink in that he was there. Sheesh.

By the way, Happy Birthday, Bonnie!

Porcupine Patrol

The days are a rollercoaster of warmth and cold, which is what we need to avoid a spring flood. However, the critters are crawling out of hibernation as can be seen by this porcupine. On March 9th, Nelson came home and said there was porcupine a quarter mile away. By the time I grabbed my camera and jumped in his truck we were almost too late. This photo was taken approx 200 ft away and I zoomed in for it:

However, I managed to get a short video of it before it walked over the hill. Nelson had dropped me off and then drove on down the road to turn around, so the only sound on the video is that of the wind, the camera itself, and a few of my movements.

Here's the porcupine's meandering track as it started up the hill.






Five days later - on March 14th, Nelson came home and said their was a porcupine at the end of the driveway. I grabbed my camera, put my outerwear on and headed out, hoofing it. I could see him right from the house. If you look at my blog header, he was hiding in the bush that sits at the end of the driveway on the right side.

He wasn't moving and I wanted a good photo, so I yelled at him a couple times and wouldn't you know it - he turned his back on me! Although he was a good 30 ft away, I'm not in the habit of standing behind a porcupine, so I high-tailed it back to the house and let him have his peace.

What kind of creatures are coming out of hibernation or flying in where you live?

The Uniqueness of a Church

I'm blogging at Inkwell Inspirations about the different denominations of churches I've attended over the years and what makes each one unique in What Makes a Church Unique?

One of the aspects I love about our present church is the music - especially the gospel songs. Here's an example of

Joey Theriault singing old time gospel, Where Could I Go But To The Lord in one of my first attempts at making a YouTube video:

My questions for today are: What about you? Is there something unique about your church that you’ll like to share?

Fun Question: What do you sit on at church? Wooden pews, padded seats, cushions on wooden pews, plastic ‘bucket’ chairs, etc.

And if you don't attend church, what's your favourite chair at home and why?

Prairie Wildlife Photos

These days, I'm busy working on the final draft of my historical romance, Emma's Outlaw, so I thought I'd give you some photos to check out. They are all of prairie wildlife in my area.

Do you remember the afternoon JJ and I sat in the van on the empty dirt road with the suspicious looking dynamite box and waited for the Mountie? Well, these cowbirds kept us company.

I had this photo in mind and just needed to wait for the cowbird to take flight.

I waited.

And, I waited.

Then, I almost missed it because my arm was getting tired holding the camera in position and the bird decided to take off at the same moment I lowered the camera.

About a quarter mile away on the same road but on a different day, I glanced at this familiar old bridge and saw a mule deer hiding underneath. As soon as my mind understood what I'd seen, I backed up to get a photo. The buck was still there--so still--that I thought it was a wooden silhouette like the ones I saw on hilltops along the highways in Wyoming last Sept. He was real, though, because we saw him move his head a few times.

This photo was taken on Hwy 48 around 8pm at the end of June. I was aiming for the reflection of the steel collar and was fortunate to find a yellow-headed cowbird in the close vicinity. You have to look close, but he's on a cattail on the right side.

The barn swallows are dive-bombing me on the way to my office in our renovated garage and when I look up at the nest, I can see open beaks patiently waiting. I'll try and get a pic of that for you for next time.

Do you have these prairie birds and mule deer where you live?

Mud Bath

Just thought I'd post some photos of our muddy ride to church yesterday. The roads were so greasy, we fishtailed a wee bit a few times. As a professional driver, hubby was in his element.

Then we got behind a 'Sunday driver' who wouldn't pull over to let us pass. We had to follow him (hubby says it was a her) for about 20 km/20 miles. He/she was going so slow. And then we were late for church. *sigh

When we arrived in Glenavon, we saw they had received a lot more snow than us. Or maybe it was just that theirs stayed around while ours melted.

After, when we were having brunch at the bakery, I was telling them that I had prayed the whole way. My prayers consisted of asking God to put His hands on the wheel. Hubby perked up and said, "So that's why it was so hard to steer." LOL

May Rains Bring Snow?

It's May! Sunshine. Flowers. Green Grass. Sure, sure. LOL

Here's a photo I took from my front step at 7:42 pm just a few days ago:

And here's what it looked like yesterday on May 1st:

Yes, I know the farmers need the rain but really... what's with the snow in May?

March Sunrise

I haven't been posting because I'm in my cave working on deadlines for 2 contests. I had them ready a month ago but my wonderful critique partners picked them apart so a major overhaul was in order.

In the meantime, I thought I'd show you what I've been waking to every morning. The sun rises around 7 am these days and shines in my eyes while I'm drinking my morning coffee.

But what a glorious sight! And no, this pic is not photoshopped. It's the color God painted it.

Horizontal Frost Photos

Not sure if any of you realized, but due to a problem with Telus in BC, I've been denied access to all Blogger sites and Google Earth since last Thurs. At least 250 others have been affected as well. And yes, because we're using a satellite internet provider, our signal goes through BC.

So now that I'm back - I hope to stay - I'm going to show you some pics of what you missed.

We've been having foggy, frosted days. One day in particular, showed frost patterns I've never seen before. Here's how my van looked when I first went outside that day.

As you can see, about the only thing that's frosted is the antenna. I've never seen anything like it before. Here's a closeup of the horizontal frost crystals on the antenna.

The wind must've blown the frost in from the south because this is what some of the trees looked like from that direction.

And yet when we go a few steps further to the north and turn around this is was I saw.

The frost was so selective that it only became attached to the metal road in this pump and the weed growing in front of it.

I happened to look down and saw a cat's paw print and another mark, both of which had attracted the frost in different ways.

Now this is probably a loaded question, but has there been any weird weather down your way?

 

My Christmas Story To You

It's Christmas Eve and I've posted a story for you over on the Prairie Chicks Write Romance blog.

All the Chicks are posting Christmas stories this week and it's my turn today. It'll only take a couple mins to read and it's called, 'The Shepherd'.

Next week we'll be posting recipes to help you clean up those Christmas leftovers.

Anyone who leaves a comment between Dec 20th and Jan 2nd will have their name entered to win a fabulous gift basket from the Chicks. The more days you comment, the better your chance to win. Comments posted here will not be entered as you must post them on the Prairie Chicks Write Romance blog.
I collect Nativity sets and have photos of my kids' favorite set here. I have more photos of my collection over on the Chicks blog today, so head on over, read my short work of fiction and view the pics.

Have a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Anita Mae Draper.

Moppin', Bloggin' and Singin'

Busy day today. Workers were in yesterday to put the new carpet in the livingroom/hall and new vinyl in the bathroom. Wow! Looks like a new house. Well, except it makes the worn lino in the diningroom/kitchen look...old and...worn.

We had to empty the diningroom to put all the livingroom furniture in it while they put the carpt down. So now that the everything's back in the livingroom, I get to wash the lino floors before we bring the diningroom furniture back in. Lucky me!

Meanwhile, I'm listening to Christmas music to get in the spirit of cleaning which isn't one of my favorite things to do - the cleaning that is - I love the music.

I'm also  blogging over at Prairie Chicks about how I've had to move my writing cave from it's original productive spot in the livingroom to the sunroom, the garage, back into the house, etc. I have pics, too, including one with my new burgundy wall. Love it!

Speaking of pics - one of these days I'll post before and after pics of the renovations. What a difference!

My questions over at Prairie Chicks today are: What are your writing plans for the next couple weeks? Are you going on writing hiatus or are going to try to keep writing albeit at a reduce number of words?

And if you're a reader: Do you like reading Christmas books just in Dec or throughout the year?

Revved up and Rarin' to Go

Am I really here? My internet service hasn't been working all week and did I ever miss it! The tech adivsed us it may go down again however because our modem needs to be updated. Terrific.

Since Thursday was my day to post at Prairie Chicks Write Romance, I went into the local library Wed afternoon and used their computer to submit my post.

It's the last day of October which means National Novel Writing Month starts tomorrow. In the coming month, you'll see me refer to it as NaNoWriMo or even NaNo.

I've signed up as a Nano participant at eHarlequin so I'll be reporting my progress there as well as here. Plus, I've been invited to report my progress on Michelle Levigne's blog Living Proof.

So, my Thurs Prairie Chick post was Nanowrimo Tips and it's all those things I've found and used for getting the most writing out of Nanowrimo.

I've spent October working on Emma's Outlaw and it will be my Nano project this year. My goal is to have Emma's Outlaw complete and submissions started to my critique partners by the end of Nov.

My writing cave is still in the converted garage we call the rec centre. After I switch the furnace on in the morning, it only takes 15 mins and the whole room is heated nicely. It's so peaceful out there, with my Wyoming maps pinned to the drywall beside me, and it's fired me up. I've made so much progress on Emma's story and am excited that it's my Nano project this year.

I thought I was over the lung infection which burdened me for the last month but I'm stuffed up with a sore throat again. I bought some licorice herbal tea when Nelson and I went shopping in the city last week so I'll be sipping that today. Licorice is an excellent expectorant. I do not want to get sick again. It's such a waste of time!

In case you're wondering, there has been NO progress on my living room/bathroom wall. *sigh. I don't want to start nagging the contractor because at least we still have the bathtub and toilet which they'd originally wanted to take out. And since the insurance company will have to dish out over $7,000 for our new 'makeover' I'm willing to wait. Oh no, just had a thought...what if they want to come in Nov while I'm doing Nano? Yikes!

Over at Inkwell Inspirations this month we'll be talking about our alter egos or personas. These are females, either real or fictional, which we feel an affinity toward or can really relate. Mine is Annie Oakley and I'll be posting about her in a couple weeks. Check out the Inkwell for the fascinating variety of personas from both the Inkies and guest authors.

And what have you been up to this month?

Pretty, But it Must Go

So there I was yesterday, preparing Chap 1 of Silent Keeper for emailing to my critique partner when the little guy runs in and shouts, ‘Dad’s taking down the fence by the garden!”

“What? Why?”

“He wants to get the Kubota in there!” Slam.

Ever the reporter, I grabbed my camera and rushed outside. I knew what he was doing – he was clearing the ridiculous amount of big yellow … weeds that took over our garden this year when we didn’t use it.

Since I’ve been concentrating on writing, I let Nelson and the boys take care of the outside work including the garden and…well...

These pics show Nelson tackling the yellow…stuff. I’m not sure what the weed is but I can find out if anyone wants to know. Anyway at one point, Nelson got off the Kubota and started looking digging around.

He finally emerged with one of the tractor seat stool. Isn't it amazing what you can find growing in a garden these days? Actually, I bought 2 of these stools at an auction for 2 bucks a piece years ago. The ‘fitted’ seats are very comfy.

Now that he's got the weeds cleared off, Nelson will rototill it. Then, the little guy and I are going to start hauling compost from the huge pile that's been sitting out back for about 5 yrs. Water drains through the garden soil so fast, we're hoping the compost will slow it down enough to benefit the plants. So by the time next spring rolls around, the garden will be ready to try again.

Has your garden or lawn ever looked like this? Have you needed equipment 'bigger' than an lawnmower or rototiller to clear it out? What was the end result?


Update:
My efriend, Katherine commented that she thought the yellow stuff might be canola - LOL - This is the view from my living room and porch windows. It's the view I see whenever I open my door and step outside. The view is 104 acres of canola growing on the organic land we rent out to a friend. And yes, people do pay money for canola (used to be called rape or rapeseed). It's an important oilseed sold around the world. I'm not sure in other parts of Canada or the US, but here on the prairies, canola oil outsells any other vegetable oil on the market for cooking and baking purposes.

Thank you Kay, for letting me brag on the qualities of this important prairie grain. And I have to admit, I actually thought it was canola as I passed the fence on a daily basis. But when I watched Nelson cut it down, I saw that instead of the leaves beeing like a large radish, they were fine and silky like dill. But that's an awful good guess, Kay.

Actually, I have a new book (so many books I even ordered one twice) that I'll give away to the first person who correctly guesses what the yellow stuff is.

Photos on a close up of the yellow stuff and a photo on the book giveaway will be up soon.

You have until the end of July (July 31st) to guess.

Update: I have a winner - Lynne over on my eHarlequin blog guessed wild mustard and she's absolutely correct.