This and That From Our Trip in the Woods...

On our last trip out to the woods, we roamed some roads, saw a farm, and some other creatures. We even found a restaurant to go to to catch lunch.

Follow me, won't you...in retracing my day?:

I thought this little white moth on the bright green ferns was very pretty:

Then, I stepped over to my right and something hopped away!

I found him though, after a treasure hunt....

here is the grasshopper I found!:

My husband found a treasure and led me over to see it.

It is the ingredient in my FAVORITE pie.

Raspberries!:

Then, he found the ingredients to HIS favorite pie.

Blueberries!:




Something bright orange caught my eye from the car.

We stopped and there were the brightest orange tree mushrooms I have ever seen!:

We saw several farms on our way out to the deeper woods.

I loved this pastoral scene:

I made my husband stop the car so I could get pictures.

He said: "You aren't seriously going to take pictures of COWS, are you?"

What do YOU think I said?

Evidently, the cow was asking the SAME question:

And this big guy asked: "What YOU lookin' at?"

So, fine.

I left them alone.

Gheesh....I thought cows had more humor in them than that.

I mean don't they call the ice cream trucks: Good Humor trucks?

Oh well....so on we went.

Because I obviously have an addiction to finding tree mushrooms, I got excited over this whopper! (Did I say Whopper?..I must have all that beef on my mind yet):

But seriously, wasn't that a uniquely shaped tree mushroom in just the perfect spot?

I know you want a closer look.

I know I did.....

See how pretty it is? Almost looks like a ruffle.

We continued on our journey.

Passing a little road into a cabin, I thought I saw movement out of the corner of my eye.

I had my husband stop the car and hopped out, with camera in hand.

I just knew something was in the woods....




I was right.

Look at her beautiful eyes.

She was still, peeking at me from behind the brush.

All that talk about blueberries, raspberries and beef was making us hungry.

We knew one of the little towns on the way home had a bar that served burgers.

But would YOU want to eat....

at something called:

That's right...it is called UP CHUCKS!!!

Because upper Michigan is called the U.P. (for Upper Peninsula) it is a play on words..you know:

U.P. Chucks...turns into up chucks.....

Oh well, guess you gotta live up here to get it and find it funny.

P.S. The burgers were great.

And we didn't....

(we didn't up chuck)!!!

Wildflowers in the Woods. Oh Yeah, and a Blue Jay, too!

One of the things I really like about going out in the woods is that we are constantly finding wildflowers as the seasons progress.

Today, I have gathered a collection of the wildflowers that we are seeing this week in our woods.
I don' t have a clue on the names of any of these, so those of you that are experts in wild flower names of northern climate wildflowers, let me know if you know the names of any of these.

First, these purple, tall ones. They remind me of wild phlox. But I have no idea what they are:

These are much shorter, but they have an electric purple color to them and I liked them:

I am sure some people think of these white bells as weeds, but I liked their shape:

Look what landed on the purple tall ones! I loved this little guy's (moth?) head and body!:







These were also shorter wild flowers...about 12 inches tall...I really liked their fuzzy heads and purple spikes!:

These are like wild bluebells....only they are a bluish purple:

These are like a black-eyed susan daisy. They are just blooming now all over on the sides of the highways and in the woods:

These are AWESOME. I loved their striped centers. They are small like the size of musk mallow on a bush..but I do not know their name:

Can you tell I really like these? I took many closeups of them:

And, I had to take this photo of the Blue Jay....I loved how he contrasted with the green, green woods and the tiny wild rosebush on the right of the photo:

I hope you enjoyed the trip out in the woods today to look at wildflowers. If any of you know their names, do share them in your comments...I would love to know the names of these!

The Renaissance Faire!!

Have you ever been to a Renaissance Fair? Especially a small town's version of a Renaissance Fair?

No?

Good!

Because I am going to take you to one today!

Let's follow this fair maiden and child, shall we?

Follow them with me:

Do you hear bagpipe music?

I can!

And look, a darling group of lads and lassies are dancing to the bagpipes:

Aye, look at this lassie's rosy cheeks as she dances!:




Wait a minute.

I think I would MUCH rather look at this LAD:




I think I will follow him around for a while.


You know....


Just for educational purposes.






Here is one of the many booths with goodes for sale:





I loved these walking sticks!:




One of my favorite things: BAGPIPES!

I know this bagpiper.

He is actually a lawyer.

Actually he loves playing the bagpipes for everyone!

His last name is McGregor.

What else would it be?

Here is one serious Maiden. I loved her focus. But I loved her neck flask even more.
I wonder what she was thinking?

I probably should have bought one of these masks by then. After all, I was stalking people and taking pictures of them! (I figured, if they dressed up in costume, they must have wanted me to, right?)

Here is another great costume!

Who could resist a man in tights?:

Just in case this all has gotten you in the mood to dress for the occassion:

All of a sudden, I have an urge to read

Puss and Boots.

I wonder why?:

There were palm readers there, but I didn't have time to get mine read (darn!)

But I did have time to look for mystical things.

I loved this one:

But I forged ahead:

Get it?

Forged ahead???? (Yeah, I crack thee up).



I want to invite these two to my next dinner party! I loved them. They were into it!:

If you want to be prepared for battle, I have just the equipment for you.

Anyone for a steel jock strap?:

Or, are you more of a swordsman?

The silverwork on this sword handle is so pretty, maybe you could hang one from your belt?

(Wear it to work tomorrow, and act normal. I bet you get first in line at the water cooler!):

This little boy was getting ready to perform a dance in his kilt.

Look how serious he was thinking of what he will be doing soon.

I loved him!:

You could get thee some coins or antique wares to spend on a wench or bartender:

And,

IF ALL ELSE FAILS,

You can get some dinosaur teeth!:

How cool are THEY????

Get thee busy now....you have wasted enough time on me blog just playin' around at the Faire!!

More This and That from the Woods....

It's time again to take you on a journey in the Michigan woods with me.

Come and look at what we saw, shall we?

First, a lovely stream in the middle of the woods:

And look! A turtle on a log!:

And an unusual black and white mushroom:

Here is the side view of the same mushroom. I liked the lacey sides:






And then? : We saw a HUGE turtle crossing a wood's road:

I don't know the name of this wildflower. It isn't a Queen Anne's Lace, I don't think, but I loved the open look of the flowers:

And another damselfly on a blade of grass:

We rode down a road and right where water was coming out of a drainage ditch where a little river flowed, I spotted a snake~! My husband could not believe I saw it from the car window. So, we stopped the car, I climbed down the hill from the road and I swear he posed for me:

Here is a close up of that big turtle that was crossing the road. We wanted to carry him to the other side so noone would drive over him. He wasn't real happy about our assistance, but I did make him pose for a photo before we placed him on the side of the road in the grass. He quickly crawled into the woods when we put him there:

Stay tuned...we have lots more "day in the woods" pictures coming.

Because it is one of my favorite things to do...

treasure hunt for photos in the woods!

Music at the Park

As I have mentioned before, we live in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan. (Michigan has two parts. One is shaped like a mitten. We live in the other part of Michigan, above the mitten. The U.P. sits nestled between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan). We live on an inland lake called Lake Michigamme.

It is a tiny town along the shoreline.

Every Wednesday night from June through July we have "Music in the Park". For free, you can stroll down by a little park on a bay (about a block from my house) and sit and listen to a different singer every Wednesday night while looking at the beauty of the lake.

The last Wed. night Music in the Park featured our favorite singer: Cathy Bolton. She has made 5 albums/CD's of her folk singing and we look forward to her coming here and singing for us every year.

So, I am taking you for a tour of the experience (minus the singing, sorry, I did not load her music on the blog post, but you can Google her and hear her awesome singing).

Right beside the park, an enthusiastic townsperson, put this sign on their garage!:

This is the scene at the park as you listen to some great music:

A shot of the crowd, enjoying Cathy's singing:





Here is one of the Organizers of Music in the Park, introducing Cathy at the beginning of the concert:

Some crowd participation!:

The beautiful Cathy Bolton singing with her angelic voice. I could listen to her all day. When she sings "Oh Danny Boy", I get the chills and tears in my eyes. Her voice is crystal clear. What a gift!:

The entertainers sing for one hour, we have an intermission, where you can get a scrumptous dessert for a donation of your choosing and then the singer returns and gifts us with another hour of singing. By then, it is dusk and you can stroll by the lake on your way home:

Our last glimpse of the lake for the night, and then we headed home....our heads filled with the tunes she sang so beautifully. And of course, her new CD tucked under my arm. I had to get it!

What a perfect Wednesday summer night.

Lake views, wonderful music, a yummy dessert and a visit with our neighbors

all at the same time.

I wish you could have all been there with us.