This and That: The last of winter (we hope!)

Today, I thought I would share some "left over" shots taken in March

since our snow has now melted. (Although we did get a day of snow back on April 8th!!)

But I didn't want to forget to show you these "left over" winter photos.

The snow is  melting on the branches, one drop at a time.  I just love droplet photos:

This plant was green under the snow!:

Snow on a tree that fell into the fast moving river:

Dusk at the melting lake:

Fog on the lake:

Remnants of autumn:

A small waterfall:

A closeup of the first green of the spring season:

What's left of a bee's nest:

Foggy morning at our lake:

Lonely boat in winter fog:

Buds awaiting spring:

More drops on the branch:

Like you, I await Spring back with open arms....

but I will remember the past winter's beauty with fond memories....

because

Nature doesn't make mistakes......it only gives us wonder.

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Reminder:

 

We have a NEW photo contest for April for you to enter!

April's theme is:

"RAIN, FOG, MIST or DARK SKIES".

Follow the RULES HERE to enter. It's easy!

and enter by midnight, April 30th.

You don't have to be a blogger to enter!

We have a WINNER for the March's Photo Contest!!!!

As you know, I am now hosting a FREE monthly PHOTO CONTEST.

March's theme was:

"Something Green or Something Irish".

If you missed my blogpost which had the entries that were entered,

please click HERE.

We had THIRTEEN entries, and they were fantastic.

I want to thank each and every one of you that entered.

This month's judges were from Savannah, Georgia.

And they picked:

(drumroll, please......................)

THIS ONE!:

Congratulations to JUDY who has two blogs.

Her blogs are named: Through Squirrel Eyes, and The Road to Here.

If she sounds familiar, she also won February's contest too!

Special mention this month also goes to Kim and Loree who came close to winning too!!

So, c'mon folks....

roll up your sleeves and enter APRIL's FREE PHOTO CONTEST!

It's fun just to see what you can come up with!!!

April's theme is:

"Rain, Fog, Mist or Dark Skies"

Please follow THESE RULES

and enter by midnight, April 30th, 2010.

Ice Flows!

The coming of spring here is always a celebration.

We live about 30 minutes from Marquette, Michigan, which lays on Lake Superior.

It is where I graduated from high school from and where my hubby and I graduated from college from (Northern Michigan University).

In the spring, the break up of the ice of Lake Superior is always gorgeous and so welcomed.

Today, I thought I would show you some photos of the ice break-up there.

The photos were taken on the first day of spring (3/20/10) and I pre-published this post.

All the ice on the lake has melted over 3 weeks ago (although we DID get snow on the ground here again on 4/8/10!)

But we are used to that in the U.P....we are supposed to get high 60F degrees by this weekend back again!

But I wanted to show you the Lake Superior Ice as it was breaking up (a few weeks ago).

Here is a shot of Marquette. The ore docks are on the upper left:

I love the floating, bright white chunks of ice on the blue water:

A buoy at the end of a breakwater on ice:

Look at the ice hanging below the water!:

Icebergs and Lake Superior rocks:

A shoreline of ice:

Another wonderful iceberg:

A closeup of an iceberg:

Another iceberg closeup:

The Coast Guard Station on ice:

Two fisherman on the icy shore:

Floating iceberg:

By the time you read this, hopefully, the ice has melted and all the icebergs have disappeared into the Lake, leaving only blue, sparkling water.

More Dumb State Laws: Iowa

Yes!  It is time again for MORE DUMB STATE LAWS.  Along with MY COMMENTS in bold italics.

This time?

The wonderful State of IOWA~

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1. A man with a moustache may never kiss a woman in public.
There must be a lot of call for razors in Iowa then....because otherwise, there is not much lovin' going on in Iowa. And Santa?  He better not be kissing any women either.

2.  One-armed piano players must perform for free.
Now this law just made me giggle! How about you?  The poor man/woman who only has one arm and plays the piano? That is a miracle in itself....but then..they don't PAY him/her????  Good grief! That is beyond cruel.  I bet (s)he could find away to give "the Hollywood Salute" with that one arm if they don't pay!

3.  Kisses may last for no more than five minutes.
No fun. I guess there is no "making out" going on in Iowa, then? And who gets to time the kissing? And you better NOT have a moustache if you are kissing either!

4.  Ministers must obtain a permit to carry their liquor across state lines.
Yes, boozing Ministers SHOULD have to have a permit to do this.....and I want to know HOW they are carrying their liquor across state lines....obviously DRIVING??? They better pray they don't get caught.

5.  In Dubuque: Any hotel in the city limits must have a water bucket and a hitching post in front of the building.
And Trigger...don't forget Trigger.  Maybe they will need a "Pooper Scooper" in Dubuque for all the horse doo-doo then?

6.  In Marshalltown: Horses are forbidden to eat fire hydrants.
Yessiree...lots of horses must be in Iowa.  And they obviously need to feed them better...poor things are so hungry they need a law so they don't EAT fire hydrants!

7.  In Mount Vernon: One must obtain written permission from the City Council before throwing bricks into a highway.
Yes....make SURE you get a City Council permit to be a vandal!  

8.  In Ottumwa: Within the city limits, a man may not wink at any woman he does not know.
Again, NO FUN!  How's a guy supposed to pick up a woman then? Cripes....he can't have a moustache and kiss a girl in public....he can't make out for more than five minutes...gheesh.
I guess he could go buy some bricks and throw them on the highway (if he gets a city permit).

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Believe it or not, this is ALL the dumb laws I could find for Iowa!

So, Iowa should be congratulated!!!

Fair Trade Market Magic....

Every six weeks at St. Mark's Church in Marquette, Michigan

they host a

Fair Trade Market

to raise money for the poor and needy.

It has gorgeous, awesome goods from foreign countries that their artisans make.

Their wonderful, artistic goods are sold

and they get money back

to help their families.

"Sharing the Dream in Guatemala" is one of the organizations involved.  You can read about it HERE.

The Lutheran Community Foundation and the Lutheran World Relief is also involved.

The sale features handcrafted jewelry, purses, scarves, bags, wood products, garden and Easter items.

Women helping women.

I loved that idea, so of course I had to go.

The jewelry was calling my name.....(do you hear it, too?)

Here is the church's sign for the sale:

A world "mobile"...pretty much sums it up, doesn't it?:

As does this world wreath:

I loved the slogan on the wreath: "United for a Better Life".

It makes one wonder where one "fits in" on this globe of help:

Ooooo, look at the beautiful silk scarf!:

And for a person (like me!) that adores the woods and everything one can make from wood,

just LOOK at these marvelous wood spoons!:

And other products made from natural wood:

I loved all the things for sale:

Just LOOK at that adorable elephant!:

I wondered about every single person who made these things.

Who were they?

What was their family like?

Oh, gosh...the scarves!!!........And the knitted and woven purses and bags were so lovely!;

And my FAVORITE!: The jewlery!!!:

A cool bag for EVERY occasion:

Other generous shoppers:

(It's okay that I took their picture, and didn't get releases, it was a public event. Whew!)

A bird of peace windchime.

How appropriate for a "world wide" effort!:

The title of this book made me remember how many hungry people there are living on the streets

of the world.

That is not what the book was about, but it was a good reminder:

Little clay turtles.

Totally charming!:

All the women of the world:

It was whispering: "Where do you fit in when it comes to helping others?"

Look at the GORGEOUS embroidery on this vest!:

Intricate.

Lovely.

Full of work and caring.

Just like women.

Women helping women.

Who could not LOVE that concept???

Doctor...I have this pain in my side......

 Here is a another Weird NEWS STORY, along with MY COMMENTS in bold italics:

PRAGUE (AP) — It took five long months for a Czech woman to discover the reason for her pain: Doctors had left a foot-long medical tool inside her abdomen. This month, doctors at a clinic in the southeastern town of Ivancice discovered their colleagues had forgotten to remove a spatula-like surgical instrument from the woman following gynecological surgery in September.
Top regional official Michal Hasek apologized to 66-year-old Zdenka Kopeckova and said Monday that the region, which is in charge of the clinic, plans to compensate her.
Clinic head Jaromir Hrubes blamed "a series of individual failures" and said four employees had been punished.
CT24 news television reported that the woman, who complained repeatedly to her doctors about the pain, plans to sue.

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1. WHAT???? Let's repeat this, shall we?  (Women reading this: you have my permission to sit, grab your abdomen, rock and to grimace now)....they left a FOOT LONG instrument inside her abdomen????

2.   She TOLD THEM SHE HAD PAIN...and it took "FIVE LONG MONTHS" to discover an instrument in her abdomen????  I am speechless!

3. A"spatula like instrument" ??? What the heck is THAT? Were they stirring her during surgery??

4. They "had forgotten" to remove a FOOT LONG instrument from her abdomen during surgery??? How does one forget a FOOT LONG instrument???  Much less a TEAM of people in an operating room? What the heck would have distracted them enough to FORGET A FOOT LONG INSTRUMENT in her abdomen? What was going ON in that operating room????

5. A "series of individual failures" occurred?  Like what? Were they all drunk? 

6. They were all "punished"? How?  Didn't they LOSE THEIR medical licenses???  They SHOULD have been made to have a FOOT LONG INSTRUMENT inside THEIR abdomens for five long months...with no one believing that they were having pain from it...

7. They had "plans to compensate her"?  I should hope so...and I hope it is a HUGE compensation...

8. It is stated that she plans to sue... she will probably win much more in a lawsuit than they could ever offer her up front.

9.  I would like to apologize up front to anyone who is planning any type of surgery in the next few months....I didn't mean to scare the beejeezus out of you.  Pretend you didn't read this, okay?

Oh, and have someone you love and trust count every single sponge and instrument they use in the Operating Room-----TWICE!!!

Here They Are: March's PHOTO CONTEST entries! (and April's new theme):

All of my begging and pleading worked!

I received THIRTEEN (I am SO HAPPY!)  entries for the March Photo Contest

entitled:

"Something GREEN or Something Irish"!!!!!

And they are wonderful.

So, grab a cup of something, put your feet up, take your time to study the wonders of each and every one of these entries.

Look at the imagination and humor of the photographers,  for picking one photo to fit the theme.

Look at the composition of the photos, the settings, the design and each one's intensity of color and clarity.

And think of the hard job (again) that the judges will have choosing ONE winner.

Here goes!:

This one is from Jientje. She has three blogs. Her blogs are called: "Heaven is in Belgium", "Heaven in Belgium" and "Heaven in 365".

This one is from Linda. Her blog is called "Up a Green Tree".

This one is from Loree. Her blog is called: "Stories and Scribbles".

This one is from Sharon. She has two blogs. One is called: "A New England Life" and the other one is called:

"The Sweetest of Days."

This one is from Judy. She has two blogs. One is named "Through Squirrel Eyes" and the other one is named:

"The Road to Here."

This one is from Ratty. He has three blogs. One blog is called "The Everyday Adventurer" , one is  called : "Rat Tales"

and his newest blog is called: "Nature Center Magazine".

This one is from L.D.  He has two blogs. One is called:  "Larry's Creative Zone" and the other one is called: "Larry's Photo a Day".

This one is from Connie. She has three blogs. One is called: "Far Side of Fifty". Another blog is called:
"Forgotten Old Photos". And another blog is called: "Far Side of Fifty Photos."

This one is from Kim. Her blog is called: "A Parent's Life to Behold, Through the eyes of Insanity-n-Bliss".

 This one is from Eva. Her blog is called: "Wrestling with Retirement".

This one is from Grannyann. Her blog is called: "Ann Tucker's Blog."

This one is from DJan. She has two blogs. One is called: "D-Jan-ity" and the other one is called:
"Eye on the Edge".

This is from Pat. He has two blogs. One is called: "As I Saw it". The other one is called:
"Patrick Tillett: Extremely Overdue".
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Aren't you glad (AGAIN) that you aren't one of the judges?

Me, too!

A BIG thankyou to each and everyone of you for entering March's Photo Contest.

I will have the judges choose one winner on or before April 15th and post the winner on my blog...so stay tuned!!

And both the photographers that entered this month AND YOU need to get busy for:
APRIL's FREE PHOTO CONTEST.

If you aren't a blogger, that is OKAY. You TOO can also enter, following THESE RULES.

And WHAT is APRIL's THEME, you ask?????

(drum roll, please)..................

"Rain, Fog, Mist or Dark Skies"

because, as you all know....
April Showers, bring May Flowers!!

(and NO, that doesn't mean that May's theme will neccesarily be flowers, people!)

So, dig in your archives or watch the skies and get out there and get some pictures for April's contest and submit them to me no later than midnight, on April 30th, 2010!!! (Don't make me BEG!) :-}