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Originally uploaded by Fernando Innecchi

Joining Flickr just over a month ago has opened an entire new world for me! I enjoy seeing the world through photos taken by all kinds of amateur and professional photographers.
This photo of a Pepsi advertisement from, I guess the 50's, was taken by Fernando Innecchi in Prague. The well dressed, obviously relaxed women casually enjoying her Pepsi as she grocery shops cracks me up!. She even has white gloves! The added touch of graffiti on the bottom brings a hint of reality. To see more Pepsi ads, go to
http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2007/02/1950s-pepsi-generation.html

Thanksgiving

 

I took this photo on a warm day last spring!  This squirrel was relaxing, enjoying the warmth of the sun as much as I was.

With the temperature in the 50 degree range today, probably similar to when I shot the above photo, the scene in the woods is totally different. No time for relaxation, animals are very busy collecting food and making their homes a warm comfortable place before winter.

Providing shelter and collecting enough food to survive the long winter is just as important for us.

I am very thankful for the comfort of shelter and food that I have been fortunate to have.

I wish everyone could have such fortune.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

http://feedingamerica.org/take-action/volunteer.aspx

Free range chickens!

Three in the beans!  My brother in law bought a few chickens to amuse the grand children and supply fresh eggs. Wandering free during the day this trio finds plenty of good bugs in the soy bean field.

If I could write music

Early this morning as I stood at the edge of the woods listening to nature's activities I thought what a magical piece of music! If only I could write it.  I hear it as a contemporary piece of music with the wind creating the introduction gently flowing through the pine needles and oak tree leaves creating a whisper and a mellow rustling.   A Red Squirrel keeps the rhythm with a frantic high pitched chatter as the whiny squawk of a Grey Squirrel fills in the blanks.  Flocks of Starlings chip loudly, wings flapping as they settle into the tops of the basswood trees to feed on ripe seeds.  Red Bellied woodpeckers knock on a dead birch tree keeping time. Chickadees sing sweetly repeating their name chick a-dee-dee-dee, not to be left unheard. Chipmunks improvise with a deep thunk, thunk, thunk like the plucked strings of a stand up bass. Cardinal partners chip to one another flying happily from tree to tree saying follow me, follow me!

Morning doves coo in the background softly adding to the chorus. The sound of Great Horned owls hoot, hoot, hoot-hoot  builds to a crescendo added to by the snorts of two startled fawns leaping through the dry underbrush, cracking branches and crushing leaves as they realized I am in their pathway.  The honking sounds of Canada geese flying high overhead add to the piece briefly as they travel off into the distance,  fading softly to complete the piece. 

Lovely!

I really don't need to know how to write the music because it's already written by nature!

"Wind Trees" or Wind turbines

I am fascinated by the new type of "trees" growing in the Wisconsin landscape. As I drive to work at Image Studios,  wind turbines have been erected in amazing numbers. The structures  are very breath taking and graceful but also intimidating.  Growing to four hundred feet in one day. Standing below one looking up, I felt like what an ant must feel next to a human.  Having mixed feelings about this type of  tree for the wonderful clean energy that is produced from its branches but also how the natural landscape has been changed.  

 

Additional signs of spring!

Found beauty

Spring is showing up in many ways!

Here are a few hints I have found! 

Enjoy, I am!

Natural Easter Eggs

We have a wonderful yoga instructor named Kate that has a wonderful friend named? Anyway we'll call her Karen. Karen raises chickens which produce the most beautiful and delicious eggs!  I call then natural Easter eggs! What's in your basket?

Wild visitors-Red Fox

In the past spring and fall we have seen Red Fox in our woods. Mostly in the late afternoon hunting near the house seeming to not care if we were outside. Or at dusk coming up from the woods being very quiet and stealth. One night early last spring we were awakened by an unusual loud clicking sound.  Three foxes were chasing after each other in the back yard. Dashing over and under the deck, around trees and the house. What would that sound comunicate?  I hoped they would stick around for the summer but fox must hide well because they didn't show themselves to us again until fall. I have wandered the woods wondering where the den is. This past Monday I was watching with my camera, four deer groom each other when something sent them dashing off. Two foxes were chasing around the house. They seemed to have attention deficit as they raced for one spot to the other.  Luckily to have camera in hand, I shot these photos from inside the house.  I assume this is a male and female? How can one tell? 

Where do the birds go to get out of the storm?

Our home is surrounded by a beautiful woods of sixty foot pines, majestic oaks, maples and birch trees. When we experience weather it seems exagerated by the woods. Wind hits the trees and they begin to dance and sing with creaks and whistles as well as howls and groans. Today's storm began innocently as light rain. Soon the rain became mixed with sleet that coated everything with a beautiful clear frosting. I had thoughts of doing some photography until the wind off Lake Michigan picked up tossing ice and sticks to the ground like sheets of shattered windshield glass. Ice hitting our windows sounded like stones thrown against the glass causing our cats to run for cover under a bed. Stronger gusts sent entire ice covered branches crashing to the ground leaving piles of debree for a summer bonfire.   Enough pine boughs have fallen to make many a wreath for Christmas had it not been close to Easter. The storm continues but now it's snowing adding to the weight of the ice already blanketing everything in the woods. I can only imagine how beautiful it will look in the morning light. 

Longing for Spring!

I know it is a long time before spring arrives but I can't help it, I wish it was here! How fast I forget the way the yard looks all green and lush. 

 I love the scent of the earth warming up.  Seeing and hearing the birds return. Opening the window on a tease of a warm day to let fresh air in.  Watching the wild flowers sprout out of the ground and marvel at how beautiful the plant is even if it is still curled up tight. Waiting for spring is difficult but it's the little things that are encouraging. 

The days are getting noticeably longer now.  I hear the Great Horned Owls calling to each other in the evening. I image they are singing love songs because they should be nesting soon.  

Another reason to wish for spring is I have had a few clients say to me,  "we are slow now, contact me in spring".   As we are in this phase of winter I hope for growth and rejuvenated economy full of new projects and new clients.  Bring on Spring!

These are my images from last spring.

Changed my Address

I'm hoping this makes it easier to find me out there. I can find my Linked-in profile but not my blog. Any help?

Going public with my paintings

I first started painting when I was a child. Cute stuff like a paint by numbers of a stallion or something like that. My parents encouraged me and gave me the opportunity learn with lessons as well as touring museums. 

  Classes at our local Art Museum in Neenah were allot of fun and kept us busy during the summer.  I know I have a few pieces of "art" in my basement from that era.  In school I took art as much as I could. Knowing I had to apply this love to my working life I decided to be an Interior Designer and finished with a major in Industrial Design.  

Renderings of home interiors and new product set designs have been my "art" for my working career. Painting for fun was put on the back burner. Over the last few years I've taken more classes with a local artist I feel much more confident about showing my work. 

So here goes. Hope you enjoy! 

Check out my instructors work.   http://www.jamesmichaelart.com 

Garlic mustard

I was a "Weed Commissioner" for the town I lived in a few years ago. Purple Loosestrife, Bull Thistle, Buckthorn and Creeping Jenny were on our list of illegal weeds. One that should have been on the list is Garlic Mustard. Garlic mustard has become my spring, summer and fall yard project.

We live in a wooded area that has been invaded with Garlic mustard from the bordering park. (I have a battle on my hands because the park is covered with it) I have been carefully pulling it for the past 4 years and seeing some results but seedlings keep coming up. Seeds can sit in the ground for up to 5 years or so before germinating, so once you think an area is clear more comes up.

This weed doesn't allow the native plants such as Trillium and Wild Geranium grow. check out this web site for more info on invasive plants.

http://www.ipaw.org/

Women's Build for Habitat for Humanity

We volunteered our time to Habitat for Humanity instead of gifts 

to our bosses this past Christmas. It was great fun and now I know how to apply vinyl siding!

Women's build for Habitat for Humanity.