Sweet and Savory Bacon Twist recipe from The Detroit Free Press

I want to try this recipe, they look pretty yummy!

Transient: A Film by Dustin Farrell

I hope everyone had a good Christmas today. It was quiet at my house, and sadly, we didn't get any snow, it all hit down south of us in Seattle. I have been meaning to post this Vimeo video that was on Colossal.com on December 5th, but have been so busy getting ready for the holiday's that I didn't have time to get on the computer until today. I hope you enjoy it, I love a good storm time-lapse video in case you hadn't noticed. Happy New Year!

3 D Zoetrope on Colossal.com

I love Zoetropes and there was a recent article on This is Colossal.com about a DIY kit to create your own - check it out.

 I haven't posted a lot this year (obviously). When the weather is nice I have been outside working in the garden. When the weather turns cold and wet, I tend to be a couch potato and end up doing all of my web surfing on my phone. I end up not posting much personal stuff, just the fun things I find. Believe me there is a lot that I think about and have personal feelings about that is going on in this world, but because most of what is going on is so bad I have avoided getting on my soap box here. I'm doing okay, and getting ready for the holidays.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

80 Foot Steel Kraken on the Kodiak Queen

So it's obviously been quite a while since I posted. I worked a lot in the garden this summer because it was so warm and beautiful, but that meant that I wasn't on the computer much. Here is something from Colossal.com that I hope you enjoy, and a link to the full article. 

Timelapse Video of Thunderstorms by Chad Cowan

As usual, I found a great video over on This is Colossal.com that I hope you enjoy just as much as I did. I love the Great Pacific Northwest, but I really, really miss the thunderstorms of the Midwest. Growing up in Michigan, it was one of the best parts of summer, except for when the cable would go out as a result! Chad is on Instagram, and I just started following him, because I don't want to miss out on anything new.

Memorial Day Weekend 2017

Mike Luckovich - May 26, 2017

Nothing major to report, I am enjoying the beautiful weather we are having for this Memorial Day Weekend, which is warmer and drier than what we normally get. The flower beds are coming along, my Honeysuckle Vine is just starting to bloom, and the Delphiniums I planted last year are coming along nicely.

Last weekend I got a single light pink blooming Peony, and am probably going to start digging a spot to plant it this weekend. I also got a pink Salvia and planted that in the back with the goal of attracting more Humming Birds, and it's working already! The Sweet Pea seeds I started in doors did well, and I planted those several weeks ago, and am continuing to try and train them up the bamboo stakes. I have some Lupines I started from seed as well, but not early enough. They are definitely too small to bloom this year, but I am hoping they grow and develop into nice healthy plants for next year.

Happy Easter 2017

We had a pretty nice day today. It was good for me to have a relaxing day after working hard at home the last week or so, on top of a stressful two weeks at work.

I got two more everbearing strawberries to add to the three I got last summer. They really took a beating this winter, but I'm hoping they rebound.

I also got a Veronica "Georgia Blue" ground cover that I couldn't resist because of the color. I planted it in the corner near one of the rosebushes - we'll see how that works.

I'm so thrilled my Firespray tulips came up successfully - they did not disappoint. I also am really enjoying the Violets that were already here around the house. The colors are all beautiful!

Spring 2017

We had a chilly but mostly sunny day today, the last day of winter. I'm happy to report that it looks like the majority of what I planted last year survived our rough winter. I'm extra excited because the tulips I planted are all coming up - this will be a first for me.

Yesterday when I was waiting to catch the bus into town around noon, three Trumpeter Swans flew right overhead. So cool. Here is a picture of the day lilies from the last week, and today's Mutts comic strip, enjoy!

Ice Cream

Pickles - February 23, 2017

Today's Pickles comic strip so totally makes me think of my Dad ☺ Ice Cream was a unifying force in my family!

Sunny Skies

The view out back today when I got home from work.☺

February Storm

There are still large patches of snow around my house as of today, but thankfully all of the ice that resulted from the freezing rain is gone. It started last Friday and was a brutal week. Snow, freezing rain, bitter cold and wind and it came in three rounds. Lots of tree damage in the county including where I live. In the midst of the snow last Sunday where these huge Robins.

The Human Race

Photo by @paleyphoto (Matthieu Paley). "We hate because we are taught to hate. We hate because we are ignorant. We are the product of ignorant people who have been taught an ignorant thing which is that there are 4 or 5 different races. There are not 4 or 5 races, there is only one race on the face of the earth, and we are all members of this race, the human race. But we have separated people into races so that some of us can see ourselves as superior to the others. Maybe we thought it would work, but it hasn’t... it has been bad for everyone. There is no gene for racism, there is no gene for bigotry. You are not born a bigot, you have to learn to be a bigot. Anything you learn, you can unlearn." Wonderful and clear words by Jane Elliott. In our lives as photographers, we have the incredible luck to frequently be exposed to cultures, beliefs and lifestyles that are often wildly different from our own. I can honestly say that there is nothing more enriching. Happy New Year everyone! @natgeocreative #JaneElliott #discrimination #racism #prejudice #openminded

A photo posted by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Jan 6, 2017 at 5:08am PST

Every day I am upset, angry, frustrated, you name it, with our new president. I am not only all of those things and more with him, but also with the folks who blindly excuse all of his behavior.

I was watching a segment on NBC Nightly News late last week with Gabe Gutierrez interviewing some Trump supporters and asking them what they thought towards the end of his first week in office. The subject came up of the impending Muslim ban, and the response of one woman in particular really made me want to scream. She was talking with an accent that was definitely not native to any region of the U.S., and she was saying that she supported the ban. She went on to state that she didn't want people coming to America and bringing their different cultures. I about fell of my chair!

I am so sick of the people who either directly came from other countries, or whose ancestors came from other countries saying that we should be banning anyone! Just because you or your grandparents got to America before now doesn't mean that you have more 'right' to be here. The only group of people that even remotely have the right to complain about 'foreigners' are Native Americans. I'm wondering if that woman eats tacos, egg rolls, or pizza, because honey, those didn't originate in 'Merica. 

What's happening right now goes against everything this country stands for and has been since it was founded. One week in office and look at the damage he has done.

Women's March Bellingham

Women's March Bellingham

Yesterday for the first time in my entire life, I attended a march. When I first heard about the Women's March I knew I should go, but I didn't know exactly why. But the more I thought about it, and read about the gal in Hawaii who got the ball rolling on her Facebook page, I knew that I had to go because there is strength in numbers; in this case that ended up having more than one meaning for me.

Strength in numbers not only to send a message to the new president, but also the whole country, and really the whole world. The message that he doesn't speak for millions of Americans when he spews his hateful, sexist, and racist rhetoric. That he doesn't speak for us when he denies climate change, and mankind's role in it. He doesn't speak for us when he wants to ban Muslims and Mexican's.

We had to send the message that he does not represent what the majority of Americans think. He doesn't have our best interests at heart when he wants to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act. And he is an affront to all women the way he makes it quite clear that a woman's only value as a person is her physical beauty. He is the embodiment of the attitude that a woman is only here for man's pleasure, and that man has the ultimate control of her body.

The other way that I didn't anticipate that strength in numbers was important, is that my being part of that crowd, let me know that I am not alone in this fight. And that's what it's going to have to be. We are going to have to fight him every inch of the way from making our lives worse, not better. Yesterday was a call to action, and at one point I let out what amounted to a war cry.

I was so encouraged by seeing just as many men as women at the march. Entire families, and generations. Experiencing the energy of that crowd, and knowing I am not alone in my disappointment that such a horrible human being actually got elected to president, was just what I needed. Knowing that I am not alone in this is going to help me face the next four years. And it's obvious already that they are going to be tough ones. So unless that idiot starts World War III, then hopefully we will still be around in another four years to keep progressing as a nation, rather than going in reverse.

Key & Peele

If you are like me, and dreading the next four years under our new orange president, I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Happy New Year 2017

Kitty Collage

2016 Wrap-Up

December 31st 2016

Boo & Munchkin - January 1st 2017