25 days and feeling on course

I feel a little more grounded this morning, while I did not get the ordering done I had planned, I did get a main list of things to do started....

Playing with a loon

Hello I am the Mad-Artteacher and I am obsessively blogging about my trip to Italy!  :)  In case I have a new blog reader??  Anyway, after a nice long talk with my always calming little seester Rose, we have a plan of attack for what we are taking along. I really do feel a lot better about every thing.

Other than that, I - sort of against my better judgement- went for another kayak in the morning.  I say that because my hand and arm is a bit sore today. I have a little issue with a carpal tunnel sort of thing, and for the first 45 min. I had to stop occasionally to let my hand stop tingling.  However,
 I was lured by the water and the wildlife and the sky and the warmth further and further downstream until I decided to turn around when I got about as far as I originally planned.  After a very cool spring, the sun was just such an amazing thing to feel on my face.

Turtle on one of the stumps in the flowage

I previously wrote that I had some issues with the pictures I took on my Saturday kayak, and so I partially auto and partially manual for this trip.  And I ended up with some pretty decent shots!  There was literally no one on the water all morning, except for the flying or four-legged kind.  It was exhilarating and meditative all at the same time.

LOVELY morning

Other than that the MA and I did some gardening things and I did a lot of rearranging and repotting of plant life and things like that.  And again, against my better judgement, I did some weeding and my hand is not happy with me this morning. But it does make the flower gardens look better, and I will persist a half hour at a time.

Hello little bug

So, there is 8.5 days left at school and I need to start getting my rooms cleaned.  And I need to get my grading done.  This is the last week of school for the seniors and I am not sure they will accomplish much.  They will clean their untidy little areas of my room, and I will get back all of their art work, and finish off their final grades- hopefully tomorrow.  Today is my last Monday!  WOW, and Friday is the last regular Friday, so this is big stuff.  Any one out there want to help straighten up an art room or 3??

I better get off of here and get ready for school.  I will be wishing my Monday children a happy farewell today, and I will get leg hugs and love you from a whole lot of little kiddos and that definitely will give me joy.

 *I will be including a link to some art in Italy every day.  :)  It isn't hard to find.

Camera adventures galore

I have been a pretty busy Mad-Photographer these days.  I've gotten in a few more kayaks and a trip to Bayfield!  I have had my camera out and about and have learned a ton.

I have a nice long lens now- as seen by the wildlife shots that I have been taking lately, and just picked up a wide angle lens too. Add that to the SUPER in between lens that I own and I have a nice set up.... though I am eyeing a few others as well.  Learning all this is quite a challenge.  I relied on automatic settings a lot over the years, and the last 6 - 9 months I have been pushing myself to go fully manual.  Then with that new information appears and I find out things I never knew about- and so I have a host of other exposure and focusing things to learn and it makes me a little overwhelmed. I have gotten some amazing shots with this camera, but I am never happy with them completely. 

 Like ever.  

Then there is this Lightroom business.  Wow that is quite an awesome editing program, says Ms. Captain Obvious.  But again- learning curve!! Thank heaven for YouTube. 

Anyway, I am glad that I have had a variety of experiences to capture lately and I will do a lot of practicing on my new skills and acquiring more info that should serve me when I go to Italy in a month...  ( SQWEEEEEEE- 32 DAYS!!!)

Wild morning in Ashland

A breakwater in Bayfield

I recently had a fabulous trip up to Bayfield with my favorite Mad-English teacher, and the scenery that day was amazing.  Waves for days.  I am looking forward to more hiking and photo shooting in a few weeks when school is done.

Houghton Falls

Spring is such a great time to take photos, there is so much water in the lakes and over the falls.  And of course no more ice so the boats are in the water!

Smith Lake

Shadowy selfie

It has been a ball to go for walks, and tho it has been really cold- the positive is that the mosquitos have not really hatched out yet.  So lots of walks and weeding and all the things that the bugs can throw a damper on.

Smith Lake

Of course part of my joy and adding to the challenge of taking photos is my kayak, of which I now have 2!  So I can take friends and relatives and possibly can get a hubby into it in the near future.

Breaking in the new Kayak

I alluded to the fact that I got a wide angle lens, and this is the first (or second) shot out of the camera with that lens  I have even more ability to get big skies with clouds.

Doze clouds, doh

Butternut Lake

I also have a new kayak partner who I surely hope I can paddle with several times this season- and conveniently she lives on Butternut Lake!  And she has insights into the eagles that live there.

Butternut Lake Eagle

Ready for take off

Wide angle lens on  Butternut Lake

I love this photo- clouds, lake, kayak.... if only I could have had my bare feet in the pic, it would have been complete.

Kayaking baby!

And of course sunsets...

Nice way to end the day

I sort of dig my watermark~ the style of it is just perfect.  Love the font- I am thrilled with it.  All these techno things that make my day..... and bring me joy.  Now time for bed!  MwAH!!

What's Up, Buttercup?

 So I find myself saying these kinds of random things to kids- not sure but I think I picked this one up from The Big Bang Theory the other night.  I have, of course, heard this before, many times....

What's up?  Well I have been whining to every person I know about the ROTTEN reception that I am getting in my HS art room regarding the internet.  Not sure, but I think someone left the room when I started complaining yet again..  but ya know, if you don't say something then no one will know and then how will it get fixed??  Well, it is being worked on and that is awesome.

So it wasn't a terrific few days for my internet service anywhere, except for on my phone.  Somehow AT&T manages to come through for me.  My home internet service took a dive this past Friday, which on the one hand made me SAD.  On the other hand I managed to weed out probably 4000 photos from the computer.  Yes, 4000.  Don't judge me.  Why this happens to me only on weekends (losing service) is way beyond me, why Friday night or Saturday morning..... ideas??  eh.  Whatever.  Anyway, spontaneously the internet comes back up on Sunday night, after I had made an appt. for a service call- they said Tuesday.  I didn't get a chance to reply to an email saying I didn't need a technician, which is good in retrospect, as someone came of course today.  A GREAT Centurylink guy came to the house, after calling  me at school, to check my line, and it was fine.  However when I walked by my modem when I got home, it was down again- and phone call was made to said technician, who came to my house on his way home, and wa LAH- new modem and functioning service again.  I would like to fill out a survey and see if I can get that guy a raise.  I've had him at the house before, when he worked his magic on the outside of the house and he is STELLAR.  

Now I need my kitchen light replaced (of course this involves going to pick out a new light, and I haven't done that yet) and at least 2 dripping faucets fixed.  That would be great!  But barring miracles and lottery tickets, I will have to entice someone into the house for those little tiny jobs, perhaps with cookies??  Just throwing that out there.  Call me- anyone who wants cookies.  And can do light plumbing and electrical.....  :)

I feel super sleepy tonight again, this is coming from someone who rarely gets to sleep before 11:30.  I think the children have infected me with something.  Seriously, people.  So I have been popping zinc and I rested tonight instead of walking or lifting.  I am glad I stayed home I guess, but I feel like I am slacking.  I have to find my Vit. C too, and I suppose since I am turning back into the ghostly white girl that I am (instead of my summery pale beige), I need to pull out the Vit. D as well.  I wish I was out in the sun much of the day still....  Ahhh summer

So I did get out for some walks, and best of all took some pretty good photos on the river Sunday morning.  This getting up at 6 am on Sunday thing.  WUT is up with that??  Well, until the leaves are all fallen, I anticipate going out on the Flambeau regularly.  I am now able to get into the kayak without getting my feet wet (oh the grace that I have) and more important- I can get OUT of the kayak without falling over and getting wet.  And I don't even have my kayak buddy to hold the front of the boat while I regain feeling in my - well - until I could stand again.   I love going out there in the cold mornings and go through the mists.  It was suggested by an old friend that I play the Peer Gynt Suite on my phone while paddling, but I am able to TOTALLY bring that to mind, so all the time I have that tune going through my head.  It is a hoot.

So I am doing some serious babbling and I should get ready for bed.  It is going to take a bit to download photos and finish this, so off I go!  I hope you all can find some joy this lovely Monday night....  I have some dental work tomorrow (yay me) and then I am in wait mode for another little Oswald baby to make their appearance.  I get to be Gramma for a couple days and be there for a certain adorable little Oswald boy!  And that will be a  joy for sure.

chit chatty randomness

I will not probably be posting photos in this post either, but you never know what lies I could be telling you right now.  HA!  I am too lazy to edit photos this evening, and if I am feeling energetic enough I will be kayaking again in the morning and might have more pix.  So I will see what happens in the morning.

Ok, so I lied, photo included

I may kayak Butternut Lake tomorrow morning, early.  Because I can and it is actually supposed to be sunny, unlike today where it stayed cloudy until literally 10 minutes after I got home.  Well shoot, I just checked and it might be cloudy in the am.  sigh.  Whatever.  I am going unless my arm hurts.

Next on the random list of stuff, is I am getting my piano tuned tomorrow for the first time in several years.  The piano hurts my brain and makes my eyeball roll into the back of my head it is so out of tune.  Oy. So YAY for that.

I found a bunch of drawings I did a long time ago behind said piano.....  and some of them are ones that would fit in with my previous blogpost.  So I may photograph and update.  Who knows!  :)

I am also going to try to find a new light fixture for the kitchen, as the one I have works randomly in spite of a new switch that was put in....  and with some humid weather coming it won't work.  It is an aged thing, and I need a consistent light source.  And speaking of the kitchen, I am more than a little irritated that the handle of my new refrigerator is still not tightened properly and that I had to order a new one.  I am usually pretty laid back about things like that, but this bugs me to no end.  Not positive that Sears will get any more of my business.

Today I kayaked on the river, as was hinted at before.  A fisherman, who later apologized, apparently didn't see me and took off like a rocket, which never happens on the river.  The boaters here are so considerate.  I was well behind him, fortunately. Anyway, when I paddled by him later, he offered apologies which I graciously accepted.  He said his son told him about me being there, and he was sort of mortified.  No danger and the waves weren't too bad.  So on this trip, I get down to DeMars Bridge and was really surprised to see a whole lot of floating beer cans in the water.  I managed to fish most of them out of the water and dragged them home with me.  SOMEONE was drinking under the bridge apparently.  Seriously people, throw your litter away!!!  It bugged me a lot, they could have at least just put their cans in the cardboard box they left under there.  sigh

This is a murky photo because I took it through the dry bag.  Two of the 7 or 8 beer cans I fished out of the river....  

So school is starting Tuesday and BLAM- the temperature is supposed to be in the mid to upper 80's all week.  Thank you so very much Mother Nature.  That is just awesome. At least Labor Day will give us 2 four day weeks to sort of ease back into the swing of it all.

I didn't realize that I was edgy about so many little things!  Lol.

Between cleaning out the refrigerator and clearing off the piano, I suddenly have a pile of things to do tomorrow!  But that is ok, I will kayak and enjoy myself first and then see how much I can get finished in the afternoon.  A little fun and then some clutter clearing!  I might have to make a quick trip to the local thrift shop....

Hope your Monday has a little bit of fun and then a mission accomplished. How could the day be more joyful than that?

Best of the summer- wildlife photos and maybe some not so wild

Whilst perusing the summer photos for these posts I very much enjoyed seeing all the kinda good animal pictures that I got this summer.  I like animal pix, but I don't always have the patience to wait for the critters to stand still or come close or what have you.  A longer lens would be pretty awesome and quite helpful.

Loon on Smith Lake

But because of previously mentioned (to the point of obnoxiousness I am sure) kayak, I have been able to get a little bit closer to those creatures that hang out by navigable bodies of water.  

The Eagle who hangs out on the north side of Butternut Lake

Strange looking deer near Golden, CO (not kayaking but oh well.  Its my blog and I can go off topic if I want)

It took me a while to get the hang of the whole paddling and maneuvering the camera, but I managed.  Getting the dry bag for my DSLR was super helpful, as it is tucked down between my knees and readily available for use!

Early spring Loons with baby

I surprised this deer who was wading in the water on Smith Lake

I saw things that I never would have, because I have control over when I could get out onto the water.  And a lot of the time I was just lucky!

32 turtles, baby (Flambeau River)

The Loons on Smith, apparently doing a male domination ritual.  That was fascinating.

Really lucky!

Juvenile Merganzers (Boulder Junction area)

A very noisy young Eagle over near Boulder Junction

I was thrilled to get this shot, those blue herons are shy and flighty!

Blue heron- they are the reason I decided I need a longer lens!  :D

Mama of the noisy young Eagle as previously shown

So I had lots of good shots from the kayak, but I also found a few interesting things in my own back yard, or there abouts.

Tree toad- a very little tree toad that perched on my door's window

Tree toad that had been on my garage door and fell onto the side of my car!  Not quite so teensy

I have this guy hanging around all the time!  But there are lots of other places that I found sort of not real wild life.

Jac says hi!

This guy is always happy to see me, and the feeling is mutual!!

Mama deer and baby seen near the bike trail

I have a big old spider to add to the mix, but did not stop to shoot (as I had no GUN) the bull snake that was lying across the Tuscobia during my bike ride.  I was too busy shrieking and cursing.  I don't do snakes well at all....

Lookie the little spider I found on the horse bucket.  She's pretty cute

LOVE this guy.

The MA thinks I should try to find the Leopard frog that is lurking about the area but I didn't feel like it.  If he presents himself in the next day or two, I may add him below.  Do not hold your collective breaths.  That little sucker is fast.

Some of my best pictures of the year!  I can't wait to see what else I can get, as my adventures are not done yet.  And that gives me a lot of joy...