A dragonfly emerges

Check this out!

 

This morning a visitor brought a dragonfly nymph in for us to investigate.  It had climbed out of the lake and towards the visitor who had never seen anything like it before.  As we were telling him about dragonflies, and their love of water we noticed that it’s eyes were clouded over.  Since it had just climbed out of the water we figured it was about to do its final morph-  taking its place at the top of the insect food chain.  It would become a mosquito-eating machine.  S

 

So, we propped it up on a feather and waited…

 

We didn’t have to wait very long before its exoskeleton “ripped” behind its head.  Out came it’s new eyes and head… we were mesmerized for a good 15 minutes before  I had to tear myself away to conduct an interview.  It actually took a little over an hour before it was fully out, its wings out and dried out before it flew off. 

Busy, busy, busy

It has been go, Go, GO! Ever since I got home last Wednesday night. I'll get my last set of pictures up soon. Our flights were delayed on Wednesday so my mom and I ended up getting in around 11:30 pm. I got a few hours of sleep before getting up and preparing for a garage sale on Friday and Saturday. Memorial Day weekend was a blast!
Our garage sale was a success considering we only advertised on CraigsList and with handmade signs throughout the neighborhood. I got to meet a few more neighbors and scored some raspberry canes for our garden!
Then on Saturday night we had our families and a bunch of friends over for a BBQ and bonfire- many hot dogs and much beer were consumed.
Now, I'm busy at work conducting last minute interviews for a seasonal position. Wish me luck as we wrap it up on Friday. I have a feeling we're going to have a hard time deciding on a candidate.

Vacation- day 3

Pictures from our third day of our adventure:

Trip to Maine- day 1 and 2

Yesterday my mom and I started our trip to Maine. Yay! We flew from Minneapolis to Boston- with a connecting flight in Milwaukee. It was my mom's first EVER airplane trip. She did great! We had a little bit of turbulance on both flights, but she did fine. As the plane touched down in Boston she said "I could do this again, but I don't think I'll ever like flying." We picked up our car and made our way to our hotel in Revere, ME- about 15 minutes from the airport.

This morning we took the hotel shuttle to the subway station and took the subway into Boston. Once there we took a trolley tour. We got off to see USS Constitution and again to see Old North Church and Paul Revere's house. Here are some pictures from our day:

Do you know what kind of snake this is?

 

Simple Steps

Check it out!  We took a picture at the end of our 5K a few weeks ago in our Simple Steps shirts and now we’re on their website!

 

Simple Steps in Dakota County

Rocks

My dad loves rocks and stumps. A lot. He called me this week at work to see if we had any in the park that he could have. Today my sister and I visited our parents and when we walked up the road for dinner his eyes lit up at the site of a giant pile of dirt! We devised a plant to have my sister push him home- after we loaded him down with rocks!

Playing in the dirt

I spent the afternoon playing in the dirt and woodchips. I purchased four plants today at Gertens. They're the ones in the woodchips above. A violet, a hyssop, a false indigo and a bee balm. We also have a hanging strawberry basket. There's one little green strawberry starting to form! At the end of this season, we're going to plant it in our garden by our rhubarb.
After I finished transplanting the shrubs, I moved on to the garden. I didn't intend to put the garden until after I got back from vacation, but I was in the zone and went with it. =) In the picture below the green you see are our peas and lettuces coming up.

I can't wait to see what actually becomes food! (For us and not the rabbits...)

Nature detectives

During our hike yesterday we stumbled up on a very mysterious scene.  Johnny, Autumn and Katie investigate the scene above.

1. Downy feathers were all over the area.  There were feathers hung up in branches up high, on twigs and leaves down low. From where we approached they were on the left and right of our trail. 
2. Broken eggs littered the scene.  The eggs were large- nearly "chicken" sized and found only on the right side of the trail we approached on.
3. Hiking trails surrounded this area.  To the right of the trail we were on was the small patch of trees (where we found the broken eggs) which was bordered by another hiking trail. (The "crime scene" was essentially a peninsula of woods.)

We spent a few minutes looking for more clues.  Here's what we surmised happened:

The downy feathers belonged to an owl who had a favorite feasting spot high in the oaks tree.  It also had a favorite food, turkey eggs!  Either the owl spontaneously combusted, or was attached by something larger.  A raptor?  This attack, or combustion, happened high in the trees- which would explain the drift of the feathers.  We also thought that it was a young owl because of the amount of downy feathers.

What do you think happened?

 

a day in the park

Today was a whirlwind of a Friday.  Over lunch a small group of us went to the driving range up the road to “hit a bucket of balls”- which was a riot!  And then after lunch we met with the Natural Resource specialist for the county and visited some cool sites in the park.  We visited a Tamarack bog (probably one of the only such bogs this far south!), a gold mining pit (a shady hoax by a 1930’s landowner) and went looking for one of the oldest oaks in the park too.  Unfortunately ran out of time on the way to the oaks. 

We did however see two pileated woodpeckers deep in their spring mating ritual.  I took lots of pictures- but most of them didn’t have them both in view.  They seemed to be playing hide and go seek on the tree. 

Craving coke...

I gave up pop earlier this spring, but that's starting in the middle. Let me start at the beginning!
In 2005 I started drinking Diet Coke. My roommates all drank Diet Coke, and it was easier to throw a couple bucks into a Diet Coke pot every couple of weeks. I got used to the taste and that's what I drank until this past fall.
That's when my chiropracter was trying to figure out my afternoon headaches. My neck had been un-kinked and my eyes are fine. He suggested I switch back to regular Coke- since I don't drink that much pop anyway. The chemicals that make it "diet" can wreak havoc on our systems. So I did- and my headaches more or less went away! Sweet!
Then about a month ago, I decided I didn't need pop at all. I only drink a can of something a day- if that. (I usually don't finish an entire can.)
And then I realized how much I enjoy pop wtih a meal, or mid-afternoon at work occasionally. Especially if I don't have time to make coffee in the morning, and yes I realize this means I'm somewhat addicted to caffeine.
So, I went back on my "no pop" thing- and amended it to mean I will not buy pop in bulk to have at home. This gives me an "out" at work or at restaurants.
But even with those "outs"... I'm still craving coke.

Green roof on your garage?

Wouldn’t it be cool to have a green roof on your garage? 

http://www.roofbloom.org/

 

Dreaming of vacation

In 8 days I’ll be boarding a plane for a much needed vacation!  My mom and I will be flying into Boston and heading north to visit her brother in Maine.  I can’t wait!  This trip was also my first experience with Priceline.com… not only did I get a super cheap deal on a hotel (A Sheraton in Boston for less than $100/night) but seeing William Shatner all over their pages cracked me up!

 

a desk job

I’m not sure how it happened but I have a desk job.  I don’t even push paper- I push email.  *sigh* Don’t mind me, it’s the Monday morning blahs.

 

Coffee mugs

If you know me, you know that I leave a trail of cups and socks everywhere I go. I can't break the cup habit, I've got water bottles and cups all over the place. But I've actually gotten a lot better about socks. Although, I think I've replaced socks with tissues. Not wearing tissues on my feet, leaving them around. I know- gross.
Anyway, this morning as I was making coffee I was trying to decide which mug to use. Choosing a morning coffe mug is crucial to starting the day on the right foot. And I realized I hadn't used my clear Peace Coffee mug in a while, and that would be a great way to begin a day that included a trip to the Green Expo. As I was digging around for it in the cupboard, my blue Eagle Bluff mug slipped out, I grabbed and juggled it a bit, but ultimately I couldn't keep it from hitting the counter. =(
This was my mug for Saturday mornings with a newspaper and coffee with creamer. Rest in peace blue mug, you will be missed.