Weekly Photo Challenge: Comfort

Seeking comfort in the arms of the one you love…

Nothing is more comfortable than snuggling with the one you love in bed♥

Now, Listen to Thea and have yourself a Great Day!!!
~Thea

Sign up and enter your own photo for the Weekly Photo Challenge!
More info at the Daily Post here:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/introducing-weekly-photo-challenges/

Trail Camera Captures Life

I went out and checked my trail camera which is a Reconyx rc60 rapidfire HO.  I was disappointed to find out after a month the batteries had died but it’s been out since June and I was hoping for a ton of photos.

Momma Doe and her Fawn

Spotted fawn browsing the ground for tasty treats

Spotted Fawn notices the camera

Are you looking at ME?

Grooming in front of the camera

Aren’t fawns just adorable!

Young buck with his little antlers

He says ‘Who you looking at?’

The camera is “SUPPOSED” to be completely silent–I can’t  hear it when it’s taking pictures

But the deer certainly seem to hear something

I just thought this was kind of a comical picture -the deer must have been running and the camera caught it preparing to jump.

This is one kinky squirrel—in this smaller sized picture it’s a little difficult to see but he has a very kinky tail. Must have just returned from the salon or cross bred with a raccoon!

Have a great day!

Are Your Supplements Poisoning You? Hurry and Get a 24 Hour Pass to Consumerlab.com from Dr. Oz

You know how Dr. Oz is always recommending supplements to help improve our lives? Well, on yesterdays show he discussed how there are allot of manufacturers of these products and not all manufacturers are created equal. The product you’re receiving isn’t always what it says it is and it might even be harmful for you! Many were found to not contain enough of the active ingredient or not contain the active ingredient at all and several were found to contain high levels of metals and other toxic ingredients!
Frankly, I think it’s a little irresponsible for DR. OZ to recommend these supplements if he’s not going to tell us right from the start who manufactures a safe product! I know the audience and myself were completely surprised to discover we actually may be harming our bodies by taking some of the products he’s recommended having no idea that the manufacturers could be fouling what we basically thought to be all natural products.

A representative from Consumerlab.com who tested these products from several manufacturers is giving DR. OZ fans a 24 hour pass to see their findings. But once again, be aware as the fine print when you sign up for your free pass which states:
By signing up for this 24 hour free pass you’ll receive immediate access to the three reports. You agree to not reproduce or distribute the reports other than a single copy for your personal use. You will also receive our free newsletter every few weeks that provides you with updates and alerts. After your 24 hour free pass is over we’ll notify you to see if you’d like to continue with your ConsumerLab.com membership for a special rate exclusively for Dr. Oz viewers.

I think this information should be available to us all the time for free or governed by someone so we’re not taking products that may be unsafe. After all, Dr. OZ was talking about scams and why should we have to pay to find out which products might not harm us after the 24 hour pass is over.
In any case I didn’t want anyone to miss out on having the opportunity to see what products made by which manufacturers are safe for you to consume, so follow this link to sign up for your 24 hour pass:
https://www.consumerlab.com/droz-freetrial-signup.asp

Brilliantly Blue In The Fall

Today is a glorious sunny day with blue skies as far as the eyes can see.  The birds are out happily visiting the feeders and the Blue Jays have discovered my mammoth Sunflowers that grew to be about 10 feet tall and then their heads became so heavy they bowed down at their necks which was disappointing.  But the seeds must be getting ripe just the same.

That’s when I noticed another Blue bird and to my surprise 4 Eastern Bluebirds were trying to get into the house they were born in! A Morning Glory Vine had climbed its way up into the opening making it difficult for the bird to get into the house.  Oh Boy, was I surprised to see the Bluebirds though! I’ve never seen them this late in the year and yet, there were four of them flying about.  After taking a few pictures, I immediately went to my meal worm farm and collected up a ton of them to take out but of course the Bluebirds had disappeared on me again.  Now my little Chickadee’s have spotted the meal worms and are having quite the feast!

And this bird isn’t blue but it was enjoying some blue/purple berries like crazy!

And I just couldn’t leave this little Downy Woodpecker out

Weekly Photo Challenge :Sunset

The fine line between day and night as the sun sets beyond the edge of the earth.

A Bird With Attitude

Today I noticed this flashy bird displaying allot of attitude and although I haven’t ever seen it in person before I was pretty sure what it was. After looking it up in my bird book I can confirm that it’s a Carolina Wren! It’s definitely larger than the House Wrens that I normally have nest in my bird houses.  It’s a little funny looking too with it’s long tail feathers and short wing feathers! I could hear it singing it’s sweet little song as it looked in the window at me flitting about almost seeming to try and get my attention.

It’s about 5 1/2″ in size and the males, females and juveniles all look the same.
It’s a cavity nesting bird where the male & female both build the nest together having 2-3 broods a year laying 4-6 white, someitmes pink or creamy eggs with brown markings.
It mates in long term relationships, staying together throughout the year in permanent territories. The male is known to sing up to 40 different song types, singing one song repeatedly before switching to another. Females also sing resulting in duets.

But today wasn’t a day for just one new bird, oh no, I had two new birds! This tiny little bird hit my window and was knocked silly for about an hour. I went out and picked up it to place it somewhere higher up so no wander cats would find it. It was a very sweet pretty little bird who didn’t even try to to get away as I let it grip my fingers to hold on. I called my mother out to the patio and she gently stroked her finger down it’s back and with a smile said how soft it was.
After looking in my bird book I discovered it’s a Golden-crowned Kinglet and the one I was holding was a female.

Size: 4″
Males: Tiny, plump green-to-gray bird with a distinctive yellow and orange patch with black borders on the crown. A white eyebrow mark and two white wing bars.
Females: same as male but has yellow crown with a black border and lacks any orange.
The female builds a pendulous nest often made with moss, lichens and spider webs, lined with feathers and bark.
They have 1-2 broods a year
Eggs: 5-9 white or creamy with brown markings
Drinks tree sap & feeds by gleaning insects from trees
Often seen in flocks with Chickadees, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers, Brown Creepers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets.
Migration:Complete to Southern States, Mexico and Central America.

Thanks for visiting my fine feathered friends!

Seeing Spots Gotta Love Those Dots

I love fawns–they are so beautiful with their morse code of dashes and dots
From this angle it looks like a long white line running from ear to shoulder

But here you can clearly see it’s a series of dashes.  Looks like this fawn might grow up to be a buck with that antler nub above the eye.

This one was closer and definitely making eye contact with me.

This doe is standing on her hind legs to get to some tasty leaves

Dealing with Adult Protective Services

Before I begin–let me first apologize for the length but it’s a long story and I didn’t want to leave any details out.

My mother had a visit from Adult Protective Services(APS) who wanted to come into her home. My mom didn’t know who they were and wouldn’t let them in and so they proceeded to call me at my home. The woman I spoke to immediately said my mom needed 24 hour care because she wouldn’t let her in the house. The woman had lived in the same town and she said my mom should have known who she was. I didn’t know who she was and I lived there for 20 years and visit to take care of mom there constantly. I explained that mom had Alzheimers and if she wasn’t someone mom saw frequently that chances are my mother wouldn’t know who she was. The woman didn’t agree with me and we just went back and forth. I told her my mother did exactly as she was supposed to do, she didn’t let a stranger into her home just because the stranger told her she was supposed to! She ended the conversation by just saying that they would be in touch.

The very next morning, the head woman of APS, (lets call her Sally) called me and said she was going to my mothers house and if there was no one there with her she was going to remove my mother from her home. I had just woken up and threw on clothes and headed out the door. Sally arrived at my mothers house before I did and she had a police escort with her which of course terrified my mother, and when she’s upset her ability to function as normal is greatly reduced. My brothers girlfriend who helps my mom was there as she lives with my brother on the other side of my mom’s house. Sally told the officer quietly that they wouldn’t be needed and came into the house and immediately said mom had to be under 24 hour care and proceeded to drill my mother with questions one right after another according to my brothers girlfriend. I arrived moments later and my mother was so upset by then! I tried to explain that when she’s upset she has a hard time with things and everything that this woman had done was only making her more and more upset.

Sally then turned to me and I couldn’t believe how incredibly hostile she was behaving, she would ask me a question and then as soon as I started to talk cut me off or roll her eyes. I asked her what she was basing her decision on and she would just say she was basing it on the fact that she is the head of APS. I replied to her,’that’s your title, I’m looking for reasons why you say she can’t be in her home alone, with my brother living on the other side of the house?’ She repeated her title again and I felt like I was talking to a brick wall.
I finally told her that her body language alone was telling me that she is angry and is unwilling to listen to me and had already made up her mind before assessing how things were in the house or talking with my mother or myself. I then turned my attention to my mother, giving her a hug and telling her everything was going to be okay.

I asked Sally what specifically was reported about my mother which she replied they were informed about an over due water bill and that my mom was said to have trouble finding the location of the Nutrifare program and they had to prompt her to eat. I replied, the water bill was taken care of by my brother and that I didn’t believe the other two. She then asked my mom to walk her to the door of Nutrifare which mom did with no problem. When we came back to my mothers house the talking alarm clock with my voice was going off, and I proceeded to tell her of the things I’ve done to make mom’s life easier for her to stay in her own home.
I told Sally, I didn’t believe they had to prompt my mother to eat because anyone who knows my mother knows she loves to eat as long as it’s a food she enjoys. She doesn’t like white bread for instance, she likes a 12 grain bread so she doesn’t eat the white bread when they serve it. Sally asked my mom to microwave a meal for herself which she did, although normally I call her and walk her thru doing it over the phone. But I hand write out the instructions and tape it to each meal so she was able to read the instructions and do it.

After watching my mom eat her meal Sally had calmed down quite a bit and said she thought mom was okay staying in her home by herself at the moment because of everything I had put in place for her. I had told her we were planning on having her move in when Winter came anyway, I was just hoping that she could stay at her own house till then because I knew once she moved in with us over winter she wouldn’t be returning to her home. I’ve told my mother all along that she could move in with us whenever she wanted, but she wanted to stay in her own home as long as possible and so that’s what I was trying to make possible. Believe me, if I thought my mother was in any danger I would have her here in a second!

Two of my brothers then showed up, having been called by my brothers girlfriend and like a switch had been thrown, Sally’s attitude changed again. She didn’t seem angry now, but I got the impression she came in there with her guns blazing and she felt she couldn’t back down from saying mom needed 24 hour care again. I was shocked to hear her reverse what she had said only ten minutes ago. Sally then said contradicting things like, you didn’t have to be in the same room with mom or anything you just had to be here, and yet my brothers family living on the other side of the house wasn’t enough. They share the same living room wall and it’s not like you can’t hear someone make noise on the other side or anything. He’s does work during the day, but his girlfriend pops over to moms house and helps out during the days that I’m not there.
Right before she left we asked Sally about the police officer that had come with her and she said ‘she didn’t call them, didn’t we?’ and proceeded to tell us that was always her last step if needed.
Obviously we didn’t call the police, and my brothers girlfriend heard her tell the officer they weren’t going to be needed so why did she lie right to our faces? I also asked her why the APS person who called me the night before and had stated that mom should have known who she was and because she didn’t and wouldn’t let her in the house that she had to have 24 hour care. Sally wouldn’t actually admit that they were wrong to say that but instead put it that mom was right by not letting a stranger into her house.

This whole experience has been miserable. The APS is supposed to be doing what is in my mom’s best interests? I personally think her whole aggressiveness was totally unprofessional, and I don’t see how ripping mom out of her home like she was intending would have been in mom’s best interest. Given the fact they had given me less than 20 minutes notice before they were going to remove my mother from her home against her will and and only 12 hours since making contact with me at all seems illegal but how to do fight the system? The thought of how terrified and upset my mom would have been literally makes me feel sick! I have always been proud of how well I take care of my mother, and to have some stranger walk into your life and tell you they know more about your mother than you do, or that some random person that see’s my mom knows how things are for her is ridiculous. Sally left saying she’d be back to check in which means another surprise attack visit.
Since the only way I can guarantee that my mother would have someone there with her 24/7, I took her home with me that day and she’s been living with us ever since. I realize in many cases, the APS probably does help people but in my opinion, this is NOT how it should be done by any means.

The Nutty Birds

My mother-in-law gave me a peanut holder for my birds and I’ve really enjoyed watching the birds cracking open the peanut shells to get to the yummy nuts inside!

I love this little bird called the Titmouse.

This Nuthatch loves to hatch open the peanut shell for the nuts inside!

The chipmunks have been working over time filling their cheeks with seed to stock up for winter.

                          At least he stopped to say HELLO to my little straw friend

Up North Eh–It’s Heavenly!

I just returned from a much needed vacation up North in Dorset Ontario, Canada. My father-in-law lives up there year round and every summer we all rent cottages at Bunny Hollo on Rabbit Bay for a week and spend time together.

It’s about a 5-6 hour drive with eating and bathroom breaks along the way and this year for the first time we took the 407 Toll Expressway and it was SO MUCH NICER of a drive. We completely went around Toronto and missed all the congested traffic we always get stuck in! It was a total surprise to not find any toll booths on the expressway though!Apparently cameras take your picture when you get on and off the toll road and then they send you the bill in the mail.

This is the cottage that we stay in–it’s not glamorous, not even close! But it is right on the lake!
Picture from our cottage steps to the next cottage that my brother-in-law uses.
View from cottages down to lake.Although the beach front isn’t large, this place is great for people with smaller kids because this area right here has a sandy bottom that remains shallow for a long way out before getting deeper for adults.

So where the heck is Dorset you’re wondering?

Dorset is a small friendly community located on the boundary between the Lake of Bays Municipality in Muskoka District and the Algonquin Highlands Township in Haliburton County, Ontario, Canada. Approximately 400 residents live there year round but that number increases by tenfold in the summer with vacationers and cottagers.

Attractions within Dorset:

The Dorset Scenic Look Out Tower is located on a high ridge above the community and the tower offers a panoramic view of the surrounding hills and picturesque Lake of Bays in the Muskoka / Haliburton region and is open year round; although the access road is not plowed or maintained in the winter months. Built in 1967 on the sight of the original fire tower (1922-1962), the scenic lookout is open to cars from late spring until Thanksgiving. Snowmobilers can access the tower in the winter months. The tower as well as the ridge is a dominant geographical feature in Dorset as it can be seen from almost anywhere within Dorset. (In 1963 the former Dorset Fire Tower was shown in the opening credits of the old CBC TV show The Forest Rangers).
Here’s two pictures I took from out in the water on the boat:

Here’s a view FROM the scenic tower:

Dorset is home to the famous Robinson’s General Store, once voted “Canada’s Best Country Store”, owned and operated by the same family since 1921.

I love the fact that you can take your boat to go to the grocery store!!

Where’s a good place to eat?

Located on the Dorset channel is Cajun inspired restaurant, The Fiery Grill and we visit here every year! I always enjoy a Strawberry Daquiri or two while picking something delicious from their menu.

**If you like Cajun hot then be sure to give their VooDoo Pasta a try…If You DARE!!!    ;-D

Now that you have all the good information please feel free to enjoy the rest of my photos on a little virtual vacation tour:

Click on picture below and then click on slideshow button as indicated to begin slideshow. Enjoy!