Author Archives: makielb

well, here they are – the last four garden tomatoes of 2022. We picked these is late October when they were still green and let them slowly ripen. We’r4e hoping that one will last until Sunday, making it into 2023. I let you know if that happens. Now on to insects. A Julia and ZebraContinue reading “Some insects from 2022 and the last tomatoes from the garden”

Our day started with Susan making popovers. Candle-lit breakfast with popovers, marmalade and applesauce. As always I was up well before dawn, taking Susan coffee when the bedroom light went on. All of our Christmas decorations are in the front window. Neighborhood decorations are looking quite nice with the snow. A small skating rink withContinue reading “Christmas 2022”

It’s that time of year – the Christmas Bird Count season (CBC). This year we will be doing two. The Ann Arbor CBC on 17 December and the Whitefish Point CBC on 27 December. This should be a lot of fun, especially since we have not done a CBC since before 2019. We’re expecting aContinue reading “Christmas bird counts 2022”

Steve, Chellie, Susan and I went downtown for dinner at Amadeus then walking around downtown listening to music, watch dancing, and see the huge hoard of people. Literati on and Amadeus. Lights everywhere, and lots of people. I can’t remember the last time I saw so many people in one place. We avoided going intoContinue reading “Midnight Madness in Ann Arbor”

Here’s Susan and I in Camarillo, California last month. Hard to believe that she was a year younger then, as we joke about birthdays. Today we had a relaxing day that started with walking to breakfast at our favorite place for breakfast – Village Kitchen. What made it even better today was that our favoriteContinue reading “They say it’s your birthday”

Our day started with meeting our friend Linda at Northside Grill. I found it interesting to find that the car we parked next to had two interesting bumper stickers. The first was the “Stand with Ukraine” sticker, which we are seeing more of. The second was the “Puglia” sticker which was curious since that wasContinue reading “From Thanksgiving to Christmas in a day”

I love bats, and have been lucky to see quite a few in the US, Canada, Mexico and Central America. But one I would love to see are the “flying foxes of SE Asia. But as the human population has grown exponentially over the years these animals, along with many others are brought into closerContinue reading “Human population growth, animals and disease”

Peanuts always seems to be spot on when it comes to history. I learned about Bill Mauldin as a kid. My father had old editorial cartoons cut out from Stars and Stripes that he showed me. It’s hard to believe that my memories were from a mere 10 years after he was in the marines.Continue reading “Remembrance Day, Veterans Day Celebrations”

My father was proud to have served in the USMC during World War II. He’s #8 at the tail of the pack howitzer. I’m not sure where this photo was taken, but do know that it was in the South Pacific, possibly Guam. My father, squatted down low at the tail of the gun becauseContinue reading “In 1775 the U.S. Marines were formed”

We managed to get everything ready in the garden before the rain started last night. Hopefully, it will stop before the little ones are out tricker-treating. Whatever happens we are ready for them. If birds celebrated Halloween and were in charge of the pumpkins. More tomorrow when Halloween is done.