Author Archives: makielb

After leaving Whitefish Point this morning we headed to Huron County Michigan to see if we could find the Variegated Flycatcher that has been there for the past ten days. Sightings have been on Wallace Rd., near Port Austin. Recently they have all been before 9AM or after 3PM. We arrived at the site shortlyContinue reading “Seeing a stray flycatcher in Michigan”

It was a rainy day at Whitefish Point. That gave me the perfect opportunity to get caught up on posting some sketches. The prompt for October 17th was “salty.” So I drew a seashell that Susan picked up last February on the beach in New Smyrna Beach. The prompt for October 18th was “scrape.” ThatContinue reading “Inktober – batch five”

Before getting to some drawings, there are two photos from the web. This is one of Olympia in Detroit. I had the pleasure of seeing many Detroit Red Wings games there. I saw one professional lacrosse game there when Detroit had a team. Finally I went to several concerts there including seeing Blind Faith, (withContinue reading “Inktober – batch four”

Wow, 18 inches of snow south-west of Marquette, but almost none at Whitefish Point. It was an interesting fall snowstorm. Now, on to some drawings. The Inktober prompt for October 8th was match. So I did a “match” of two people’s hearts. October 9th prompt was “nest.” Here’s a quick sketch of a Palm WarblerContinue reading “Inktober – group three”

It was a beautiful morning, albeit with threatening clouds that started producing rain soon after getting home from a walk. Now on to some sketches. October 4th the theme was scallop. My question is dinner or a shell? So, my feeble attempt at combining dinner with a meal, including lemon and garlic. October 5th themeContinue reading “Inktober – batch two”

Our day started in the dark with a beautiful look at the Moon. Then it was off to an early breakfast. A restaurant that we had not visited before. A highlight for me was being able to get cheesy grits that were quite good. It was also nice to have time to chat with ourContinue reading “A beautiful Sunday with friends and birds”

Susan canned diced Roma tomatoes last night. We still have some 20 pounds of green tomatoes that are waiting to ripen. When they do they will become either diced tomatoes or tomato sauce. Two of the raised beds have had the plants removed leaving only a few marigolds. Here are the last of the tomatoesContinue reading “Putting the garden to sleep for the year”

Our nephew Nick was married last night. What a wonderful celebration. Here they are, Nick and Carlie. It was a perfect evening with a full Moon. Great music, dancing, food and drinks. You couldn’t as for better. Today we headed to the ocean looking for birds and plants. The few shore birds \that we sawContinue reading “A wedding then a day with birds”

Right now our gardens are down to mostly flowers, some non-native, like nasturtium; others like the New England aster are native. There are still a few hot peppers and lots of green tomatoes. Susan is canning green tomato chutney again today. And in the future I will be canning pickled jalapeños and making another batchContinue reading “Season of the witch!”

A the end of October I’ll be celebrating Dia de los muertos, “the day of the dead.” Montelobos is a favorite mescal that I can fortunately get in Ann Arbor. I learned about this celebration in Mexico. Anything that happens in the U.S. or Canada pales in comparison to how it is celebrated in Mexico.Continue reading “October 2022”