Author Archives: makielb

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”

Our day started with a nice walk photographing plants and an occasional non-plant like this spider (close up of the spider on the left, me taking a photo with my phone on the right, thanks to Susan.) The rest of the day was getting ready for a party that Candy and Jim were hosting forContinue reading “California day-3”

The Moon last night was pretty amazing. Its nearing Full Moon, the perfect time for a wedding. We were getting the patio ready for a dinner for out of town guests. This will include a lot of guests from Canada. Birds in the yard are quite nice. California Towhee on the left and Pacific WrenContinue reading “California, day-2”

Left Detroit early this morning heading to Los Angeles. Leaving the low clouds in the Great Lakes getting to the Rockies. Here’s one of the reasons that there are water issues in the west – farming in the desert. Arrived in Los Angeles for a few days for our nephew Nick’s wedding. More tomorrow…

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”

House plants are now back in the house, just before the temperatures dipped below 40F. Green cherry tomatoes have become green tomato chutney. There’s probably enough to last until next summer. Last of the Roma tomatoes, slowly ripening and will become a last batch of tomato sauce. Green chilis that will be dried and jalapeñosContinue reading “Slowly emptying the garden for the year”

Day-1 “Gargoyle.” This guy sits on a shelf near where I am writing, along with about ten others. Usually I’ll sketch something then ink it in.I have found that with age and neurological issues my hands are not a steady as they once were. Regardless, I am having fun with some new fine tipped pens.Continue reading “Inktober first drawings”

I’l try to see what I can do with this. It should be interesting. Obviously I won’t be posting something every day, since it’s already the second. I’ll try to post some drawings 2-3 times a week. We watched the actual event last week. It’s the only time that the folks watching the event wereContinue reading “Getting caught up for the week”

First – yesterday the Charles Schulz Peanuts stamps came out. They cover first class letters. Now on to A night with moths. Susan was asked to do an evening presentation about moths at the NAP (Natural Areas Preservation) office in Ann Arbor. We started setting up sheets around 7PM. It took about 15-20 minutes toContinue reading “A night with moths”