Author Archives: makielb

I noticed that when we put up a photo of Camilla and Oscar near the back door we used a Yoda magnet. The kids would love to hang out with him. My favorite breakfast – toasted rustic Italian bread with tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, arugula, some olive oil, salt and pepper. Sometimes I will do thisContinue reading “Silly fun and breakfast”

By the end of next week we will be visiting friends in Florida and seeing a lot of interesting birds, plants and more. All of the drawing today were done in the 1990s and were beirds seen in Washtenaw County, Michigan. Whenever a Cattle Egret shows up in the county or nearby there is alwaysContinue reading “Thinking about traveling, seeing and drawing birds”

Let’s start with the past. Back in the 1960s I went to Clippert Middle School. I knew that the school was built on the site of the old Clippert Brick Company. Last year we were talking about Detroit with our friends Mike and Linda and I mentioned the name of the school. Linda said, thatContinue reading “Dinner and the past”

On our way to get KN95 masks from the county we passed the closest “weed” shop to us. I have now collected quite a few images of marijuana related ads, billboards and shops. Just documenting the start of a new industry. As we passed the neighborhood gas station where we usually get gas I realizedContinue reading “The virus, gas prices and more”

Today and on Saturday Washtenaw County is giving free KN95 face masks to people. We will be heading over to get ours. We already have a couple each, but more would be better. I am also thinking about Camilla and Oscar and how much fun we had in Eugene. And with a lot of timeContinue reading “Feeling good and getting more masks”

“Bad news – you failed your test.” “Darn.” Maybe next time. Maybe one will show up in Florida in two weeks. Happily, more later.

A beautiful cold (5F) morning in Ann Arbor. But not much nearby for birdwatching. Bert and his bird friends are resorting to spider watching! In January, 2019 I walked around the Eastern Michigan University campus photographing various buildings and statues that I regularly passed going to teach. I was anticipating retiring later that year. ErinContinue reading “Oh baby, it’s cold outside”

As was typical, our day started with sunrise and breakfast. Penny’s Kitchen is a great place to eat, and I love their sense of humor. Heading south towards Rudyard in search of White-winged Crossbills we stopped at feeders. This one had Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers. Thanks to a text from somebody that we helped toContinue reading “Sault Ste. Marie to Ann Arbor, a busy day”

We started the day with breakfast at Frank’s Place. Then it was off to search for birds. If you look under the left feeder you can see the tail of a cardinal. There was a male and female cardinal at these feeders, but never when I was taking pictures. Cardinals are not typical in theContinue reading “Looking for waxwings”

Our day started with a veggie breakfast bagel and coffee. Then we were off in search of Gray Jays. Hulbert Bog has always been one of my favorite places to visit in the Upper Peninsula. The bog part of Basnau Road is only about 2 miles long, but can be interesting in all seasons. ThereContinue reading “Sault Ste. Marie to Hulbert and back”