Not An Ugly Duckling!

Joe Bottino’s had a picture in the paper on Monday of three geese and a mallard walking towards one of the two ponds in his pasture on Goodrum Road here in Vicksburg. “That’s not an ugly duckling; that’s a pretty mallard,” Joe said. All four are males and he is looking for a female to keep them company, but has not been able to find one yet in our great wild outdoors! Charming, Just Charming! (Meredith Spencer*The Vicksburg Post)

My Pretty Lilies

Wanted to share my beautiful lilies with you. I received a lily plant about two years ago around Easter time and I put it in a big container in the backyard. It started blooming this past Sunday. I'm really looking forward to enjoying my pretty lilies!

Molly

My daughter, Debra, and family owns this calico cat named Molly. I did not know that most calico cats are female. A calico cat is not a breed of cat, it is a color pattern. To be called "calico", three colors must be present: black, white and orange. Variations of these colors include gray, cream and ginger. A "true" calico cat has large blocks of these three colors, a "tortoise shell" or "tortie" cat has a mix of these three colors (blended/swirled together more than distinct blocks of color). Can a calico cat ever be male? The answer to that is yes...in rare instances but are usually sterile. Molly was very cooperative in letting me take her picture yesterday in our great outdoors. Charming, Just Charming!

Motherhood in The Animal World

This baby moose was born in the middle of downtown Naubinway, Michigan. A lady said that in her 33 years in Michigan 's Upper Peninsula, she had never seen a new-born baby moose. She said this one was not even a half-a-mile from her home. The mother picked a small quiet neighbor and had her baby in the front yard just off of US 2, at 5:30 a. m. She and her husband Allen were out bike riding when they came upon the pair. The lady across the street from this house told them that she saw it being born. She said they saw them at 5:30 p.m. The little one was only 12 hours old and stated what an awesome place they live in to see such a site!

Before I Was a Mom

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when

I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I did't know that something so small could make me

feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes

to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,

the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn ' t know I was capable of feeling so much,

before I was a Mom.

Introducing Eilley In Real World

The new Dad, Bradd. with his beautiful daughter! She was born May 6, 2009, at 10:04 p.m. and her name is Eilley Reya Mylen. She weighed 6 lbs. 3.5 ounces, full head of dark hair, cute little nose and mouth, and 19 inches long. Eilley is now home with her parents in Santa Fe, NM.

Happy Birthday Karen!

Today is Karen, my step-daughter's birthday. Here she is with her Dad, my husband, Bob, last November at our deer camp at Hwy61N Hunting Club. I took this picture on the backside of Bob's cypress (on the ground) boxed deer stand. Karen lives with her husband, Ron, in Santa Fe, NM and they just became grandparents for the first time when Eilley was born on May 6. She will have a big Mother's Day celebration with her daughter, Jessica, being a Mother now. We are all wishing Karen a very special Happy Birthday!

Announcing A New Family Member!

Jessica and Bradd are the proud parents of a beautiful girl! She was born May 6, 2009, at 10:04 PM. Her name is Eilley Reya Mylen. She weighed 6 lbs. 3.5 ounces, full head of dark hair, cute little nose and mouth, and 19 inches long. Eilley is rooming in with Jess and Bradd at St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, NM. Jessica is Bob's granddaughter and my step-granddaughter. Bob and I are great grandparents again with Eilley being the first girl. We have two great grandsons already, Ian and Tidus. As soon as I get a picture of the new baby, I will post! Congratulations to Jessica and Bradd!

Great Yard Sign

Turkey's From Maine

Dale is one happy hunter with a nice turkey!

Ean with his turkey taken with a bow!

My good friend, Linda "Sunshine," sent me some pictures the other day via e-mail of her daughter, Ashley and husband, Bob and their turkeys that they harvested from the same ground blind on opening day. (Last year I had a write up on Father and Daughter getting a turkey together) Linda, who is a hunter also, lives with her family in Mount Vernon, Maine. I met her through a forum years ago at bowhunting.net and we have remained friends since. She also sent me a picture of Ean Laflin who got his tom turkey with a bow and of Dale's nice turkey he took this past Tuesday. Looks like all the hunters so far have been very successful this turkey season in our great wild outdoors! My congratulations to all!

Fantastic Nature Shots!

Some of you may have seen these and some of you may not have. Great pictures and wanted to share them with you!

Friendship!

Two years ago today, Bob and I met Rex Howell, his fiancee, Denise and his family for the first time. We were invited to meet up at his deer camp called the Christmas Place Plantation and Hunting Club on a Saturday morning. The camp is about an hour and half due northeast of Vicksburg in the Mississippi Delta. Since that time my husband and I have enjoyed the friendship of all his family and friends. Here we are standing in front of one of many Indian mounds on their property. We had so much fun riding around the camp on 4-wheelers and gators that day. It was the beginning of a wonderful friendship that my husband and I hold dear and feel very fortunate to have met such a nice man. Rex came to my website from a forum back on January 29, 2007 and signed my guestbook and it took off from there. I had even lapsed on my blogging and he encouraged me to keep blogging and soon became my mentor as well. Bob and I think the world of his family and we look forward to many more fun times together and our continued friendship. Thanks Rex!

Rex with his Dad, Hershel "Chief" Howell

For The Big Screen

Candles illuminate tombstones at the National Cemetery last Friday night during the filming of a new visitor center movie for the Vicksburg National Military Park.
~The Vicksburg Post~

Last Friday night, April 24, 2009, a new documentary was being videotaped at the park of monuments and of the National Cemetery. It was expected to be available in January. The film will document city life during the Civil War and the 1863 battles and siege that helped turn the course of the war. When completed it will be shown at the Vicksburg National Military Park visitor center. The current movie has been running since the 1970s and often had failed to hold the interst of park visitors, park chief historian Terry Winschel said.

The new film is being produced by Northern Lights Production of Boston, which has been making documentary films sine 1985. Among Northern Lights credits are films about Mount St. Helen's, Lassen Volcanic National Park, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Little Rock Central High School and Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut. Segments of the film will include Miliken's Bend re-enactments and will be shot in and near Richmond, VA., where crews and re-enactors will film next month.

Friday night's cemetery scene featured about 250 luminaries place in front of headstone. Nine scouts from Richard Van Den Akker's Boy Scout Troop 76 helped set up and light the candles, which were placed in glass holders rather than in paper bags with sand, as luminaries usually are.

In 1999, luminaries were on every grave for the 100th anniversary of the park's founding. Luminaries are a nice way of remembering the veterans who died, and they wanted to replicate what was done in 1999, but the effect they wanted was better with candles in glass.

The public could watch from a distance, but was asked to stay out of the way of the film crew. My daughter, Debra and granddaughter, Lucy, just happened to be in the park Sunday as they were at the Cairo Museum filming. She said it was very interesting to watch them make a movie and a nice treat for my granddaughter!

Blonde Ordering Food

Lucy at LA Circle

The last picture before we left the Louisiana Circle around 7:55 or so.

The clouds looks like a giant mushroom or tornado.

Lucy on The Widow Blakely cannon by the bridges at Vicksburg while a towboat is passing by.

This picture is a little blurred of Lucy by the LA Circle Sign.

Lucy sitting on The Widow Blakely cannon near the MS River at Vicksburg.

Sun setting behind the ominous clouds.

Lucy on top of The Widow Blakely.

On the way home from dropping Grandpa Bob off yesterday evening, Lucy and I noticed how big the sun was setting to the west. I did not have my camera with me so I had to run by the house to grab it. We got there to late to get a picture and the sun had already settled down behind the huge clouds. It looked liked a big thunderhead cloud had formed but we did not have rain in the forecast. She really had a great time playing at the Louisiana Circle while I took pictures of her.

The Kitten and The Bird

Friendship isn't about who you have known the longest....but about who came and never left your side.