Memorial weekend, Saturday.............

Jason came up for a couple of days. Today he was rather busy meeting Gabby for lunch. When he got back we went for a drive. Tristen had a good day, he enjoys Jason's company. We drove out towards Empire where we let Tristen play at the park there. I wanted some pictures so thats what I did.


Gerry and Jason kept a watch on him while I sauntered around looking for birds.

I did manage to find a few birds but not much. After that we went to get some snacks. Jason wasn't hungry because he had lunch, we didn't so Tristen was thrilled to get junk food for lunch with soda, a big treat for him.

South Bar Lake

We stopped and let Tristen run up the Dunes while we watched. He attached himself to a family with 3 kids. He does that. He can always weedle his way in and is soon fast friends. So this time there happened to be two little girls about his size and they raced up and down. Talk about energy. It takes a lot to get up on that sand. Pretty soon he had joined in with their mum and dad burying one of the girls. Time to move on.....

Having found a bathroom we were all set and headed out to Port Oneida. I wanted to show Jason the beach we found there. All the lovely farms that are being preserved. It was a cool day, that was fine by me I loved it. Gerry was cold though. It didnt impede Tristen one bit and was perfect for me.

It was good to find only two cars at our steps to the beach and no one in sight.

I found Petoskey stones right off the bat. Found 7 in fact. A nice haul condidering I was not there long. The water is still high. I am not sure what the beaches will be like this summer. The ones at Glen Haven was really high last year and we didn't go down and look. I bet its still high as it's just around the corner so to speak. Maybe another nice day and we will go check it out.


The wind was blowing pretty good, so the men got cold. I could have stayed forever. So nice to be able to walk the beach without anyone else being there.
We found what seemed like a part of an old shipwreck.


Some lovely rocks from the deep, they look so pretty in the clear water

I found some critters

On the way home we saw a big flock of turkey.

It was a nice day for all of us.
Today is Sunday and we stayed home most of the day. We did go to where Gerry is working to pick up some rocks and some Trillium. The Trillium we are not supposed to pick but as the site is being bulldozed I don't care. If I can save them by putting them in my garden then so be it.

Tristen loves to go to granddads work, climb the piles of dirt and check out the machines.



Tristen is the third generation of our kids to go to where he works and play as the others did.My boys Jason and Justin and Laura, then Laura's girls. Tristens mum Alexandra, Danielle and Gabrielle. Gerry did the same thing when he was a boy. I guess its a family tradition.

One Good Man..................

Find me one good man God said to Lot. There were none but God favoured Lot and so He saved him and His family. God tells us, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There are none that are good save for Jesus Christ. So...........what does that mean in todays world? Do you know any good men? They may look good on the surface but our standards are somewhat low. If a man tells you "No I am not a good man" trust him, he knows better. So what makes a man good by worldly standards? There used to be something called Honour. What happened to that?
Young girls used to be told about their "Knight in shining armour" who would rescue them from their enemies. No one believes in that any more. Most women prefer to rescue themselves. They don't want to be hapless maidens. Well King Arthur can rescue me any time he wants.
Then there was the code of honour. Fight for right not might. What happened there? Now we send our men in to fight for oil, destroy countries so that the rich can get richer and the poor can just die. If civilians are killed, well that's just collateral damage
In the case of the Knights of old, well think what those Knights Templar did out in the Holy Land. It was not for God and England and St George because they raped and plundered and the Muslims hate us to this day. What a legacy that was.
So what is a good man? I have a relative who became a Christian, I liked him better when he wasn't. He became a know it all, condemning self richeous man. That is not what God wants for us at least I don't think so. We have to work on our own issues before we point out other peoples, but that is just my opinion. We can say when we believe someone is wrong, indeed, if we are close to that person we should do so but in a way that does not alienate them. What's the point in that. You cant save someone who wont speak to you. I believe in the power of prayer and keeping our own life as clean as we can. True that is easier as you get older. Most of the "sin" in my life went away over time. I like to believe God guided me in the right direction but in honesty most things I just grew out of. So it's hard to condemn a young person, but I can offer my advice having lived through many things. If they choose not to listen thats ok. We all have our own path to walk.

We are carnal beings who want to be loved, physically and emotionally. Its hard to suppress that desire especially when we are young. We want to attract the opposite sex, at least I did. Looking back I was no saint for sure. I think I may have hurt some people by my willfullness............but I can not say I would have wanted to be different because I would not be who I am now. I am sorry for those I disappointed and for how I ignored God's commands. I must say in my defence that at that time I had not come to the realization of what Salvation was. I also see now that I am old, how our actions do indeed resonerate through generations. What we do, effects others.

If I do have a guardian angel He is not guiding me gently like in that picture he is dragging me kicking and screaming. I am sure he has wept a river over the things I have done.
So..........what is a good man? What do I admire in a man. Strength, honesty, honour and integrity but not a prissy prude of a puritan. I believe most of those men have hidden secrets. Then again, most of us do. I like to think I am a "what you see is what you get person". A lot of people would say I am a Liberal. I really am not. I am quite conservative in my own life.I just dont think things like morals can be legislated. I think we all have a concience if we allow it to blossom. Some things are easy. Don't steal, but by golly if my child is hungry and I have no other choice then God had better show me a better way so that I can avoid temptation. I do believe that God helps those who help themselves, meaning we must not just sit and pray, but after prayer we need to take action. We just need to know what God's plan is for our life, not always easy.

A good man spends time with his family, puts them first in his life without smothering them. He can be trusted to make the right moral choices without being judgemental because what is right for one may not work for another. Above all He loves God, respects His commandaments and leads his family by example. There is right and there is wrong and then there is the area of compromise???? maybe over time we can slide more to the side of right, that is what life is to me. A journey, lessons to learn and in my case definatley a work in progress.

Our first walk in the woods........

Now that May is here we can get outside again. We asked Tristen if he would like to go for a walk, he was all for it. So as he had been very good we figured we would take him to the park and then we could walk after. We let him play for a short time but there were quite a few kids there and he was acting up.

So off we went for our first walk in the woods for this year. We were soon to discover the fire that had occured a couple of days before. Lucky the park is right near the fire station for that area and was quickly taken care of. It was very sad to see the damage and the beautiful trees that had most likely died. Although there may be some hope. Tristen was rather upset and sad about the trees. It gave me a chance to reiterate about being safe in the woods because animals live there. I can not even begin to imagine the huge forest fires they have out west. God help them this year with the drought.


In fact, just close by we found a Beaver house. I met a lady walking her dog and she said that someone told her they had seen babies.
I could see evidence of Beaver work as we walked close by. I hope the fire didn't scare them away.



We found a tepee, some one had made a little house out of branches. Was it a homeless persons shelter for for the winter or kids playing in the woods.

We didn't see much in the way of wildlife, well, with Mr Motor mouth thats usually not something we expect. Besides the bears are awake and in the area so we hear. That's OK. They don't normally bother people, although I am sure there are babies around. I have yet to see a bear. We hear about them all the time, and they have been close to my home. I always miss them,just not fair. I want pictures.
Tristen did a little tree climbing

Not too much yet in the way of wildflowers, but after this rain I am guessing a lot of things will just pop. Blossoms are out on the wild cherry trees and some mini daffodils were perky.


Some nice clear paths, that I am sure helped the firemen when they needed to get in there quickly

We heard what appeared to be Sandhill Cranes or some kind of Herons squabbling but they were gone by the time we got down to the water.


We got back to the park and Tristen found a friend this time. His name was Orion and he was with his Grandma, she was wanting to leave but she was enjoying watching them play as much as we were so they stayed for a time.



It started to get cold so we decided to leave we heard much groaning, but they came quietly and so we went home.
I will show this here, we took a short walk in the rain yesterday and saw a nice big bunny.



Its so good to be outside, I don't mind a little rain. Unfortunatley I won't shrink.

New life.......

We have a Robin nesting on our front porch again.

I hope she does better this year. Most years a Robin gives it a try on our porch. Only one that I remember was a success. Several gave up. One got its eggs stolen. Squirrels I think.

Anyway I will watch out for her best I can.
The Crows I fed last winter have nested near by, actually across our ally. I bet everyone is just thrilled. I am.......the local Blue Jay population is not happy. Last Spring we had a Blue Jay nest but the babies got killed, that really upset me.
Another nice thing happened today. Another butterfly. Last year I saw one all year, so far this year I have 3 different ones coming.


This is the other one. Taken in April


The other one that has been a daily visitor is a white one. I can't catch that one at the right time. She loves the tulips across the ally and comes to check out my garden but so far I either don't have the camera handy or, she flits away.

I am hoping to see some Monarcs this year. I have plenty of plants for butterfly. They should be grateful. I have also read of a Butterfly feeding station. I have the dish, now I need to cut up a sponge and soak it in nectar. Maybe that will bring her in.