Twins to Triplets to ????

Yes my duck has been actively laying eggs this week. The latest picture with seven eggs was taken this morning. I have found out that the eggs will take 28 days to incubate from the time she stops laying eggs and starts to sit on the nest regularly. So far she is still leaving the nest and seems to be adding bedding materials as well as more eggs. I have also read that a normal nest may contain as many as 12 eggs.

April 23 AM

April 23 PM

April 28


April 29

Wonderful Wedding Weather

Our weekend away was so much fun and to add the nicest April weather was a real bonus. The church in Dayton was spectacular, as were the rehearsal, the wedding and the reception. We even got to spend some Sunday time with Bob and Bev and the newlyweds before rushing home for golf-a-rama at Belmont. My camera is still fritzing so my best shot of the weekend isn't great but it shows off the church and our friends.

My duck eggs are still intact and the mother has even beefed up the nest to hide the eggs a little better. I am doing some research on how long duck eggs take to mature and what the biggest predator in this area would be.

I love taking pictures

Yesterday while working in the yard I noticed a female duck hanging around the backyard. I shoo-ed her away and then noticed that there was a nest with 2 eggs in it by the garage. I took a picture and decided I would have to be nice and let her finish her project. Later in the day while I was mowing the backyard I noticed she had returned and was sitting on the nest. She did not like it as I drove the John Deere past her but she did not leave the nest. After I finished mowing and cleaning up she again became skittish and flew away. I looked into the nest and what a surprise to now see 3 eggs. I got the camera out again to document my discovery. What fun now to see if we can deliver baby ducks into my scrapbook of pictures this year. Keep watching.

Picture taken at 11:07 AM

Picture taken at 11:08

Picture taken at 2:30 PM

Earth Day a day late

Jessica has a daily calendar with a green tip every day and she shares it with me. It has been our goal this year to get a little greener and surprisingly there are many ways that take little effort. Of course recycle and re use is one of the best things we all can do to help our planet. Here is a list of the time it takes for some common items to decompose in a landfill.

Glass bottle 1 million years
Monofilament fishing line: 600 years
Plastic beverage bottles: 450 years
Disposable diapers: 450 years
Aluminum can: 80-200 years
Boot sole: 50-80 years
Styrofoam cup: 50 years
Tin can: 50 years
Leather: 50 years
Nylon fabric: 30-40 years
Plastic film canister: 20-30 years
Plastic bag: 10-20 years (???)
Cigarette filter: 1-5 years
Wool sock: 1-5 years
Plywood: 1-3 years
Waxed milk carton: 3 months
Apple core: 2 months
Newspaper: 6 weeks
Orange or banana peel : 2-5 weeks
Paper towel: 2-4 weeks

There are many items on this list that are now being recycled into alternate items. Last night I was at a preview for the new children's zoo and the entire exhibit has a green theme. The shingles on one of the housings were made from recycled diapers and rubber tires. The wooden structures were made from a material straw based which is a quicker renewable resource for building than trees. The list went on and on about how we can re use some of the items that are polluting our planet. We just need our eyes opened sometimes. Earth day is a good time to see how each of us can make a difference.

Monday rainy mondays

As we quietly wait for spring the weather keeps tricking us. It was beautiful Saturday and we played golf and partied with friends on their deck afterward. Then Sunday dawns with cooler temperatures and rain. And it is still raining today. The weather should start improving tomorrow and the forecast for the weekend is great. We are going to enjoy being with friends at a wedding in Dayton. Beside enjoying the wedding we will be finalizing plans for "the guys" 60th birthday trip. This is an amazing group of Steve's friends that met in grade school and high school and have maintained contact since. Jools doesn't quite qualify as one of "the guys" but she has been there as long as any of them. The rest have added wonderful spouses along the way and sometimes it is more like being with family than friends when we are together. Where ever the 60th trip takes us it is sure to produce many memorable moments.

April 15th....Hmmm Tax Day???

Yes that was my project today. And it is in the mail... the application for an extension that is. When your K 1 comes in late, filing an extension has become the norm. We get to extent that lovely tax season. I think we have until October now.

Spring is trying to appear in Ohio but with over an inch of rain warm temperatures will not be enough to get the golf course in shape for play until Friday or Saturday. The plans call for golf this weekend but ...hopefully.

I have started my research on cameras and I have actually missed trying to take a picture a day. What a perfect excuse to continue this resolution for next year.

Really looking forward to next weekend in Dayton. A wedding of the daughter of one of Steve's high school group. It will be so much fun to be with such good friends,

Happy Easter

It is a beautiful day and we are enjoying having our family together for the weekend. We were happy to see the weather be rather Augusta like for our entertaining during the Saturday broadcast of the Masters. The weekend has been a perfect combination of fun, family and reflection.

Thursday and the Masters

It was fun today to have Jessica home and be working on the Masters Party which we are hosting on Saturday. We did some running around and then ended up at Jesi's. Aunt Jessica loved seeing her favorite nephew and my heart was melted when AJ saw me and ran to me saying Hi Gramma...pick me up. I just love that little guy. He makes me smile whenever I see him. I am working on a diabetic Easter basket which has been somewhat of a challenge. While there are suger free candies they are not the fun easter basket kinds of candy. I have been leaaning more toward activity things like sticker books and paints. Also at Halloween I found little containers of Play-Doh. I wonder how Jesi would feel about a baby chick???? More pictures this weekend I promise.

watching basketball

What a great week in sports. Michigan State playing in the NCAA championship game and Thursday the Masters starts in Augusta. The snow in Toledo this morning was the only downer. Spring just can't get here soon enough.

MSU Basketball

We watched the game on Saturday night and it as so much fun to see MSU run UCONN into the ground. Great for the big ten too but how did MSU lose to OSU??

Waiting for a shot like this

Click on the picture to highlight. My dad sent me this shot from a Florida road.

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A broken camera

With a new year resolution to take a picture a day I have done well for 3 months. However my digital camera is not behaving well. I thought it might just be an old media flash card but alas a new card has not solved the problem. I do have a back up camera in my cell phone and I think that I will have to use that to take pictures until I can figure out what kind of new camera I will request for my upcoming birthday. I did promise to post a couple of pictures from Jesi's new house but most of the ones I took did not turn out. What I have are below and you can see the quality is lacking.

Jesi and Steve in the great room with the fireplace.

AJ's toy room

Kitchen