At Wrigley to see a Cubs game

Going to Wrigley Field

Looking up from my window.

John Hancock building. 100 stories tall.

View from the room. Water Tower Place.

Almost to the hotel in Chicago

Baby Barred Owl

The neighbors called at 8am this morning to tell me there was a baby owl in their front yard and he looked like he might be hurt.  So, I went and took a look.  He seemed sort of stunned and I could only see one foot, so I wasn't sure what was going on. 

 I figured one or both of the parents couldn't be far away.  All I had to do was listen for the other birds that were pretty upset that the owls were here.  Right overhead, I saw one of the parents trying to keep an eye on the baby while dodging two big crows that were harassing it.

With a parent near by, I figured nature would take care of things.  So, I went back inside to eat breakfast.  About an hour later I looked out the window and didn't see the baby.  I went out to see where it went and saw the parent still in the tree but the baby had gone across the street and was walking/hopping down the sidewalk. 

The neighbors in that area roped off the sidewalk and put up a sign saying "Baby Owl Learning to Fly. Please Use Other Sidewalk".  I checked again later and didn't see the baby owl.  I'm hoping it figured out how to use those wings and get back up in the tree.

Painting - Sips-n-Strokes Style

Kerry and I joined friends at the Sips-n-Strokes in East Cobb last night to paint and drink.  Normally, they paint using brushes, but last night was painting with Paper Towels.  This was my first time and I think I want to go back and use brushes.  Anyway, below are our paintings.  The top one is mine and the bottom one is Kerry's.  It was a great experience.   They guide you each step and provide you with the paints and canvass all for $35.  You bring your favorite beverage and a snack or food if you want.  It was fun!

Robin's Nest

We have a couple of robins that have built a nest right outside our front windows next to our front door.  Here's one of them building the nest.

We thought there were just two eggs, but we couldn't see the other two from our angle.   There are four althogther.

Mom on the nest.

No more eggs!  You can barely see little bits of gray fuzz.

Babies waiting to be fed.

Are you covered in yellow?

The pollen count this morning in Atlanta was 5,733!!!  The extremely high category starts at 120.  We are 47 times above extremely high.   From what I can tell this is a top 5 pollen count ever.  The highest was in 1999 when it topped 6,000.  It is supposed to rain tomorrow and that will hopefully wash most of it out of the air and off our cars.  However, the pollen count is taken at 7am and the rain isn't supposed to start until later, so tomorrow's pollen count could be even higher!

Here's a link to the Atlanta Allergy Clinic.  They do the official pollen count and have a chart and archives of previous months.

Pretty Tulip

Here Come The Azaleas!

The pink ones are open. The red ones are buddding and the white ones
are right behind them.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!
Spring is my favorite time of year.  My tulips are blooming, the azaleas in front are getting buds, and the dogwoods all opened up in the last couple of days.  The temps have been in the 80's, which is a little above where we should be, but OK with me.  The down side is that the pollen should be jumping way up soon, because the pine trees are getting those yellow things that end up covering everything. 

Here's the latest from my flowers in the front.  The yellow daffodils are starting to die off but the white ones are opening up.  I'm going to cut the hyacinths because they have gotten top heavy and are falling over.  They smell soooo good, like the lilacs I remember growing up in South Bend.  Below that are some pictures of the dogwoods in our neighborhood. 

My First Tulip

Here's the first one. I counted 27 more buds. All that hard work last
fall is paying off!

Cherry Trees on Campus

The cherry trees on campus are in bloom. They look great. Looks like
another week or so until the dogwoods start opening.

New Flowers Coming Up

Forget what they are called, but here's the first of about a dozen I
planted last Fall.

New Restaurant

Kerry and I went to a new local restaurant with our friends, one of which writes the Jeffereson Park Hub blog.  He posted a review of our dining experience and you can read it here.

First Day of Spring!

Spring is finally here, hooray!  Below are the latest pics of my Daffodils and another from our Camelia bush.  I love Spring in Atlanta.  There is a different color every week.  I just posted a pic that I took on my phone on campus last week.  I don't know what those trees are but they are always first.  Below is a pic in a neighbors yard, from today, of the next ones that open.  I'm not sure what it is either.  Next week should be the Bradford Pears.  Atlanta has lots of them along the highways and the buds are starting to open.  Macon, Georgia (about 60 miles south of me) has a Cherry Blossom Festival this weekend through next weekend.  So, I suppose those are about to bloom as well.  We have a row of them surrounding the campus green at work, so I'll get some pictures of them soon.

 

What is this tree?

Every year these tress are the first to open on campus and around
Atlanta. But, I don't know what they are. If you know, please tell me.

The Flowers Are Here!

Could it really be Spring?!  I really hope so, because this has been a long cold winter by Atlanta's standards.  I came home today to find my first Daffodil open.  YAY!!!  Here's the pictures along with some of our Camelia bush flowers.  They get the strangest patterns on them, but they are pretty.

Wireless Routers

Just want to put in a plug for my new wireless router and an anti-plug for my old wireless router.  About three months ago I bought a new wireless router because I realized our internet service was faster than our router.  It was a Linksys/Cisco N Ultra Range Plus (model WRT160N).  I set it up and it worked OK for a while.  Then it started getting moody and wouldn't let us connect.  It would show up as an available wi-fi network, but we could not login.  So, after three months of this and Kerry getting more and more upset (he works from home twice a week), I tried to see if I could research and see if anyone else has the same problem.  Turns out lots of people have the same problem.  Found most of them on Linksys forum pages, but nothing from Linksys on how to resolve it.  So, I gave up and went shopping again. 

This time I was looking for a router from Netgear, since that is what Comcast will lease you if you go through them.  I didn't want to add anything to my cable bill or set up an appointment with Comcast, so I went out to buy one myself.  I bought the Netgear RangeMax Dual Ban Wireless-N Router.  It wasn't quite as easy as the 1-2-3 setup as they showed on the box, but I got it up and running.  It hasn't dropped us or blocked us once since Friday night and is faster than our old one or the Linksys router.  So, I am very happy with it so far. 

Home Early due to Snow, Again!

We were sent home early today for 1-2 inches of snow.  This is our third snow this year!  Of course, by the time I got home, there is no snow on the ground at my house, but there was snow in Kennesaw.  It snowed pretty good for about 5 hours.  I think they worry more about the wetness on the roads freezing before people can get home than the actual snow.  Maybe that means we'll get to go in later tomorrow, after the temp rises above freezing.  I hope so!  Sorry no pictures, but I think we've all seen snow anyway.

Spring!? Please!?

It was in the 60's this weekend and sunny.  Felt great!  I finished all the leaves I didn't finish in the fall.

Last fall I dug up all our tulip and daffodil bulbs.  The greenery would come up but they weren't flowering anymore.  I then planted all new bulbs.  Every Sunday, I have been taking pictures as they start coming up.  Here are the last three weeks.  I'll keep updating each week.  Click on the pic for full size.

Feb  7th

Flower on Camelia bush out back.

Tulips and Daffodils in front

Feb 14th, Notice the snow

Feb 21st, today, no snow!  More sprouting.  I hope they flower!

Happy Birthday Kerry!

Today is Kerry's 46th birthday!  And, here's how he has chosen to spend it, laying in bed watching TV.  We are going to his parents for lasagna later.
Happy Birthday!

One More Bird

One more bird picture. This is a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. He's a type of woodpecker. He loves our Maple tree in the front yard. He drills a row of holes around the tree and then goes back and sucks the sap out. He only hangs out here in the winter.

Great Backyard Bird Count

This weekend is the Great Backyard Bird Count. Here's the link if you want to add your backyard count: http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/. So, I counted 15 different types of birds this morning in my backyard and probably two dozen birds at one time. I took some pictures, but they don't really like me doing that. I don't have a very good zoom on my camera so I have to stand outside where they see me. Only the brave ones will come around while I'm out there.
You can click on the pictures for a slightly bigger view.

Here's a Carolina Wren.

I think this is a Pine Warbler. He's new to my backyard this year.

This is a Red Bellied Woodpecker.

This guy wouldn't look at me, but he's a Towhee.

This is a White Breasted Nuthatch. They are the ones that walk down trees head first.

Winter 2010

Well, winter just won't go away here in Atlanta. This time of year, we should have highs in the mid 50's and lows in the mid 30's. Instead, we had our second snowfall. This time we got 4"! That's a lot for us. However, it was beautiful to look at. It was that heavy wet snow that sticks to everything. Here are some pictures from Friday night, while it was still snowing and Saturday morning when the sun came out. Cick on the pics for a bigger view.