July 25, 2010 by kim.

We had a pretty nasty storm here the other night. It wasn’t as bad as in the Midwest the past few weeks with all the flooding and such, but it was still pretty scary. We were watching the lightning with moderate interest, and then the sky got very dark as it often does during a storm. The wind picked up, the clouds looked brown, and the lightning began. I thought it was just heat lightning at first, but then the thunder and rain came in and we decided it was something a bit more.

Sitting on the bed, we were able to watch out of our huge sliding doors at the crazy lightning. It was so bright! I had never seen it like that. I had turned to talk to Chris (Matilda was already under the bed) when I saw an orange flash out of the corner of my eye and heard a loud ‘CRRRRACK’. We both jumped off the bed shouting a common expletive (especially since Chris actually saw the lightning bolt hit), and saw that something had actually caught on fire!

Trees blocked our field of vision, but I was able to take some grainy footage with my little camera. It was dark out, but you can see the glow:

We think it might have been something electrical, as it didn’t seem to be a steady, roaring fire. Just one that waxed and waned for the next hour or so.

Still – just a little too close for comfort!

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February 27, 2010 by kim.

I thought this was supposed to be a mild winter …

During the storm:

After the storm:

Okay, Spring. Let’s go!

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December 16, 2009 by kim.

Slacker! It has been almost two weeks since my last post! I have a number of things I want to write, but I’ve been busy since Chris started working. How that applies to me directly, I have no idea, but – there it is. Since I don’t want to leave you hanging until I get my act together, here are a few pretty pictures from Central Park.

These were taken back in mid-November at the pond that I frequent:

I could sit and watch the ducks here all day:

And this one was taken last week at a different part of the same pond. I really liked the reflection:

MAN – I LOVE taking pictures!

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November 18, 2009 by kim.

I’ve been a bit busy lately, turning 35 and starting a new temp job. Wow. Two things. Really? Really. How hard is that? I am such a master of excuses …

Anyway, when I get home after seven hours of staring at a computer and two hours (one each way) commuting to and from work, I have a hard time focusing on important things like searching for a full-time job and working on my blog.

Still, I want to keep up on this, so here are a few pics to hold you until I write something more interesting …

The cake I made for myself:

Cute picture of a duck in Central Park diving for food:

Chris and Matilda before the claws dig in …

… and after:

Posted in Celebrate, Fun, Nature, Animals, Happy, Food, Observation | No Comments »

October 13, 2009 by kim.

One weekend before we moved to Jersey, Chris and I went to the Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary in Chicago. Beautiful. Gorgeous. Peaceful. I wish I could hang out there every day, all day. I got so swept up taking pictures that I was able to block out the city completely. Chris took a couple of shots of the skyline, but I focused mostly on foliage and insects.

Sign

Prairie

Flower

Trees

Bee

Black wasp

Grasshoppers

Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars

Skyline

Simply sublime!

Posted in Nature, Insects, Happy, Observation | No Comments »

September 17, 2009 by kim.

Chris and I went to the lakefront in Evanston last Saturday. Thought I’d share some pics that we took:

Do you know how excited I was to catch the birds in flight?

A flock of seagulls (I couldn’t resist)

A duck. I love ducks!

A floating pier. I started to walk on it and turned back because I felt like it was going to sink. If I’m going to walk on water, it had better be sturdy (or a miracle).

Chris took this picture of a tree that we liked. Isn’t it lovely?

Chris took this picture of me.

I took this picture of Chris.

This is Chris’s hand with his wedding ring actually on his finger! He had been wearing it on a chain around his neck for years as it didn’t fit anymore. When he was in NYC a couple of weeks ago, he took it in to the jeweler we bought it from and had it re-sized. He didn’t tell me he was doing it though. When he got back, he was pointing to something and I saw it. I squealed and jumped up and down (like a little girl), and hugged and kissed him again and again! I was so excited for it to be back on his hand!

I am so easy to please …

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July 26, 2009 by kim.

When the weather is really nice, I like to hang out on the porch with Matilda:

I had to put her on a leash because she decided one day to hop to the top of this railing and put her little paws on the cement ledge (on the left) leading around the house:

I was able to grab her before she got too far. Scary!

We do get to see our fair share of wildlife out here:

Spider

Ant

Squirrel

Sparrow

Robin

Actually, this robin has been hanging around quite a bit. There is a nest in a nearby tree, and he stops on our porch railing to tease Matilda before going to feed the baby birds.

What a relaxing way to spend a summer day!

Posted in Fun, Nature, Animals | No Comments »

July 18, 2009 by kim.

Remember that storm I posted about that blew through Chicago and drowned our car? Well, we happened upon another casualty of that storm when we were walking through Rosehill Cemetery in our neighborhood:

Chris and the broken tree

Isn’t that amazing?

Side

Top

As you can see, it was pretty rotted:

Still – that’s how forceful the storm was.

You just don’t mess with Mother Nature!

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July 12, 2009 by kim.

Back in September 2007, I wrote a post about a flower that I couldn’t identify:

I remember typing all sorts of things into Google to try and find out what it was, but I had no luck. Until now!

My Wonderful Mother-in-Law, Vernie, has a friend in Scotland named Sheila, and she identified it for me! It is … wait for it … a Passion Flower! I found a site that listed the scientific name as ‘Passiflora ‘Incense’.

Thank you, Sheila!

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June 24, 2009 by kim.

Well, we really have no news about our car yet. Apparently a large number of people brought their cars to the body shop after we had on Friday. When we talked to the owner of the shop, he said that the insurance company was classifying the storm as “catastrophic” and that it would take time for them to get through processing all the cars. Meanwhile, we’re still using our rental car, and boy – is that thing smooth. We can barely feel all the potholes that are so prevalent in Chicago!

Anyway, I thought I would share these pictures of a car we drove by in our neighborhood. We are so thankful that this didn’t happen to us:

Amazing what nature can do.

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