ABCs of Me

The ABCs of Me is an idea that is from Swap-Bot. The goal is to include at least one thing you like for each letter. 

A - Aspen (dog), Autumn, Art

Aspen 

Autumn Leaves

B - Butterflies, Baking, Bird Watching

Bird Watching 

(Yellow-Rumped Warbler - 2008 was the first and only time I saw this type of bird)

Two Monarch Butterflies that We Raised

C - Cooper (dog), Coloring, Constellations, Cardinals

Coloring - mandala I did in 2012.

Cooper looking at the birds at the bird feeder.

D - Danny (dog), Deviled Eggs, Deer, Desserts

Danny by the woodstove

Deviled eggs and Jello eggs for Easter one year.

E - Elephants, Eastern Chipmunks, Eagle

Chipmunk on the Gunflint Trail.

Eagle in Seward, Alaska.

F - Family, Farm, Fruit, Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice

This is the last family picture we had before my dad died.

It was taken on October 9, 2011, at the nursing home. 

My sister, brother, and me - plus all our children are here

along with my parents. 

Although you can't see the house and garage, this is part of our farm.

The back part has a nature trail (pathway), and the 

west side has a pond. It's almost 10 acres.

G - Grapes, Grass - especially freshly mown, Gardens, Geese, Grand Marais

Freshly-mown grass and the backyard butterfly garden.

Olivia is standing behind it since she and I worked 

a lot on this garden together in 2020.

Grand Marais harbor with the lighthouse and a sailboat.

H - Handbell Choirs, Harp, Home

Our home is tucked behind the pine trees.

Sophia played in the handbell choir recital in December 2021.

I - Ice Cream, Ice Cream Cake, Ice Cream Sandwich

On my dad's birthday many years ago.

I made an ice cream dessert that my mom used to make with

bananas, ice cream, and homemade chocolate sauce.  

Homemade ice cream that Sophia made.

J - Jim (brother), Journaling

A couple of entries from my nature journal.

Jim with his new puppy, Bear.

K - Kayaking, Kangaroo, Koala

Holding a koala in Australia in the 1990s.

Feeding kangaroos in Australia in the 1990s.

L - Learning, Lions, Land, Lions Club, Lavender

Lion that the girls and I saw.

Some of the Lions (including me) who volunteered at the Breakfast with 

the Easter Bunny this past Saturday, April 9th.

M - Mary (sister), Musk Ox

Musk Ox in Palmer, Alaska.

Mary at the Portland Rose Garden in 2016.

N - Nature, Northern Minnesota, North Shore, Nostalgia 

Somewhere along the North Shore in Northern Minnesota. 

This is part of Lake Superior.

I love being out in nature. 

This is on one of my afternoon walks with the dogs.

O - Olivia (daughter), Origami, Orange-ade

My grandma used to make orange-ade with 

fresh-squeezed oranges and lemons.

Every so often, I will make it. 

This is when Olivia was four years old.

She and Sophia used to love to dress up in costumes and play.

P - Paige (husband), Parents, Photography, Piano Music, Patchouli

This is one of my favorite photos of my parents.

It was taken on my mom's 80th birthday. My dad was 78 years old.

Paige in Seward, Alaska. 

Q - Quilting

This is a quilt top that I made in 2019. 

I still need to do the backing so I can get it quilted.

R - Reading, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Roses

Hummingbird at the front yard feeder.

Rose in our front yard garden.

S - Sophia (daughter), Scooby (dog), Sheep, Sandhill Cranes, Spring

Sophia when she was 7 years old. 

She and Olivia loved to climb trees.

Two sandhill cranes who returned early to Minnesota.

Scooby enjoying the view from a dock on a walk at a state park.

T - Trumpeter Swans, Traveling

Travel to Pella, Iowa.

Traveling from Seattle to Portland.

This is the train station in Seattle.

A trumpeter swan at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge 

in Minnesota in June 2020.

U - Unicorns, Upside Down Cake

An upside-down cake. My favorite kind is pineapple.

A "unicorn" in the Taco Daze parade in 2012. 

V - Vegetable Soup, Vanilla, Volunteering

Volunteering at Northwoods Humane Society a few years ago.

Sophia played the harp while Olivia and I pet the dogs and cats.

Homemade vegetable soup.

W - Window Stars, Whales

Some of the many window stars I've made.

Saw a pod of about 25-30 beluga whales in Alaska.

X - x-rays, Xerox Machines, xanthophyll (the yellow color on or part of autumn leaves)

A Xerox copy of Olivia's hand with quilling glued onto it.

An x-ray of Sophia's right foot. The image on the right is before surgery 

and the image on the left is after surgery.

Y - Yoga, Ylang Ylang, Yaks

Olivia and Sophia with a yak at 

the Shepherd's Harvest in 2018.

Z - Ziplining, Zebra

Zebras at the Como Zoo.

I would rather see them in the wild than at a zoo, though.

Sophia and I went ziplining at Gunflint Lodge in July 2014. 

The view of the treetops and Gunflint Lake were 

phenomenal from that height.