One of my favorite things to do when we're up north at the cabin is to take a nice slow pontoon ride,

hoping to spot an eagle or a nest at the top of a tall pine along the lakeshore.  

It was our lucky day to find this eagle near the shore hunting for fish.

These pictures were taken with a zoom lens, but I was surprised that it let us get pretty close.

I think that's the closest I've ever been to one of these guys in the wild.

Pompeii enjoys slow pontoon rides too.

We've been seeing lots of geese around the lakes.

Just look at those fuzzy babies!

My favorite chilly weather napping, snacking, coffee drinking spot at the cabin.

Homemade pancakes slathered with peanut butter and pure Wisconsin maple syrup made by our friend's dad.

We buy some of his syrup every year.

Delish!

Our niece Maddy enjoying a sunny day.

It looks like 'somedog' is pouting because we had to go home.

Home, where the old apple tree is in full bloom!

And the Crabapple branches explode in my very favorite color!

Had a bit of a scare last week as I was outside on the porch swing after supper, enjoying the day's last light.

All of a sudden Pompeii and I both saw and heard something at the same time, and I think we got each other worked up.

I could have sworn I saw a person behind the tree.

I ran inside and got my husband to come out and be a witness as I investigated what was behind the tree.

Not able to see anything with my naked eye, I zoomed in with my camera lens and snapped this photo:

A raccoon looking at us as we looked at it!

I think I watch too many of those true crime shows.

(note to self)

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. 

~Helen Keller

Look at the beautiful blooms in my friend Karen's garden!

The other day I popped over to see all of her new blooming things.

An impromptu photo shoot broke out...

Harley

Amber

Trying to pick out a favorite bloomer wasn't easy,

but I kept going back to these little Fritillaria.

So so sweet, aren't they?  

She had also planted some in soft white.

So much gorgeous color.

Such a lovely friend.

We took our dogs for a walk in our little town, enjoying the warm early evening.

Loved seeing people out and about, puttering in the garden, tending grill in the driveway,

hanging laundry on a backyard clothesline, reading books in lawn chairs,

hoping birds will soon come to a newly hung birdhouse.

Meanwhile, back on the homefront...

The Hummingbirds and Orioles are back!

The Bleeding Hearts are blooming!

And I'm super relieved to see the miniature Crabapple tree that had suffered earlier snowplow damage

is now starting to bloom!  I fretted about it for months.
Whew...so happy to see those little buds.

And in my favorite color!

I made some zucchini fritters a few days ago.
Around here they're called "veggie" fritters because my other half doesn't know they contain zucchini.
Last summer we ate these pretty regularly, and both really like them.

Here's a link to the recipe I use:

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/zucchini_fritters/

This time I used whole wheat flour in place of white flour, and either works fine.

In my humble opinion, the fritters are best served with ketchup.
But only Heinz 57.
Because I'm kind of a ketchup snob like that.