Some recent visitors...

I've kept a bird feeder out my dining room window for a bit now and recently we have had some new birds come to visit. I was so excited to see the tiny little blue birds...Indigo Bunting. They are about as small as the sparrows that frequent the feeder. In Indiana we have the Bluebird, but I'd never seen this blue beauty till last week. I must have a better variety of feed to have attracted them.

I also noticed the Rose-breasted Grosbeak a few days later which is another new citing. At first I thought they were Baltimore Orioles, but after looking them up on my Merlin Bird ID app, I was able to identify them correctly. If you like knowing what birds are in our area, you might want to go to the App store and download it for free. It's a handy little tool. 

 Two regular visitors are the Blue Jay and the Red-headed Woodpecker. 

 
 

Rolo!

Two years ago Friday the 8th, Rolo came into our lives. My son and a friend found Rolo sitting all alone by a water fountain, muddy and scared at a deserted ballpark in Mexico, Missouri. At the time, I didn't want another dog especially after having lost our other dachshund just months earlier, but I am glad we decided to keep him. He needed a family to love him and he may not have had that chance at a shelter.

He is smart, funny and a little buddy to my almost eleven year old dachshund, Rocky. We love our little Wookie, Baby Puppy...Rolo.

Upper left pic is one my favorite! It was taken just before we left the Covered Bridge Festival in 2012. He was standing on the back of the truck giving kisses. The middle pic, is our first photo of Rolo with the kids. Upper right pic, Rolo LOVED taking cart rides while we lived at Hardin Ridge Recreation Area last summer. Bottom left, baby Rolo...so cute! Bottom right, was taken last month is Rolo doing what he enjoys most...sitting in the "jungle" watching the world go by and an occasional rabbit or two. 

Catch up time!

Due to our full-time RV living, I do not have a wifi connection and have to rely on cellular data for my online use, but on Sunday we go to our daughter's for church so I have wifi on those days. Anyway, today I thought I'd post some of the photos I've taken so far this summer. 

The day lily~ 

  
The Resurrection Lily~

This spring we had two white tailed squirrels...haven't seen them in months so not sure they made it. 

The yellow-shafted Northern Flicker~ 

The Red-Headed Woodpecker~

Indiana's state flower, the peony.

Around the bird feeder today...

With the last batch of snow, I decided to put a wild bird feeder out in order to use up a container of seed. The Carolina Chickadee, a pair of Cardinals and the white-breasted nuthatch seemed to have appreciated the efforts. I even caught a squirrel trying to get to the feeder from a nearby tree, but once he spotted me at the window he decided to go elsewhere. 

Now if only the woodpeckers would come in for a closer view. I've spotted the red-headed woodpecker and Pileated recently with the latter being my favorite. Love to hear their call and they are so beautiful!

The January Freeze

The central part of Indiana saw a lot of snow last week and some really cold temps. We are usually in Bedford, but when temps are really cold we stay with our daughter in Bloomington. While there, I was able to get a few shots outside once the temps rose a bit though. I love to see how snow falls on something as simple as a shrub with red berries...so pretty!

Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana

At the beginning of this week, the family and I went to visit Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana, to catch some of the fall foliage before it's all gone. It has probably been at least ten years since our last visit her so it had been a while.

We walked a trail that went completely around the nature center and toward the end of our walk, I snapped this pic on my iPhone. Love all the color here!

Parke County Covered Bridge Festival

 Last Friday we all made our annual trip to the Covered Bridge Festival in Parke County...time limited so I'll post more photos later. =)

The Leaves are Changing in Southern Indiana

I haven't had time to edit many pics lately, but this one was on my phone and accessible. This last Tuesday we took a drive down through Harding Ridge to see how much the trees had changed since leaving a week ago. All the camp hosts had to leave a week early due to the government shutdown. The weather was a bit dreary and drizzly, but it was nice to get out and take a drive with the pups. 

Here is one of the pics taken on the overlook to Lake Monroe. We enjoyed our little drive through Hardin Ridge and reflected on the many wonderful memories with family and friends in our five months of living in this beautiful place. I love seeing fall in southern Indiana!

August 26th, I call critter Monday!

This last Monday, I was finally able to get some photos of one of our sets of twins here at Hardin Ridge. While I did laundry at the park office, I came back and found this little family grazing along a path beside the road. Fortunately, I had my camera this time! I've been trying to get pics of this set of twins for some time now. I even spotted several male turkeys later this day.

These trees have started to change in the last few weeks. Fall is on the way!
 

I love how the afternoon sun shines through the forest...so pretty!

Even spotted a (I think) northern fence lizard...he's just a baby.

 

Wildflowers & Butterflies

A few days ago, I had my camera and decided to walk across from the entrance of the Hardin Ridge Recreation Area. This is the scene I discovered...lots of wildflowers and butterflies everywhere only they didn't seem to show as well here. The back roads and along 446 are dolloped with many varieties of beautiful wildflowers. I've seen a big field of purple along 446 that I believe is lupine maybe or liatris that I am going to have to get some photos at some time while they are in bloom.

In this photo, I added a butterfly overlay freebie from Seasalt Paperie so be sure to download it and the other freebie on her site. The day was overcast which is perfect for taking pics, but it made for a crummy background so I added a cloud overlay also. I added a few more tweaks to brighten and darken in the right places. Gotta love Photoshop!

As soon as I get a few more flower edits done, I'll post them too.

Hoosier Mushrooms

Southern Indiana has seen a lot of rain over the last few months...or as the weather radio has stated "we will have above average amounts of rainfall". As a result of that rainfall, I believe is why we are seeing so many mushrooms pop up on the forest floor. 

While doing our routine site cleaning yesterday after the mass exodus of people from the 4th of July, I came across four different colored mushrooms. I do not know what kind they are, but I do like the different textures and colors they produce. Pretty to look at and most likely not good to eat.
All taken with iPhone 5.

Hoosier Mushroom Society

 

 

Walking a trail yesterday morning...

Yesterday on our day off, Jonathan and I decided to walk a trail near the park. It's a bit off the beaten path which we really like! There are many places in and around Lake Monroe that are known for geode hunting. We just happened to find the mother load of geode caches. The water must help in washing them up to the surface as they were all around the water areas along our trail. 

In the photo below, you may be able to see them. They are usually white, round and bumpy all around loaded with crystals too. The more bling the better! Many of them were very large and heavy...and yes, I and my husband each carried one back to our RV. 

Later that afternoon, I found this spiny oakworm moth on one of the bathhouse doors. Click the link above to learn more about them. I love learning about new critters...and that includes bugs. Moths are just as pretty as butterflies, in my opinion.

I have an album on EyeEm called Hardin Ridge Campground if you are interested in seeing more photos taken here in the park. =)

Rain Rain Go Away!!

It has rain/poured just about everyday it seems here lately. The first day of July while up at the gatehouse, I took this photo of all the rain pouring down the road. Some areas close by got 3-4 inches of rain on this day!

Later that evening, after more rain, I and a friend went down to the beach and snapped this pic. It wasn't till I looked at the photo on my computer that I noticed a faint rainbow in the upper left corner. The sky always looks interesting after it storms...makes the colors more bold too.

Here is a random pic taken while I was going over the bridge (side note: I only do this when there is no traffic coming toward me) toward Bloomington last week. Again, more storms were hovering around that day also. What are the odds, right? ;) I like cloud and sky pictures, clearly.

 

Sharing is a good thing...

We had a very lovely time this evening sharing a meal with our beach camp hosts here at Hardin Ridge. Thank you Nancy and Harold for all the wonderful food! Not only did I not have to cook, but I learned more about our fellow camp hosts and we had the opportunity to see a beautiful sunset this evening as well. God is so good.

Taken on my iPhone 5 and edited with Snapseed.

Today my husband put my PVC flagpole together with all the supplies from our local Lowes. It cost just under $15. We had to get creative with the top where it attaches as my flag is the sleeve on a pole variety for banner flags not the grommet type that all the "how to" links use. I'll get a close-up of the top part and add it tomorrow. I think it looks great and just in time for the 4th of July.

The pic below is the little surprise I found in the fold of the flag after I had taken it off the wood pole I had it on. My husband was attaching it to the pvc and I just happened to see it before he placed his hand right on top of it! Scary darn thing! We were both a big freaked out and  kept looking for more. Yikes!

I was able to read some interesting things about the black widow here: BugGuide.net 

It really is a cool site!

Lake Monroe Dam

Yesterday on the way back to Hardin Ridge, we stopped by the Lake Monroe Dam off of IN-37 from Bloomington, Indiana. The sky was a gorgeous shade of blue with fluffy clouds and low humidity! There are some nice shaded areas with picnic tables and there looked to be some areas for bank fishing too. 

The top picture was taken at an overlook to Lake Monroe from the top of the dam.

Here are a few random pics taken here at Hardin Ridge Recreation Area 

this last week.

At the end of White Oak's loop, you will find this pond. It is a very popular tent camping site.

The Hardin Ridge Entrance and my teenie weenie, Rocky, enjoying some sunshine.