A Celebration of Olympic Proportions!

Today’s the day!! The Olympics begin! I love the Olympics. In fact if I could take the next two weeks off and do nothing but watch the action, I would.

I even cook for the celebration!

(That made me hungry. Might have to do this again!)

This year’s host city is London, England. The Opening Ceremonies are tonight (Friday, July 27) carried by NBC during prime time. After the beauty and precision of the last show in Beijing, I’m anxious to see how the London designers top it. Led by Artistic Director Danny Boyle, the show is entitled Isles of Wonder. The best part? Live barnyard animals! (12 horses, 3 cows, 2 goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, 9 geese, 7 sheep, and 3 sheepdogs) I can’t wait! Over 15,000 (human) performers will take part, and the ceremonies are expected to be viewed by an audience of four million. Will you be one of them?

The Closing Ceremonies will take place on Sunday, August 12. Again televised during NBC’s prime time schedule, it’s not nearly as exciting as the opening. I’m kidding. They’re typically also quite beautiful. Just sad, since everything’s over with!

Between the opening and closing, thirty-six (yes, 36!) different sports make up the Summer Olympics. Below is a list of sports, along with some pertinent dates surrounding their competitions. I am sure you’ll find something you like. The name of each sport links to its official 2012 London Olympics web page for scheduling and results. Enjoy!

• Archery: Competition Dates July 27 – August 3
• Athletics: Competition Dates August 3 – August 12
• Badminton: Competition Dates July 28 – August 5
• Basketball: Competition Dates July 28 – August 12
• Beach Volleyball: Competition Dates July 28 – August 9
• Boxing: Competition Dates July 28 – August 12
• Canoe Slalom: Competition Dates July 29 – August 2
• Canoe Sprint: Competition Dates August 6 – August 11
• Cycling – BMX: Competition Dates August 8 – August 10
• Cycling – Mountain Bike: Competition Dates August 11 – August 12
• Cycling – Road: Competition Dates July 28 – August 1
• Cycling – Track: Competition Dates August 2 – August 7
• Diving: Competition Dates July 29 – August 11
• Equestrian: Competition Dates July 28 – August 9
• Fencing: Competition Dates July 28 – August 5
• Gymnastics – Artistic: Competition Dates July 28 – August 7
• Gymnastics – Rhythmic: Competition Dates August 9 – August 12
• Handball: Competition Dates July 28 – August 12
• Hockey: Competition Dates July 29 – August 11
• Judo: Competition Dates July 28 – August 3
• Modern Pentathlon: Competition Dates August 11 – August 12
• Rowing: Competition Dates July 28 – August 4
• Sailing: Competition Dates July 29 – August 11
• Shooting: Competition Dates July 28 – August 6
• Soccer (Football): (Already Started) – August 1
• Swimming: Competition Dates July 28 – August 10
• Synchronized Swimming: Competition Dates August 5 – August 10
• Table Tennis: Competition Dates July 28 – August 8
• Taekwondo: Competition Dates August 8 – August 11
• Tennis: Competition Dates July 28 – August 5
• Trampoline: Competition Dates August 3 – August 4
• Triathlon: Competition Dates August 4 and August 7
• Volleyball: Competition Dates July 28 – August 12
• Water Polo: Competition Dates July 29 – August 12
• Weightlifting: Competition Dates July 28 – August 7
• Wrestling: Competition Dates August 5 – August 12

Mackinac Island Porch Sitting

Our typical day on Mackinac Island usually goes a little something like this:

• 6:00 – Wake up
• 7:00 – Breakfast at Chuckwagon
• 8:00 – Bike around the island with copious photo stops
• 9:30 – Other morning activity (more biking, hiking, etc.)
• Noon – Light lunch
• Afternoon – PORCH!

By the time we’re finished with our morning activities nothing sounds nicer than sitting on the porch at the Market Street Inn, where we stay while we visit, to watch the world go by. It’s extraordinarily relaxing, and my island vacation wouldn’t be complete without an afternoon or two spent on the porch.

Here it is! The beautiful, relaxing, wonderful Market Street Inn front porch!

So what do we do when we’re sitting on this beautiful porch? Why, take pictures of horses, of course! Every tour conducted by Mackinac Island Carriage Tours, not to mention numerous taxis and private carriages, take the Market Street route. I like to try to get their eyes. I think they’re beautiful. Here is just a sampling. (By the way, I took these pictures myself.)

(My favorite. Like he’s sticking his tongue out at me!)

I can’t imagine every staying anywhere else!

---

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of my amazing husband, the late Jackson Pearson (1961-2019) May he rest in eternal peace ❤  

---

The Bluebird Diaries – Vol. 2 No. 18

These pictures, from the babies’ Day 11, are by far my favorite! We’ve been taking pictures of baby bluebirds for years and these are the funniest I can remember! The babies are quite mobile now which makes for some blurry pictures at times but they’re still cute so I’ll share anyway!

Even though these parents are much more shy than parents we’ve had in the past, the babies are much LESS shy. Usually by this age they have learned fear and hunker down to hide whenever we come around. Not these!

In this zoomed-and-somewhat-blurry shot you will be able to see the former pin feathers are beginning to become real feathers!

Love how the middle guy got tired and fell fast asleep right in the middle of begging.

We’ll be back in a few days with another update! Thanks for following along!

---

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of my amazing husband, the late Jackson Pearson (1961-2019) May he rest in eternal peace ❤  

---

Caterpillar Corner – Episode 9

Our one remaining Eastern Tiger Swallowtail caterpillar is doing just fine and we’ve got a week’s worth of daily progress photos to share with you! (If you’d like to catch up with previous episodes, they can be found here.)

(Yes, we finally got some rain!!)

We were lucky when we gave our little guy a look today, because we spotted his molted skin still laying next to him! We’ve never seen this before, so we have to assume he finished molting only shortly before we visited with him. (His tongue is also out in this picture.)

He’s still a little tiny guy so it will be awhile before he’s ready to make his cocoon. We aren’t yet seeing any new eggs or young, but we know there will be plenty come August. Stay tuned for another update in a few days! Thanks for following along.

---

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of my amazing husband, the late Jackson Pearson (1961-2019) May he rest in eternal peace ❤  

---

The Bluebird Diaries – Vol. 2 No. 17

Our baby bluebirds are growing like weeds! These pictures are from Day 9 of their young little lives:

And, here are some pictures from Day 10!

The daily change is always amazing to me. More from Day 10:

---

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of my amazing husband, the late Jackson Pearson (1961-2019) May he rest in eternal peace ❤  

---

Beth Kendrick – The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service

Every once in awhile I need something light; some easy reading with conflict, happy ending, no complex characters or plots I can’t follow. Enter Beth Kendrick’s The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service. It fit the bill perfectly!

The book tells the story of Lara Madigan, a dog trainer with a big heart, a wicked mother, an unreasonable boyfriend, and a lovable pack of needy dogs. Although she can’t seem to get a handle on her own life, she finds perfect homes for her rescued pets, matching each dog to the perfect forever owner even while her own life is in shambles.

Without giving anything away, I got the happy ending I wanted! I’ve read several books by Beth Kendrick, including Second Time Around and Nearlyweds and they’re always satisfying. If I could make one suggestion it would be that her “mean” characters be not quite so, well, mean. There are characters you’re meant to dislike in many books. But to me, hers are over-the-top un-likable, which makes the inevitable turnaround hard to buy. Even the most dysfunctional characters need to have some redeeming qualities, especially if we’re supposed to like them in the end. On the other hand, I don’t need my chick lit to be fully grounded in reality, so I will continue to look forward to Ms. Kendrick’s new releases.

---

Disclosure: The Amazon link on this page is an”affiliate link.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small commission. For a full FTC-required disclosure statement please visit my About page.

---

The Bluebird Diaries – Vol. 2 No. 16

We’ve got pictures from days 7 and 8 for this post. In case you’d like to catch up, here are a few recent links. (Or, you can find the entire second-nesting series here.)

• Hatch Day (includes two short videos)
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Days 4 and 5
• Day 6

The big change on Day 7 was the emergence of little pin feathers on their wings. This was an “it’s morning and I’m still very tired” shot so we were able to get a nice look at them.

I’m up! Feed me!

On Day 8 the feathers are even more noticeable. And, they’re turning blue!

Here’s a closeup of the pin feathers.

Bluebirds fledge (leave the nest) anywhere from day 16 to day 21 so we’re halfway there. Hope you’ll follow along for the second half!

---

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of my amazing husband, the late Jackson Pearson (1961-2019) May he rest in eternal peace ❤  

---

The Bluebird Diaries – Vol. 2 No. 15

In this post, we’ll show pictures from day 6  of our baby bluebirds’ young lives. They’re growing fast and we’re enjoying the progression. Hope you are too! In case you’d like to catch up, here are a few recent links. (Or, you can find the entire second-nesting series here.)

• Hatch Day (includes two short videos)
• Day 2
• Day 3
• Days 4 and 5

The morning of day 6 found the babies actually laying on their bellies instead of their backs. Like normal bluebirds!! 🙂

We were also able to capture some pictures of the parents during the day while they fed their babies.

Thanks for following their story with us. We’ll be back in a few days with another update!

---

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of my amazing husband, the late Jackson Pearson (1961-2019) May he rest in eternal peace ❤  

---

 

Caterpillar Corner – Episode 8

I’m sad to report our largest caterpillar was found by a predator bird and is no longer with us. We have yet to experience one making it to the cocoon stage. But, we’ll have many other chances as the summer progresses. (I have to admit, though, I get a little bit choked up when they perish.)

We have one little guy left, and he’s doing just fine.

We’re hoping to start finding many new eggs in the coming days or weeks. Last year we recall having a dozen eggs and caterpillars in various stages of development at one time during the month of August. Maybe even more. We’re looking forward to hosting them again this year. And we’ll keep you posted on all activity. Thanks for following along!

---

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of my amazing husband, the late Jackson Pearson (1961-2019) May he rest in eternal peace ❤  

---

 

The Mackinac Island Flag

If you’ve spent any time browsing the shops on Mackinac Island, I’m sure you’ve come upon Flagship at the corner of Astor Street and Market Street. Or, if you haven’t, be sure to look for it next time you visit. They carry a varied and beautiful selection of garden decor, and every time we shop there we find new treasures.

That includes this visit, when we found a Mackinac Island Flag. Flagship was not yet open for the season when we visited in May, and I don’t recall seeing the flag last year but it could have been there, I’m not sure. As soon as I saw it this time around, though, I had to have it!

When I was paying, I spotted a small informational postcard which tells the story of the flag. From that postcard:

In 2008, Flagship held a contest to create a flag for Mackinac and here’s the result! We hope this flag will fly for centuries throughout the city, from front porches, around the island and beyond.

What’s behind the flag? The flag of Mackinac Island should be timeless, reflecting the island’s rich history and adhere to the principles of good flag design: that a child can draw it from memory and that it is rich in abstract symbols. It was critical to represent the Island’s people and significance to the Native American community, the horse culture, military and political history, the tourism industry and the natural beauty of the island.

The main colors of the flag are blue and green, symbolizing lake and land, bisected by the wave of the straits. A dark blue field draws a comparison to the flag of Michigan. In the center, an abstract horse shoe symbolizes the horse culture and tourist industry. A green circle rests inside that shape, representing the tribal legend of the turtle rising out of the waves. The star indicates the Island’s military significance and the fort that sits atop the harbor. This symbol is represented three times, symbolizing the three flags that have flown over the island, as well as the stars of the beautiful night sky.

A portion of the proceeds from flag sales will be donated to the Mackinac Island Community Foundation to support projects for Green Mackinac.

Stop in or call to order! 906.847.9950

I have no affiliation with Flagship and they don’t know I’m writing this article. I just think it’s a great flag and wanted to share! Ours is flying proudly in our back yard even though we’re about 375 miles away. 🙂

---

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of my amazing husband, the late Jackson Pearson (1961-2019) May he rest in eternal peace ❤  

---