Hummingbirds are great entertainment -- zip, zip, zip, across the front deck from one feeder to the other.   Dive bombing and click click clicking to ward away intruders.   Here a sentry is stati

Memorial Day 2011 ... the start of another great summer.  But don't forget to take time to remember all those who have given their lives so that we can enjoy family, friends, freedom and the good ole USA! 

Fire is so mesmerizing.  I love sitting around the fire pit out by the seawall and watching the fire flicker ... toasting a marshmallow and raising a glass of wine to good friends and family! 

Everyone thought these were wild blackberries, but when I searched for blackberry blooms online, they don't look like this.  But these look remarkably similar to raspberry blooms.   Now we get to wait and see what fruit emerges! 

We were lucky last night in East Central Illinois.  Here's the front as it comes across us ... tornados all around.  We had wind, torrential rain, more wind and hail.  Today the water is up to the docks, but so far not over the seawall despite rain all day long. 

No viewable sunset tonight - we're busy watching for tornados -- right in the path of the wicked weather, so the skies are gray and green and not particularly photogenic!   

I'm glad to see my Baltimore Orioles have chosen to visit again this spring!  I am amazed that we saw Baltimore Orioles in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala during the winter cruising season.  Do you think this female oriole lives here in central Illinois in the spring/summer and in the Rio Dulce Guatemala in the winter?  So why is she named a "Baltimore" Oriole??? 

My friend Lily and her buddy Colin found a turtle yesterday at the lake!  They brought it over to show us.  Yet another reason why the commuter cruiser lifestyle is my idea of perfect! 

I've been bad lately with my photo of the day post.  When we're transitioning from cruisers to lake dwellers, we're pretty busy and I neglected my camera.  From how on I'll try to do better! 

OK, so it's not a sunset from SW Florida, but from Sapodilla Lagoon in mainland Belize, but it's still pretty spectacular.   And it summarizes my feelings about leaving the boat.  It's very sad.... but the very next photo should be a brilliant sunrise of the NEXT chapter in our commuter cruising lives ... returning to our lake cottage, seasons and friends and family -- which we love equally as much