Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Monthly Archives: June 2025


by 17 Comments

A little levity

Penny here!

Mom says she has a whole bunch of camping pictures to sort through and she doesn’t have time to post about my day. So I’ll just do it myself. After all, I am the brilliant, beautiful, competent Unstoppable Pretty Penny!

Ahem.

Going on an adventure with my mom.

So as you probably know, since you’re all keeping track of my adventures, my school has been out for weeks. Mom is trying to keep up with my training (and if we’re honest, her own training) by herself and with a lot of help from her friend Diane. But let’s be honest. Mom isn’t always consistant, plus she’s been away having fun and taking pictures of stuff that’s not me.

So she was a little uncertain when today rolled around and it was time to go up to Flint and do a Fun Run or three. That’s when mom and I get to do a Rally course like at a Trial but we aren’t judged. It’s just for practice and mom figured we needed lots of practice.

Hey mom, hurry up, this is my school!

And guess what ? I did three runs, two at the Novice level and one at the Advanced level! Whoo Hoo! Mom asked the ladies running the show if we could try Advanced even though we haven’t trained at that level yet and they said “Sure! Why not?”

Staying chill while we were waiting for stuff to get started.

Did you know Advanced Rally is off leash? YES! OFF LEASH! I got to heel along with my mom without being attached to her! WOW! At first I was kinda excited and started to wander off but mom said “HEEL!” in her school voice when I had taken 1.5 steps away from her and I slapped myself back next to her leg. She smiled and I got a piece of cheese. After that it was all fun, I even got to do a jump! I wasn’t sure what it was at first but then she went on the other side and said “JUMP!” and I did, cause I love to jump over stuff at home! This was fun too. I got more cheese.

I love school cause mom’s a cheese dispenser there.

So anyway…mom is a happy camper and she hopes we are able to get my very first Rally title in a couple weeks. I say of course I can do it, the quetion is, as it always is, can mom?

I deserve this nap with my elephant, I worked hard and did good!

Stay tuned!


by 32 Comments

HGTV – is it only for straight white folks?

From a People Magazine post – so you have to take it with a grain of salt…

  • The hosts of four HGTV programs announced on Instagram that their shows had allegedly been canceled
  • Bargain Block, Married to Real Estate, Farmhouse Fixer and Izzy Does It have allegedly not been renewed by the network

I watch HGTV all the time, not because I’m that into renovating a house (which is pretty much all any of the shows do now days) but because it isn’t stressful, always has a happy ending, nobody gets shot or cut up or run over with a car. Nothing explodes except an occasional burst pipe or electrical short. And mostly I watch because it isn’t political.

Or is it?

Take a closer look at the shows they’ve reportedly cancelled:

Bargain Block – Hosts, who happen to be a husband and husband couple, renovate delipidated homess in Detroit and have turned whole neighborhoods around. They are fun to watch, have a bit of a crazy decorating edge and are truly good guys. It’s one of my favorite shows.

Farmhouse Fixer – Host Jon Knight, a member of the singing group New Kids on the Block and one of the most sensitive men I’ve seen on TV, is gay, loves old New England houses, farm animals and his family. Jon has such a calming effect, I love to watch him pour his heart into each project.

Married to Real Estate – Hosts Mike and Egypt are a black couple who spread nothing but sunshine as they raise their daughters and renovate homes for happy clients in Atlanta. There’s much laughing on the show and what’s not to like about that?

Izzy Does It – Host Izzy is an hispanic contractor who for years managed remodel projects for the Flip or Flop HGTV show. Now he’s out on his own and though I didn’t think his show was that special I still wonder….is he cancelled because he’s hispanic or because he didn’t have enough viewers?

So…four shows gone. At least 3 of them have had pretty long runs in TV terms. So what caused these shows to be shot down and not, say, any number of similar shows that happen to have white, straight couples hosting?

One example I’ve been wondering about lately is Fixer to Fabulous with Dave and Jenny Marrs, a white, straight couple who I happen to like very much, but whom I’ve begun to realize have never had an episode featuring a gay client. Maybe I’m wrong. But I don’t remember one and the internet doesn’t provide any examples either.

HGTV has plenty of home renovation shows that are now hosted by similar straight, white couples. It’ll be interesting to see what new shows they introduce. You’ll have to let me know, because I’ve decided that I’m not watching any of it anymore.

What do you think? Do you have evidence that my theory is wrong? I hope it is.


by 24 Comments

The drive home

Well it’s been a minute since I last posted, leaving you wondering what I saw on my drive home from Alabama a month ago. That’s because I took a few days this week to camp in northern Michigan, so I’ve been away again.

I came across these three trees that called to me.

Of course that means I have MORE photos to sort through. But let me finish up my trip south first.

Isn’t this an amazing home?

There’s this farm that I’ve noticed on several previous trips down and back, a stately home and a couple barns, very near the freeway. But I usually see it out of the corner of my eye just after the freeway exit and I’ve never tried to find it before.

While trying to get back to the farm I saw this field of soy beans. I liked the lines of it.

Until this last trip north.

It’s a stunning home, and I took several images from a couple different locations on the road. If I had to guess I’d say it was built in the late 1800’s? Or early 1900’s. What do you think?

As you can see it was a dark and stormy day.

Then, trying to find my way back to the freeway I did a big country block and came across a home that looks to be from the same era. I actually had to drive further, find somewhere to turn around and go back for it.

Which way should I go?

I couldn’t leave without it!

The “city” version of the same house.

Back on the road it wasn’t long before I saw the perfect barn and once again had to get off the freeway and find a service drive that led me back to it.

It just needs a little TLC.

It was the only real ‘barn’ image I took on the trip north. I figured it was time to get home and one barn was enough. I should really stop dilly-dallying. After all how many barn pictures does one photographer need?

I always want to see what’s around the next curve.

But, then again, is any number ever truly enough?


by 33 Comments

Favorite Alabama images

It’s been two, maybe three weeks since I was in Alabama. And you know that I took a few photos while I was there.

Arriving after 2 days of driving.

Maybe you’d want to see a few of my favorites?

Every morning I’d take a picture of the lake. Most of the time it was so quiet.

Of course who really defines the term “few?”

That red soil is a dead giveaway you’re in the South.

As it turns out most of the images I took this time revolved around birds. Why do you think that is? And are the birds much different in Alabama than they are in Michigan?

Maybe a king bird, maybe something else. Was sitting at the top of a young oak tree on an island in the lake.

But we weren’t always birders, we also took a couple boat rides on my brother’s lake. One in the middle of the day where we saw the bird above and one to see the sunset.

Sunset from behind the mimosa tree

And on our boat rides we did, of course, see birds. This was a big bird. This is the Osprey that builds a nest every year in the very tall power towers on my brother’s lake.

Osprey parent taking a sunset break from the demanding babies up in the nest.

There were very noisy babies in residence when I visited. They cried all day for mom or dad to feed them.

What are you looking at, lady?

And there was a bluebird couple remodeling the nest for their next brood, hovering around just over our heads as we sat on the back patio.

I keep telling him it’s a total gut job.

They didn’t seem worried about us at all as long as we didn’t move too quickly.

I think it’s fine the way it is. The kids will just poop all over it anyway.

And a brown thrush singing away and then scuttling along the lake shore looking for something good to eat.

I’m pretending to be a speedy roadrunner bird!

And, back at the cabin’s lake, we climbed the mountain and then the fire tower to view the large expanse of Lake Martin.

A small part of Lake Martin.

Actually, you can, even at that height, only view a small portion of this giant lake.

A fisherman was having a quiet moment when suddenly jet skies zoomed by.

And of course I went out in the kayak a couple times, not going too far, just down to the end of this bit of water, or that bit over there.

I spent a long time in the kayak trying to get these two glowing trees.

We have martin gourds at Lake Martin and this year the birds have taken up residence in at least one of them.

Incoming!

Babies there too.

You’re not my mama!

So all in all it was a good trip. I’m glad I went and I’m hoping to get down there again before this summer is over.

An orchard oriole in my brother’s back yard.

We’ll see.

Home away from home.

Oh…you ask…on my trip back to Michigan did I see anything interesting?

Well…what do you think?

Mom! That lady’s looking at me again!


by 29 Comments

Bird bath part deux

Keeping in the theme of birds enjoying a bath, one afternoon this week I noticed two orioles in the bird bath.

By the time I got my camera and returned there was one in the bath and another observing. As you can see, Daddy was busy out on the feeder stuffing his face with grape jelly.

I don’t know if these two are this year’s juveniles or last years young ones, or maybe two females just enjoying a relaxing spa day.

But it was sure was fun to watch the one in the bath splash around.

So I’ll share the rest of these without comment. Enjoy.

I have other photos of this week’s shenanigans in my back yard, but those will have to wait for another day.

Edit: I was just outside to hang the oriole feeder up after cleaning it and refilling it with grape jelly. One of the two bathers was back, standing on the railing. He (or she) started flapping it’s wings at me, supposing that maybe I had something to feed it. So I think these two really are juveniles, and not adult females. So cute!


by 31 Comments

The heron baths

Have you ever seen a great blue heron? (I feel like I should capitalize the heron’s name, anything with “Great” in it’s title seems like it should be capitalized, don’t you think?)

Do you see him out there?

We have lots of them around here, and I’ve taken you out to Kensington to see the heron rookery more than a few times, so of course you’ve all seen a Great Blue.

Here’s a closer image.

But have you ever seen one take a bath? (I think this would make a great children’s book title; Have You Ever Seen One Take a Bath?)

I wonder if he blows bubbles or holds his breath when his head is under water.

I was sitting, a couple of weeks ago, on my brother’s patio looking out over his lake. He has a wonderful view down the lake, but what I was focused on was the tip of his peninsula where a heron appeared to be standing or sitting up to his chest in water while flapping his wings. Or her wings I suppose. But I’m going to assume this was a he.

Coming up for air.

I had my camera in my lap so I started shooting pictures, trying to figure out what he was doing. Was he fishing? Was he caught in fishing line? Was he dancing to some song only he could hear?

There was much flapping.

No, he was taking a bath! Unfortunately many of my images are terribly out of focus, but I’ve found you the best of them so you can enjoy what we wittnessed.

He was a very enthusiastic bather.

He flopped around and preened in the chest deep water for quite a long time, and then he moved over to a sunnier spot and did what all well behaved herons do.

He’s a very proud and regal bird.

He stood, spread his wings and dried himself in the sun.

Because there’s no nicer way to end a warm bath than to dry off in the evening sunshine.

A little grooming never hurt any heron.


by 27 Comments

Me and a Weigela

Hey! It’s Penny here!

Mom says she has lots of photos to edit from her trip, but I keep asking her to do stuff with me so she hasn’t had time to mess with those old photos. I did let her edit the images in this post, cause they’re about me and I know how much you all want to see me.

This is mom’s favorite back yard weigela bush. It has three different shades of pink blossoms, that all bloom at once. This was the bush Mom was asking Katie to pose in front of in June of 2022 when she and dad noticed how sad Katie was.

Mom says that’s when she and daddy decided it was time to let Katie’s soul fly free. So when she sees this bush in bloom she always thinks about Katie and that day, and it makes her sad.

But did you see what’s on the bush, just to the left of my right ear? Go ahead and look again. Maybe make the image bigger on your device.

See it?

Yep…a butterfly! Mom had been out taking pictures of it earlier, from a good distance away because she didn’t want to scare it off. And then, when she thought it was gone, she took me out there to get my picture with the blooms, and the butterfly flew right around our heads and settled down eating and drinking.

It wasn’t afraid of us at all!

It stayed out there, flying around near us the entire time Mom was taking my picture. Do you think maybe it was Katie come to visit?

I think maybe it was!