OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY: AUGUST LAKE PICTURES

I love reflections on the water. It seems the closer we get to fall, the calmer the water is and I can get beautiful shots like this. Welcome to Outdoor Wednesday!!

Today I am going to share some pictures from the lake. We were on a little vacation that we take every year during the first two weeks in August. We do some work around the house and a little visiting of some small towns in Southwestern Michigan. So I have some pictures I took outdoors at the Lakehouse. I am saving pictures from our little jaunts into the other towns to share next Saturday on Sightseeing Saturday that Christine from Christine"s Travel And Home Adventures hosts. This is a great event to showcase your vacation pictures or even a day trip. You can click on this link or the button on my sidebar. But today's event is hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer. After reading my post, visit Susan and all the participants in today's event. This is a great way to visit new blogs and make new friends!

We invested in a new dock this year. This is it in the picture above. The one we had was wood and it was in such bad shape I wouldn't walk on it. The dock is a great place to sit in a comfy yard chair with a good book and a cool drink, soaking in the sun and looking out at the tranquil water. We are fortunate that we face a bay because it is very calm here. The front of our house faces the lake, which can be quite noisy with all of the activity (boats, wave runners, screaming kids...). We have a channel that takes us out from our dock around to the lake. Anyway, the dock was rotting and I really wanted another wood dock, but The Husband explained that they only have about a thirty year life span which I thought was perfect timing for us. ;-) So we bought this instead, and it does look good. Next year I will have some pretty flowers on it.

I took this picture one evening while sitting on the porch of the Summerhouse. For some reason the air really had that fall feeling to it. Only when I decided to take a picture did I notice that the leaves have started to change. Has anyone noticed that taking so many pictures for our blogs makes us notice and see so much more around us? I really enjoy carrying my camera with me because I notice the little things more and it makes me feel I am living in the moment, which is the biggest hope I have. Our neighbor built this screened in gazebo a few years ago. It's a great place to get out of the sun and to avoid mosquitoes at night. It's pretty, isn't it?

This is a nice little place to have coffee in the morning on the patio. These are the palms that The Husband fusses over constantly. He won't even let me water them which makes me want to cry... ;-)

Here we are sitting on the porch of the Summerhouse. The Lakehouse is in the background. Being the devoted attorney that The Husband is, he mixes business with...

...pleasure!!

This is the cute little chair I found a few months ago at a resale shop. I like it under this oak tree on the patio. Have I mentioned that we have flying squirrels living in it? The tree, not the chair. I truly did not know they actually existed. I mean, I did watch Rocky and Bullwinkle when I was a child, so I thought they only existed in cartoons! But yeah, he pokes his little head out once in awhile and soon we will have acorns dropping and see him more. Flying squirrels have a thin piece of tissue that connects the front paws to the back paws and these serve as "wings". They don't fly like birds. They use their flying ability to avoid predators and generally glide from tree to tree. I will try to get pictures this fall.

This is a nice spot against the Summerhouse to sit and read or relax. It hardly gets any sun so it's nice and cool on 90 degree days, which we only had about a handful of here in the Midwest. That is Monster Fern that I kept here in Chicago over the winter. He looks sick. He didn't do well at all and a wonderful summer at the lake is not reviving him. Maybe a ski trip?? My bare English Garden is in the background. My tall perennials are around the parameters of the garden. I am working my way gradually toward the paths with shorter plants. Now is a great time to buy plants as they are all on sale. I have some work ahead of me!

So this is what I have for this Wednesday. The rest of my week is busy. We have a wedding to go to on Saturday and of course, Procrastinator Blondie has put off getting a dress until now. I am not looking forward to this ordeal. It's not like I am fussy about dresses, in fact, my taste in clothes is very wide ranged. It's just the Dressing Room Phobia I have. They really know me at Macy's here. I am in the little room where all the loud screaming and swearing is coming from.

Since I probably will not post again this week, this will be your last chance to leave a comment and be entered into the giveaway for The Ugly Roosters. This must be the first giveaway in the history of blogging where people are commenting that they don't want to be entered, that they don't want the free gift!! lol!!! Let me just say that this is going to have a bit of a surprise ending!! :-)

I hope everyone has a fun filled Labor Day weekend. Wherever you go, be safe. See you all next week!!

xoxo

Jane