Life in the Bristolwood

This morning, while chatting with Carly on the telephone, I happened to look up at the skies and saw some awesome clouds. As I was searching the sky, I also saw the coolest contrail…..

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I have no  idea what caused the little trails hanging down, but when I first spotted the big trail, it looked like a huge side of a zipper! (the little trails looking like the “teeth”) Just in the few seconds it took to grab my camera in the house, the trail began to degrade and isn’t as “sharp” as it appeared when I first saw it.

The morning skies were filled with the most awesome feathery clouds. They were so pretty!

We had temperatures that rivaled the hottest days this summer. It was hot and sticky, and I was so miserable.  I was more uncomfortable today than I have been in a long time. This evening, we began to experience some windy conditions and are told the winds will be picking up, as the remnants of Hurricane Ike pass through on their way to Canada. I guess we will be missing much of the rain from the storm.

Michelle was out this afternoon with some friends and as I was driving home, Michelle and one of her friends looked at me curiously as I pulled over off the road to take (yet another) photo.  When I showed them the result, they both sighed….they had no idea the sky was so beautiful!

We have been so busy with little tasks the past few days that I had forgotten to look at the photos on my Panasonic camera card.  Oops!

The other day, we had several things going on, and one of the many stops we had to make was at Country Max, where I pick up a big bag of food for the Scottie boys.  The last time I was there,  I was the objet d’affection of one crazed Cockatoo which insisted he/she was going home with me! Of course, curiosity caused me to venture to the bird area just to see if my buddy was still there…..

I was greeted by a squawk that nearly caused me to jump out of my skin by one huge Blue and Gold Macaw!

This bird was quite impressive, but the deafening greeting was just its way of letting me know it was there! It sat on top of the cage and played on the wooden structure.

On the other hand, I grew a bit suspicious as I neared these two characters! (the out of focus photo is because I was shaking, wondering if  *the bird* was still there…)

Okay, I lied….I just zoomed too much for the camera and the result was two blurred birds! Anyway, see the way they were sizing me up?  The pinkish Cockatoo on the left was much smaller than the bluish  one, and also much more coy. 

The *big blue* couldn’t resist when I told him how “pretty” he was. He hopped right up onto my sweater! Then, he kept bobbing his head up and down, as birds do, as though trying to figure me out! Then, *it* happened!

That enormous beak came at me!!!! Well, not at me, but my sweater! Yes, these birds are fed some type of very colorful kibble (I saw it in the dish) and that nutty bird decided to nibble on one of the French knots on my sweater. The result is below….

After a couple of attempts to pull the yellow knots out of my sweater, I placed the offender back on top of his cage.  He motioned that he wanted to jump back onto my sweater, but I hightailed to the dog kibble aisle as he was still thinking about it!

The original Crazed Cockatoo no longer resides there….probably went home with someone who appreciates a good preening every now and then!

Last Wednesday, we took Mark’s mom to a doctor’s appointment. Mark usually goes in with his mom while she sees the doctor, but on this visit, she told Mark it wasn’t really necessary, as the doctor was just going to review a few test results and renew prescriptions. 

We dropped her off and then went for a little drive to  the store. Afterward, I saw the “mushroom church” and asked Mark to drop me off so I could take a couple of photos.

The name of this church is St. Josaphat’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church.  I was always curious if my father attended one of the services whether he could follow the whole thing, or if his Ukrainian was “corrupted” and he could not understand.  His parents came to the US in the early 1900′s, and as they grew more and more into “US” citizens, I think the mother tongue became more “anglicized”.

Here is a closer view of the domes on the church….I just love these lines. They are so beautiful and complex!

I had not noticed the stained glass on the front of the church previously.  It is so pretty, and I especially found myself drawn to Jesus’s bright red (very Ukrainian?) shoes!

Well, that about does it for the things I found on my camera card that I forgot were there!