A Winter Wonderland

By on Jan 19, 2020 in Great Lakes |

Michigan weather. Creates an ever changing always interesting wonderland. Photos taken January 19, 2020.  (Click on images to enlarge) Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter Wonderland photo Rick Vuyst Winter wonderland...

Waves and erosion do what time could not

By on Jan 10, 2020 in History |

Updated pictures (scroll down) of the Lake Michigan lake shore wreck I have been chronicling the past few months. Recent storms have picked up and rotated the wreck so that the rudder which initially was exposed facing due north is now facing south. Over the period of just a month and a half the relentless pounding of the waves has done what time could not….dismantling the wreck a plank at a time. Lake Michigan shore line erosion continues. Click on images to enlarge.   

“Trend” to your garden

By on Jan 2, 2020 in Garden Trends |

“Life is bristling with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to cultivate one’s garden.” -Voltaire So Voltaire, French enlightenment writer and philosopher famous for his witty works of satire In Candide, intended for us, when all is said and done, to simply tend to our own garden first. Just maybe another famous writer, Oscar Wilde years later would have rephrased the famous remark to “trend to your own garden” understanding that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” With another new year comes the cultivation of prognostications of things gardening. And why not? It is the haven of countless others who came before us and found solace and meaning by tending a garden.  So as I was taught as a child in my ecclesiastical studies, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the...

Lakeshore shipwreck update

By on Dec 27, 2019 in History |

On December 1st I posted pictures I took of the lake shore wreck on the Lake Michigan shoreline. https://thankyouverymulch.com/2019/12/shipwreck/ A number of people have requested followup pictures as the waves and high water levels continue to dismantle and rearrange the wreck, the debris and the shoreline. Slowly but surely the relic that sunk in the 1930’s (estimated having been built in the late 1800’s) is being swallowed up once again by the sand (it was lake shore erosion that exposed it back in November). So I put on my waders on Christmas Day and made my way south on the shoreline to the scene to record the wreck and its condition on December 25, 2019. Here are the photos I took that evening: Christmas Day sunset on the wreck The waves methodically dismantle the wreck Boards are dismantled by nature The sands of time are beginning to swallow what is left Wreck at...

Making a (gardener’s) list and checking it twice (and not a Hoe Hoe Hoe on it)

By on Dec 11, 2019 in Christmas |

Here’s my list of things (30 ideas) I believe a gardener would like to receive for Christmas (at least I wouldn’t complain if I got some of these this year) One thing I did not put on the list is Rain Gear but I probably should have after the wettest year on record in 2019! (hoping 2020 is a little more reasonable)  Art Poles Rynoskin socks and or clothing for protection against ticks and mosquitoes Hand Therapy lotions and sunscreens lotions Bee Houses and bird feeders Nesting cavities/houses/boxes for Bluebirds, Woodpeckers or Owls Wicking active wear (not just for runners) Novelty tools handy to have but don’t use often like Nut Gatherers or Root Irrigators Pressure Tank Sprayers Knee Armor/Kneeler seats Flowerland Show Coffee Mug Mad Mats and Entry Mats (indoor/outdoor rugs) Bluetooth Headsets or Outdoor speakers Outdoor lighting or Solar lighting We now pause for this...

Shipwreck!

By on Dec 1, 2019 in General |

With changing water levels and shifting sands of erosion along the Lake Michigan shoreline we all continue to experience “rediscovery” as shoreline explorers. I took these photos on the evening of Saturday November 30, 2019 wading into the water for a closer look. My imagination pictures a 2-masted schooner from the 1880’s about 90′ in length and 20 some feet wide. A proud and stout wooden vessel of beams and iron. A flat-bottomed hull (visible in the water below) an ideal sailing vessel for visiting shallow harbors with a draft of only 5 to 7 feet. At 120 gross tons and economical to operate, shuttling lumber to Chicago from West Michigan she was subject to the November gales without the benefit of weather forecasting like we have today. But alas no such drama. The wreck is a scow (barge) being towed that sank south of Muskegon while transporting a steam crane in November of...

The Gift That Keeps Giving

By on Nov 29, 2019 in Christmas |

Legend has it there are Schlumbergera, better known as Christmas or Holiday cactus that become family heirlooms passed on from generation to generation. The gift that keeps giving. I know this to be true and it creates pressure for those receiving the inheritance. You don’t want to be the one breaking the cycle of care for the beloved family species. In the wild, the species of Schlumbergera grow either on trees (epiphytic) or on rocks making them very different from what you would normally consider a cactus. The stems are composed of segments. The segments are strongly flattened cladodes which means a flattened leaf-like stem with “wings.” The modern genus Schlumbergera is credited to Charles Lemaire in the mid 1800’s. It is named after Frédéric Schlumberger, who had a collection of cacti at his chateau near Rouen France.  

Those were the days my friend

By on Nov 19, 2019 in Christmas |

It’s November. A walk through the garden causes a longing for the way thing’s used to be. The leaves rustle under my feet. Frozen foliage hangs from what once were perennials in all their glory. I approach the Hydrangeas soon to be simply sticks in the snow as the foliage hangs limp from the stems. The once bright flowers now brown and brittle. My camera focuses on a lacecap Hydrangea that has seen better days. I sing the tune while focusing my camera. “Those were the days my friends, we thought they’d never end, we’d sing and dance forever and a day.” In a melancholy moment I scold myself not to be such a sentimental sap. It is the season of evergreens. The aroma of boughs linger in the air. What would we do without pinene and the mood enhancing goodness of conifer branches. The evergreens scoff at Jack Frost and the bitter cold to be the...