Tomorrow is the day the eagles from Virginia will be set free......

I've watched the eagle cam in Virginia since before the eggs were hatched.  It was so exciting to anticipate seeing the baby eagles.  Then the mother eagle was killed and the eaglets were sent to the Wildlife Center of Virginia to be raised until they were big enough to be set free in the wild.  Tomorrow is the big day!  At 11AM Eastern time, they will be released along with two other eagles they have been rehabing at the center.  I believe it will be video taped and shown.  It is wonderful to know that there are people out there doing all they can for wildlife.  Thanks to all who are responsible for helping set these young eagles free.  I wish I could be there to see this event.  They expect over 500 people to come who are just a fraction of those who have followed this trio since birth.

TOMORROW WE FLY FREE
They say tomorrow morning we fly free!
What does that mean to me?
Will there be no more walls around me, just open air on every side?
Will I at last soar high and long in endless skies of blue till my wings are tired?
There will be water below me in long flowing streams and large lakes.
No more a shallow pan that holds all the water I've ever seen or know....can it be true?
My eagle heart bursts with dreams of flying free....tomorrow.....
I'll know what it means to me, what it means to be an eagle who's flying free!

Shipshewana, Indiana.....

This post is fairly long because I want to finish off most of our trip photos.  We spent two days in Shipshewana, Indiana which is Amish/Mennonite county.  This little town is very touristy and is known for the large flea markets that take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in the summer months.  We were not there on those days.  Lots of quilts everywhere to look at and buy, if you have the money.  Lots of everything to look at and buy!  A fun place to just wander around.

Coming into town we followed many Amish buggies.

Horses everywhere.  Every farm had fields of horses.  Lovely!  They seem to favor the dark colored horses.  I don't know horses, so I don't know why.

This was at a restaurant we stopped at one night. 

I liked these horses with their big feet.

Working in the fields.

The town itself is all shops full of all sorts of interesting stuff to look at and buy.

I spent most of my time in just this one place...Davis Mercantile....which has multiple stores inside plus restaurants.  There is a huge tree trunk running up the center of the stairwell area for all three floors.  I noticed the Amish men studying it.  Must have been interesting to watch them build the place.

A quilter's dream......better known as Lolly's.  This was one of the biggest fabric stores I have ever been in.  Just a wonderful place!  I later found out they had a bargain store in the basement....after I spent my money upstairs.  I should have taken a photo of the rowboat filled with fat quarters and a bench on each side.  I sat there for quite awhile digging through the fat quarters and selecting a bunch.

Besides all the fabric there are always neat quilts on the walls to look at in quilt stores.

How do you even start to make a choice when there is so much to choose from????  I did manage to buy "a little" bit of fabric while I was there :-)

One of the horses that gives rides through the town and countryside.  We didn't take a carriage ride, but I asked the man if I could photograph his horse.  It is frustrating that the Amish don't like to have their photos taken.  I have one photo of a young man driving a cart pulled by two miniature horses with two more horses riding in the cart :-)  If I had a way to block his face, I would have posted it.  I tried not to get the people in my photos, but it is hard.

A huge nutcracker outside the puzzle store.  Reminded me of the huge beefeater bear at Hamley's in London.

This was a rack of all train puzzles.  I love jigsaw puzzles, but didn't buy any. (however I think my sister might have bought me one for Christmas)

A view outside a store.  I was taking a rest on a bench and just watching people and things.

Outside the Lang store......just showing all the "stuff".

A wall of goodies.

I loved the sculptures of children that this store had.

Wouldn't that be a wonderful fountain/bird bath to have in your garden?

Clocks! 

Inside the Lang store they had walls full of quilts on display and racks of small ones for sell.  Lang makes wonderful calendars and Christmas cards and such that I'm sure many of you have seen.  They were restocking from behind the quilts.

The landscaping in the town is beautiful and everything clean and well kept up.

This was in front of a restaurant where we ate a couple of times.  Good home cooking, too.

The Menno-Hof center where you can go to see a film about the Mennonites and Amish.

I was interested in the floral quilt squares they had in the yard.  This one had a viewing stand you could take a photo from.  I was wondering if there was going to be a different color flowers in the cross part....maybe not.  Seemed a bit incomplete.

I like a corner shot better :-)

Another floral quilt square planted on a slight rise.  I'm kind of short for getting a good shot, but it looked lovely.  That's just a bit of Shipshewana.....a very interesting place to go!  It wasn't too crowded while we were there, but I bet on the flea market days that it is packed.  This is where the Hudson Museum is that Mike featured in his blog, also.  Mike spent his time looking at beautiful cars while my sister and I looked at "stuff"!

Hudson Museum, Shipshewana (in Mike's blog).....

http://www.andthingsthatgo.blogspot.com/ 

 For those who like old cars, Mike posted some photos of the Hudson Museum in Shipshewana, IN.

Old Woman Creek.....

While we were in Huron, Ohio we looked up a nature place called Old Woman Creek.  It is a fresh water estuary.  We hiked a half mile trail that took us back by the water where egrets and heron were fishing.

I never seem to get good photos of egrets.  Their whiteness seems to confuse my camera (or more aptly the photographer using it :-)

I am including this photo for Becky who loves trains.  The railroad tracks run right behind the water area and you can watch birds and trains at the same time :-)  I know how you would love that!

I was enjoying the reflections that the birds made on the water....so symmetrical looking and clear.

The bent neck pose, ready to strike.

He got some small thing.  He was striking pretty regularly....must be lots of little goodies in there!

Some big "goodies", too.  This large snake went zipping across the top of the water towards where the birds were, to get away from our presence.

The heron didn't seem to be catching stuff as regularly as the egret, but he is a little easier to photograph.

Waiting....it's all about patience and speed.

Just a log making a "bridge".

The trail led back through some woods and we saw a Brown Thrasher with a nest, but I couldn't get in a good position for any photos.  It was a nice easy walk.

There were a lot of nesting boxes on posts near the parking lot.  I saw a wren sitting on one singing his heart out.  This swallow liked the higher elevation he found here.

A nice place.  I wish I lived nearby and could explore it more fully and go there regularly.

Goldfinches love their sunflower seeds fresh....

The Goldfinches love this time of year.  Sunflowers and all the other yellow flowers are blooming and full of seeds.

I looked out the other day and these two males were bobbing up and down on the little volunteer sunflowers trying to pick out the seeds.

"This leaf is in my way!"

They are very agile little acrobats.

This one got all fluffed up to scare away another male Goldfinch.

"These flowers need stronger stems!  I'm almost on the ground"

"Balance....it takes perfect balance."

"...and bending....lots of bending!"

"Got one!"

They are experts at eating upside down.

Lots of seeds still there to get.

Sometimes it is a real struggle.

"If I could just get this leaf out of the way, I could reach the seeds!"

"Maybe if I try the down-under approach."

"Stop laughing...its not as easy as it looks!"

"Hmmm....maybe these other flowers would taste just as good."

"You know, she puts the seeds in these wire things, if you guys get tired of doing it the hard way!"