Vanilla-Jackie, angelface, thank you very much for your warm words!
As my daughter was very busy, it was a custom to see her when I went to Tokyo. As my body recovered considerably, I intend to see her in Tokyo in September.

My first attempt at posting from the gallery with the new software.........Also now have Windows 10 ( ) and PSP8X.  The picture is of poor quality as my husband took it with his phone through the kitchen window and screen. Sorry about the size. I'll get used to the different PSP.

He's beautiful but I don't welcome seeing him in the birdbath looking for lunch!

I've been here nearly every day looking at your photos......Sorry I haven't taken the time to comment.

Sachiko - I do have to say what a nice picture of you and your daughter!

I'm buzzing through on my way to bed.... but afraid I'll forget to tell you, that is a super shot through the window & with a phone!  You know, Beverly, you could always put an uncooked hamburger out for him/it if it shows up again.  That's how I get hooked on critters.  I'm stuffing these feral cats so they don't go after the birds.... but they do bring their river creatures & sometimes a rabbit to the back door to share with me...YUCK~ Don't know what it is about the hawks or eagles or even the egrets & herons, but the fact they are free & so rare in our world anymore, I get a thrill when they show up.  Tell your husband his photo was appreciated!

Beverly, agree with Shirley, that is a great shot.  I just have deer, squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks. 

Bevarly, wonderful photo!
My PC which I used now revised that it was Windoew 7 to Windows 8.1, and I revised it in Windows 10 in August, 2015. And I use it smoothly.

And, thank you very much about the photo of my and my daughter.

Beverly, great catch and a really good photo!

Beverly. I can't make out the breed of the bird. Now to me it looks like a young Cockatiel parrot. Hope not someones missing pet. See if you can see some yellow on its head and orange on cheek

Jeanne, the bird is a hawk.

Such a little one. I pictured hawk's s big birds. Can't remember seeing any here.

Sachiko, a lovely picture with your daughter.

Beverly, nice photo.  I see hawks flying over, but never landing.

Unfortunatly in some ways, hawks and owls are very common here and go after small animals and birds. They or an eagle will go after a small cat or dog, and there is always a shocked or angry letter to the editor about an eagle, hawk or owl taking someone's small dog or cat, and they are always so surprised to see that. Even with the news about birds being very typical, folks somehow believe it will not happen to them.

SACHIKO, what a lovely mother / daughter photo.  How nice that she was able to and check on you.   You are both pretty ladies. 

Very pretty garden photo, BEVERLY, even though it was taken with a phone and through a screen.  That would s a good looking hawk.  We have a couple of families of Hawks here and enjoy watching them....but they are can eat rabbits without any problem at all. 

JACK, I would love to post some photos of some of our trips, however, I have to admit that I really do not know how to do it! 

JEANNE, we used to spend quite a bit of time in Louxembourg, as it was, as you know, an easy drive from Bitburg.  It is a wonderful city with so much history.  We also would fly in and out of the airport there due to the convient drive, as did my parents.  The last time we visited Bitburg and Trier the changes we unbelievable.  One thing, both places had turned the main shopping street into walking malls.   Our favorite restaurant in Trier was still there, but the food was nothing like it used to be...they said the Germans do not cook anymore they are Asians.  Not sure if this is true, but we were very disappointed.  I was pleased that you mentioned the three places that mean a lot to me. 

One other side light....our German born son, we named Kurt.  40 years later he married his wife Heidi.  Her great-grandfather was the mayor of Trier at one time.  Small world. 

I love to read and see the photos so much in this form.  Always a joy to come in and visit. 

Have a great day.

Jenny

Thanks for the comments on "our" hawk. We estimate he was at least 14 inches from his head to his tail.  They show up in our yard occasionally. I saw one dive bombing a bird one day and managed to scare him off. I know they have to eat, but please, not in my yard!  . It's funny, but for some reason more birds like the pan on the ground better than the tall birdbath.

Shirley - I would give him a hamburger but don't want to encourage him to return! Our houses are close together and the neighbors might not appreciate that! 

Jenny - The knock-out roses are in sad shape lately. They do better when it's cooler.

Denver.  When you where in Lux. do you remember seeing a Bar that had the Front of A Airaplane  coming out of it up high. It was called the Cockpit. Owned by the friend of the friend I was staying with. He had been a Airline Pilot with LuxAir and wife was from US.
I used the airport their also. Would go from UK to Lux and then on to my home city of Manchester UK. Loved that route.
Hate to think of Trier changing. Although I do remember being shocked at seeing a McDonald on the Square. Beautiful church there. it is one of the Oldest cities in Germany.

Rain most of the day but stopped in time for a short walk.  Took the camera, glad I did.  Would not have been able to get this close up of our wild life 

Jack, those are gorgeous, glad you took your camera, too.... We don't see that type butterfly here anymore... we are on the migration path for Monarchs but see fewer & fewer every year.   I don't have much blooming to attract butterflies.  Would love some of your rain, we need a soaker 'cause our trees are looking dry, yellow leaves are falling from the sweet gum tree already. 

Beverly, I have a photo of a young Cooper's hawk on my wrist... I picked it up inside the pool area.  We think it must have dived down to snatch old LaurenKat, she looks like a rabbit except for the short ears.  The Lexan (sort of Plexiglass) enclosure was bad for birds running into it but is getting cloudy now so doesn't happen as often.  I was a little nervous about scooping it up with my wrist but it didn't make any attempt to bite & it's toe nails/claws didn't leave a mark.   After I took a bunch of photos of it on my arm & it looked okay, I gave it a "lift" to fly into a small tree.  It sat there for a long time... I didn't have any raw meat but offered it some sausage & it wasn't interested.  Sent e-mail/photo to the city naturalist who identified for me.

Jenny, I got to London only 3 times while in England.... never did get to France or Germany.... or to see very much of England.  One couple asked us to go to Windsor Castle with them, was a very neat trip.  We couldn't go in the castle but got a wonderful tour of the church.  Not sure of the title, but was told "head of the church", took me around (think he thought I was somebody's lost kid.... I was 20, I thought I looked grown up),  Cas was not pleased as he took me off to show the sword in the stone & explained where the various kings were buried along the aisles. 

Lovely capture, Jack!  Glad you took your camera with you! 

Hi Shirley!

Nice photos, Jack.  Love the lavender color.  The butterflies look like the ones we have in this area.

Neat picture Jack, we don't see any butterflies like that here, either, unless we go to Meijer Gardens in April where they have a display for a month.

Pat, it's good to see you posting; I hope you're feeling better.

Mary Ann

Thanks for the comments.  The photos were taken seconds apart, think I prefer the one with the columns in the background.  The flowers are in large concrete pots, as usual I am unable to identify them.

I agree with you, Jack, prefer the ones with the columns in the back.... gives it more depth.... but the other is really impressive with detail in each little part of the flower "head". 

So good to see you, Pat, keep hoping you will show up with some of your beautiful photos.  You inspired me from the first when I discovered Senior Net. 

Thanks Shirley, and sorry I gave a simple thanks and did not mention names.  Always pleased with Jean and MaryAnn's comments and should have acknowledged your post Pat.   So good to see you in here and hope things are going well for you.

I have not seen a butterfly around here all year. fact for past few years. Love them. One garden shop and also over at the University they have a Butterfly room sort of thing. Some beauties.
That was a great shot Jack. Bet you see quite a few in that park area. Although most States are say they are getting few and far between. Same with our bird. Not on Cardinal this year. And it is our State bird.
Things changing. No cows in the fields. Lots of dear seem to be shot in season but see very few when  driving around. Why even the fishing is bad now in Illinois and what lakes have them people told not to eat the fish.

Jack I really enjoyed seeing your photos, The plants seemed made for the butterfly and it will probably help to make more of them.

We had our usual small butterflies this year, but I haven't got out enough to look for more. Jeanne, we  never had Cardinals, too far north for them. However, two or three years ago, one was seen here in the fall and also at the Christmas bird count. Now they are seen occasionally here all year around.

We are finding more and more trees, small insects and small animals such as birds and others these past few years. We have had coyotes and prairie dogs here for the previous two years. It is surprising to me as I thought the wolves would have objected as it is their territory.

The state is doing a good job of keeping alien flowers and trees out, but it is a losing proposition or seems that way to me. You can not sell flower seeds grown elsewhere but from someone in the state and they are meticulous about spraying or cutting down alien trees or plant growth. For centuries, the cold in winters kept many animals and vegetation out, but we no longer have the snow or cold weather here or further into the Arctic.

JeanneP and Patricia, not seeing as many butterflys, they have a butterfly garden but seldom see activity.   I do get the cardinals.

Years back we lost most of the Elm Trees.   Neighbors lost Bradford Pear Trees, understand the wood is soft and the split trunks weaken and break with high winds.  Daughter said their University campus  had a long line of the Bradford Pears, beautiful, but have cut them all down.

The state recently announced that so many animals, birds, reptiles. and vegetation are moving north that in only ten years, it will be totally new and different from the weather, trees and on down. You can already see it happening.

Patricia, 30 years ago when we moved back to Wichita from the KC area we found that in the 2 years we were gone the egrets & herons started wintering here.  A few years before we moved to KC we were thrilled to see the Canada Geese stop over on their way south or north.... and all photographers would shout where to see them.  They started wintering here when the herons & egrets did, all along the river behind us.  We would have hundreds of them just in our neighborhood & thousands all over town.  Developers got rid of the nesting grounds and wildlife people convinced the geese to leave the city, we see a few, none that come to eat like years ago. 

I believe it's just the world constantly changing.... otherwise, why do we have the "Painted Desert & Petrified Forest?".... and all the changes we have history of ..... I remember hearing that "all the elm trees were dying".... and now I have elms on top of elms popping up everywhere, flower beds & sidewalk cracks.  The elms down along the river band that I called "scrub elm"... are getting big leaves this year like what we used to call American Elm. I've decided after all these years I won't waste my worrying on things I can't change, and climate control is out of my reach..... I love hearing about the changes, I didn't realize Alaska was changing so fast.  I've lived in KS since Dec of 1960 and we never had humidity like this summer... so it is changing here as well. 

Jack, how's the weather been in your area this year?  I haven't heard from my cousin that lives not far from you since last year, not sure if she will make the trip back to MO this year since her youngest brother died. She still has a sister & brother living there & we try to get everyone on that side together... so many have died in the last few years, only her brother & sister and my brother & sister left on our fathers side. 

I'm off to bed.... had a stomach ache for 4 days (lost track of time), think a bug caught when we had the gathering to meet the new great-grandbaby, Kate.... turned out a bunch of us caught something & since the little kids didn't eat what the rest of us did, and also got sick.... it was a bug.  With the young ones going to pre-school and day care, they pass germs around constantly.  I'm having trouble kicking this one.  I managed to get down some fast food today, not like normal but at least got something down.  Been falling asleep when I sit down so hope I can sleep sound all night.  Besides all this, I learned today that WE have chiggers here in KS and I never knew it.  I thought maybe I was getting bites from sand fleas down by the river but had no idea why the cats have been scratching all the time.  They had their monthly dose of flea & tick stuff on the back of their necks but guess it doesn't work for chiggers.  Any suggestions? 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, Shirley. But when the University and state scientists here in conjunction with Asian, Scandinavian and European Universities and scientists get together and publish, you can't ignore facts about agriculture, farming, land use, climate, animal changes and a myriad of other changes and problems, worldwide.

It became late,
Denvel, thank you very much for your comment to my photo.