A new life; same as the old life?

The kitchen and associated remodeling is coming along nicely. Kitchen tile is down and partially grouted, dry wall is hung and finished but still to be primed. The cabinets went up last week and most of the trim is completed. Counter tops were measured and arrived this morning. They are being installed as I speak; appliances are in and working. I reckon we are about 2-3 weeks from 100% completion and finishing touches, but we should be able to host Burns Supper on the 25th! This picture is the stone installed on the bar in the family room. Work is well advanced in the powder room floor and we can already use it. Those trips up and down the stairs were becoming tedious! As you would expect, there have been some hiccups and a lot of on the spot decisions to be made along the way. The two major gotchas have been the duct work that we knew was a mess, but just not quite how much of a mess, and the electrical supply service which we found out is aluminum (or aluminium for my UK readers), in...

Can there be anything more American than the Bald Eagle? Even though not technically bald by today's definition, historically (colonial times) bald also meant to have white hair, hence their name. They appear on coins, flags, standards, logos, pretty much anything you could think of. Every year Bald Eagles come down from the north on their way to warmer climes and to be able to eat. They stop over in the Midwest in Illinois and Iowa amongst other places, for a few weeks, using the locks and dams where the water doesn't freeze to fish. Years ago the eagles were on the endangered list and were struggling to have any success breeding due to DDT weakening the egg shells causing them to break when the females nested. DDT was banned and populations immediately increased, but are again under threat, though they are no longer on the endangered list. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a Photo Safari with Chicago Photo Safaris to view and photograph these magnificent birds. My ...