Category Archives: nature

Snowstorm photos

December 3, 2019nature, photography, Sunnybook Farmsusanmanzke

I wandered around outside early December 1, taking in the beauty of our snowstorm. There wasn’t any wind and the temperature was about 32, so nice for winter/late fall. Here’s are some of my photos.

Barn cats on front porch, actually out of the snow.
Photo shows snow blowing between them and camera.

Sudden adoption

September 29, 2019nature, pets, wildlifesusanmanzke

This multiple adoption was not in my plans. It wasn’t until we found abandoned kittens in the barn that I became a mother again.

It took some work getting to the kittens. The mother had left them behind two heavy motors in the old shed shop. Lucky for them they were old enough to pop out from behind the motor so I could grab them one at a time.

There are four in total and they have totally taken over my life.

First, they were housed on the back porch but today they are in our kitchen. This is not the ideal setup for raising kittens. I just hope I’m up for the job. They have made it through a week of bottle feeding.

Keeping them fed is hard enough. The worst part is keeping them clean. Mother cats have a tough job. I just wish their mother had raised them. Hopefully, we’ll have lively kittens to send to new homes in the future. Adopting four might be a bit much for Bob and me.

The chase was on

September 22, 2019fun, nature, photographysusanmanzke

I loved watching monarch butterflies flit around the farm this summer. They seemed to be everywhere. Too bad none would pause long enough for me to get a good photo.

Last Friday a bunch of different butterflies flitted onto flowers in my yard. My friend Mary said these are called painted ladies.

If you were near you would have seen me contorting trying to catch a good photo of the visiting painted ladies. Here are two that I captured for posterity.

I’m happy they stopped by for a visit before moving on to their winter homes.

Don’t forget to come back for another visit next year pretty ladies.

One windy day

September 13, 2019Bob, nature, Wisconsinsusanmanzke

To get to our usual critter cam location we’d need a boat. Because of all the rain we’ve had we relocated the camera. As Bob switched the cards today a wind blew one out of his hand. He was worried it had flown into the water-filled ditch. Luckily I found high on the bank close to the tree.

We almost lost this photo and hundreds more. So happy we found the SD card. Bob says he’ll be more careful when switching cards next time, or he’ll just let me do it.

Nature’s beauty

September 1, 2019nature, photography, wildlifesusanmanzke

I thought I’d share another deer photo taken on our critter cam.

This beauty came to munch on an apple and posed right in front of our camera.

That velvet will be coming off pretty soon. It will take a bit of time for his antlers to shed the outer coating.

I’m afraid his antlers will attract hunters.

I hope to see him again after hunting season.

Susan Manzke

Writer, Speaker, All-Around Good Person