175 I Like Thursday Posts

 Welcome to my 175th I Like Thursday post.   Ever have one of those days that you are like, "Heck yeah!   I am prepared!"  That is my day as I am preparing to write this post. I had so many cool things that I saw and found this week that I liked and wanted to share, so now I can shift through.  Thanks LeeAnna, of Not Afraid of Color for encouraging us for over 4 years to find and share things we like and love.  

I have shared about the app All Trails and I went for a couple of hikes at Lake Erie Metropark.  I chose to do what they term "nature trails" which are people only--no dogs, no bikes.  The first trail I took ran along the Detroit River and is called the Cherry Island Marsh Trail.  It is only a 1.4 mile long trail that winds through marshes along the river.

Coming from the west coast,  Oregon to be exact, I am always disappointed at all the homes on waterways.  This trail following the Detroit River, you look across to Grosse Ile which is an island full of very expensive homes, and every foot of shore is filled with docks, boat houses, boats, other watercraft or canal openings so those on the inner island have water access.  I chose to ignore that side of the trail and focused on the marshes.  The water is low, but what water that was there was full of ducks, Cormorants, Egrets, and Great Blue Herons.  

There was a neat tree with the roots exposed from when the water level gets high.  I thought the hole was interesting, and could see it causing some startled walkers in the twilight hours.  

Oh and there were lots of flowers!

Imatiens capensis also known as Orange Jewelweed.  Interesting fact is that they call it a "touch me not" because when the seed pods are mature, the lightest touch causes them to expel their seeds in a reaction called dehiscence.  

The trail turned away from the river and into the marsh.  It is full of American Lotus!

Unfortunately there were none that we close enough that I could get a good picture.  One year I made an art quilt from a picture which I pixilated.  The dark green represented the water as I was looking down. 

I love their seed pods.  They are so interesting. 

Along the raised trail through the marsh was this Sagittaria latifolia also known as Broadleaf arrowhead, Duck potato, Indian Potato, Wapato. 

A sweet pink flower Butomus umbellatus or Flowering Rush.  

Interestingly enough this is a very invasive plant which was introduced to North America as an ornamental garden plant.  It displaces native vegetation, and  the dense strands become an obstacle to water flow and boat traffic.  

After this trail I wandered over to Trapper's  Run which is a bit north of Cherry Island Marsh Trail.  It was a very easy 1.5 mile trail that wandered through a woodland.  

There were a few places that had boardwalks out into the marsh.  I spied a chipmunk, and several of these beauties.  

At the end of the trail was a building.  When I wandered up to it there was a gorgeous bald eagle.  This is Luc.

He was found many years ago with a broken wing that could not be repaired.  He was also blind in one eye.  He lives at the nature center, and local fisherman supplement his diet with donated fish.  

I have shared that I love advertising, especially for beers and wines.  I loved the packages for these beers.

I thought it was very cool that they wrap the packaging so if you stack one on top of the other it makes the full body.  

I have been doing a wee bit of sewing.  I finished another block from a quilt kit I purchased many years ago called Stars Over Bali Skies.

I finished all the sewing steps for part 5.  I did have to do some fabric acquisitions to finish the cutting for that step.  I also finished up my curvy log cabin blocks for the Boo quilt.  I also managed to get a few rows of the LSD afghan crocheted.

So many books, so little time to blog about the.  

Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell--Newport, Rhode Island August 1895 Emma Cross is a 2nd cousin to Cornelius Vanderbilt.  Emma is given an assignment to report on a grand ball but Emma is witness to more, she witnesses the death of Cornelius Vanderbilt's financial secretary.  Emma's brother and black sheep Brody is accused of the murder, and it is up to Emma to prove his innocence.

Murder at Kensington Palace and Murder at Queen's Landing are book 3 and 4 of the Wrexford and Sloane mysteries.

Wrexford and Sloane must unravel secrets within secrets—including a few that entangle their own hearts—when they reunite to solve a string of shocking murders that have horrified Regency London...

Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens will be the final book in the series and is scheduled for release the end of September this year.  

A Batter of Life and Death by Ellie Alexander is the second book in the Bakeshop Mysteries.  I think LeeAnna had wrote about it at one time.  I was hooked when I discovered that the books take place in Ashland, Oregon--home to the world famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  

Jules Capshaw is a contestant in The Pastry Channel's show Take the Cake.  Jules discovers the body of a fellow contestant dead in a bowl of buttercream.  I really enjoy this series the characters are well developed and so far they have not disappointed.  

A Fresh Beginning & Murder by Miranda Brickett.  Claudia Porter inherits a rundown farmhouse in a small prairie town.  Claudia's first visit to her new home she discovers  body, and she is of course the 

most likely suspect.  A curmudgeon handyman, a found cat, and learning to live in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business.  

Dying to Sing by Margaret Chittenden.  Charlie Plato owns 1/6th of Chaps a country western bar.  During an earthquake a body is discovered in the flower bed, and Charlie is determined to discover who the victim is, and who murdered him.  

Grimm Up North by David J. Gatward.  DCI Harry Grimm is forced to leave the Bristol Major Investigations team and transferred to Wensleydale where he fears his major crime fighting tasks will be finding lost sheep and handing out speeding tickets.  Unfortunately upon his arrival a missing teen and then a body found in a local lake, perhaps living in the boonies isn't going to be all that bad.
 

The Crossing by Matt Brolly another Fish out of Water crime story.  In this story Detective Louise Blackwell has been sent to Weston-Super Mare a seaside town that she used to visit on holidays in her youth.  When the body of an elderly volunteer at the local church is discovered with a hole in one wrist Louise is tasked at discovering the murderer.  

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life by Samantha Irby.  Samantha Irby is a blogger and writer on Hulu's show Shrill.  This is a series of essays full of laughter, and truth.  You will find yourself laughing at her application to be the new Bachelorette (she is 35ish but could pass for 60 something) to crying at her truthful essay about growing up in a dysfunctional household of a mother with MS and a father who is an alcoholic/drug addict.  At times very gritty, at times hilarious.

Now head over to LeeAnna's and check out the other I Like Thursday posts!