New Scooter

 

BECCA SHOWS OFF THE NEW SCOOTER

Becca sits on the new ICE BEAR Mojo scooter Bizzy and I recently purchased. The tricycle has a 49 cc engine and goes a max speed of about 30 mph. It has a gallon and half tank and gets about 90 miles to the gallon in usage.  We tour around the lake on it. We loved it so much that we also bought a red scooter that matches this one. With the lake water receding so much, we felt that it was nice to have something to ride on land. Oh, and the colors match the jet skis perfectly. :)

Another Bird come to visit.

ANOTHER BIRD VISITS

Bizzy caught these pics of a pigeon that had visited us recently at the lake. We think it was a carrier pigeon caught off course or wounded, something like that. Either way, this was not your ordinary everyday pigeon. It was gone a few days later.

 

Becca attends Volleyball/Basketball Camp at KHS

 

BECCA AT B-BALL/V-BALL CAMP

As soon as school was out, the camps kicked into high gear. Becca spent a week rotating between the girls' basketball and volleyball camps. We know that Becca will be a tall girl (she's grown an inch since March and now stands at 4 feet 9 inches tall) and the coaches have taken particular notice of Becca's hieght. Becca especially loved the volleyball camp and thinks she might like that as a sport. She's still unsure about basketball, even though Grandpa is pushing for her to be on the hardwood dribbling a ball.

Flowers in Bloom

 

 

 

FLOWERS IN BLOOM

These are just a few of the flowers we have growing in the yards at the Sanders-Ratliff complex. We enjoy watching them come to life every spring.

Cleaning Windows at Grandmas.

CLEANING WINDOWS AT GRANDMA'S

Becca is enjoying being out of school. One of the first things Grandma needed done at the lake was having her windows cleaned. Becca volunteered, of course, and enjoyed cleaning the windows. These look out on the lake and need to be cleaned every spring to get the dirt and grime off.

NOTE: The tree standing behind Grandma came down in a big storm not long after this picture was taken. 

 

Ready for Prom.

 HEADED FOR PROM!

Bizzy and I get our picture taken as we prepare to head to Knox High School's Prom. As principal, Biz likes to hang out with the kids and take pictures of them in their duds. I go along because I enjoy attending this end of the year activity with my wife.

The moon is blue…..

 

 These moon shots are fun.  Getting the hang of the camera settings seems to be the trick...

Bass Lake

 

MORE SHOTS OF BASS LAKE AT NIGHT

Photos by Biz Ratliff

There is nothing like a sunset at Bass Lake. Here Bizzy is shooting down the shoreline toward the sunset. These are our neighbors piers and boats. These views are looking west along the shore. If one looks hard enough, one can almost see Bizzy's cousin's boat in the distance. Her cousin, Claudia, lives about 10 houses down from us.

 

The Moon Is Out.

NIGHT OF THE MOON

Photos by Biz Ratliff

Bizzy likes to practice her night shots taking pictures of the moon. As you can see, the images have become much sharper with the black night background. Really hard to do with a camera. She uses a tripod at night to help keep the camera steady in order to shoot these shots because the shutter has to remain open longer. 

 

A clear night at the lake.

WINDY SUNSET AT BASS LAKE

Photos by Biz Ratliff

In perfecting her shot, Biz captured these wonderful images with her camera. The sun was still high up, and the wind was whipping the waves, the only way we get waves at Bass Lake. These images cast a much sharper image using more yellows than her previous sunset shots. Even though she is just practicing, Biz has begun to show a powerful command of the camera lens.

 

 

The Birds….

 

 

 

THE BIRDS OF BASS LAKE

By Biz Ratliff

Another subject of Bizzy's photography is all the different kinds of birds she has spotted at the lake. Among them was this red-headed fellow, the hummingbirds Grandma feeds with sugar water, and an occassional cardinal or two. Dont' forget to find the Eagle also posted on the blog. Every so often we see a unique bird and Bizzy photographs it.

Night Falls At The Lake.

  

SUNSET AT BASS LAKE

Photos by Biz Ratliff

Bizzy has begun going out on the pier at sunset and takes pictures of the lake at sunset. Using her Canon EOS Rebel, she has been perfecting her shots so that she can be a really fantastic photographer. She has learned so much about photography that she hopes to enter her photos in the upcoming Starke County 4H Fair.

 

The moon is out….

SUPERMOON

Every so often, the moon comes close enough to the earth to be seen as quite large. This phenomenon is called "supermoon." This is a view of the moon on Saturday night as it rose above Bass Lake. Bizzy took out her camera and took shots of the moon. These were the best two. You can see crater marks and formations in the moon's surface.

A cold day at the lake.

 

 

 A COLD DAY AT THE LAKE

Becca still believes the lake is getting warmer and that she should try and get in. Although the water was chilly, it was not so bad that Becca eventually "fell in" and got wet. We all watched as Becca tested the waters. Yep, still cold. But not so that she couldn't at least put her feet in . . . well, maybe sit on the ladder . . . Ooops! I fell in!

Bizzy, of course, recorded everything on film and caught us all in stages of wondering if the lake will ever warm up so that we can get in? Sure, it will.

BOATS FINALLY IN?

Update: Since these pictures were taken our lifts have been placed and the boats removed from storage. We spent last weekend putting the boats in, with the water being quite chilly. Bizzy and Colton rode the Jet Skis over from the launch, after Bizzy and Becca rode the yellow Bombardier speed boat over and tied it up at the pier.

Once they were all put in, the water valet (that's me, of course) gingerly lowered himself into the ice cold water and maneuvered the boats onto the lifts for summer mooring. We will update the blog with boat pictures soon.