He's not been back....

This is just a different version. This is also one of the reasons I like living away from the city. It is a shame that the city is moving to us.

A little early...

We have a confused peach tree. It's not a variety suitable for our area regardless of the what the tag said. It's a variety for a warmer climate. As a result, it starts to bloom very early in the year, and the fruit always gets killed by a freeze. But, the bees enjoy it and I enjoy the bees.

It's a girl!

At the moment we have red-winged blackbirds infiltrating our feeders in rather large numbers. Still, this is the only photo I've been able to get so far. It is a female red-winged blackbird. I still want photos of the males. I think they are pretty even if they are eating us out of house and home.

They're just so cute...

Here is another shot of the Carolina Chickadee. They are just so cute, I can't resist trying to photograph them. This time he just sat there while I took this shot. A rarity indeed.

They're here again...

Early last fall the cardinals seemed to disappear. We would spot one only occasionally. We were used to seeing several males and twice as many females. Since they are usually around, even during the fall and winter months, we were getting concerned. Maybe they were here all along but just not particularly active. I don't know which, but they are back. Since this is one of my favorite birds, I am delighted to see more of them again.

Another pose...

This particular day he came to the tree several times. This is the only other image I was able to take. Most of the time he stayed behind the branches even more than in this shot.

It's a start...

I have been trying to get a good picture of this guy for a long time. Usually he flies in and out so fast that I can't get a shot. Sometimes he will stay and play, but I never have my camera when he does. He stayed around for a little longer on this day but still was pretty quick to leave.

I promised myself...

I have tried for a couple of years to get a decent photograph of these tiny, tiny birds. With the equipment I had up until now, I had to do a lot of cropping just to be able to see the bird. The resulting image was not the best. I finally purchased a lens that will help me to achieve that goal. I think it is a good start.

Oh, yes!!

It's THE FAUCET again. I am still, unjustifiably, enamoured with it. I applied a technique to this image that gives it an old-time feel to me. Maybe that's what I like about it. It just looks homey.

Meet Cat

Last year a momma raccoon started bringing her babies to the porch so they could eat out of the cat's bowl. We, Papa, Granny, Aunt Chel, and the 2 granddaughters, used to peek out the glass in the storm door to watch while arranging ourselves in a stairstep fashion so we could all see. The raccoons probably enjoyed our antics as much as we enjoyed theirs but they were more leery of us than we were of them. They would never have let me out to photograph them.
This year we have not seen the momma, but at least one (and we think more) still comes to the porch to eat. This one is not as leery as he once was and does not seem to mind my stepping out on the porch to take his picture while he is enjoying his dinner.
We named him CAT!

Update: One night we went to look out at the raccoons..stairstep fashion as usual. Imagine our suprise when we saw they were standing on the porch on their hindlegs staring into the door at us.

A Small Thing...

When I turned the back porch light on, I noticed the icicles. I went inside to get my camera. By the time I got back, the heat from the light had started to melt the ice on the reflector. The water rolled down the icicles and I caught this drop just as it left the tip of one of them.

The same day

This photo was taken the same day as Ice Glow and was also featured on our local Fox News channel's website.

What a difference....

a day makes. Or, for that matter, a few minutes. On Friday, when my granddaughters and I were taking my daughter to work, it was 65 degrees outside. On the way home the cold front rolled in, literally, and the temperature dropped to 50 degrees in a matter of seconds. By the time we got home it was 46 degrees. It had dropped almost 20 degrees in a couple of miles. The next day, this is what it looked like.
Our local Fox 4 weather station was asking people to send in their photos of the weather. They featured this one and another one on their website and showed them on TV during their weather forecasts.

WARNING!!

With all the opportunities for excessive eating and drinking that many of us are exposed to this time of year; then the mad dash to get any weight gain quickly under control after the New Year, I just wanted to warn you that...
Exercise:

Can kill you:

How Close?

We finally got away for a few days. Lake Livingston State Park, in East Texas, is a really nice park. The squirrels are abundant and friendly...obviously used to people. This one climbed up on the picnic table when he realized I had some peanuts.

Last Stand?

The weather is going to be changing soon. (I hope) I guess they know it because they are out working the flowers that have appeared after the recent rains.

Change of Pace

Not a bird and no pun intended. He was literally pacing back and forth along a top rail of our deck. I like the colors in the image.

Prolific

The female House Sparrows are out in great numbers. They are about the only bird that I have been able to photograph.

A Rarity

Not the House Sparrow as such. They are prolific. But, this is a male one. And, it is a male regardless of the fact that his mouth is open.

The Whole Family

Airbrushed ceramic ornaments personalized for a family. They were airbrushed with fired ceramic color.

The Doves

Sometimes it seems like the doves are taking over our feeders. They are better than the grackles, though. At first we were not too pleased. But, after watching them for awhile, we have decided they are really quite fun.

Very Small

I don't know what this little flower is. It is very small. The entire pink head is only slightly larger than a large kitchen match.

After the rain

Since we have received some rain, a few wildflowers, at least the very small ones, are starting to peak out again. This is a Day Flower. It measures about 1" across from the outside of one blue petal to the outside of the other.

The same bird

After the heron left the gift shop, he made his way over to a small pond. Someone told me he looked angry. I think it was because the gift shop wasn't opened yet.

Open...open...open

This heron was walking around the porch at the Japanese Garden's gift shop. He reminds me of a TV commercial for a department store. The one where a woman was standing outside the door long before opening time saying, "Open...open...open".

Green

What can I say? It's green. But, very peaceful.

Cute!

This fish has got the cutest face I think I have ever seen on a fish. He looks like he is just waiting to pull a practical joke on someone. I really wanted to see it blow up into a ball.

Another Odd Creature

Another taken at the Dallas World Aquarium. Strange but beautiful.

Mayan Dancers

Mayan Dancers performed at the Dallas World Aquarium. These Scarlet Macaws were absolutely gorgeous as was the dancer.

That Fateful Day

Windows on the World was an elegant and popular restaurant located at 1 World Trade Center. On that beautiful, clear morning breakfast was already being served. All present at the time American Airlines Flight 11 impacted the North Tower were killed including 73 of the 400 very close-knit employees of the restaurant.
She was 52 years old. They say that she was a sweet, caring woman who liked to sew. A woman who brought a ray of sunshine into everyone’s lives. She had a beautiful smile. She worked at Windows On the World. Such a bare handful of facts. How do we pay tribute to someone that we did not know, can never hope to meet...now...because of that fateful day? What can I say about this woman that will bring her alive to you, just briefly, so you know that Clara Victorine Hinds lived and hoped and dreamed like we all do?

All I can tell you is that she was my fellow American. She had the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. She had the right to grow old alongside us, to watch the sunrise, to share laughter and love. She had the right to live beyond September 11th, 2001.

So, while I cannot tell you much, I can tell you everything. She was our fellow American and she was killed by our enemy. And, we will not forget.

Odd Creature

Even though the Leafy Seadragon is an odd looking creature, it is beautiful. I really enjoyed watching them swim at the Dallas World Aquarium. They were so graceful and laid back, moving very slowly around the tank.

Posing

Check out that profile.

It's amazing

how nature takes care of it own. This "unknown species" was hard to spot because it blended so well with the background....our brick.

And another

Population Explosion

We have some new members in our bird families.

It seems

that the first thing that everyone with a new camera does is to take a picture of (enter favorite animal here).

Finally

I have a new camera....a dslr. It was waiting on my doorstep when we returned home from vacation. I have not had an opportunity to really use it yet. I had so much to get caught up on after being gone. Then, a new version of my internet security software really, really messed up my computer.  All of that has now been fixed. YEAH!

I still haven't had a chance to do much more than snap a few shots to test the camera.
These little guys are everywhere around the house. They certainly aren't attractive but do have very pretty eyes.

Back in Texas

we were stopped at a train crossing next to some grain elevators. I thought the lighting and subtle colors on the elevators were interesting.

What a difference

a day makes. We had left Taos, New Mexico and just crossed over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. This is the view across the high desert towards the Sangre de Christo Mountains. There are several earthship homes built in this area.

The Last Day

we got up really early to explore as much as we could before we headed home. As a result, we were able to watch as the sun came up over the mountains. Magnificent!!

A Colorado Favorite

are the streams that flow down the mountainsides, especially in the spring and summer.

Exploring

the countryside, you could always find a critter or two. This chipmunk was really enjoying his dinner.

Potpourri

While the color and variety of the flowers was not as diverse as I had hoped, there were so many of them that the air smell like a bowl of potpopurri.

And we found some

This was outside Crested Butte starting toward Kebler Pass.

To find the flowers

We headed to Crested Butte.

We went for the flowers

But, there were not many around Silverton. These were on top of Molas Pass.

Added bonus

The wildflowers along the side of the road was an attraction to the butterflies.

The Next Morning

We spent the first night in New Mexico. The next morning we were up bright and early going into Colorado over our first pass.

Capulin Volcano

We went on vacation...to Colorado!! I'm not sure that was a wise decision. We had been in the fall for the colors and I wanted to go back for the flowers. Don't get me wrong. It was wonderful and the temperatures were just perfect for me. Unfortunately, we had to come back home to the heat. Having been fabulously cool for a week, the heat is harder to take.

This picture was taken in New Mexico. I have been up to the top of Capulin Volcano many times. Not this time though. This was taken from a moving car as we were speeding by.

60,000 years ago 4 lava flows formed the volcano. It's almost a perfectly shaped cone that rises to an elevation of 8,182 feet above sea level. It is extinct. You can drive a winding 2 mile road to the top. If you are continuing on to the mountains of Colorado, it will give you a taste of what's to come. Paved trails lead down into the 400 ft. deep crater. If you are lucky, you might see a deer, wild turkey, or black bear amongst the pine forest that covers the volcano.