The Birds are Out

I think it is because there aren't many flowers around and very little water.

Not everything is in the wildlife park

I love columbines. They are prolific in Colorado. That is were I first saw them. I believe the Rocky Mountain Columbine is their state flower. It won't grow here, but the Texas columbine will. I think the Colorado ones are a little prettier, but this one will do. It grows in my flowerbed.

This guy is called a black and yellow garden spider, writing spider, or corn spider. They are hugh and scary looking but won't hurt you. It was under my front porch. I did manipulate this image.

I am not very fond of these things and that is putting it mildly. The Grands and my Daughter like to carry them around. YUCK!

What I Miss

I know I keep talking about my wildlife park and it sounds kinda strange.

We were once surrounded by undeveloped land and had a lot of wildlife but that changed. So, we decided to let a 2 acre area on our property return wild. We just put up a post fence to divide our yard from the uncleared area. Because it meets all the requirements, we had it certified as a Wildlife Habitat. The Grands call it my Wildlife Park. The name stuck. Kinda like saying..the crazy intersection, the purple store, the nerd room...and everyone knows what you are talking about. Anyway, it worked. We do still get a lot of wildlife from coyotes and raccoons to fox, rabbits, insects, birds, and flowers.

I am so anxious to see what comes back next spring.

Beep, Beep

I don't know why these are in the backyard. Not that I care, that's for sure. They usually hang out in the unburned area of wildlife habitat. I have tried multiple times to get photos, but they are too fast and I can't get close enough. Some things are just meant to be watched and enjoyed. I had decided that Roadrunners fell into that category. Then, my husband found this one, of all places, in the bird feeder. I was able to stand in the sunroom door and get this shot.

There was also another one with a baby on the ground. They were too skittish and I never did get their pictures. I went out and sat in the pergola to see if they would come back. Nope.

While I was waiting, I did see this little lady.

My Momma Done Tol' Me

Never say never. Never say someone will or will not do something or that they like or don't like something because they will always make a liar out of you. Used to be my kids. Now it's my husband.

Don't laugh. Sometimes when I am chopping stuff up for a dish I am fixin', I see some really interesting things. Once, it was part of my finger. Lately, though, it has happened more with bell peppers. I cut the top off a red one the other day and liked the red and green colors and the different shapes. I took a picture.

Other than some warmth from the incandescent lighting, this is exactly what it looked like. I could take the warm out but I like it.

In anticipation of my photo class, I decided to see what I could do with it.

I showed my husband what I did. He likes some of the photos I take; some not so much. Same as me. He has never liked the ones I mess with. I expected a lot of comments. Why did you take a picture of the top of a bell pepper? Isn't that a waste of good film. Shhh...don't tell him I don't use film anymore. If you like it the way it was, why did you mess with it? You know..those comments.

He made a liar out of me. He actually chose the manipulated one as his favorite.

I think I May Be in Trouble

I signed up for a different kind of photography class today. Its mission is to attempt to teach a dummy like me how to digitally turn my photos into fine art. I love the layered, blended, even grunge look. I know in my head what I want something to look like but sometimes have trouble getting there.

Here's the problem. I agree some images, probably even most, need to be left very traditional. However, there are many that are just perfect for experimenting with to see what more can be done with them. My husband disagrees. He's an_everything needs to be squared to the wall_ kind of guy. He'll line up a foot stool, chair, kitchen appliance or whatever straight to the wall. I'll come along grab the stool with my toe and give it a kick. Where and how it lands is where I want it. I turn a lot of my things on the counter so they are not lined up in neat little rows. He turns them back. Then the process starts all over. He straightens, I turn, he straightens, I turn. We're both pretty much running on autopilot now.

He does not like the photos I mess with. I do but think I can do much better. We shall see.

Here are a few that I have done. I think it will be fun to compare after the course.

Some People Walk in the Rain

Others just get wet.

I like rain. I even like storms. I don't enjoy lightning as much as I used to because I worry about all of the electronics, but watching it can be awesome.

If it is not lightning, I will go outside, barefoot, and run around in the rain. Get soaking wet. Maybe dance a little. It feels wonderful. It smells wonderful. No, it will not give you pneumonia. Nor will walking barefoot in the snow. Family, are you listening?

It is summer, it is Texas, it is hot. Mostly it is dry. So, we have to resort to this.

Van Granny

This is absolutely the last post I am going to make regarding a decision that was made or an action that was taken predicated on events out of our control. Things are Great now and looking up more and more every day. I thought this one turned out funny, though.

Because of circumstances, my husband and I were discussing the possibility that we might have to sell our house. We started analyzing what changes might need to be made in order for it to sell quickly. A major problem that we could see, at least in a Realtor's eyes, is that I LOVE color...lots and lots of color. There is not a single color I do not like and firmly believe that every one of them has its right place. My kitchen and breakfast area was the canvas for my palette. We knew we were going to have to get the walls back to a neutral color, which we did.

I started looking for things that I could hang on the, now, to me, boring walls. I found a place that sells crops of Van Gogh's paintings that have been sublimated onto ceramic tiles. I ordered the most colorful ones I could. I also ordered some frames designed specifically for ceramic tiles. The day my goodies arrived, the Grands were here. We all had a hand in deciding how and where they would be hung. Mission accomplished, but it wasn't enough. They filled one area, but I had more wall to cover.

In one of the painting classes I teach, the students each take a turn choosing what they would like to paint and we all paint the same thing. One was of some grapes with very colorful leaves and background. I have grapes and some of those colors already in my kitchen. I could hang that. Check!

I went through some of my own photos and cropped out some colorful sections, reduced the detail to make them look more painterly, over saturated the colors and put them in the same color frames as the ceramic tiles. Would it work? We thought so. Check!

My Granddaughters call these my Van Grannys. Bless their hearts. I think it takes a colossal ego to put my stuff next to Van Gogh's. One thing can be said, though. It is colorful.

It'll Be Back

I can see that.

I went out and walked around my wildlife area yesterday. It still makes me kinda sad, but I did see signs of renewal.

This is one of the birdhouses my husband made.

This bench, which was one of several set up along the walking path that we cut through the area, is still intact. Surrounding it was cactus and tons and tons of wildflowers. It was a great spot for photographing all kinds of creatures. The tree overhanging it also created some nice shade. It looks lonely now. I do see some leaves coming back in areas on some of the trees and even a few cactus. Along with my favorite, Johnson Grass. Not! I just hope the wildflowers come back next year since they burnt before they had a chance to drop their seeds.

That was a huge, huge pile of cactus. The dragonflies and butterflies loved it.

I know that in the grand scheme of things, this is very minor. We were lucky that the fire didn't get any closer to my studio or the house than it did. Nevertheless, this small area is a source of great pleasure. It's an area that my husband doesn't have to mow (LOL!)and a place where I could sit in peace, take pictures, do nothing, whatever. The grands loved walking the path to see what they could find new. That is the first place they would take their friends when they came to visit with them. It will be exciting to see how it comes back next year.

Shoot the Pets

OMG! I have been having so much fun.

Hubby had his last Dr's. appointment until February and everything looks good.

I closed my studio until it cools off. That has given me some much needed time to do what I want to do. I always close this time of year. But, this time, I am thinking about closing it permanently.

I have been designing and cutting with my Black Cat. More on that coming soon. I always think I like drawing the graphics better than cutting them until I sit down and watch that machine actually cut what I have created.

I still haven't been shooting much. It is so hot that the only thriving plant life I see is Johnson Grass. I saw the cat chasing the dog the other day and they were both walking. Shadow can be a terror and is such a tease. I made them come in the house and that didn't go over so well.

What the...

I don't care if she is sorry, make her get off my side...

ALLIE

JENNY
The grands got Jenny when we got Allie. They are sisters as well as rescue dogs.

Ok. So this is not a pet. It was taken at Washington on the Brazos. The site where Texas declared its independence from Mexico. I found it when I was looking for something else on my computer.

No time...

I haven't had much time for photo taking, but I found this little guy out on our back walkway. I AM getting pretty desperate here. Not only have I not had the time, but about a third of our wildlife park, where I normally get flower and insect photos, burned. Flowers, trees, cactus, grass and a birdhouse gone. It also burnt completely through some of our post fencing. You can see the tracks where the fire truck drove around. They stopped the fire just a few feet from my shop. The scary part....we weren't home and don't have the first clue when it happened.

You would think this guy was pondering just how far down he had to go. But, he had an easier time going down the step than I did getting back up after the shot.

We also have a new batch of woodpeckers building a nest in the hole in the electrical pole. We just call them the 2013 batch.

The Infamous Bear

He is to me, anyway. I wanted to create a furry Teddy Bear. So many of my attempts turned into something else. Mostly because he was too time consuming. But, I finally finished him.

My husband says I am stubborn. I don't know where he gets such an idea. I saved him, the bear not my husband, as a .png file and can print him with all the furry edges visible. I wanted those furry edges. But, when I trace him into Make-the-Cut to do a PnC, I loose most of the edges. Although expected, it does a much better job than I thought it would. It does retain some of the fur that would be easy to cut...but not all of it. If you shadow the image, instead of perfectly smooth edges, the edges are bumpy and I kinda liked it. But, that is not the look I was after. Using Photoshop, I was able to create a smooth shadow edge and I can change the color if need be. The shadow edge becomes the cutting line in MTC and I can see all of the furry edges.



I am sharing the MTC file with 4 different colored shadows/backgrounds as well as the .png file with a transparent background.

MTC Bear Digital Cut File

Bear Raster File

The Year from You Know Where

Things are finally looking up!!

Back in February Hubby went into the hospital to have double knee replacement surgery. We were concerned because, among some other things, he has AFIB and takes a blood thinner to help prevent blood clots which he had to stop taking a week prior to surgery. Except for one bout of something like the flu, in the 42 years we have been married, he has never been bed ridden sick.

No need to worry. He went through the surgery like a champ. When they wheeled his hospital bed out of recovery to take him to his room, he was sitting up, laughing and making jokes at his nurse. Once he was settled into his room, physical therapy paid a visit. They got him up out of bed and he walked 20+ feet with two brand new knees, laughing and joking all the way. I knew and his therapist knew what he hadn't figured out yet. He was still under the influence of massive pain medication. We knew the next day would be different. And it was.....

Although, PT did get him out of bed to walk, he was walking only a few steps. No laughing and joking could be heard. Poor guy. They also re-started all of his medications. And, the worst was yet to come...

By the next day, his blood thinner had thinned his blood too much. He started bleeding internally, his blood viscosity numbers were off the chart, his white blood cell numbers were shooting up right along with his temperature. With glassy eyes darting from side to side, he was physically there in the bed but he wasn't. He had left the planet, entered a high ceiling-ed spaceship with all the doctors dressed in military uniforms. He could tell you his name and birthday, but he thought Clinton was still President. He didn't trust the doctors in their fancy dress uniforms. He wouldn't let them do anything unless I told him it was OK. In an effort to find exactly where he was bleeding they ran test, after test, after test. Some, not so easy for a mobile person, was sheer torture for someone with two brand new knees. Vitamin K, blood transfusions, and iron finally got his blood back to normal. Did I mention that he also became blood loss anemic? And, what did they find on the tests....

Cancer. They found he had a large tumor growing on the outside of one of his kidneys. They said it had been there for quite some time. They also said it was one of the few cancers that cannot be detected with a blood test. His doctor said it is found when other symptoms make themselves known or by accident. Divine intervention, a blessing in disguise. He started another round of tests to determine if it had spread, bone tests, bladder tests, dye tests, you name it. Thankfully, the tumor appeared completely contained, but the kidney had to be removed. And, that couldn't happen until he had recovered from his knee surgery...

After two weeks in the hospital and a week in a re-hab hospital, he was able to come home. Everyone was amazed at how well he was doing with double knee replacement. His re-hab nurse said I was going to need roller skates just to keep up with him.

At home and with the help of out-patient re-hab, his knees continued to improve. He was ready for his kidney to be removed. Well, he wasn't really ready but it was time. Three week ago we made the trip back to the hospital. Again, he went through the surgery like a champ. His doctor told me that he saw no other signs of cancer lurking around. That was a relief to both of us but what I had not told my husband was what the doctor had told me. If they found the tumor had spread, they would just sew him back up and send him home. There is no chemo or radiation that can be used for kidney cancer. So, an accident, Divine intervention, or a blessing in disguise, or whatever one calls it, his blood thinning out appears to have saved his life. After surgery restrictions still curb his activity, but he is well on his way to recovery.

I managed to hold onto my sanity because of the wonderful doctors that he had. They answered all my questions honestly, and fully. The doctor that was on call the day he started bleeding was particularly helpful. He told me everything and let me watch the digital images from the scans. I could see the tumor. I wasn't brushed aside like an irritating gnat. I will be forever grateful for that. His kidney doctor and his PA were also forthright and took the time to answer the most menial of questions.

Another thing that helped me was my ability to sit and create stuff for my digital cutter whenever I could. Even if it was just a few minutes at a time. I had no desire or energy for anything else. There is no rhyme or reason to what I created. I sometimes would start something that turned into something else or one thing would lead to another. I would like to share some of that stuff over time.

A couple of weeks ago, the only city in the country that was cooler than we were in the DFW area, was San Francisco. A Texas day in July with the high in the low 70's. Loved it!!! It lasted for several days, but, alas, that has changed. A great way to cool off in the summer heat is with a hamburger, fries and a cold beer while laying out by the pool

Summer Meal MTC Digital Cut File

Hamburger PNG File

French Fries in Container PNG File

Beer Glass with Reflections PNG File

Beer Glasswithout Reflections PNG File

The Last Mornings

As usual, the first thing I did in the morning was step out onto the balcony. This was what greated me the last day in Cuenca.

And this was the last morning in Ecuador. Quito, Ecuador from my hotel window.

My Favorite Park

My favorite of the parks that we had time to visit was San Sabastian. I don't think it was as pretty as Parque Calderon, but it was further out from the city center thus much quieter and more peaceful.

Handicrafts

In addition to the beautiful Panama Hats that are original to Ecuador, the artisans also weave beautiful wool fabric from alpaca, angora, and other hair and fur then make beautiful scarves, shawls, blankets, clothing etc.

The artisans in Chordeleg are well known for their filigree. The delicate ornamental items of fine silver, gold, or other metal wires are a delight to behold.

Some of my Favorite Things

The amount of fresh fruit and vegetables that was available and cheap at the indigenous mercados was absolutely amazing. The produce was truly vine-ripe straight from the farms. It wasn't produce that had been picked before its time so that it could be shipped to grocery stores before it rotted. The mercados were similar to the farmer's markets that can be found here if you are lucky enough to live close to one. The difference is they were prolific. You didn't have to walk more than a few blocks to find one anywhere in the city. There were several really large ones scattered around the city as well. In the outlying towns, they would fill the entire town square on Wednesdays and Sundays.

On Wednesday, they fly in fresh fish from the coast. If you are there when it arrives, you can get several types of fish, shrimp, and tuna almost as fresh as if you had caught it yourself.  Otherwise, I am told, it is wise to forget it.

Orquideas

We took a drive to a couple of small towns outside of the city. We stopped at a commercial orchid grower's facitily and took a tour.

The growers seal the seed pods inside these glass bottles with only the air that exists in the bottle. They create their own micro-climate. There are 100's of orchids growing inside each bottle. When they reach a certain size, they transfer them to pots. It takes several years to complete the process.

Monkey-faced orchid.