Not a photo post!

Well, I mean this post does have photos, but it is in the bonus category!!
I have yet to take my pictures for today, but had this to share from yesterday.

Yesterday morning I was headed out to my Thursday class.
I had 4 minutes to make a 6 minute drive.
I was late!
My route has a place where 2 roads form an L, so it is a two way stop intersection rather than just being a curve. It is a bit asinine right now, but I think someday it will be a 3 way stop and they are building in a stopping habit for us.

Anyway, yesterday morning to my left just before this intersection I couldn't help but notice a large gathering of buzzards. If I had to guess I would venture to say there were at least 12 hanging about.
It is pretty creepy to see a large group of buzzards gathered, going about their business.
Ewwwww, their business!!!!
They are sizable birds, and so distinct in their movements and overall appearance.

I was frustrated that I was running late and missed the opportunity to snap off a few shots of these guys.

However, on my way home, oh about 5 hours later I had a chance to stop!!!
I pulled my van over off of the road and sat calmly in my seat adjusting my settings before getting out.
Uh-huh, see I am learning.
I remembered our gum chewing hawk friend was not easily disturbed, but these guys appeared to be more skittish.
I think it was the group setting!
I have a feeling they aren't very nice to each other.
The 6 remaining birds were loosely gathered around the...
uhhhh, they were gathered around the...
clearing throat and swallowing....
they were gathered around the armadillo, well what was left of the armadillo!
Ewwwww, why can't I run across bunnies eating clover or something???

I crept slowly over desperately hoping they wouldn't suddenly amass together to attack me thinking of me as their next meal.

Here lately I have been laying right on the ground or floor to get "on the level" shots of my chosen subjects. Can I just tell you, that didn't even cross my mind. I just did the bend your knees and pretend you are still young and able to do this squat type move.
Luckily I was a bit uphill from them.

Here was my first shot!

Can you just believe it??? In focus and everything!!!


Then I swiveled and got this guy!


Oh, man...let me tell you they walk soooo creepy! They do that stooped over neck scrunched buzzard/vulture sort of bird of prey thing!!!

Wait a minute...are they a bird of prey? They prey upon the squashed, does that count?
Oh, it matters not, we are here to look at 'em that's all.



You really must click on this next image and look at it up close.
Those feathers are magnificent!!!!





This is my favorite shot of the bunch. This fellow it seems hasn't yet had his go at the feast, so he is watching from a distance waiting for his turn.

Ewwww!
Fuzzy bunnies, fuzzy bunnies!!!

I want you to know that it took courage for me to:
1. pull my van over and get out
2. carry my huge lens camera in a very busy place, I am still kinda shy and nervous about it.
3. take pictures of huge buzzards eating dead things
4.squat down on these creaky joints...who knows if I was gonna be able to stand up without falling over...then the buzzards really would have circled in for the....oh boy....never mind.
5. not be paranoid about all of the passing cars and what they might think of me with my big lens taking pictures of buzzards eating dead things.

I think you get the picture.
I was calm though, and focused...well most of the time.
There was suddenly a rather large surge of traffic coming around this corner which caused the birds to be in movement a bit more,which caused me to work harder to stay focused.

Then you know what happened??
A guy honked.
Not a little, hey way to go taking pictures of dead things horn tap, but an all out blast.
It sent the birds flapping in haste to escape.
I looked up quickly thinking maybe it was a friend of mine and I would see them waving and grinning, but no... it was just some mean man who didn't even have the guts to look me in the eye after ruining my shot.
Seriously!!!
It was just rude!!!

The birds started hopping around full of nervousness and before I knew it...

were all up flying in the sky!

There was no way I could change all of my settings in time to capture the birds in flight!
Arrrgggghhhhh!

Creepy birds, creepy horn blasting fellow!
By the way...I did a little research after typing out this whole blog and found that this bird is a black vulture, not a buzzard.
You may now go back through the entire post and mentally insert the word vulture everywhere the word buzzard is typed as a substitute, should you feel the need to do that, cause I am not gonna retype it for you, though the amount of time it took me to write this run on sentence would probably have been enough to change all of my wrong words!!!

Here is wishing you a most excellent buzzard Friday.
Oh look there is one more for ya!

I will be back later today with my photo assignment!

Comfy puppy

I have been wanting to get my camera focused on Waggles the dog for some time now.

She is a low key basset mix, who loves to have her ears rubbed.

We started my visit today with a few cookies..you know to butter her up real good for posing!!

Actually I think what happened was that Waggles mom brought in a few styrofoam dishes, which normally signals to this dog that leftovers are coming her way. That was not the case today...but how is a dog supposed to know such things???
It was a genuine misunderstanding...so she got cookies to tide her over.

Waggles was none to excited about our photo shoot today. I don't really think she got enough forewarning and wasn't really planning on having to be "on" today.

I get that!!

Do you see how short her legs are???
Well that meant getting way down on the floor to get on her level.
It seems that every time I did get all the way down to the floor and got her in focus...she made for another direction.

That was okay though, it was good practice, and besides I had something else in mind anyway.
I knew when I saw my photo challenge for the day that Waggles had to be the one to be the star of the show.
The project: Where they are comfortable.


You see, Waggles has a special chair.
It used to have legs, but since she is getting on in age and doesn't have the jump like she used to, the chair now sits on the floor.
It is her chair and her chair alone...and she looks adorable in it.


She let me snap off about 6 close shots quickly while she laid here in the chair, then...she dismissed me. These were shot at 800 ISO and some other things I cannot remember. Boy am I tired.

I would say, without a doubt that Waggles is comfy in her chair!
Mission accomplished.
I have so much more to share with you, but just cannot today.
It is already 10:30 and I am running on empty, so it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Okay, maybe one photo as a teaser!!!

Ha ha ha, more birds...but no bubble gum this time...I made sure of it!!!
Oh, and I got my lens. No time today though to use it. So tired. gonna get.

Thanks to Waggles family for letting me click away at your place today, I appreciate it!!

Real quick photo post

My job today with my Joy of Love photo challenge was Hobbies or Interests.

I was determined to make today's assignment...whatever it was... fit in with a visit to a friend of mine who is in the throes of recovery from a severely broken leg. As in, broke it on the Christmas holiday and still can't bear weight on it at all.
Talk about put a cramp in your style.

I decided a collection was something of an "Interest"... wouldn't you say so too?

Well, she has all of her Precious Moments as well as those passed down to her from her Mother.
Oh...you may not know what Precious Moments are!
Here is a glimpse of a few.

They are super cute, rounded out, pale colored themed figurines.

Any occasion in your life...wait
Any Precious Moment in your life surely has a corresponding figure to go with it.

I thought this one went nicely with our theme and month!


I took that one out of this case!

But then there is also this case, and another one, and another one and assorted figures all about the house.


My camera toting self triggered a memory of this little darlin' and she hobbled out on her crutches with it in her pocket!

It looks just like me don't ya think??

Okay, friends...that is all for today.
I must jet, so much to do!

Just for fun

My dog is not allowed on the furniture.
She is not allowed on the beds, sofas, chairs...nothing.

This is a travesty for her since in her previous life I believe she was the couch diva!

So, whenever I sit on the floor, or even close to the floor she comes in for a landing.

She is especially happy about it when I have been gone for an hour and a half, which in doggie time is such a long long long time.

The other night I sat in my husbands "office" room in the bean bag so I could chat with him and Shelby quickly worked her way onto my lap.


She doesn't curl up in a cute little ball, or put her head on my shoulder.
Nope, this is the seating arrangement of choice, with her legs dangling between mine and her neck blissfully stretched out on my knee.

Word to my husband who took this photo for me after I tweaked all the settings. He did a great job with my coaching don't ya think?
I am pretty sure we shot this at ISO 1600 f/3.5.
Real post to come later today!!

Joy by the Dishful

Okay, do this for me....first of all, ignore the ugly wall paper.


It's just not my style and along with the pale cabinets, will someday be replaced!
Oh, bother...I can get so distracted.
What I wanted you to notice is the smallish dish there to the left.
I know it is a lot of contrast in style, design, and tone from the other larger one, but right there it will stay!
Our photo assignment today in the Joy of Love challenge was "Things Given".
I can think of so many, many things given to me but wanted something really tangible that I could capture with a picture.
This dish came to my mind immediately because the giving of it touched me so deeply.

One Tuesday almost a year ago I walked into a ladies function at my church and this dish was sitting on the counter filled with some delicious pastry.

I was immediately struck by its beauty and called out loudly to find out who the owner was so I could ooohhh and aaaahhh to them about it. I am not much of a dishes and stuff person, but I do find myself in a phase of my life right now where blue is especially pleasing to me in some things.

But it wasn't just the color, it was the shape and the details and the overall well loved feel it had.

It is square in general, but has so many delicate details to it that just capture your eye.

It is quite old but sturdy and well made and oh so lovely.

The owner of this fine dish called me, the week I got into my new home.
She asked if she could stop by with a little something.

What she gave me was this dish filled with a delectable banana bread and a handwritten note.

I was thrilled to have the yummy treat...she is a superb cook, especially of all things sweet.
It was so nice of her to deliver it in this dish that I had admired and I promised to return it as soon as we had eaten the treat and had time to get the dish washed.

She waved me off in a rather strange way....

In the note she let me know a few things!
She let me know that this dish was a good hundred years old, (give or take a few years).
She went on to say that 30 years ago this dish sat in the home of a lovely Christian sister who was an avid collector of blue and white dishes.
Yes, this gorgeous dish was used and loved by that sister... right up until the day when my friend first saw it and admired it.
Soon after that, my friend received it as a gift.
The lady explained that she had gotten so many years of joy out of it, and since my friend had been so taken with it...well then she should have it to enjoy.

I can just imagine the scenes replaying in her mind as she thought back to the first time she saw this dish and how it sparked something in her. How she felt when it was placed in her hands for the first time with a delicious baked good inside of it. And then the wonder, when she realized it was now her treasure.
I can just imagine how she felt recreating those moments for me, and the joy it must given her to give it away.
I am gonna hold onto it for awhile, but someday...


...someday there will be a girl who sees it, and loves it, and is taken by it.
And...it will have to be hers.
And she will know about these women who loved God and gave away joy by the dishful!!!


Other things given that I can't pass up the opportunity to be thankful for:
Belief in me, by others which causes me to bloom and grow.
My husbands time dedicated to a job, so our family has all we need.
Jesus Christ born, to die on the cross, so that we might live.
and Friendship!
Yeah, those are my top kinda non tangibles!

Photo post while doing laundry!

Our photo project today...
Generations!
The creator of this challenge said we could tuck this assignment away for another day.
I knew it would get tucked away in my scrambled brain, never to be retrieved!

My husband "helped" me think through this assignment last night.
That means laying in bed with his eyes closed he said mm-hmmm (positive) or mm-hmmm (negative) as I chatted away with ideas.
You know how you get all sleepy, but aren't asleep yet and don't want to be rude to the person talking but really wish they would just hush so you can go to sleep??? Yeah!
I do that quite often to my dear husband.
He just says mm-hmmmm and lets me yammer on.

After chatting myself through several scenarios I landed on this idea.

That bear is made from a quilt which used to belong to my grandmother which my mom lovingly converted, saving the pieces which weren't too tattered.
The crazy quilt to the left is one my mom made for me when I was ohhh...about 12???
The blue quilt to the right was also made by my mother some 13 or so years ago, which my ten year old son has attached himself to mightily.
All three quilts have been used to the point of threadbare!
Threadbear...hee hee, I just had to write that.
4 generations of people have gotten warmth and comfort from these handcrafted jewels.


So, that image up there is straight out of the camera.
I decided to mess with the contrast and brightness a bit and do some cropping and came up with this.


I like that look, but grabbed another photo and gave it another try.


I decided that I like that best of the three.

Well hey, I gotta get!
It is Monday so I have laundry spinning...and I really really really should clean the bathrooms today too.

Sunday photos

Alrighty, I must admit it is nice to have a specific challenge for the day for picture taking.
It takes some of the burden away of thinking outside the box on my own!
Today the challenge theme: The Ones They Love.

I made the mistake of asking my boys while cooking lunch what makes them happy...can you guess what answer I got?

BACON!!!
We did without bacon for sometime till I found some without preservatives and other gunky stuff.
Those were dismal days my friends, dismal days!!


I gotta say...I love this pan!! It makes cooking so many things so much easier!

My Mom-in-law got it for me for a house warming gift.
It is amazing, as is she!


I didn't think to ask my puppy what makes her happy, but found out quickly today that a ride in the van fits the bill.

I mean, is that happy or what???
Crazy eyed happy!

She calmed down a bit, then just looked content!

But very, very alert!


My girl had no doubt whatsoever about the one tangible thing that gives her happiness!

I kept at it, asking her to sit different ways!
(If you are new here...my kids are not a feature on my blog which makes taking photos of "the ones I love" a little more tricky!!)


I like this one best I think!! Or the one above...so hard to choose.


I did take another just for myself, (and for her sometime in the future) with her cute little bespectacled face snuggled up close to her pony Sarah!!


I have been trying to make a point about fstop to several people and finally have a photo example. Just for kicks I took the same photo...only changing the fstop on my camera at the time.
Let's just see what a difference that makes.
ISO400 f/3.5

ISO 400 f/11

See how the second is way darker (even after I lightened it up a bunch) and the focus is not as tight on the vain mermaid!
When I get my new lens which is stuck somewhere in Kansas in ice and snow, I will take yet another to show ya the even more dramatic difference.

We can find happiness in lots of stuff, but our JOY comes from the Lord!
Can I have an amen on that one??!!