Learning

Boy, I hate to admit it, but I am still in recovery from my flying off the horse fiasco!
I really thought it would be something I would bounce back from quickly.

I still can't sit upright properly, which makes being at the computer (or driving) particularly troublesome.

I sit down to write and immediately get uncomfortable which makes me lose all desire for writing anything worthwhile.
I just want you to know that... mainly because my posts have been so short and lacking here lately.
It is my excuse!!
Hang in with me while I work through this, okay???

I can tell ya, Shelby is none to happy about missing out on her exercise.
And ya know what?
I think I am actually missing it too!

Well, seeing as how I spent quite a bit of yesterday feeling sorry for myself...while a bit deserved, a little too much of the day was used on that, today I decided to get out into the backyard for some therapy!!

I have been doing some reading in my down time and wanted to play with shutter speed and metering on my camera.

See, when you want to take a picture there is a little meter inside that tells you when the light is at a median level for that particular shot.
Sometimes you don't want to trust the metering for what you are shooting.
Sometimes in order to get the effect you want, you just have to tell the camera, "You are not the boss of me!"
Sometimes you may just take a bunch of pictures and fail, but that is okay because the journey is part of the process.


Luckily, I have a program which helps to work out some of the mistakes!

Same picture as above...with some digital help!


Bad!

Part of the problem with shooting into the sun is that it kinda blinds you and you can't really see if the camera is focused on what you want it to be focused on!!
Ha hah ahahahhahhhahhhaaaha!

Decent.

I "metered" off of the tree branch to get the measurement right, then moved over to take this shot!
It was good learning time.
Then I had to get up off of the ground.
Uggghhhh!

My other tinkering today had to do with ISO and shutter speed.
I wanted to take 2 types of pictures of my waterfall.
One with the water moving, one with it captured as a still.

Bam!!!! Camera adjusted and mission accomplished.




I am not saying these shots are perfect or medal worthy, just that I did what I set out to do!
Learning and growing, that is me!
I will now go downstairs and lay down awhile, this has worn me out!

Just a little drama there for you, I am actually gonna go make some lunch and relax while watching a movie.
See ya tomorrow.

More Rocks!

All I got for Mother's Day from my oldest child was a couple of rocks!!!




See the large red one and the very pocked green one?
Yeah, those are my two new ones.
Specially chosen just for me and carried all the way back from Arkansas.

"Mom, I brought you some rocks" he called happily as he ran down the stairs carrying the treasures in his hands.
He dashed into my room in blur of arms and legs, just like when he was five.

"Just look at this one, it is green!"
He knows this is my favorite color so he spoke the word with emphasis and wonder!
"And check this one out. One side is mostly brown, but the other side is this great red color."

I took them into my hands... as I have so many others and gave them the full attention they deserved, noticing every single detail about them...as he was hoping I would.

Sigh...


...I am loved!

It is Mother's Day, so I am taking the day off!!!

Happy Mother's Day to you!

See ya, tomorrow!

Boring!

My son is out of town so I am in charge of his hamster.
I took these pictures this morning to use them to give you the run down on creating my watermark, but I just don't have it in me. I put the mark on them heavy, instead of having it blend to give you a feel for how it looks.
Hmmmmm.
Maybe tomorrow, or the next day.


I still had to show you this relatively bad picture though!
How often does one get to see a hamsters tongue sticking out???


He spent a few minutes shoving every single piece of food I put in his dish, into his cheeks.


It is my plan to tell you about the idea I had and how it came to be the final creation.
Wow, now that I type that out...it sounds like it would be really, really boring.
Oh well, you can read if you want to.


Here's to a delightful Mother's day weekend!

Oh, by the way....if you click on that Facebook thingydo up at the top of the right hand column' it will take you to the Monday is Laundry Day Facebook Page.
You can then "like" the page and will then get updates when I post on that wall!!
Pretty cool that I figured that out, right???
Then go...do it!!!

Tree that squirrel

Oh Shelby, did you get that squirrel up in the tree again???


Yes ma'am, about 12 feet up and hangin' on.




Are you pretty happy about that Shelby girl???






Did you hear another one somewhere else???


Well, this one hasn't left yet.



And while The Shelbster kept the squirrels busy, look who came by to feed!








I hope you took notice of a little something different today!
I will take the time to tell ya all about it tomorrow!

More photos

I just read my Sister in Law's blog about cloth diapers. (Hey Nicoll!!!)

I know that has absolutely nothing to do with my life right now, but she is a great writer and I like to encourage her, not only in her writing but also in her pursuits as a Mommy!
She happens to do the same for me!
Seester, I forgot to say that I like your photo at the beginning of that blog, it was a cute one!!

And photos is just about all I have for you friends today!
I had a post idea in mind, but just couldn't pull it together.

Some other day, I am sure.

Remember my first tomato?
It finally got red enough to eat yesterday.

I couldn't think of a better way to enjoy it than with my tomato loving best buddy!

So I cut it in two, then into chunks.
I had salt and freshly ground black pepper, but held the salt on hers.
We mmmm, mmmm'd at each lovely bite.
Well, after I finished taking pictures of it while telling stories to catch my buddy up on my life right now.
10 minutes later, she was like....."Uuuuuuuhhhhhh are we gonna eat that tomato???"

Ha ha ha!! She was very patient.

I pushed on this one a bit in my photo program. It looks so modern and "now"!
Well, except for the fact that the picture was taken yesterday, just before I ate it.



Hey, look at this!

I found a new button on my camera and was trying it out.
I didn't learn anything, but saved the picture anyway.
Riveting!


My boys bring me rocks!
It is one of my favorite gifts ever, but don't tell them that!!
My youngest boy brought me this rock last night.
He had chosen it, decorated it, then crammed it in a little jewel covered box.

You know...for Mother's day!!
The words, I love you MOM are scrawled without control or reason around the two flat sides of the rock!
Oh yeah baby, that's a keeper!!!

Photos

Oh friends it is hard to be creative when you are in pain.
Ha ha ha!
I stepped out my front door today just to get a little hopeful sunshine on my bruised skin.
Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy!!
Well, sunshine in general makes me happy, I think God designed it that way.
So, to my left is this delightful rose bush provided by my buddy Rachel from over at Sweet Tea Enhancements.

She has really got an eye for beautiful things and brought this to me when I moved in.
See Rach, it is doing great!!! I know she will see this cause we hassle each other to keep on keeping on, with taking pictures each and every day!
I hassle her more than she does me...that is just our natures coming out though!

Two more steps away is this plant hanger doo dad thingy do.
I am still on meds and am having a hard time coming up with the appropriate word for this right now.
This is not at all what I had in mind for this picture.

I had hoped our previously seen fire hydrant would show up in that there rectangle.
Maybe I will try again another day. I know I need to change my f/stop.


I walked to my backyard then....slowly but surely!
I remembered that my bell peppers had been coming in and were showing some color.


The one in the front will eventually turn yellow.
The black ones in the back, will hopefully just get bigger!!
Isn't that a dramatic fantastic pepper!!

That is all I have for you today!
Be back here tomorrow!!