Little Rocky

A few shots of Rocky in the yard today...

Baby cardinals today

Pic~96

Baby cardinals today and four days earlier. By looking at the size difference, the third bird doesn't seem to be getting the same amount of nurishment that the other two have been getting. Poor little guy...

Rainbow in the sky tonight

Pic~95

I caught this pic on my phone tonight...so wished I had brought my SLR with me this evening!

1:1 Maternity & Newborn Mentoring

I love free lessons and this is good one on the baby sling!

Reflections in a Birdbath

Pic~94

The sun decided to make an appearance today. It seems like all it has done is rain...we really need to dry out! The reflection of the trees with the sun shining through them caught my eye today...just wish the breeze would have stopped for a better pic, but here it is.

Not a good day

Pic~93

I had lots to do today, but I came down with the flu Sunday morning and spent a good part of today in bed. I managed to get through the entire winter without even a cold and end up sick now...bummer. Now you know the inspiration behind today's pic. ;)

Some natural light and my nifty 50mm lens at f2.8, 1/30sec. ISO 400 for this one shot in Manual exposure mode.

A visit to the country

Pic~92

I visited the Usnick's horse barn last night so I thought I'd post a pic for today's daily photo. This is one of the Belgians who stands at 18.3 hands high! You can see how tall she is standing next to my son who is 6'2". Beautiful horses! I hope my next trip is a day visit which would make much better pics.

Hatched Baby Cardinals!

Pic~91

We came home from our trip to Indiana this afternoon and found the cardinals had hatched while we were gone! I only saw three...not sure if the fourth egg is still in the nest and the babies are just laying on it as it was just last about a week and a half ago. Maybe one of the parents rolled it out of the nest...not sure yet.

The Birthday Girl

Pic~90

Today is my baby's 22nd birthday and we celebrated with a BIG chocolate chip cookie! Yum!

Used my nifty fifty lens with no flash for these. 

Sweetness!

Pic~89

Today we went to the Oliver Winery in Bloomington, Indiana. The landscape was gorgeous with color! This is one of my favorite pics taken today of my sweet grandson, Jonah.

Smile

Pic~88

I'm in Indiana with my daughter and her family for a few days and while staying in the spare bedroom I caught a smiley face mouse pad and no, I didn't leave him yellow...black and white pics are sometimes just better than color. Gotta love the smiley face! =)

Tuesday, April 19th ~ The Fridge

Pic~87

Katie and Cody "made the fridge" last week...Katie was very excited! ;)

Azaleas in Bloom!

Pic~86

One of my favorite spring perennials are in bloom in front of my house...the azalea! I have three gorgeous shades...light pink, fushia (almost reddish in tone) & white. The fushia and light pink are just now opening up with the white coming on when the others are going out. Such a gorgeous plant...everyone should have some of these in their yard!

Playing in PS5

I finally found the gradient tool! Grrr! I went through some of Sarah's pic taken last June and for some reason I didn't edit either one of these pics. I had so many pics from the three days of shooting that many I never edited. Anyway, here is one I played with brushes tonight.

PS5 Action Freebies!

Cool Freebies Here!

Colorful Jelly Beans

Pic~85

Time to buy more jelly beans before they are gone for the season...at least the Starburst variety.

Weenie dogs are hard on toys

Pic~84

Little Snickers came along while I was taking a pic of his toys on the floor this evening. Dachshunds are so destructive with their toys! They love to take the stuffing out of any stuffed animal...as shown below.

New Spring Video!

Click to view from my Smugmug site:

Gorgeous Coleus!

Pic~83

Since it was such a gorgeous warm & sunny day, I decided to buy some annuals for some of the pots on my patio. This year, I went with coleus instead of petunias as I may be gone some of the summer to Indiana to visit my kids and I don't want to have to worry about someone watering those darn things. The coleus is a gorgeous plant and it is easy to start a new plant...just break of a piece and add it to water. Once roots have taken off, then just put in some soil.

I also purchased some green (big bertha) pepper, sweet banana peppers & some Celebrity tomatoes.

Violets in Bloom

Pic~82

I worked a half day today and when I came home, I found these beautiful violets blooming in the backyard. It was such a gorgeous, sunny day...the pups enjoyed it greatly too. I love spring!

The Green Grass Grows

Pic~81

No update on the cardinals in my front yard today...still four eggs. While I was in the backyard, I noticed how green the grass is getting and how much the seed planted last fall is starting to fill in the bare spots. The oak trees have really done a number on our grass with all the junk they spew each season! Snickers and Oreo can be seen the background.

Another egg in the cardinal nest today!

Pic~80 

Day two produced a fourth egg with daddy cardinal close by the nest. Mom was letting her presence be known also. Gorgeous birds!

Cardinal Nest

Pic~79

As my son was coming out our front door, he was startled by a female cardinal as she flew out of a large bush. When I looked into the shrub, this is what we found...a nest with three little eggs. I see more pics on this subject in the days/weeks to come. =)

Teal Lake, Mexico, Missouri

Pic~78

I took some pics this winter of Teal Lake and now that spring has arrived I thought I'd snap a few today. I was quickly reminded of what warmer weather brings to lake areas when a water moccasin slithered in the grass just below my feet down to the embankment...you can make his body out and a small part of his head. It's hard to focus in so much brush, but you get the point. He went his way...and I went mine.

I love Fridays!

Today my husband and I went to Columbia, home of the amazing Tigers, to eat at Red Lobster and catch a movie. The movie was "Hanna" which was a disappointment to me as I thought it was an action flick in the strain of "Salt"...NOT. It was more of a psychological thriller and slow in parts...the lunch was amazing though! We even went to Best Buy to spend a $25 certificate and I got the pleasure of drooling over the Mac desktop and notebooks which I do every time I go! Man, I want one of those!! lol! All in all, it was a great day!

The Look of Spring

Pic~77

Our bradford pear tree in the front yard is in bloom...and so very pretty!

 

New Growth

Pic~76

Some new growth on my old fashioned rose bush today...I love the colors of spring!

Great article for photographers to read...

Some useful advise to read in this article: 5 Things All Photographers Want and the One Thing They Should Do!

Back to school

Pic~75

Barak went back to school this evening and Snickers got a little cozy in his hoodie before he left.

Our summer spring day in Mexico, Missouri

Pic~74

In north central Missouri today, it was 89 degrees! I think we went from winter right into summer...which I am not a fan of in the least. Anyhoo, I snapped a few images of "spring" on our summer like day and this is one of some blooming vinca vines.

Moped Kids

Pic~73

I snapped this pic of my son and his friend, Pat, this evening. It was getting dark so the quality isn't the best, but it is the best my 50mm lens could get as it is my fastest lens. I don't think it came out too badly. I just hate to use flash...you loose so much in a pic with artificial lighting.

Weenies in the Sunshine

Pic~72

Our miniature dachshunds were found laying in the sun this afternoon. Snickers looked so cute using Rocky as his pillow...luckily I had my camera to catch him as he does not like a camera in his face. He has, on occasion, growled a bit when I get too close to him to take his picture. My son says he is afraid of technology. I say that he is just a crazy weenie! lol!