A quirky selfie . . .

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

-Oscar Wilde

{Our prompt for photo art Friday is quirky selfie}

Sheesh, it's a full time job just trying to be me, who has time to try and be someone else? Really . . . 

I sometimes struggle just to do me very well. You know, we are always our own worst enemy.

And on those days that I don't get in my own way with that mighty brick wall or allow others to put it up for me, I do feel like I could do anything. Okay, well maybe not anything, but certainly a lot.

I thought about just doing something else for today, because after all I went to bed really late last night

and had nothing planned at all and didn't get my 8 hours of beauty sleep or feel like taking a shower first thing when I woke up or washing the mascara off my face because I was too lazy to do it last night.

So, that's when you grab a hat to cover your bed head, and search for the sunglasses that you never wear anymore to cover the dark circles and smeared mascara, and put on some lipstick.

But what do you take your own picture of you doing? Ahhh, yes, doing something you love...looking at and for caterpillars on your milkweed. {They are officially 1 week old today!} 

Hi, my name is Kim, and I'm a nature nerd . . . and proud of it! ;)

And because some others have said it better than I, I want to share some random quotes I found:

1. "I think everybody is weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it." - Johnny Depp  

Yes Johnny I agree, we all have a weird factor, we should accept that in others as well as ourselves.

2. "Be yourself. Be true to that, to your heart. Patience. See what happens if you step back instead of bounding forward." -Nora Roberts

Yep, it's awfully hard to be true to yourself if you are always running faster than yourself. I like patience, and I like slow, and I like quiet.

3. "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

-Steve Jobs

No, I won't be changing the world like Steve Jobs, but if I can change the mind of just one person's attitude

towards nature, turn their fear of something into curiosity, and their curiosity into passion that will then

change another's mind . . . then yes, I believe I can change the world.

4. "I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable and beautiful and afraid of nothing as though I had wings." - Mary Oliver

Yes, I want to be alive like the spirit in a child.

5. "Oh, never mind the fashion. When one has a style of one's own, it is always 20 times better."

- Margaret Olipahant

In other words, dance to the beat of your own drum, because fashion is way overrated.

In a nut shell . . . weird is good, let's celebrate it! Be patient it's where you will find yourself. We are all just crazy enough and that makes us capable of changing the world . . . the question is "will we?" If you've  lost your wings, you've forgotten about the child in you, but when you start dancing to the beat of your own drum you may just find them! And last but not least, looking through rose colored glasses isn't a bad thing, it just depends on what you see on the other side.

May you soar into the weekend! ;)

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Photo Art Friday, Friday Finds,

Create-with-joy, Random Five Friday

The good, the random . . . and a side of scary

Its been a busy week so far, what about you?

After the boy and I spent the day at the hospital for his infusion we got back

with just enough time for me to make a run to the nursery. I find on those days it's

always a good idea if I can go clear my head afterwards with the aid of my camera.

But, I got to talking to a teacher buying milkweed for herself and nearly 10 other

teachers. And then I ended up finding some black swallowtail caterpillar eggs on some fennel,

which I talked her into taking with her as well. Yeah!

So, I took my camera and decided to walk the birding trail real quick as the sun was going

to set soon. Note to self, don't go at dusk!

1. It was just going to be a short walk, down one side, over "the bridge" and back up the other side.

Of course I had to stop and take pictures of the bridge, and of course every person who went by

turned in the direction of the bridge to see what exactly I was photographing, even glancing several

times in case they missed something. Always makes me chuckle to myself.

 And while on the "other" side, I had to stop and get some pictures of the reflections in the water.

And on the other side of the tree I heard some splish splashing and at the same time I can hear rustling in the bushes on the path next to me. Squirrel, birds, maybe even the deer . . . 

2. And as I preceded to walk again I hear a very loud snorty grunt kind of sound coming from the rustling in the bushes . . . not the kind that comes from a squirrel or a deer, but the kind that comes from a very large 

wild hog. The ones that will chase you with razor sharp tusks and lightening speed. I'm not afraid of much, but friends, you have never seen me walk so fast. Yes, note to self, no more walks on the birding trail at dusk!

Of course I would have missed this had I not had to turn and go back the other way.

3. This is very random, but it's a pet peeve of mine when I see people throw their cigarette butts out of the car window. I've seen a lot of that this week....THEY ARE NOT BIODEGRADABLE. They wash down the sewers, make their way into streams and rivers and even into bird nests....they contain toxins.

4. It has officially been a week, there are now over 100 monarch eggs, and because the weather has been cooler they are taking a little longer to hatch, but it should be really soon! 

5. I had a Facebook friend post the best thing to my timeline yesterday, something related to #4. Since it's a cartoon and copyrighted I didn't feel right posting the actual picture here, so I'm sending you HERE to the picture on Facebook. I'm still laughing.... :)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend,

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Random Five Friday

A little of this and that . . .

"And Spring arose on the garden fair,

Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;

And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast

rose from the dreams of its wintry rest."

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Happy first day of Spring!!

Not only do I love this time of year, but I LoVe this time of year.
I think our early Spring in Texas is to make up for such a late fall and hot, hot summer. 

1. Yesterday, when I was on the front porch a mockingbird flew in to a bush and then closer

to me, and then I took a step closer and started to whistle (if you can call it that) and he mirrored

it back exactly. And he would whistle and I would try to do the same back, and this went on

for at least five minutes. It was the most incredible, but strangest thing ever.

(click to see it larger on Flickr)

2. Well, what do ya know, I have my first caterpillar of the season...a black swallowtail. It hatched on

Tuesday on my fennel and it measured a whopping 2 mm!! I had to use a magnifying glass to measure it. And by yesterday it had already grown to 3 mm. Today it is nearly 4.5 mm! Happy dance.....

3. Is this not the craziest looking stuff...I found this hair cap moss growing and sprouting on the rocks that

border my flower beds. Yep, it's that time of year when the crazy lady with her camera takes pictures
of Lord knows what laying in the most peculiar of positions in her front yard. Let the fun begin (and the puzzling looks) lol!

4. The last time I was at the nursery I decided to take a little rest in one of the Adirondack rockers

and as soon as I sat down I noticed there on the arm, this cute little blue metallic beetle. Boy can these things walk fast!! It would be safe to say I didn't get that rest. ;)

5. As I've been watching the bees again, I wonder how DO they know exactly where to go on each flower

to find the nectar? There are some that just don't make it easy... I love how the buds are all pointing towards

the bee.

I'm still waiting patiently for the monarchs to show up, but haven't seen a one yet. When I check the migration map I see that people have spotted them along the coast of Texas and as far north as the Hill country. I have such anticipation I can hardly stand it and I'm checking daily for eggs. 

Well, that's a wrap on my random news this week- what have you been up to?

Oh my friends, I have a monarch update, click ------> here !

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Random Five Friday

Abstract flower art . . . and random stuff

It's Photo Art Friday this week, the monthly theme is . . . abstract flowers!
And well, abstract just happens to be my fancy right now.

Rather than working with textures to make the photos abstract, I chose to
abstract the flowers and then add textures to enhance the photo.
All three of these photos are ICM (in camera movement) in combination with
slow shutter speed and manual focus. Yes, there is a lot of practice needed
with this technique and a lot of clicks to get the right one.

{I used Bonnie's texture creative canvas}

I hope you don't fall off your chair from the exciting things I have to share with you . . . it's been a rather slow week.

1. It was nearly 80 degrees this weekend, and we got quite a lot of garden clean up done. Trimmed 2 oak trees, 2 palm trees (okay, I watched), and I trimmed nearly 30 bushes. On Sunday night, we dropped down to 20 degrees....WHAT?

2. Yep, I've got another sinus and double ear infection. I think this is number 5 since last November and

it's getting really old. But, the steroid shot I got has really helped my wrist after all that trimming, bonus!

{This is a combination of three very similar ICM photos also with her textures creative canvas, vintage craquelure and antique me}

3. It would be safe to say that we have a huge, gigantic, enormous problem in this country with health care costs when the cost of your son's ongoing treatment (for one day and before "insurance adjustments") are the same as a new car, let's say a Hyundai Accent. And since I don't have anything else nice to say about that, I'll just leave it ... at that.

4. I was extremely happy to see all my lizard friends this weekend sunning themselves. I had to relocate some of them that my husband found still in the palm fronds that had been trimmed off and set out for

the garbage. This time of year they seem to especially love sitting on my hand or arm because of the warmth.

{Bonnie's textures meadow grasses, flowering texture and sunset supreme}

5. This is the best one of all - Spring break is next week so you know what that means . . . my girl is coming home. We will just be spending it at home and hopefully we can make it to the Houston Livestock and Rodeo while she is here. Turkey legs and funnel cake, yum!

You may not see me here next week as I think I'm going to take a blog Spring break with my kids.
One of the things I would love to do is drive down to Victoria to see the head stone of someone (of whom I can't remember, lol) that my daughter found in our family tree! :)

So, until next time....
Love, Kim xo


sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Photo Art Friday
Random Five Friday

Lory Landing . . .

 . . . at the San Antonio Zoo

A few weeks back we made an impromptu visit to see our girl

and we took a trip to the zoo.

Unfortunately the butterfly house had not opened yet (sad face),

but, there was Lory Landing. . . as in heaven for me.

1. I love and adore birds. Doesn't matter what kind I love 'em all.

2. I used to have 8 birds at one time . . . 5 parakeets, a lovebird, a cockatiel and my favorite,
a mustache parakeet. My mustache would actually say, wanna go to mommy when I would walk
by his cage if he wanted to hang out with me. He was a very affectionate bird, and I had even trained
him to go potty on command.

3. When someone new would call the house, they almost always would ask me if I was at a zoo, haha!

There were certain times during the day that they would be chattier than others. Of course it it was dinner

time and my mustache didn't get some of what I had, he would let me know. And when we watched

TV at night, the louder it got, the louder the parakeets got. But, when I covered up the cage they would

get ready for bed.

4. We had just missed the feeding time for the birds, just my luck! And as they had full tummies, it was

nap time. I have to say that I was a lot horrified at the behavior of some of the kids toward these birds. It was a free flight area and I found the kids trying to kick the birds. Who lets their kids behave that way?

Oh yes, I spoke up!

5. In the photo below this lorikeet is pinning his eyes. It's when the bird dilates his pupils from
big to small and back to big again. All parrots do this when they are excited, but they will also do it
as an aggressive behavior to warn that they are a little irritated. My mustache would do this when he was
excited about food, or when he really didn't want to be picked up and would open his mouth to
warn me as well.

I miss terribly the pet store we had before we moved here. I could go and get my fix of

parrots and they had nicknamed me the "bird whisperer." I could always get one of the parakeets

to come to me, and when they are with a flock like that, they usually have no interest in humans.

I'm really thinking I would like to have another bird, probably a parakeet - they're easy and not

as needy (as in time) as bigger birds. Our very first bird we ever got was a parakeet, Liberty, and she would

lay on her side and sleep on my tummy.

I'm really hoping we get a chance to go back at feeding time so I can interact with them, and go to the

butterfly house. But I'm thinking my family will just have to drop me off and come back because I could

stay all day in just those two places.

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend...can you believe it's going to be March?

Love, Kim

sharing with Random Five Friday

It happened . . .

. . . and I missed it!

Can you believe, that after 10 months of waiting, this fellow decided he just had to make

his debut in the hour I had to be gone at a doctors appointment? I knew that morning

when I left, that he wasn't gonna wait for me. I had even considered cancelling my appointment.

All I know is that I can't wait until this weather starts to warm

up so I can get started on my dill, and fennel.  

As the solder flows from my metals class - she is soldering on a bezel to attach

an enameled piece to later. Using a hammer, and a saw and a torch . . . all great

tools for reducing stress, especially when art is the end result.

This . . . is going to happen tomorrow! There is a 100% chance of sunshine in the morning and I'll

be there to report on it. It will however only be in the mid 30's, colder if there is a wind off the bay. 

{I got photo bombed, lol)

And then off for a coffee, a walk and the nursery. If I'm lucky, the poppies are blooming. I'll probably

stalk my "spot' and hope some people walk by for some more abstract photo making. I'm kinda liking

the ones with people in them. And my mind is wandering with some ideas that would include a cross and a crown of thorns. Now to figure out how to execute it.

As much as we didn't like the idea of having to back for the boy's infusions, we sure did love seeing

the nurses on floor 3 - it's also where the food court is. That's dangerous when you're there all day.

As soon as we got there, Roshanda says, "Sam's here, that's what I'm talkin' about. I've been waitin' all day for you to get here so we can talk football." To which you see the biggest smile on his face. And you know what's really amazing? One of the other nurses, the one that put in his IV, we hadn't see her for awhile. Turns out that she got lymphoma and went through chemo in the last couple of months . . . has lost all her hair, and is about to start radiation next week. And there she is, with a beautiful smile on her face, and telling us how she got to touch Justin Timberlake's leg at a concert and making us both laugh until our sides hurt with her stories.

On Tuesday's post I talked about the butterfly effect and how everything we do matters. Well, on that third floor of the critical care center it's not just a butterfly effect, it's a movement. An earthquake kind of movement that you can feel under your feet and in your heart and you won't just travel far forward, but to infinity to show the difference they are making in peoples lives.

Because people will remember how you make them feel!

Wishing you a weekend filled with sunshine and laughter . . . 

Love, Kim

xo

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Random Five Friday, Friday Photo Journal

The good, the bad, the random . . .

"From where we stand the rain seems random.

If we could stand somewhere else, we would see the order in it."

- Tony Hillerman

I don't know, I think only about twice have I ever been on the other side of the rain.

You know, when where you're standing it's not raining but 10 feet in front of you it is. So very strange.

Not sure I saw any order in it though - it still seemed pretty random to me.

But then again maybe I was just standing too close.

I enjoyed my 50mm class and decided to go ahead and delve a little deeper into abstract. I have already

been in the last year enjoying experimenting with slow shutter speed and swiping - painting with my lens.

And I love the abstract feeling I find in water reflections. I'm interested to see how this open my eyes even

more to lines and shapes and sometimes to just how I feel about something rather than what it is in reality.

This rose was done both in camera and post processing. A slow shutter speed allowed for softer shapes, and textures added later for a painterly feel. (anyone else having issues loading photos and having them look different here than in your photo folders? The color is a little off in this one)

This one of the same rose with a very shallow depth of field done in camera.

This one is quite different for me. Our prompt for the monthly Photo Art Friday is graphic/angular, and I started with a photo I took last summer while on a boat tour on the Chicago river that went through downtown Chicago. I used two of Bonnie's textures (Graphique and Art Smoke) after I did a little posterize to the photo. It took several different photos and textures to find a combination that I was pleased with. And I have to say I quite like how this turned out.  

"Chicago Meets van Gogh"

Yesterday I started a new Beth Moore bible study called 'Exploring the fruit of the Spirit." In her video she talked about how if we are still drawing a breath then we aren't done and how God is still happening . . . only it's on his calendar. I love how He gives me concrete examples of these things and yesterday was one of those days. When I got home I just happened to feel the need to look at this chrysalis, a black swallowtail, that has been in this state for at least 10 months maybe more. I know I've mentioned before that they usually emerge about 2 weeks after pupating. I kept this chrysalis because I'm a die hard hopeful and if after a year it hadn't emerged it would be enshrined in resin. I had to cut a little square off the netting as I replace the netting after each new generation and I placed it over a bowl where I keep my not so fortunate butterflies. There just might be a little dust that gathered and stuck to the silk from the other caterpillars rambling on and around it when it was in the enclosure.

And don't ya know it has started changing color, getting darker, and if you look closely you can start to see some of the wing pattern showing through. As I was holding the square up to take a photo for instagram the darn thing, it wiggled. After 10 months it's still alive and all I can say is this must be one special butterfly!!

Moral of the story . . . He gives us daily examples and we need to slow down long enough to see them. That patience isn't something we teach ourselves, but instead surrender to. 

I got to immediately put this little lesson of patience to the test when I got a call from my son's Rheumatology doctor. About 7 weeks ago she decided that since his blood work was consistently coming back with normal numbers - white blood cell count, inflammation markers, sed rate - and had been for nearly 6 months with next to no breakthrough symptoms, that we could discontinue his infusions. We just had blood work taken the day before as he has been having intermittent pain and stiffness and fatigue. The numbers are going back up and to avoid getting out of control quickly he started back on steroids and we have an infusion for next Tuesday. I guess I can't say that I'm surprised, I've seen it coming, but it pains me none the less that it didn't go into remission. Now, what was I saying about God's timing? Oh yes, reminder to myself that He is going at the perfect speed and I am not. It seems patience is easier for some things than others.

Last but not least, last weekend we were missing our girl, so we drove over to see her and spent a family day at the zoo. A good time was had by all, but with nearly an 8 hour round trip drive it makes for a long day. Next year she will be even closer as she'll transfer to UT Austin.

Have a great weekend y'all!

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Friday Photo Journal

Random Five Friday, Photo Art Friday 

You're taking a pictures of ...?

"By these labels we recognize everything,

and no longer see anything."

- Frederick Frank

Why yes, yes I did!

I went to the sunrise yesterday toting my camera and my 50mm lens, and well besides loving the sun rise, this weeks lesson with the nifty fifty is landscapes. It was somewhat of a challenge as having a crop sensor it's more like a 75mm, and I'm used to being able to zoom and or get a wide angle shot.

After the magic sunrise moment was over I headed over to the boardwalk for a coffee and a little stroll and as usual I garnered a few followers. I thought it was just because they like me, but apparently they have darn good memories (aka, nice lady that has kibbles in her pocket), and I'll get to that later too, the memory part not the kibbles. See #1 of random facts below

I had stopped to watch the pelicans in the harbor when I noticed one of my feathered friends drinking from a little puddle of water. I got down on my knees to get a low shot when around the corner I hear footsteps and a grumpy woman's voice say, "You're . . . (pause) . . . taking pictures of a . . . (pause) . . . pigeon?"

Now besides her feeling the need to ask me (although I'm not sure it was really a question), it really was about how she said it.

  

I replied back, "It's all about perspective, about how you choose to see things," to which she replied, "oooooh . . . . oh....kay," in a sarcastic tone as she walked away.

We've all heard that saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Salma Hayek says, "that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look..." It certainly doesn't hurt my feelings that someone doesn't like pigeons or anything else that I like. You don't have to like the what, but it reaches a different level when you question my why because I see with my heart first and then my camera.

Labels are barriers and to really "see" anything or anyone at their true core we have to take care not to use them, if not for the shear fact that by labeling others we label ourselves.

Here are some random reasons to like pigeons: (aka the Rock Pigeon descended from the Rock Dove)

1. French scientists did research that suggested that not only do pigeons recognize people, but that they will avoid those who have in the past been hostile. (article) See #5 - good reason to never piss off a pigeon, and well they do live for almost 30 years.

2. Pigeon guano was considered a very valuable resource in the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe and used for gunpowder.

3. He is a war hero . . .and messenger. In WWI and WWII the pigeon was able to save hundreds of thousands of lives by carrying messages over enemy lines. And the earliest communication network used them around 5th century BC in Syria and Persia and was used in Roman times to carry the results of sporting events, which is why we today we release white doves at our Olympic Games.

4. They have an incredible knack for being able to 'return home' even when released 100's of miles away. Some theories say they use the earth's magnetic field.

5. They're lifesavers, one of the most intelligent of all bird species and the Navy has found a unique use for pigeons . . . since they can see color in the same way we do they have been trained to identify red or yellow life jackets when floating in the water to save us humans and they've had a high success rate. Don't forget #1

One of these days there will be some clouds again. I noticed the last couple all seem to look the same even though they are slightly different. I was trying with slow shutter speed to really slow down and blur the water again, but I got there and got set up about 15 minutes or less before the sun rose and it was getting too light. And since I got there with not much time to spare I had to pick a spot...hard to do when you know you won't be able to zoom.

Just trying a different composition here and playing with different depths of field. Now if I can get out to find another landscape besides the sunrise.

I hope you all have a really great weekend - we are under a winter storm watch here that could turn to a warning tonight as some areas may get 1/8" of ice...now that could be interesting...in a town that is not prepared for that sort of thing. All I know, is I want a snowflake photo so bad!!

Love, Kim

Sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Friday Photo journal, Random Five Friday

Random five, or so . . .

"Why is that when you wipe up dust it's called dusting but when

you wipe up a spill it's not called spilling? Just something to think about."

- Ellen DeGeneres

Kind of like why is an orange called orange and a banana not called yellow.

We'll never know....

Yes, that was totally random, which is the point of my post today, AND I may even have more than five random things by the time I get to the end.

My milkweed is exploding . . . the seed pods that is, and I'm obsessed with taking photos of them.

I mentioned that I am participating in a Focus on a photo a day - a 365 day project. Can I just say, what the

heck was I thinking? Now, I take a lot of photos every week (I have thousands of monarch photos to prove it, because you can never have enough of those), but one a day, posted to a group...now that feels a little like a commitment. And it's not that I can't commit or anything like that, but I'm just sayin' that yesterday I was already using some curse words because not only was it cloudy but it was only one shade of grey, the yucky shade of grey. AND it was windy and it's hard to take a picture of something when it won't stay still. And because it was so overcast there was no light in my house....it made me grumpy! :) 

But in between wind gusts I did manage to get this one, for my 365 project and for a 50mm project class I'm taking. And after several light freezes and our recent hard freeze two nights in a row I can't believe this rose bush is still blooming. In case you are wondering, it's called "Belinda's Dream" and it smells like heaven.

I walk the beach a lot in the summer, and I find a lot of shells and in fact you can probably see that some of them are imperfect...my favorites. They are the ones that have stories, the vulnerable ones ready to let the world see them in their brokenness. And, that glass bottle top, it's going to be in a necklace one day, I'm just not ready to take it out of my treasure bowl just yet...I like the way it looks in there.

Yep, I blew some bubbles this week. And you know, it's really tricky to blow them yourself and then chase them down before they hit the ground. And with our temps in the twenties (yes that is very cold for us here) the bubbles have been turning these beautiful golden, magenta, blue colors. It would seem that by the time I got done blowing that last bubble out everything had blown away or popped. So I was pretty happy to get at least two in the same picture. Had to resort to bubbles because we don't get snow, at least not unless we've had a hurricane the previous summer.

This was our first sunrise of the year last weekend, and oh the colors and that lone little cloud. Can I just say that I love google sky maps app...so helpful in telling me where to point my camera. 

Can't believe it's almost time to take our girl back to her dorm...so great having her here over a long Christmas break. And yes there was a cake, a two layer cake with one cake mix for each, chocolate butter cream middle, and regular on top. It didn't last long....

Getting excited, my metals class starts next week!! I love the sound of sawing and hammering...

The last of my monarch butterflies from this batch are emerging, but had an epic fail yesterday. One just couldn't quite get out and his wings were crumpled and one of her legs were broken...sad panda face!

I am starting to see some new growth on the plants again though.

Well I think that's random wrap, ya'll have a great rest of the week,

Love, Kim

Sharing with Little Things Thursday, Random Five Friday, Friday Photo Journal, Favorite Photo Friday,

                   Friday Finds

"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" . . .

. . . he's going to ask you for a glass of milk.

And well, if you take a girl to the sunrise,

she's probably going to want to spend some time at the beach.

We couldn't have ordered a more beautiful sunrise . . .

 But, while this was happening . . .

So was this . . . right behind and to the side of us!

It started to gradually creep around this way.

And then the wind picked up, all the while the sun is still putting on a show.

We quickly made our way up the stairs, I took one shot, and put my camera inside my shirt.

The sand was blowing everywhere, I even had it in my ears!

Yep, it was time for plan "B".

So if you take a girl to the sunrise, and she can't spend time on the beach,

she would love for you to take her to breakfast to ride out the storm . . . even though the storm won. 

1. My daughter had to contact a specialist for a paper she has to write . . . she called me!

Yes, she interviewed me on how to raise Monarchs, I felt important!

2. A lot of rain this week, it's cramping my photo taking. And while I have been known to go out with

my umbrella and my camera, the umbrella would not have helped in the sideways rain this week.

3.. I started a Facebook page last week - Clear Springs Chargers Football by Kim - for all the photos I take

at the football games, both my son's and the varsity. They just sit on my hard drive anyway, why not liberate and share them. Of course there are only two games left, and my son's game is looking really sketchy with

100% chance of rain and thunderstorms for today.

4. If our game does get cancelled, there will be some disappointed kids, because I will have to do some

tricks since I did not buy any treats! Please don't egg my house....

5. If you buy a new hard drive for your computer (much like if you give a mouse a cookie) because it sounds like it going to blow up or take off , your 10 year old printer will then decide it no longer wants to play nice. It now prints blue as pink . . . it's not pretty . . . Houston we have a problem! 

6. Well, I was already to publish this post this morning when I had to come back and add one more thing.

Ever have one of those Ah Ha moments that turned into a Carrie Underwood, "Oh No What Have You Done" moments. And I don't mean the drinking too much and getting married kind, but the realization

at midnight that you left the enclosure that you put the 4 1/2 inch Tersa Sphinx moth caterpillar in, open. Yep, I have a huge caterpillar roaming my house looking for leaf litter to pupate in...and although he may find

some dust bunnies, he is not going to find leaf litter or a pile of dirt to bury himself in. I was on my hands and knees until well after 1 am this morning looking for it with a flashlight trying to channel my inner caterpillar. Dang, I'm so sorry buddy!

*UPDATE: You'll never guess who I found crawling on my kitchen floor this morning,

heading towards the back door! My heart is happy, and I'm sure he is too!

Anyone have printer suggestions, reasonably priced is key here, that they really like?

* I also took the plunge and started a Facebook page for Picking Poppies which you can find here:

https://facebook.com/pickingpoppies, I would love to see you there!

Have a great weekend, and try to stay dry!

Love, Kim

My Photo Art Friday post is ----> here

Linking with Little Things Thursday, Random Five, Friday Photo Journal

The trail opened back up . . .

"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail.

Travel too fast, and you miss all you are traveling for."

- Louis L'Amour

Just follow the light, to the beginning of the trail.

The early bird fisherman catches the fish, and a beautiful sunrise at the same time.

The beginning of the trail, where your husband energizes for the day's trailblazing.

It's been some time since I've been on this trail....construction...(they say it was flood control)...

I've missed the the light here.

And these trees . . . they remind me how small I am.

I found this ONE dragonfly, where I usually see dozens and dozens. The construction consisted of tearing down very old mature trees, marsh, bushes, homes for wildlife, the very spot the dragonflies would pose for me . . . they destroyed hundreds upon hundreds of feet of pines, oaks, the home of the King Fisher's, the place I usually could find fall color. They did this in the name of money for some rich dude who needed fill dirt, and they sucked the fun right out of my trail. I cried all the way back to my car.

Order up . . . bird + bokeh = lots of happy! 

This was still here. Do you remember the red iron bridge. . . they moved it over 100 feet but . . .  the bird feeder, AND my swing are missing!

But then, sigh, I found this on the other side of that wooden foot bridge. More beautiful light and bokeh.

The small bokeh in this image is original, and then I took a photo of more (just) bokeh and

added it on top the the flowers for more dreaminess.

And now for some random . . . 

1. This morning I made my coffee with our Keurig coffee maker . . . that was free.

My daughters friend won it at graduation and didn't want it and just gave it to her.

Well, she is not a coffee drinker and although you can make hot chocolate with it too, she decided

it wasn't something she wanted to take with her to college.

2. But . . . I made coffee in the Keurig with the adaptor that allows you to use your own coffee.

I did the math. . . An average 10 cup Keurig pack for about $12 costs 1.20 per cup.

My coffee, freshly ground as I need it, is $9.99/lb. and I can get about 37 cups of coffee in the one pound.

That makes the Keurig coffee cups 4.5 times more expensive.

And then for more fun I figured out that my coffee, drinking on average 2 cups per day would last me

3.7 times longer, costs me only $3.78/week vs $16.80/week. That means I could go to Starbuck's and order 2 specialty coffee's and still have money left over.

3. Remember the Tersa Sphinx caterpillars from last week, both of those big ones have made a little magic and pupated! Now we wait.

I put some soil in the bottom of the container with some leaf litter and shredded paper towels

and they made these cute little nests, for a lack of a better word.

This one I was able to lift with out disturbing it too much. As the time gets closer

(takes about 2-3 weeks) I will remove the paper towels and most of the dirt and put a stick

inside so that they have something to dry their wings on.

4. Today, I'm going to take the plunge and order all my supplies . . . for making wearable art jewelry using my photos. And then . . . get really busy sawing, cutting, hammering, riveting . . . yep it's gonna sound like

Santa's workshop around here.

5. I went to sleep last night and when I woke up it was morning! Well, what I mean is,

that I didn't wake up in between and slept all the way through. THAT doesn't happen very often, and I seriously can't remember the last time. I feel like a new person! 

TGIF a day early my friends, have a stellar weekend!

Love, Kim

linking with Little Things Thursday, Random Five, Friday Finds, Friday Photo Journal