Photo crazy....

I seem to be really focused (ha ha - get it????) on my photography lately!  I just can't tell you how much fun I'm having with it.  Learning as I go, sometimes falling back on the Auto mode, but when that doesn't work I remember I have other, better modes to play with. 

Here is a macro shot I took yesterday.  We've had a LOT of rain lately.  I think I need to go out and do my "no more rain" dance....the rain dance certainly worked!  Getting tired of the gloom around here!

Without further ado, here is my ROSE..............

This is one of those cheap rose bushes I bought at Wal Mart.  Yeah, I know, shame on me.  It does come up with some beautiful color, and if I pay attention to it, it grows nicely (I know nuthin about growing roses) and I get some nice flowers from it.  The rain drops added that extra beauty to it yesterday.  It was gloomy when I took the photo but good ole Macro helped! 

I have some other photos that I recently took, but haven't taken the time to post here.  This is my absolute favorite of late........

Mr. Cardinal!  I finally got him.  He and the Mrs. were hanging around on the side of the house, chirping and carrying on.  I couldn't get a photo of the Mrs. as she was flitting around SO fast I just couldn't catch her.  Mr. was a real show off........I got a LOT of photos of him.....some not so great but they are interesting because of him moving.  Here's an example....

Do you see that tail?  He was shaking those tail feathers!  Isn't his color amazing???

There was a reason that Mr. & Mrs. were hanging around.  I looked down at the azalea bushes just under the porch railing and look what I saw!

Two baby cardinals!  I think the one on top is a male, and the one on the bottom is female.  Only because the one on top is huge and has the larger feathers on the top of it's head.  The bottom one seems to be smaller and not so much plumage on top.  Now, I'm not a bird expert by any means but I Googled baby cardinal images and I came up with some that are pretty spot on except for the ages of the birds seems a little older.

It has worried me the last couple of days, since taking these photos, that I scared the cardinals away....I haven't seen the mom or dad around, and the babies are not visible in the bushes....we had some really hard rain the other night and I'm praying that the babies didn't drown, or worse, get caught by the feral cats that hang around.  I thought I could hear the singing of the parents yesterday in the pine tree near the barn, but I couldn't see them at all, and I've been spending time outside trying to see if they are still around.  I hope my pursuit of them didn't scare them off and think it was unsafe here!

Photographing things wasn't the only thing I did this weekend.  I actually got a warp wound on Thursday and Friday, got the reed threaded on Saturday, and got the heddles threaded on Sunday.  I am still in the process of tying on, and I plan on getting that completed today, get everything in place, and start weaving - hoping I don't have any mistakes. I've NEVER before had a warp go on with no mistakes....but there's a first time for everything, yes?

I had to order more matching fabric from Missouri Star Quilt Company last week, to have enough to do a binding on the lap quilt I have ready to bind.  I ordered enough for the next 2 quilts also, figuring since I didn't plan well enough for this one, the other two will turn out similar and I ordered the same amount of fabric for backing for them - which means there isn't enough for binding.  That arrived quickly and I want to get the one quilt done and start another.

This week will be fairly busy for me, but I also have time at home and if I use it wisely, I can get a lot done!  Today we go back to the dr. to get hubby's lump looked at.  He had a gland that went way out of whack on one side of his throat a couple of weeks ago.  We couldn't get into his dr. so we saw someone else in the practice.  Luckily, the antibiotics they gave him, worked, and I don't think we have anything to worry about.  If they hadn't worked, we'd be looking at getting a needle biopsy!  Thank goodness we don't have to go through that!
Tomorrow is lunch with the girls, although one of our girls is MIA visiting family in Long Island and Delaware.  Wednesday I babysit.  Thursday and Friday (at the moment) are free.
Ooooo, Kohls is having a sale starting on Weds and they have two things I'd like to get - a pretty pair of headphones for my IPad & IPod use, and a pair of shoe/sandles that look very comfy.  Hopefully on Weds, I'll either go to Kohls with the baby or if her mom doesn't want her out of the house that morning, I can get there on my way home. 

I hope you all have a wonderful day, and a wonderful week!  I know I will.
Always,
Martha

P.S. - just had to leave you with one more - crazy squirrel!