How About That?

Although I got up super early this morning, as in before 5, I didn't discover until a few hours later that OBL was killed. Silly me, I brought the paper in, however, I left it in it's protective plastic sleeve until after I saw it on the Times website. Wondered what our headline would be... On facebook, my friend Polly used this,‎"I've never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure." - Mark Twain  as her status update, which seems entirely appropriate to me.




So, the cardinals have fooled me this year. While looking back at last year's posts from around this time, I saw the photographs of the baby cardinal, with brand-new feathers, or at least the start of them, perched on the edge of the shed roof. This year, until today, I'd not seen any evidence of either a nest, or a hatchling. Let me just tell you that cardinals are very hard to photograph, unless, of course, they are babies and can't fly. Yesterday afternoon while unloading the vehicle after the market the male cardinal lit on the feeder. Despite multiple prior attempts I'd not been able to get a decent shot. This time, I went inside, got my Panasonic with the long zoom and slung it over my chest, leaving it on in case he was still there. And he was:

Anyway, while bringing up the garbage can late this morning, I heard the familiar chirping sound a cardinal ordinarily makes. I searched and searched for a nest in the ligustrum tree, finding nothing. All of a sudden, I saw some movement and there was a baby, albeit much larger than the one pictured last year. Quite a bit cuter as well. The camera grab didn't work this time; once I was back outside he/she was nowhere to be found. Don't think for a moment I won't get obsessed and start searching every time I hear some chirping!


Because we work at Lake Eola, we rarely see it like visitors do anymore . Friday evening I suggested to Bruce that we become tourists, first eating at Relax Grill, and then taking a stroll around the lake as the sun set. It was delightful! On our walk we checked the swan's nest I showed you the other day, still a work in progress, however, we did see other baby swans. My camera that night wasn't the best for the job, so this morning as the sun rose I drove the few miles to the park. Lots of babies as it turns out. Here's a mother duck with her chicks tucked safely beneath her:

Not knowing too much about water fowl, I can only assume that the eggs behind her either haven't hatched already or won't. She definitely was keeping these little ones close. Last weeks baby ducks grew about double in size, and the white ducklings pictured were nowhere to be found. Even the nest was missing. The triplet cygnets were adorable with Momma and Poppa keeping them close.

I couldn't resist showing you them twice! There was some action on the lake between one of these swans and another with water spraying like mad! Check this out:

Territorial perhaps? It is really astonishing how fast swans can move when called upon to do so.


I love to be around water because there is always life going on, more so in the Spring I realize, but throughout the year something is always going on. Closer to home, our little body of water attracts life as well. 

As you can see, there were bugs galore for this tiny snake to feast on. As I was trying to get this shot he kept curling up and rolling over which certainly made for a more interesting photograph don't you think? Bruce scooped it up, tossing it into the bushes, however, a few hours later, the snake was once again swimming like it was his pool! Today, though, I've seen no evidence of the little rascal.


Bruce left before 5 this morning to catch an early flight which, explains my early bird status. I forced myself to send Mr. Roger my order, consisting pretty much of only paper prints because I've sold so few canvases of late. I can almost see you smiling as you read that yesterday sales returned to a more normal state. 
Whew!


So often, including yesterday, people ask me how I shoot some of my still life pictures. I thought you might be interested to see a set up shot which may, or may not, ever see print.

Always practicing! The kitchen skylight providing light, the foam core used for my packaging providing the back drop. Daisies, always daises. By now, you'd think I'd run out of ideas, however, every now and again, something new occurs to me. As well, you'd think I'd run out of words to write, but so far I haven't. Maybe one of these days..... 

Resident Snake

I imagine most yards have one of these black snakes, I know Lisa has one that hangs around her yard. The only place I ever really see it is on the front porch when he (?) travels from one bed to another. The mat in the foreground was out drying from yesterdays terrific storm. After some strong winds the rain began with intense thunder and lightening, really some of the loudest booms I've heard in a long time. As is usually the case, it cleared up nicely by the time Kristen came to get me for dinner. We used to work together at the hospital and have kept in contact. After much deliberation we went to a nice pizza place on Church Street . Turns out it was $3 wine night with refills for ten cents. The amazing thing was that they served nice wines for that price.

I've gotten over my crankiness, thank you very much. So far today I've taken Baxter for a nice walk at a local park, did some necessary shopping, mowed the lawn, and cleaned the pool. Not bad huh?

It's that time again--another calendar contest for the City of Orlando. Thank you to my editors for helping me choose the three I will enter. I'm going to deliver them to City Hall shortly. Although we'd been looking out for a notice, neither Maureen or I had seen one. Fortunately I picked up a little local paper on Saturday with the announcement. I immediately went out to shoot some pictures; because the neighborhood is only about two miles from me it was no problem. When I enter these contests I obviously hope to be picked, but the first step is choosing the correct photos to enter which can prove difficult. We'll see what the judges think in a few months.

As well, I applied for the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival yesterday. It's all done online for many shows now, and again when you are sending in three images it is so hard to choose. I've no real expectation of getting into this show, but I figure because people are always asking me if I've done Winter Park I can say I tried.

Bruce should be home from Connecticut in a few hours--yeah.

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Listening to: Blur - Tender
via FoxyTunes

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Listening to: Blur - Girls & Boys
via FoxyTunes

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Listening to: Blur - This Is A Low
via FoxyTunes