To Be Or Not

Love this saying!

 Cafe Press

Old Gate, New Life

 I love old weathered wood. Gary took down the wooden fence beside our house last year. It was definitely way past it's prime. I've been wanting to do something with the gate. It is just as plain as can be, but has the charm of nostalgia more than anything. We needed a new support for the clematis vines growing beside the bird feeder. I have a little more planting to do around the base, but I'm satisfied with the way it looks. 

 

The End of an Era

Nathan was home last weekend and said a fond farewell to his old bike. It's been through quite a transformation in it's time...nothing on it was original to it.  He shared stories and adventures, and I once again realized that sometimes maternal ignorance is bliss. 
I took pictures for posterity, and then he put it on the dump pile. Doug picked it up for metal salvage, so it might possibly have a new life again in another form. That's somehow nice to know.  :)

Fields Of Flowers

I have no idea what is growing here, and it's the first time I've seen it in our area. Many local fields are abloom with deep burgandy red flowers. A local resident said she heard something about planting it for the nutrients it will add to the soil. I'd like to find out. But whatever it is or does....it sure makes a pretty springtime sight.  I was driving one of our country roads and happened to have my point and shoot with me, so I stopped, rolled down the window, and grabbed a couple shots. If anyone knows what it is, I'd love to hear. 

Phlowers and Photography, or, Flowers and Fotography

The English language is interesting, is it not? Anyway, that's not what this post is about. It's about Mother's Day, and how my kids bless me. I'm perfectly happy with a call, a visit or a card, but they almost always go beyond that.

A lovely assortment of gifts from Natalie, Nathan's sweetheart, included this gorgeous calla lilly.

Andrea and the kids stopped by with this beautiful lace cap hydrangea.

This next photo isn't terribly interesting, but I sure had fun taking it.

You see, it was taken from probably about 30 feet away. Nathan heard me say I wanted to get myself a remote switch for my camera, and surprised me with one.  Of course, no birds landed on the feeder on my first trial run. I think the presense of the camera and tripod kept them away. So I'm going to let the empty tripod set there for a while to get them used to it. I did get a visitor at the tube feeder, but it was getting pretty dark for picture taking by that time. I had to lighten the photo a good bit.

I'm really excited about the process of getting some good wildlife closeups. I need to learn how to use the manual part of my camera. I see such wonderful photography on so many blogs and I want to get better. Most of the photos on this blog up to now, were taken with my Canon A20 point and shoot. It takes great pics, is simple to use, and I love it. The kids all went together and got it for me for Christmas one year. Recently I saved and bought myself a used Canon 20D SLR. Now I need to learn how to really use it....as in "what's an aperture or an F stop?" 

A Good Day in Birdland!

Pictures not the greatest, but not bad considering they were taken with my Canon point and shoot zoom lens. But such an exciting day. My Baltimore Orioles are back, busily nest building. And...for the first time since I began my interest in bird feeding and watching...not one, but two rose breasted grosbeaks. Both male, so there have to be girls around too.  These were taken two weeks ago and I just now got around to posting.

A Thing For Black and White

Love, love, love black and white. And when I found these plates at my local flea market/antique mall last week, I had to bring them home with me. Especially when I got 5 dinner plates and 11 dessert/bread&butter plates for $5 and in absolutely perfect condition.  I don't mind when I can't get full sets of dishes because I love to mix and match, plus, I seldom need large numbers anyway. I discovered the pattern name is "Manhattan Black" by googling the company name "Buffalo China".  It is a heavy, thick restaurant china. 

Now this....

is my kind of bargain. 

Found at Goodwill. Nice enough to use as is, and able to be painted if needed.  How could I go wrong for 99 cents ? 
A productive day.