Thursday Challenge

SHADOWS (Of Trees, People,…) That is this week’s challenge from Dale at the Thursday Challenge for fun and learning. There are always new and exciting takes on the week’s theme.

Today’s shadows

gently fall across paths

of past life.

Thanks for stopping for a visit and any comments you would care to make.

For sure click here to visit other shadowy figures at Thursday Challenge.

Sunday on the Patio

Sunday morning time was spent in the little garden area around our apartment patio. Here are a few of the captures from this time spent working with the new camera using two different 39-year-old lenses from our first SLR camera. Not much automation for these. Hope you can enjoy this little bit of beauty I saw this morning.

Gossamer winged dragonfly viewed through our patio fence.

Some nice grasses.

Rose bushes and trumpet vines in bloom.

There is a fence gate, just out of focus as the flowers were getting my attention.

A white winged dove with a damaged foot/claw. It limps around our place. Wish I could help it.

Holding the foot/claw as it perches.

Another Google Awesome animation shows the limp.

At last my husband came to join me and brought press pot coffee!

Thanks for stopping by and for any comments you may wish to leave.

Contributing to:

MACRO MONDAY 2

I Heart Macro

Wild Bird Wednesday

Good Fences

Skywatch Friday, 07-25-2014

Friday brings the opportunity to connect with folks around the world as they capture their view of our shared skies. Our Skywatch Friday hosts are Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy. Click here to enjoy the beauty!

Pentax K – 50
1/640 sec
ISO 200
+1.7 step
focal length 58 mm

Thanks for stopping by for a brief visit. I appreciate your comments!

Thursday Challenge: Reflections

Dale over at the Thursday Challenge hosts a weekly challenge for fun and learning. This week’s challenge is “REFLECTIONS” (Mirrors, Windows, Anything Shiny,…).

Today, July 24, 2014, my submission is something I snapped yesterday aw we were having breakfast on our patio. Green umbrella and stand reflected in spoon and glass table top. Thanks for visiting and do come again!

THURSDAY CHALLENGE

Wild Bird Wednesday 106

Feeling the desire to post something about birds so it must be Wild Bird Wednesday hosted by our friend ‘down under’ (as we stateside folks say), Steward Monckton. Click here to see some of the most beautiful birds from all over the world.

Visiting my Sis in the Dallas, TX, area this last week I was entertained with the visitors to her hummingbird feeder.

Of course there was one that seemed to ‘own’ the feeder. It would sit in a nearby tree keeping watch and swooping in to protect!

While doing an online backup Google + had some fun with the photos. I thought it gave a little of the live action feeling of the morning birdwatching.

Hope you enjoyed today. Thanks for any comments you have and be sure to visit again.

Submitting for Wild Bird Wednesday 106.

Wild Bird Wednesday 105

Once again it is time to share photos of birds we have had to opportunity to capture “on film”. Stewart M. is kind enough to host Wild Bird Wednesday. You will be delighted to see all the wonderful photos of birds from across the world.

So many that contribute to this site are such great ‘birders’. I never looked closely enough other than just to enjoy the birds to appreciate all the subtle differences. Recently I identified a dove incorrectly. The dove was not a mourning dove but a white winged dove! The past few days this bird has been joining the others at the feeder. Much more skittish than the doves, I have only been able to grab a few very unclear shots. ~~Studying~~ ~~googling~~ Searching the internet has taught me that pigeons and doves are cousins per some sites, the same on other. So is this bird a pigeon or dove? One site had a similar photo and called it a Ringneck Dove – white mutation (Streptopelia risoria). I find it pretty and quite shy.

Submitting to Wild Bird Wednesday! Click Here to see awesome birds and photography.

Softly Falling

Light falls softly on the new blooms in the shade. Blossoms on a Shamrock given to me several years ago by a dear friend.

The plant sits in a basket another cherished friend brought to me. Memories fall softly on my heart as I think of my friends back in Missouri.

Lives entwined softly falling through time.

Join all the joy of seeing life up close by visiting I Heart Macro and Macro Monday 2.

For more photos click the images below!

And thanks for stopping by for a little visit.

Thursday Challenge: Practical

“PRACTICAL” (Anything tool or thing that you might use most days,…)

Thursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and learning. A theme is announced on the site each week. You may either take a new photograph related in some way to the theme or select one that you have taken previously. Dale of spunwithtears is the gracious host for this photo meme.

My submission this week was taken yesterday at a local diner. This morning when I stepped on the scales I realized I may be using this tool a bit too much!

Remember to visit the others submitting to “Practical” at Thursday Challenge by clicking here.

In Search of Birds

Wednesday morning we took my car in for a software update on the airbag deployment system. The update is an all day affair. Instead of having the dealer bring me home, Husband had followed in his Jeep Wrangler. Once my auto was deposited at the dealership we set out to find a breakfast cafe. The Monument Cafe near the square in Georgetown, TX, did not disappoint us. There was even a farmers market attached to the cafe.

Once we had eaten and looked over the market, we headed out in search of a bird that was not a Mockingbird, a mourning dove or a sparrow, The Typical Three. Even though I grew up in Texas and drew the state bird when in the 7the grade I never paid attention to how prolific the mockingbird is in the state. They were everywhere I looked. We drove Ranch Roads in the open air Jeep in search of picture perfect birds. Every bird I spotted for a photograph was one of the three aforementioned groups. For almost three hours we drove the two lane, no shoulder roads of the edge of the Texas Hill Country.

These are a few of the snaps I made along the way.

Typical grazing fields with barbed wire to remind the cattle of their boundaries.