A Couple of Reasons...

Surprise, I'm still here, altho you wouldn't know it by this blog.  A couple of reasons I'm back.  My friend, Kelly, who is part of our collaborative team of women who write Focusing On Life, said something profound on her personal blog, to me, "although i have been somewhat hit or miss lately, I am so grateful for this space…my tiny little corner of the inter webs.  For a million reasons, but mostly because it helps me to focus on the good in my ordinary life.  the beautiful.  the magical.  the little things that bring me so much happiness.  and as always, i am profoundly and eternally grateful for letting me share it with you."   In reading that passage I thought to myself, wow, I have really wasted my tiny corner of the inter webs by not sharing my joys, my everyday ordinary life, even sometimes my sorrows.  This is my space so consider this my new focus. I know, you are probably saying, I think she's said that before.  Yes, I probably have said it more than once, you know the saying, try and try again.  Well, this is that "try again".  The 2nd reason is I seem to be motivated by a plan.  The last time I blogged on a regular basis was the countdown to my 73rd birthday, listing 73 things that made me happy.  So with that in mind, I think today is a good day for plan #2. There are 100 days to celebrate this amazing season of summer, It is my desire to blog during these 100 days, sharing my thoughts and to focus on all the good in my everyday life. 

So here goes....I treated myself to a new lens this past week, the Tamron 150-600mm. And oh baby, this is a dream for photographing critters and birds. I bought a "used" one, saving myself a scant $100 on Amazon's Bargain Shop. And yes, it is heavy, but it does have Vibration Compensation, aka shaky hand help.  I have only tried it in my backyard, but I am tickled pink with the results. Above I captured this image standing on my back porch (door open) with the birdbath at the back of the yard. (granted I don't have a huge backyard, but still....)  Mrs. Cora Cardinal comes daily to bathe. 

And then....this is a teeny tiny wren that lives around my backyard every summer.  She may be small, but she can belt out those tweets.... (couldn't help adding the verbage).  The texture is by Jai Johnson, she is amazing, check her out on YouTube, The Daily Texture. 

The Spring flowers have pretty much sprung....

The Bleeding Hearts are wilting.

My Weigelia Bush has lost all of it's blossoms.  I have had this bush for darn near 40 years, when Lisa was a teenager I took her prom pictures by this bush.  If I would dig deep in the bowels of the basement I could probably find one, but not today.

And how about those alums...they are so regal standing tall with their royal purple flowers.

I will miss you Spring, but we have 100 days of summer ahead. Hallelujah!!!

Until next time....