Thank You for Letting Me Share....

Yesterday I felt like a celebrity with all the congrats and well wishes here on the blog as well as on Facebook. I so appreciate the kindness and it was fun to share with all of you. With Bailey gone (I know I keep saying that, but I truly miss her) and with neither son or daughter or my sweetie here, there was nobody to share that momentous moment when I opened that package with the magazine inside. Thank you again for letting me share that joy with you.

It was quiet around here yesterday afternoon. We really have no little children left in the neighborhood except at the other end of the street so the only sounds I usually hear are the birds chirping (which is mighty pleasant), or the squirrels of which we have at least 5 running up and down the tree limbs or along the back fences, a car or two, and motorcycles.  We have two households that have a motorcycle. One is an exceptionally loud rumble, rumble, the kind that likes to announce his comings and goings and the other is an older gentleman that takes his out for pleasure, ambling slowly down the street, as discreet as possible. Occasionally, depending on the way the wind blows I can hear the happy sounds from the kids at our communal pool.  And ofcourse, my kids (the dogs) bark at anyone or anything that dares to walk by our house. so protective of their kingdom. Now you know why I am keeping my fingers crossed that whoever buys the house for sale next door falls into that quiet category.

With all that quiet I grabbed my camera with the BIG lens and walked across the street where there is a large retention area with lots of tall grasses and wild-flowers. It's a good place to spot a bird or two which is the real reason I purchased that big lens.  As soon as I raised my lens to my eye, I saw this......

And then right next to her was obviously her mate.....

The lens performs like binoculars, bringing into sight objects that I might miss with just my eye. Altho, admittedly it's a lot heavier than binoculars. It's difficult to keep it steady, I might have to break down and use a tripod. UGH!  Birds don't stop and pose for you so I'm not sure how that is going to work.

Spotted this in the grasses....she is a female Red Winged Blackbird

And he is the male Red Winged Blackbird

Walked over by the pond and found at least 25 male Mallards and 2 females (why only 2??) snoozing on the grassy banks. Obviously I interrupted their nap and the Mister wasn't too happy.

Today my newly planted daylily bloomed for the first time....her name is Entrapment. Pretty snazzy name, but I think she is right snazzy with her deep pink ruffled petals. There are lots of blooms so Entrapment will keep me dazzled for quite awhile.

"There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice."  ~  John Calvin

Until next time......