Friday on the Porch

It is almost summertime when the livin' is easy and the spring flowers begin to fade.  But before they begin to fade I am snapping as many pics as I can.  Right now the ranunculous are still lovely and the pansies are full and lush, but it won't be long before both will be gone replaced by summer-time flowers like geraniums, petunias, and daisy's.

These beauties are all blooming on the front porch and I am enjoying their show....the forecast is for sunny skies and warm temps bringing these lovelies lives a little shorter.

Linking up to Alicia's Jump Into Spring, Leanne's Flower Art Photo and Misty's & Kim's Shoot, Edit, Submit....

 

In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.  ~  Margaret Atwood

Until next time.......

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails or Bugs and Birds.....

I love that title "Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails", but this post has none of those.  Instead it has mostly bugs and a bird with a few floral shots thrown in because it's spring and so many flowers are beginning to bloom and I can't help but take their shots and then show them to you.  Ok, enough said....

Mr. Robin just climbing out of his bath, ready to shake and dry off....

This beauty blooms across the fence in my neighbor's yard....but each Spring they pose right nicely for me.  Added a Kim Klassen texture...and joining with Leanne at

It's funny how many times I don't see these little bugs or insects until I download my pics and voila there they are, just ready to surprise me.

This was not a surprise, I saw these little rose bud eaters and decided this would be my green shot for Alicia's Leap Into Spring challenge.

Another surprise...this looks like it's glowing from within.  Sharing with Misty at Shoot, Edit, Submit..

But no surprise here, these ants hang out all over the peonies, they must be in heaven crawling up and down and all around....

We were blessed with much needed rain last night and the leaves were glistening like diamonds this morning...

Last night after meeting with my girls at church I was on my way to Hobby Lobby and decided to stop at a forest preserve.  I tend to forget that we are only about 25 miles from Lake Michigan, so it always surprises me when I see a sea gull flying above.  The sky was filled with wonderful clouds last night prior to the thunderstorms we had in the middle of the night.

And now after you have seen all these pretty flowers, bugs, birds and green things would you please stop over at my collaborative blog where I am sharing a difficult time in my life at Focusing On Life.   
Hope you have a marvelous weekend planned.

"The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."  ~  Dolly Parton

Until next time.....

Water, Water Everywhere

I have been participating in the Leap Into Spring photo challenge (always up for a good challenge) and this week's prompt is "water, rain, etc."  I have waited all week for it to rain here, and it did on Friday night, but by the time I got out with my camera all the puddles, drops, and splashes had disappeared.  So I am going to have to revert to some of my older pics....not too old, less than a month, to fill this post with water and things associated with water.

First up...a little story.  One afternoon I was sitting on my brother's deck in Galveston, half snoozing, half looking around for any possible photo ops when I spotted this heron across the canal.  I watched and this is what unfolded....

Wonder if there is anything edible in these waters...Hmmm, is anybody watching?

Maybe if I lean over I can find something...

Oh just a little bit further...oh I hope nobody is watching my butt sticking out but whatever that is, I just have to get it...

Ahh got it but not sure it was worth all that effort.

The next day, it turned cloudy and the ocean became really rough, but rough seas never stopped AJ from tackling the waves....

The remains of little bits from the sea, I love the trail of bubbles.....

Hoping to get a pic of some brightly colored umbrellas lined up on the beach we stopped and wandered around....the pics were not what I wanted, I didn't want all those people cluttering up my shot but they did not listen to me when I asked them to leave and I even said please.

I did see this cutie patootie having fun all by himself....wonder if he has aspirations of becoming a plumber?

Lovers on the beach....reminds me of that song from Grease..."You're the one that I want. ohh ohh ohh"

And finally, several of the evenings we would make it a point to be at the beach for the sunset, we had it timed perfectly for the best shots.  I would come home with probably 100 shots of that evening's sunset, but this one surprised me.  I think it was just a a moment when my focus was on the bushes and there must have been a cloud that surrounded the sun just perfectly that it resulted in this heart shape.  I added the text, but did nothing to the pic itself.

I am linking up to Nancy at

Alicia at

                                                 

And Rebecca at

Hope you all have a blessed Sunday and a marvelous week ahead....

Until next time.....

More of This and That

Spring left, or it left last night and did not return this morning.  It is cool, cloudy, drippy, not an ideal time for a photo walk, so thought I would continue to post photos from Galveston.  I have a gazillion, and each one of them brings me back and floods my mind with special memories.  I don't know when I will ever return since my brother is moving, so these photos will have to remind me of a special time.  

You probably think this is a strange Galveston memory, but they do have cattle there, not for milk, but for beef, eventho the trend is to eat less beef, I feel sure that there are plenty that still love a good steak.  Love those little birds that hang with the cattle, they are Cattle Egrets, appropriately named.  The one on the left looks like he is cautioning the cow not to get any closer.  Sharing this with Nancy over at A Rural Journal for Rural Thursday (I know it's Friday, but that's OK)

I haven't even begun to post the multitude of images I have of all the lovely flowers that were in bloom in the Galveston area...these are just a few.

Flowers grew everywhere, even in the cracks of the sidewalks....

Fences were loaded with blooms...

 Hibiscus...enough said.  Linking this up with Alicia for the Leap Into Spring Challenge.....

I am not familiar with this flower but it was on a bush, resembled a hydrangea but with thick waxy leaves, a stunner.

This little sweetheart was down at the beach being blown by those strong surf winds...

Love these little iris'.  They grew in large clumps with strong saber like leaves and the flowers sat right on top just pretty as you please.

And the roses.....oh the roses were supreme.....

And because it is so grey here today, without sun or surf here is a great reminder that summer will come to our part of the country some day (soon I hope!)

And.....one of the gorgeous sunsets that came my way.  Don't ya think that sunsets and sunrises just seem to be more beautiful at the beach?!  Linking up to Through a Photographer's Eyes....

Whew, I think I will stop now....more to come.

If you aren't completely exhausted looking at all these, I would be most gratified if you would stop by my collaborative blog, Focusing On Life where I am musing on more of  My Favorite Things.

"The unexpected and the incredible belong in this world.  Only then is life whole."  ~ Carl Jung


Until next time.....

Five Senses Friday - The April 6, 2012 Edition

For no reason at all except it will make you a happier person, smile.  Smile at a perfect stranger, smile at your sweetheart, especially smile at children.  Smile when you see someone or something you like.  Smile broadly, demurely, smile shyly or mysteriously.  Just smile from ear to ear.  Smile at the bus driver, smile at the toll-taker, smile at the stressed out driver at the stoplight.  Make them all wonder, What's she smiling about?  Let them wonder, let a smile be your umbrella on a rainy day.  Your smile may remain long after your gone.

These are a few of the things that made me smile all day long.....

I went to SEE the Hunger Games...I read the book and was anxious to see the movie.  I'll admit I was not disappointed in either the book or the movie.  And ofcourse, I had to have popcorn while I was there....love the TASTE of movie popcorn.

After I returned home I considered going to Macy's to buy some Clinique, they have their special if you purchase a gazillion dollars worth of their product they will give you a little something to keep you coming back.  I am kidding abut the gazillion dollars but I am not kidding about the giving.  I really like their yellow moisturizer and their freebie comes in a perfect travel size.  Since next week I am off again on another travel adventure, this time to Galveston, TX I need that little yellow moisturizer.  But then I stopped and realized it is Good Friday, kids are out of school, lots of people off work, so no way was I going to fight my way thru those crowds for the little yellow moisturizer to make my face FEEL good.  Maybe Monday....

So, instead of fighting crowds I stayed peacefully at home.  It was a gorgeous day today.  The sky for the last 2 or 3 days has been this deep cerulean blue, a perfect back-drop for photos.  Yesterday, along with the beautiful sky we had gusty winds which pretty well shoots any opportunity for great nature shots.  But today was calmer so off Toby and I went to search for beauties.  All the birds have returned from wherever they vacation to in the winter so the air is filled with the sound of chirping.  When I HEAR the sounds of certain birds I can distinguish their song.   Cardinals, robins, and chickadees are a few I can recognize.  And I certainly recognize the sound of bees buzzing.

I don't get too many hyacinths anymore, I think I need to replant, but what I did have I snipped and brought them in the house to enjoy their SMELL before they faded away.

And I added the bowl of eggs for Easter....

All I have to do is step out of my front door to SMELL Spring.  The buds on the trees are bursting, the daffodils and hyacinths are almost gone, but the tulips are in full bloom....all of this brings a smile to my face.

Linking up with Project Alicia

This is the exact spot just a few weeks ago....

Hope your day was filled with smiles.....  And speaking of smiles, hop on over to my collaborative blog Focusing on Life where I am musing about my favorite thing to do.  We are having a month-long theme for this month all about our "favorites".  Stop by and see what it is all about.

"Smile....it's the second best thing you can do with your lips."  ~  Don Ward

Until next time.....