{June 17, 2011}

My lilac bush finally bloomed...and is quickly losing it's sweetly scented blossoms. I grabbed a photo before the remaining flowers are all gone.

Taken with my iPhone using the Camera+ app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{June 8, 2011}

Last year we had a moth just like this one that hung out on our front door. I looked up what type it was, but have forgotten. From wing to wing it is roughly 4-5" wide and about 3" tall. Definitely one of the largest moths I've ever seen. This one is "trapped" between our window screen and the window, however I did my best to convince it to fly free by leaving the window open...and tapping gently. It appears "she" has been laying eggs on the screen itself, so maybe that's why she refuses to go? I named the first one "Kevin." I think I'll name this one "Sheila." (That "line" of "stuff" on the screen is actually rust, but if you look towards the bottom right of the moth, you can see the eggs.)

Taken with my iPhone using the Instagram app with the Walden filter applied.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 30, 2011}

I realize this is out of order but I wanted to post this picture (and may post one I took on the 28th as well). On this day, when I had woken up and come downstairs, I looked outside to find one baby robin perched on the edge of the nest. The other two had apparently already fledged and this lone bird was getting up the courage to join them. Quickly I grabbed my camera, carefully opened the front door, but despite my best efforts I spooked the wee one. She flew towards the house, hitting it gently, then landed in the landscaping. I felt so bad and was properly admonished with the look of death by the robin. Realizing that it was okay I snapped a couple of pictures before heading inside. From there we watched her hop off in to the woods where we noticed one of the other babies up in a tree, being fed by the mama bird. I did not see the second baby, however with so many trees surrounding us I have no doubt it was out there. Eventually the one on the ground joined the rest as we no longer saw them. I still catch myself looking out the window at the nest and can't help but to miss them. Good luck baby robins!

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{June 5, 2011}

Tonight, Ryan called me outside to show me this strange, mustard yellow, slimy substance that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. After a bit of research I figured out that the stuff was called slime mold, or in some cases, dog vomit mold. It looks sort of like cauliflower, however it's definitely not solid like it. We're not sure how big the patches will get or how long it lasts for, but it's truly weird.

Taken with my iPhone using the Instagram app.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 26, 2011}

{I had issues posting yesterday, so this one is coming in late}

The babies keep changing and today I had to laugh when they tried to hide from me while I snapped a few pictures. They all flattened out as best as they could, brought their wings up, closed their eyes and held as still as possible. The effect works remarkably well, I'll give them that.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 25, 2011}

I've got a feeling...somebody's watching meeeee...

{side note: I can't believe how fast they're growing!}

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 24, 2011}

One of these things is not like the other...one of these things just doesn't belong. Except in this case, I would soooo adopt her (him?) in a heartbeat! This little turkey showed up around 4:15'ish today and hung out with the guineas until after 8. It was tough getting photographs of her as I couldn't go outside w/out scaring the poor bird back in to the woods, so I was forced to shoot from indoors. I did notice, however, that she got a bit more brave when she realized I had thrown out some tasty food for the guineas. Granted, she didn't get anywhere near me, yet she no longer disappeared the moment she caught sight of me. Still, I wasn't about to chance bringing out the camera which meant I was left with whatever I could get from inside the house. I have named her, Lucille after the mother in Arrested Development. Not because she seemed rude, or drunk, but mainly because every time she tried to "make friends" with the guineas, they would get scared off and back away from her. I'm hoping Lucille comes back regularly so we can chat about ungrateful children and wine.

On to the pics...{click to view full size}

{May 23, 2011}

When I walked outside all three of the babies popped up, mouths agape, making little cheeping noises. I tried to grab a picture of them as fast as I could, but once they realized I wasn't their mama they quickly settled back down in to the nest. Maybe next time... Still, I love how the little one on the left is resting his/her chin on the nest all ready for the next feeding.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 21, 2011}

They're getting pin feathers and changing colors a bit!

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 20, 2011}

Switching it up a bit today as the baby robins pretty much look the same as they did yesterday. I planted this...tree?...shrub?...treeshrub?...last year. Despite being practically run over by our plow guy, buried under 6+ feet of snow for months, and molested by chickens, guineas, and ducks, it's come back. One of the things I like about this foliage are the delicate white and pink flowers that bloom in the spring. I guess it's the treeshrub's way of saying, "Suck it winter."

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 19, 2011}

They're getting fuzzier and making little squeaking noises. Also, they're still very hungry.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{May 18, 2011}

And then there were three... Yay triplets! In the first photo you can see two of them waiting for Mom (or Dad) to return with a meal and in the second you can see all three snuggling. {Melt}

On to the pics...{click to view full size}

{May 17, 2011}

We have babies!! Two at the moment, still waiting on the third to hatch. I was so excited to see the tiny pink,  covered in tufts of fluff, "newborns" moving around this morning that I had to contain my squeals for fear of scaring off the mom (or maybe it was the dad--I learned that both mom and dad take care of them and we have seen the pair in the yard together). I couldn't wait for the kids to get home so I could show them the babies. After the parent-in-charge had flown off for some food, we peered out the window and ooh'd and aah'd as if we were looking in to an actual nursery. {We embrace our weirdness around here.} I decided to chance getting a photo but since the parents have been diligent about tending to the nest, babies, and egg, I had to move quick to get this shot. I plan to take a photo of them every day until they fledge and will use each one as my Photo of the Day so you can enjoy them as well. Side note, if you look right above the far right area of the egg you can see one of the babies eyes. Awwwwww!

Any ideas for names?

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{January 12, 2011}

And the snow keeps coming and coming and coming and...you get the picture. New England has, once again, been hit by a blizzard, however, this time over 16" have fallen at our house. Even now at 3:00 p.m. there aren't any signs of the snow letting up and I'm hoping that the weather forecasters have it correct in that we should see an end to the madness by 6:00'ish. The kids are out of school and we've been weathering the storm nicely with a fire roaring in the woodstove, mint chocolate hot cocoa with whipped cream, and a couple of DVR'd shows. I dug out our birds first thing this morning and am headed out to dig them out again after I post this. Our dog Kya LOVES it and has been begging to go out pretty much all day just so she can run around the fluffy stuff despite it coming up to the top of her shoulders. Lexi, on the other hand, prefers to stay indoors by the fire and thinks that going outside in this mess is crazy talk. Today I'm bending the rules a bit in that when I awoke this morning I realized that the trees I photographed yesterday for the "before" shot do not have many needles/leaves on them. As such it doesn't look much different today--save for the rising snow levels around the trunks. I snapped another shot the two bushes in front of our house. To give you an idea of how deep it is, the space between the bottom of the bush on the "left" to the ground is over 2.5'. There is a walkway buried underneath everything and as much as I hate to say it, this time it looks like we won't get away with not shoveling this section. Sigh...is it spring yet?

On to the pics...{click to view full size}

{January 11, 2011}

I am calling today's photo "Before" as I'm sure after the Nor'Easter that is supposed to come through tonight the "After" shot will be much different. This was taken from my front door looking out in to the front yard which is still covered in snow from awhile back. Having lived in Bend, Oregon for 7+ years I am not "new" to feet of snow--quite the contrary--although I am new to Nor'Easters. Another thing I'm learning to live with out here is that once we get that first decent accumulation you can forget about seeing the ground until spring. At least that's how it is at our house. Granted, it all may have something to do with the humongous pine trees around us, but still. In Bend the sun is almost always out which means that even after a "dumping" you can be snow-less in a matter of days. I'm still wading through a good 4-5" around our property and am now expecting that to rise if this storm lives up to its expectations. I will admit that the one nice thing about living in an area that receives a ton of snow annually...they are awesome at getting the roads cleared FAST! Even my semi-rural street is usually snow-free within a day (or two at most) after the snow hits. So despite being surrounded by the white stuff at home, I can still get out (and away) from it should the desire hit me. For now I'm planning to hit the grocery store--not in a panic but simply because we're out of food and it's my "day" to shop--stock up on hot chocolate, keep the fire going in the woodstove, and watch the news to see if the kids and I get to sleep in tomorrow. Stay safe and warm New Englanders!

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{January 5, 2011}

Today I'm cheating a bit (although I've read there really aren't any rules in Project 365) as I took this photo over the summer. My computer is still down which means I'm stuck using my iPhone, but I truly love this picture and want to share it. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers and I've longed to have huge bushes of them scattered around our landscaping. The last house we lived in--back in Portland--had beautiful, large hydrangea bushes in shades of blue, green, and pink. Every time I drove up I was greeted with big, vibrant blossoms that always brought a smile to my face. Naturally, when we bought this house one of the many things I planned to do was buy some hydrangeas and plant them so that the they were the first thing I, or anyone else, saw when pulling up to our home. While out at Lowe's one day I found some, already in bloom, brought them home, and placed them in the ground. I envisioned them growing over the months and years and wondered if the plants would give any other colors than the azure ones already on the stems. Of course I snapped some pics throughout the process, not realizing how glad I'd be that I did so at the time. Not long after I planted my beloved hydrangeas a freak cold snap came through and froze all of them...killing them in the process. I was so sad but I'm holding out hope that by some miracle they'll come back in the spring. In the meantime, I make do with this photo which also serves as the background for my iPhone so I can see it everyday.

On to the pic...{click to view full size}

{Red, White, but no blue}

{More from my world}

Today's theme is water. Given how much rain we've gotten recently, seems fitting. 


On to the pics...

{Around my house}

After reading some amazing photojournalists blogs, I got inspired to photograph things I found around my property. I broke out my 24-70mm Macro lens, looked up, looked down, looked sideways, and everywhere in between. Needless to say, I had a blast! I've decided to do this more often and feature them on here as sort of a "Shot of the Day" sort of thing. Sometimes I may only have one picture, other days I may add several. We'll see how it goes.


On to the pics...

 I love how this leaf has an abstract broken heart on the left side