Of course any zoo is a great zoo in my book, and I’m thankful we have one nearby. It’s small, honestly it doesn’t take more than an hour to walk through – but I kinda hang out with the critters, talk to them, study them, and of course photograph them. I can never get out of the zoo with fewer than 100 pics on my memory card.

Here are some of the better shots of the day yesterday. The T-Rex is a really cool metal sculpture that lines one of the pathways. They’re doing a lot of improvements so there are a lot of critters we couldn’t even get to, hopefully they’ll be finished soon and there will be a few new animals for me to admire over the summer.

Oh, yes, and the kids had a good time, too!

Have you ever seen a mama squirrel with teeters full of milk climbing a 3/4″ diameter iron pole for a little lunch when there’s plenty available in her own private dish on the ground? There’s my QOTD.

This one here, well, he just wouldn’t stop lookin’ at me. Silly standy squirrel.

I’m a pacer. Not that it’s related to my crazy kooky squirrels, but it is, sortof. In my best creative moments I’m pacing from the front to the back of my house, usually munching on granola or yacking on the phone. Yesterday I paced. I was working on a blog design layout that is black & white. Literally. In a world full of colors, I had to restrict myself to black, white and a couple of shades of gray.

For me, that’s a little like being a two year old throwing a tempertantrum that momma won’t let me use her watercolors, just a stupid lead pencil and one lousy sheet of copy paper from her printer. ::stomps and pouts::

We work with what we’ve got, though, and I made it work. Phew.

Still, in the creative process of putting the pieces together in my head, I paced. I have my camera at the ready, and I was delighted to see a couple of really beautiful and unique birds yesterday. I know a lot of you might not remember to check my photoblog, and yesterday was an especially active day, I uploaded quite a few new bird photos. For the larger image, just click the thumb.

I used to post my photography here. I decided to create a photoblog so that I could not only make my photos larger for viewing, but to be able to post more frequently without disrupting the regular average everyday stuff I write here on my blog. Now I’m wondering, was that such a great idea? I mean, there are folks using Flickr who were given Nikon D80’s to test for 6 months – with an option to purchase at a discounted rate at the end of the tryout. Who wouldn’t want to be approached with a deal like that? Is Flickr the place to put your stuff, then? I’m so confused. I’ve got my own server space, my own place to do it – I’m not sure I see the benefits of putting my stuff on someone elses server, aside from the obviously cool opportunities, as long as people notice and/or like your photos.

And then there’s my gallery – and it must be “that time” again because I’m wondering how functional it is for my guests. And I’m also wondering when I’m going to have time to format a bunch of auctions so that I can offer my Eye Ate It paintings for sale – and Kiki, too – now that I have them back from exhibit.

I do this, from time to time, I start revamping my whole existence on the web in my head. I crave feedback from everyone who stops by.

Well, dude, could you help me out here? I’ll be in the other room(s), pacing.

Ode to a Gerbera Daisy

To my dear cheerful flower,
You make me smile.

You bring color to my world on a cloudy day.

Your broad green foliage protects your young buds,

Reminding me of a mother protecting her newborn.

You’re a finicky flower, you know.

Your need for hydration borderlines on obsessive.

You call out to me several times a day,
Starving for affection, attention,
And more water.

You make me crazy sometimes, Dear Gerbera,
The slightest droop and I fear for your life.

My hose is always at the ready,
To shower you with H20.

I know you appreciate me, too,
Within minutes you’re standing tall and smiling at me again.

Thank you, Dear Gerbera,
For brightening my garden,
And for your beautiful, bold color.

If you weren’t so daggone pretty,
I’d rip you right out by the roots.

~the end.

I know it doesn’t rhyme or anything – is it supposed to? Oh well. My Ode to a Gerbera Daisy is dedicated to everyone who wants to have them, but might not understand why you can’t get them to stay alive for long. I’ve learned, by killing a few of my own. You all think I have such a green thumb – I should show you the brown stuff I’m successfully managing to kill off in my yard. It’s so depressing – which explains why I don’t mention it. Just green stuff that’s pretty, and growing, and alive! That’s all you really want to see anyway, right?

Show of comments – who wants to be reassured that I have only a tinge of green on my thumbnail? I’m not afraid to show you the stuff I can’t grow, try as I might – I do have some pretty pitiful looking plants. Then you can laugh and laugh and know that I am totally normal.

This morning I had the opportunity to meet this fabulous young lady for a photo shoot back behind the poplar tree. She wanted me to tell you that squirrels are really not all that bad. They have a soft, sensitive side – just like you and me. So in an effort to portray their inner “enjoying nature and foraging for food and shelter like the rest of us” beauty, she asked me to share with you these wonderful shots from her own personal portrait session.

I really have to applaud her for these shots. They’re personal and revealing, they tell a story about how sensitive and playful a squirrels’ personality can be. I’d be surprised if your heart doesn’t just melt. You’ll never see a squirrel the same way again. Maybe.

Keep reading »

You know what I’m talking about?

We went to dinner lastnight, and half of us are sick today. The half that’s sick used different oils in our (Mongolian) food than the other half, and it’s my best guess that the oil may have been a little rancid.

Easter was wonderful. Church services were moving, our biggest little one played three songs on piano before services began and I was so proud of her, she played so well. Our baby quaker parrot birdy boy was just adorable this weekend (see our little pocket pal?), and we had a couple of slumber parties that left us all sleeping on our ginormous sectional.

One of the highlights for me was seeing and id’ing a new backyard bird. Meet Jeepers, our new brown creeper. (Jeepers, creepers. Easy to remember, yes?)

Ain’t he just the cutest? I thought it might have been some kind of nuthatch, the way he climbs the tree. He’s even foraging off the nuthatches stowed away food under the bark. I identified him on BDI – man I love that site. We’re doing a lot more to the yard this year to bring more birds in and right now we’ll get to see some of the most interesting birds as they migrate. My camera and I are so excited!

I’ll end my Monday on that note, since going off into tangent-land would probably cause my fingers and wrists to ache, and I’ll be using them in the studio later.

Happy Monday (in spite of it all!)

Two tulips. This is, unfortunately, the beginning and end of my tulips this year, I’m afraid. I am so sad, this cold snap has just turned them into drooping beauties. I look at them and I can feel the sadness creeping in, like The Nothing is slowly taking over my perennials.

I did get a glimpse of majesty yesterday, though. Right in my own backyard. Hubby spotted her and I was called to duty – it went a little like this:

“Honey! Camera! Hurry! Hawk!”She was beautiful, and I was only mildly creeped out by the size of her blood tinged talons. A girl’s gotta eat though, huh?

I’m working on a monochromatic cat painting today, three beautiful cats – I’ll show you the sketch when I finish it up.

Happy Good Friday to you!

“Essence of Narcissi essence helps the body to process and release
the energy from the emotional-mental trauma, thus
avoiding the need for the body to store this energy as
body-embedded trauma energy. ”

~Source : New Millenium Flower Essences

It’s no wonder when I run across things like this that spring has always been my favorite time of year. It really brings me a sense of peace and quiet and calm, when stress just kind of drifts away and I go crazy with the planting of more perennials and buying things to draw more nature into my yard. Yesterday afternoon I ordered two vines, a wisteria (wow look at this one, and this one too) and a trumpet vine. Then we had to run to the store for some things and wouldn’t you know – they had some in stock, as well as a some really healthy clematis.

Today I’ll be getting some garden fencing to attach to our new privacy fence and putting these vines in the ground, and then I’ll hover over them every morning with my coffee and camera, waiting and hoping that they flourish.

(P.S. I totally snagged the watermark idea from Mrs. Fun.)

I’ve uploaded a slew of photos that I’ve taken over the last several days. Birds, buds and squirrels (oh my) – go have a flip through my photoblog.

There’s just nothing better, is there? I had to share. I have over 200 bulbs that I put in the ground last fall peeking through and I couldn’t be happier. I’d sit beside them all day and just watch them grow, if I could. This is a Chionodoxa, I think – I have about 30 of them. I’m trying to figure out what they are based on a photo of the packages in the approximate locations where I planted them.

What’s coming up in your yard?

(I’ve added a cute little Chipping Sparrow to my photoblog, too. He’s a cutie pie.)