Working Hard & Hardly Working

This Big Guy is "Working Hard"...

This little guy is "Hardly working"...
He's running around looking busy...

He's has a very serious look on his face...and he really thinks he is working hard!

He does a fine job of making it look good doesn't he?

But digging holes, (oh excuse me they are not holes they are traps), to supposedly capture dragons and hogs doesn't count as "Working Hard"...His father and I think he is "Hardly Working"...but we won't tell him!! What he doesn't know won't hurt him and at least he is leaving us alone and having fun!

Peak Autumn Colors in South Texas...(LOL)

Yes it is South Texas but we do manage to get a few Autumn colors. Not until the end of November...and not like the Northern states but still pretty to look at...

For the past week I've been watching this little Oak tree out in the pasture...It's leaves have turned and it stands out from all the other trees surrounding it...My eye always catches it as I go down the driveway and this morning I finally decided to get a photo!

Soon our trees will lose thier leaves (except for the live oaks) and we will be in the dole drums of winter...ugh!! But Spring (hopefully) won't be far off and I can hardly wait for the beautiful wildflowers...Now time to start praying for some rain too!!

Did y'all know...

My Dear~Sweet friend (Aussie) Helen ROCKS!!!

She's done it again...

She just has way too much fun creating these beautiful digital layouts!

I LOVE THEM!!

Thank you HELEN!!

You can go check out her other work on all of her blogs...

Hancock updates

Famous last words

My life My photos

Photo Challenge # 27 ~ In Motion

After Ms. Helen decided to borrow (cough~cough) a few of my photos for the challenge I was more or less high and dry...I couldn't go to my files for my hummingbird photos as she had already borrowed (snort~snort) those...I had to come up with something else...and when I saw the bees swarming the soda cans I thought YES perfect!!

So what do you think Ms. Helen....I think these are a bit better than my Hummer photos!!!

Na Na Na....

A few Misc. Macro shots

I took a few Misc. photos today too....

The boys were outside playing and I thought I would try for a few portraits...NOT....They wouldn't stop being silly and goofing around...

Zeke enjoying life!

Michael and Zeke, cousins!

Ahhh here she is...My Mother In Law, Criste!!

Good thing she doesn't get online either or she'd probably clip me upside the head, lol...I love her smile and her laugh! She just had a total knee replacement and doesn't she look good!!

A flower bud...Yes this was a RAW file and I almost tossed it but decided to work with it...It was totally washed out and no detail what so ever but I played with it and loved the results!

This was my first RAW photo...not the greatest but as you can see I've learned a lot since I took this one...just thought I'd share the first one!! I am not sure what the bloom is but it's on a succulent type of plant...

Well that was the last of my photos from the day...I really had fun and was tickled with how my RAW photos turned out...Thank you for stopping by and hope y'all have a good weekend!

Soda Can attractant

While I was outside taking photos I noticed a few soda cans laying around the yard...I asked Michael and his cousin Zeke to pick them up but they informed me that they were full of bees....Wow a photo OP!!

Once again I shot these in RAW file format and had just as much fun with the bees as I did the flys that were on the cans...I am sure everyone that drove by wondered what that crazy lady was doing taking photos of soda cans but you can see I wasn't crazy but having fun!!

So if you ever want to attract bees or flys for a photo op put out a soda can and have fun!

Anole Lizard Macro

Today we spent the day over to Grandma Criste's helping out and I had a few spare moments to go outside with the camera and the Macro lens...Michael and I found this little Anole lizard hiding on one of the bushes...I love Anole Lizards...I think they are beautiful!

This little guy was an excellant subject and seemed to be posing for the camera...

Now for the rest of the story....I shot all of these photos in RAW file format due to a friend in Aransas Pass who thought it was time I started taking better photos. Thank you John I do see a difference! Even though these files were HUGE and it took forever for me to go through the 300+ photos I took, Ekkk....I'm glad I took on Johns challenge of using Raw mode on my camera it was worth the effort! Now if I can get John to start a blog so everyone can see what a Fantastic photographer he is...yes John I am challenging you to start a blog, lol...Thank you for all your help and your encouragement on my photo adventures!

Thanksgiving

We had a good Thanksgiving and I hope everyone else did too...

I didn't have too much time for taking photos but did manage a few!

My Father in law

and his Birthday cake...

My nephew Andy and he looks a might bit hungry!

Swarming the truck that brought the turkey!

We have so much to be thankful for the food was good and the company was great!!

Photo Therapy ~ Macro

This morning after getting everyone fed and taken care of I decided it was time for some Photo therapy and playtime with the Macro lens....

Hover Fly on a wandering jew bloom.

Fly on Plumbago bloom.

I am just truly amazed at the photos I can take with the Macro lens. It is a totally different world and was shocked at the detail I was able to see...I never knew wandering jew blooms were so beautiful and loved the feathered beards around the stamens and pistol, Wow! This little fly is enjoying himself too!

Beetle on Wild Mum!

Plumbago bloom getting ready to open.

Beetle on Plumbago bud.

I loved the water droplets! Which I didn't see until I pulled the photo up on the computer, Yikes!

Wow a Butterfly!

The butterflies are almost gone for the year but this one decided to grace me with his presence!

Sulphur Butterfly up close!

I walked over to the bird feeders to see if the birds had noticed the suet feeder when I look over and spot this little darl'in on one of the feeders...No I don't have birds...I have grasshoppers...and he seems to be really enjoying his breakfast, ARGH!!

I'm hoping to get some more photos later today! My hummingbird is still buzzing around and I tried to get photos with the Macro but I've decided the Macro lens is not the best lens for hummingbird photos...I just couldn't get the speed up there...