Photo Challenge ~ Symmetry

This weeks photo challenge was and is...

sym·me·try \ˈsi-mə-trē\ noun,
1: balanced proportions; also : beauty of form arising from balanced proportions

If you would like to see the photos from the other participants you can go to our

Photo Challenge post and click on the names in the right side bar...

I love your Blog...

My Dear sweet friend Helen has honored me with this award. With out her inspiration you wouldn't even be looking at my blog...She is the one who got me started in blog land, lol...I am so thankful for her and feel so blessed to have met her on Scrapbook.com...Thank you Helen!

Below are a few of my friends in blog land that I think deserve this award too!

Helen - of course, my dear sweet Aussie friend!!

Karin M - I adore her photos and love that she is also an animal lover too!!

Erin - Never a dull moment in her household

Kelly - With 3 boys there is always something going on...

Angie - Another busy Mom who also has her hands full.

Colleen - has a great sense of humor

Pioneer Woman - Beautiful photos and a life I would love to be living

Kristen - A busy Mom who does beautiful scrapbook layouts

Lenore - She takes beautiful sunday drives in Colorado

Jodie - Another Aussie who does awesome scrapbook layouts and 2 kids to keep her busy.

There are so many other blogs in our photo challenge group that I really enjoy too...so skip on over to the photo challenge post and check out the blogs on the side-bar...I promise you will see some awesome photos and learn about different areas on this planet Earth!

Nature walk at the In-laws Ranch...

Fred decided after last week that I needed a quiet walk in the woods with my camera so we went to visit his parents at their ranch today...

This is a plant my Mother in law has that I love, the blooms look like little butterflies...

Crablike spiny Orb Weaver...I almost walked into it's web, Ekk...I think they are so cool!

I always check out this Old Oak to see if anything is hiding in it and nothing today. The woods were really quiet today, not sure if it was due to the oppressive heat or maybe there was something bigger out in the woods?

It was definitely quiet until I found the family of noisy Green Jays...I have so wanted to see and get a photo of a Green Jay and I was able to do this today...Yea...But I was disappointed as the lighting wasn't the greatest and I am totally NOT liking my telephoto lens either...but I reminded myself to enjoy the jays and I did...There were two juveniles and their parents. I was watching them from a distance and trying to get a good photo through the trees when the youngsters spotted me. They came right over and perched above my head and chewed me out noisily and were also scrutinizing me and the camera...I couldn't help but laugh at them. The parents stayed further away but were watching...

My photos do not do them justice as they are beautiful birds, with green/yellow bodies and black and blue on their heads...The juveniles were kind of scraggly looking as their adult feathers were just starting to come in...

Ekkk...I didn't see this on my nature walk but back at the ranch house, lol...Grandpa bbq'ing his delicious Brisket...

Thank you for stopping by and taking a peek...

Just a few from today...

Just a few photos I took this evening...

Something to occupy your time...

Michael, Jake and I were out in the yard when I noticed two beautiful butterflies fluttering around my wild mum plants...Because they were fluttering I knew they wouldn't stay there long so I ran in and grabbed the camera...I had the wrong lens (28-105mm) on the camera, I would have preferred the telephoto (75-300mm) but didn't have the time to change them out...So I took photos anyways and thought they were kind of cool...that is until Michael decided to throw Jakes ball into the middle of the flowers...Bye Bye Butterflies...

It's really hard to get a decent photo when butterflies are fluttering around and you get quiet a bit of blur but I liked it on these photos...it showed you just how busy they were...

T.G.I.F. and we have a 3 day weekend to recoup from our week. We had good moments and bad moments all week...and just when things looked good we'd have another meltdown...They don't give grades in Kindergarten, but smiley faces, medium smileys, or frowny faces...Michael got smiley faces all week...He also did a really great job on all his school work...scissors and cutting, colors fantastic, writing his name (with help from his teacher) good, finding differences and similiar items great...I was very proud of him! As a special treat after school today I took him into town for french fries and chicken nuggets from his favorite restaurant and he was thrilled...

He knows he has a few days off and then it's back to school...he seems okay with it but we shall see what happens next Tuesday...fingers crossed he does just fine!

I miss him but I have to admit it is really nice to be able to get things done around here...I was able to shred today and it looks really nice...Next week I'll head down to the property to do some work...hopefully the hurricanes will head in a different direction...

uh Oh!!

I know some of you are wondering why I am not blogging and I apologize!

School as gone from good to bad to better to worse!

Neither Michael nor I had a good morning and we both left the house sobbing...

I know if we can get through these first couple of weeks we'll be okay but it is quiet an adjustment for both of us....So bare with me while we get on tract and I'll be back as soon as I can....

Hugs, Wendy

What I did to occupy myself today...

Like I even need to tell you...I took my camera outside and did Photo therapy, lol...

Here's a where are the hummers, instead of "Where's Waldo", lol.







Every year at about the end of September the raptors start migrating. This year they are a month early, yikes! I walked out on the porch this morning and saw hundreds of them circling in the wind currents...These are Mississippi Kites...I wanted to see what the Rebel Xti and the 74-300mm lens could do...ugh!! I so want a better telephoto lens, grrr....These are the ones that were the best of the bunch...



See all those black dots? Those are Mississippi Kites and there were two more larger groups but they were just too far away for a decent photo...


I had one come down in the pasture in front of the house and hunt. Whatever he grabbed, probably a mouse, he would swoop back up into the air and eat it in mid-flight, too cool!