And just who do you want running this Country....

Wake up America!

Here is a video at JohnMcCain's site click on the link below

Barack Obama and Acorn

I'm sorry but Barack Obama just scares me...do we really know him?

I don't!

It rained today...

For about 10 minutes!

We received 1/10th of an inch of rain...Not much but better than none!

Before a storm, Julie always comes up to the front yard gate and stands...She knows!

Beautiful rain...

I was attempting photos of raindrops but those things are fast, lol...

Layouts ~ paper & digital ~ First day of school

Paper is from Scenic Route designed by Sarah Milne
Buttons are from Ki memories ~ School days
Cricut cartridges used ~ Locker talk & Learning curve

I wanted to do Michael's 'first day of school' layouts before I got old and forgetful, lol. I kept notes during his first week of school to add to a layout (below).

Digital kit ~ O'scraps ~ School is cool

Notebook paper ~ Scrappony ~ journal papers

Cluster frames ~ Mariala France ~ Photo template

What's in the Mums this evening...

I was trying to stay awake this evening as it was too late for a nap...so I decided to go outside and see what type of critters I could find in the mums in the yard...I ended up running back inside and grabbing the camera and putting the 55mm lens on to see what kind of photos I could get...

This is what made me go grab the camera...

This spider had captured a bee and was feasting on it...Not too great of a photo but you get the idea...it was pretty cool and even Fred said it was Cool...not a grunt but actually a word, lol...

Then I spotted this spider working on her nest of eggs....I took quiet a few photos of her...

And along came a bee and I had fun trying to get a photo of the busy little worker...

The grasshoppers are still enjoying any and all plants in the yard, chomp, chomp!! I loved the colors on this one...

Yes another Mum bloom, I just can't help myself...I'm sure you are wondering how many photos of Mums can this woman take, lol...the answer: As many as I want! It's one of the only spots of color in the yard...

And another grasshopper...this one was on my Fica (sp.) tree enjoying his dinner, grrr....

I was experimenting with the lens too...Seeing which one I like better for Macro photos...With the 55 mm lens I can get in closer but the clarity and crispness of the photos is lacking...So it's still a toss up...do I give up the crispness of the photos to get in closer or do I go with the 28-105 mm lens and have to crop everything...hmmm...or do I keep my fingers crossed that a Macro lens is in my future, lol...Never Ever give up HOPE!!

Photo Challenge # 20 ~ Colors of Nature

This weeks photo challenge was "Colors of Nature"

Specifically Foliage

(Leaves, Flowers and Branches)

Like everyone else so far, I had problems deciding which photo I liked best but below are the ones I decided to post...

Prickly Pear Cactus

Due to everyone who left comments I put the Cactus as my choice for the challenge, lol...Nice thing about it being your blog you can change things around...

My favorite! But then they all are, lol...

The plumbago above was Fred's pick.

Cockle Burrs

I learned something new today when I looked the above wildflower up in my reference books. It is called False Annual Broomweed and it is all over the pasture. But I read it is an eye irritant to livestock and humans. So now I know why Julie's eyes have been tearing up, interesting. I always thought it was a type of baby's breath but it isn't and in the old'en days the settlers used to cut it and put it together to use it as a broom, hence the name "Broomweed".

Walk in the Pasture ~ Misc. Photos

This afternoon I decided to take a 15 minute walk out into the pasture to see what photos I could find for the photo challenge this week...These are misc. photos I took that didn't apply to the challenge but I thought they were nice or interesting...

Southern Snout Butterfly...it's a bit blurry but I wanted to share it!

This is a Julie butterfly...LOL...Not sure how she can stand to eat that brown crunchy stuff but she does...and I honestly don't believe she's underfed!

Crunch, Crunch, Munch, Munch...Mmmmm!

Just to give you a look at how dry and crunchy we are!

I also found another Golden-rod spider...not quiet as big as the one I took a photo of the other day but still pretty neat...I just love how they blend in so well on the flowers...

More Butterflies and Bugs...

I was talking on the phone this morning to a friend when I went outside and noticed the wild mums in the yard were just covered with butterflies again...Yea!! Thank goodness she is a good friend :o) and understood that I had to hang up and grab the camera...LOL...It's a good thing too as in about 20 minutes the wind picked up and my photo shoot was over with...Below are a few of the better photos I took...

Checkered Skipper on wild mum bloom....too sweet!

Thread-waisted Wasp...I had never seen one before today!

A skipper but not sure what type...very tiny though...

I'm pretty sure this is a "Goldenrod spider" but don't quote me on that...It was funny as I was walking amongst the mums looking for butterflies I spotted this mum that had this funny growth and looked like an orchid or lily and I thought what the hay? So I stopped and backed up and found it was a spider, really cool...This one was new to me too! These spiders like to hang out on yellow flowers or white flowers and are known to change colors to match the flower in order to catch their prey...bye bye butterflies...

This is from the Duskywing family but because the wings are so tattered it is really hard to identify it....

I caught a buckeye with his wings open today, Yeah...aren't they beautiful? Of course it's wings are pretty torn up but love the design...Looks like eyes so predators will be confused and won't eat it...

A closer view and different angle of the Giant Swallowtail and this ones wings were in good shape too...It stayed in the mums the whole time I was out there and fluttered right up to me several times...Awesome!!

That is my take on the butterflies today...Hope you enjoyed it!