A walk on the wild-side...

You know me I always find some South Texas critters to share...

~Jumping Spider~

(Harmless)

~Feral Hogs~

(Destructive)

~Wasp~

(Painful)

~Green Anole Lizard~
(Cute)

Flowers along the San Antonio River Valley

I did manage to find a few flowers on my walk at the inlaws ranch...

~Buckeye~

I just love the Macro world of flowers...it's a whole different world to explore!

This was a bloom off a plant Christi had in her garden...The ants were enjoying it!

~Spiderwort~

I love the frilly Stamens and the fly was another unexpected Macro critter!

~Texas Baby Blue Eyes~

I was stunned by all the insects after this one little bloom...

~Carolina Horse Nettle~

I love the detail of the one petal in the upper left, it looks so soft and fuzzy.

~Pink Evening Primrose~

Love the detail of the veins and the colors in the center...gorgeous!

Another Bloom from Christi's garden...

I so enjoyed finding some color!

Sunday Morning (7am) Birds and Blooms

Time changed last night and sprung 1 hr ahead and my head is totally messed up!

I couldn't sleep this morning, so as soon as the sun was up I went outside for some

Photo therapy...The birds were out and about and I even saw a new one this morning!!

Northern Male Cardinal...known to most Texans as a redbird...

Brownheaded Cowbirds and Cardinals out in the pasture...

Female Northern Cardinal

Pink Jasmine that we just planted.

If I can't see wildflowers this year I'll plant my own...I need color!!

We had a buff-bellied Hummingbird come in last week! And he or she is still here!

I was staring at the feeder and at all the chipping sparrows when it dawned on me there is another sparrow in there that is new...a White-crowned Sparrow. They are a bit bigger than the chipping sparrows and of course they have the white and black on the top of their head...I didn't have the camera when I first saw them and when I came back out with the camera the White-crowned sparrows flew off...So after my photo session I came in to check out my photos and happened to look out the window and they were back...sigh!! So I took these photos through the window...

It was a pretty good morning for the birds. We are headed over to my In-laws ranch near the San Antonio River and hopefully I'll be able to get some more photos!!

A rose...

A local florist post a different name every week on their sign to come in for a free rose...

this week they had my name listed :o)

I was having camera withdrawals and decided what better photo Op than a rose...I played and played...and these are the photos I liked the best...

I used the Macro lens and the Macro flash...but even turning the flash down it was just too much...So I went with no flash, tripod, and remote shutter release...I think a light box would have been perfect...a project to build on a rainy day...Maybe tomorrow if I have time I'll work with the rose in the daylight...

I also think a white balance card would help so the colors were spot on...

***

This was definitely more fun than dealing with a sick child...Michael came home from school Thursday with a headache and fever...he stayed home from school Friday as he still had a fever and headache...This morning he was fine and this evening he told me he had a sore throat...ugh!! It just never ends...I am just stunned at how everyone I know with children has had one or more of their kids sick this year almost every day...and thankful I only have one child to deal with...it's awful...So I'll take a free rose any day!!

Guess what I found in the garden??

I was outside this evening pulling weeds in the garden, (with out gloves), when I spotted this little darl'in slithering out of a pile of dead leaves!! He slithered away from me and I was getting ready to quit too as I am Not dumb enough to stick my bare hands into a dead pile of leaves!

It's been awhile since I've seen a snake so I was a bit excited! I yelled at Fred and grabbed the shovel...he got the gun, UGH!!

This was a baby broad-banded Copperhead, probably born last fall...a bit small to be shooting...So I handed Fred the shovel and told him to watch the snake I was going to get the camera...Talk about getting an earful!! But he knows there is nothing worse than a scorned Woman with a camera and a perfect photo Op!! So he humored me for a bit...then he went in the house and left me alone....(grin)!

Coiled up in the corner of the garden!

Lying on the shovel! Definitely a pit-viper!

I love the camouflage on his eyes...cool!

I'm not fond of snakes but Copperheads sure are pretty!! See the tip of his tail behind the head, it's greenish yellow!

Now that we know they are out we'll be a bit more careful...Mom said she is going home tomorrow, lol....I am so glad I was the one that found him as I did NOT need to take her to the ER for a heart attack. She did come out and look at it before we took care of it...Very BRAVE Mom!! I'm proud of you!! I guess this also means I am in charge of the flowerbeds from now on, lol...

I'm on a Roll.......

I completed two more layouts from my 2007 list, YEA!!

Of course in my opinion I cheated, lol...If it's not from scratch it's cheating!! But hey they are done and that counts too!!

This was from our small towns Christmas Parade November 2007.

It's a tradition every year to go watch the parade and Michael gets a sausage on a stick!

(I used a quick page by scrapstreet.com called YuletideWhimsey.)

(I used a template created by Cindy Schneider at PeppermintCreative.com/Papers are from Astaker, shabbyprincess holidaysampler, Scrap Professor's/Photography stamp is from Sue Cummings Oscraps/Merry Christmas Scrap Professors.)

This layout was from Christmas photos I took at one of the Corpus Christi's mall in December 2007. If you want some great Christmas photos go to your local mall during Christmas...I've found that over by where they sell the Christmas decorations and have the trees all decorated is a beautiful spot for a photo shoot..I think the large photo of Michael was taken at Macy's...

Not sure why but I'm in the mood to scrap and I'm really learning quiet a bit about doing digital layouts in PSE 7 and loving it...I still like using my paper supplies but digi is fun too!!

Bucket Head

Don't Ask because I don't have a clue as to what he was doing....I was just sitting here and looked over and he was watching TV with a bucket on his head!!!!

SILLY BOY!!