Our 4th of July in photos...

We actually spent most of the afternoon at the house, Michael watching tv and me reading. But by this evening I was ready to go swimming. Michael not so much but he did want to try his remote control boat out in the pool...I'm not sure what's wrong with him but he doesn't want to go swimming and lately I've had to drag him down to the pool, but then once we get there he has a blast and doesn't want to leave, ugh!! I could live in the pool, lol...

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And yes he did try to run me over with it...little brat!
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The boat got boring after a bit and he finally jumped in the pool...I get a lot of stuck out tongues in my photos now, grrr....
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All I saw was feet, what a goofball!
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His hair was floating...
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He was disappointed that we weren't doing fireworks (burn ban in effect and we could have done fireworks as they were not outlawed but we like to be safe than sorry) Earlier we only heard one group of fireworks near here but it is 11:30 pm and I'm hearing them all over. I sure hope people don't start brush fires...any how I did let Michael get sparklers today, he actually likes them better than fireworks! And I couldn't decide on which photos to post so I posted a bunch, lol...as I love playing with the camera at night!

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It looks like this one says OK, amongst the rest of the mess. I tried to get him to write words but he didn't want too...he likes making designs.
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These were different sparklers than the first and we liked them better...Michael kept saying "Electricity", lol...I thought the sparks looked like snowflakes. He loved his double image in this photo, I told him it was the brother he always wanted, lol.
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I finally got him to sort of stand still...
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He saw this photo and said Momma I have 4 arms, how did you do that? LOL...that's what happens when you move Michael!
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Even though we didn't go see any fireworks or set our own off he had fun!

A spattering of photos...

Sunday morning we had gone over to Mom and Dad's ranch. After breakfast and doing a few things I sat on the porch debating on whether or not to get my camera out of the truck. We were suppose to go help Fred's brother, Franky, and I wasn't sure how long we were staying. I finally decided I owed all my blog readers some photos, it was long over due...

Peaches

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I'd been staring at this butterfly all morning. He sat on the tomato plants not moving and then when I started taking photos he finally started moving his wings. I thought it was a snout-nosed butterfly but it wasn't and I haven't been able to identify it.

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Later in the afternoon/evening I went down to the pool by myself taking my camera. I took a few photos at first but it was too hot so I decided to vacuum the pool.

Grasshopper with red-highlights. The grasshoppers are horrible down there. I wish I could move the chickens down there, they'd have a feast and I'd get rid of some pesky insects.
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As I was vacuuming I felt cold drops, ekk...It seems an afternoon heat shower had popped up right over the top of me. I was done vacuuming and hanging on to the vacuum pole wasn't a good idea. It wasn't lightning but I didn't want to become a human lightning rod either so I jumped in the truck to wait until it passed...I was bored sitting there so I grabbed the camera and took photos of the rain on the windshield...
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The clouds off to the North
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Used the wide-angle lens and took a photo of the pool, I was a wee bit bored, lol. Just not feeling very creative and I didn't have the proper shoes/boots to venture out into the pasture.
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Ugh...This plant is bad, bad, bad, it stings and burns if you touch it...Bull nettle. I have declared war on it, it's all over down there!
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Possibly called spreading fanpetals a member of the Mallow family. There were more wildflowers out in the pasture but I wasn't walking out there in sandals.
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Peek a boo...yep another grasshopper
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And yet another one...
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And another a bit closer this time...
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Do y'all know what this is? I knew it was an egg sac but I didn't know until a few months ago what it was from...It's a praying mantis egg sac.
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The pool, quiet and peaceful. After the rain shower passed the wind picked up so it wasn't too peaceful but it was quiet.
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Baby spider on the side of the pool.
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I think you get the idea whether you speak English, Spanish or French...an electric fence around the pool to keep the neighbors horses and cows away from it. We turn it off when we are down there.
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Okay so this is a bit gruesome...I dumped the contents of the skimmer on some cement blocks and it wasn't even 10 minutes later and the fire ants found the dead...I loved the iridescent colors on the fly and as for the wasp type critter a swarm must have hit the pool, there were a lot of them in there.
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Grasshopper and Bumble Bee also in the skimmer to bad they didn't have life jackets on, lol.
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Gauge on the sand filter, looking good!
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Sigh...a wasp nest in the well house. I had bombed the well house and thought we had gotten rid of all the wasp but it seems like some more wasps have moved back in...
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Inca doves also known as Mexican doves, I've found they love red harvester ants. Not sure what they're eating here but they are all over our pasture, along with mourning doves and white wing doves...
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He was in the skimmer and I thought he was dead but the ants weren't touching him and after about 20 minutes later he flipped over and started fluttering his wings...He's not in my bug books, not sure if he is a bee or a fly? He's pretty good sized.
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I had been watching the hawks while I was in the pool. I am pretty sure they are the babies I photographed a while back in the nest, it seems they have moved down to our property. As I was leaving and crossing the bridge I spotted this youngster. He was crying at the top of his lungs but Mom and Dad were having nothing to do with him.
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And this doe is the mother of one of the sets of twins near the house. I noticed she looks a bit thin but I can imagine raising twins will do that...
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And that was my photo adventures for the day, I hope you enjoyed it!

It's the 4th of July...

and one certain 4th of July back in 2008 brings back so many memories. We went to Corpus for the day and spent it with Fred's sister, Diana, and her husband, Larry. We had a great day together. Later in the evening we went to Indian Point to watch the fireworks display, which as always was gorgeous...But what I remember was meeting a dear friend for the first time. He was there with a friend and also taking photos of the fireworks! I, being the curious one and never letting an opportunity to meet new people started talking to this gentlemen with the HUGE camera lens and we've been friends ever since...encouraging each other in our photo adventures. And his name was John and he's been quiet the inspiration in sharpening my photo skills, Thank you John!! Thank you for all the advice and encouragement for the past 3 years, I'm so glad we met and got to know each other.

Here's a link to John's photo blog, John's picture a day

I truly enjoy his blog, his photography and his adventures.

Here's a link to flickr and my firework photos from that day, click here.
And here's a link to the blog posts from that day, click here.

Now hopefully all those links will work.

We are staying home and having a low key day. I've been sitting here with my swimsuit on trying to get Michael to go down to the pool but he's having none of it. He says it's too hot right now and wants to watch Tv, ugh!

Hope y'all have a wonderful day!

I took a photo!

I actually took more than one photo Sunday but I'm going to share my favorite photo of the day with y'all...

I think this fawn thought I couldn't see her hiding behind the tree branch, she was too cute! She is a twin and I see her and her sibling every day but today I finally managed to get a snapshot of one of them.

I have plenty of other photos to share with you as I had 4 hours at the property by myself Sunday afternoon/evening and it was pure bliss...I swam, I took photos, I swam some more and took more photos, it was so nice!! Don't get me wrong I love my boy but we've been together 24/7 almost since school got out and I so needed a break. I think he did too!

Since it's past midnight I'll share the other photos with you a bit later!

Enjoy your 4th of July! We will be having a low key day here at home!

Slacking off...

I am so sorry, I've been slacking off on the blog posts! We've been busy swimming, swimming and swimming some more. I figured y'all were tired of pool photos! We have seen a lot of wildlife in the past week. 2 different sets of twin fawns and a lot of single fawns too. We seem to have fawns all over the place! I also see one of our landlord's cows has a new baby (bull) calf. I hope he's still alive I haven't seen him in the past two days, ekk. We've seen hawks and even a skunk one evening down near the pool. I haven't even attempted to take my Cannon Rebel out, I need too! The other morning was perfect but I got side-tracked. There seems to be a pack of coyotes down at the creek and when we are at the pool we hear them quite often howling and yipping to each other. I haven't seen the hogs but they are still here, I can tell by the ground they are tearing up. Feral hogs are so destructive, ugh! We were on gecko alert here in the house, there was a HUGE one in the kitchen. I let Lydia in and she caught it, yeah!! I don't mind gecko's but I do NOT like them in my house. Not too much to tell and I hope to get some nature photos this weekend. I might just get a break from little man for a bit, that would be so sweet!

Hope y'all have a great weekend and for those of you in the U.S.A. Happy 4th of July!!

Yeah, he finally did it!!

Saturday afternoon I cleaned the pool and then Michael and I were swimming while Fred was cleaning up my tire ruts in the driveway, ekk...After Fred finished with the tractor and driveway he pulled up to the pool in his truck. I was fix'in to ask him if he'd go swimming (we've been asking and bugging him to go swimming with us since we got the pool up) when he jumped out of the truck in his swim-shorts, YEAH!! Michael and I were so tickled that Daddy was FINALLY going to go swimming!!

And goofy me forgot the camera, ugh!! But it dawned on me I had my cellphone and it has a camera, yeah! But then Fred threatened me if I took his photo he'd get out of the pool, ugh!! I didn't want that so I snapped 4 quick photos (just for memories sake) and put the phone up and jumped in the pool with the boys!!

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I told Michael don't bug Daddy cause we want him to swim with us and Michael was so good!

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We spent 3 hours in the pool and had a blast! It made my whole weekend when Fred got in the pool with us :o) I asked him if he enjoyed it and he said Yes! He loves the deep end. I'm hoping this means more pool time with Daddy!! Oh and I did mention to Fred, who has always wanted to go snorkling, that he can practice in the pool until we can actually do the real thing in the Gulf :o) One of these years I'm going to get him a gift certificate so he can go snorkling, one of these years!!

Staycation...

Earlier this year we decided no vacations this summer but just a few staycations would work...Fred took Friday off from work and we took Michael to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Corpus. This was the first Circus Fred had ever been too, we were all pretty excited. (Michael and I went 2 yrs ago and it was so cool. It seemed better than when I was a kid)....

An hour before the show begins we are allowed down on the floor for up close entertainment by the performers...

I honestly didn't think we'd get this close to an elephant, yikes!! Love how the performers get the kids involved too!
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The clowns were the best part of the whole circus, they were soo funny!!
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I didn't take the Rebel but the smaller camera and the photos weren't so hot but you get the idea, it was a circus!

(I was also disappointed, it was a much smaller show than 2 yrs ago...instead of the bigger acts they had smaller ones...Like trained domestic cats instead of tigers and lions?)
Fred wasn't impressed, sigh, I tried...but I did catch him laughing at the clowns!
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Yep that's Michael and he isn't happy!! See he's not always good!! He wanted something and Fred and I both told him NO!! Gotta love that face...he tried but it didn't work :o(
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I also booked us a hotel room on shoreline drive in Corpus so we didn't have to drive home after the Circus...We have a lot of priority points from Fred staying and working out of town so the hotel room was free, yeah!!

Corpus Christi Bay
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Corpus Christi Beach from the Holiday Inn.

I prefer Mustang Island beach on the Gulf of Mexico, now that is a beach! But hey a free hotel room not far from the Circus is a good thing ;o)

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We enjoyed some quality family time this weekend and I love that!