Just for you Mom and Bette!

Thank you so MUCH for my Clown Costume!!

I love it and so does Michael!!

Jake doesn't quiet know what to think...LMBO!

Happy Halloween!!

The cats in the Dog HOUSE!!

Yes quiet literally the cat is in the Dog HOUSE!! I'm not going into detail of what he did but I booted his rear outside this morning and later as I was out taking yet more butterfly photos look who I should find in the Dog House!! Right where he belongs if you ask me....LOL....He looks like he is scowling too!! Poor Pussy cat!!

Hell hath no furry like a scorned CAT!!

Now on to more pleasant photos, lol...butterflies...They were out and about today and the wind had died down a bit so I thought I'd play a bit and see what I could find....

Swallowtail...

Balancing in the breeze...

Skipper enjoying a meal...I liked the iridescent in the wings, not a lot but it's there...

This poor guys wings were so battered...he has had a hard life...it amazes me that he can even fly but he does!!

A little blue...

I like the fact that the design of their wings makes it look like they have two heads...confuses prey so they go after the tail end instead of the true head....Not the greatest photo but these little guys are quick and flighty...

That is it folks...my photos for the day!!

P.S. The cat is back in the house and he best be good or back to the dog house for him, lol....

There is a Knight in our household...

Meet Sir Michael.....

He's definitely my knight in shining armor...He tells me he is here to fight DRAGONS!! Ekkk!

This is Michael's Halloween costume. Thanks to Helen R. and Ashley for the knight accessories they gave Michael on his birthday and to Grammie for the material for the chain mail....I decided to go with Felt for the boots...and TaaDaa my little knight has a costume!

Oh Deer!

This evening the girls were back to try their luck with the Hog trap again...

This time I put the telephoto lens on the camera and zoomed in...

Hmmm...I smell the corn but just how do I get it out of there?

Hey you've got something right there, let me help!

Do you think that lady over there with the camera would give us some corn if I posed?

I admit, I am addicted to corn, I've gotta have some corn, CORN, CORN!!

Well girls it looks like we are stuck with this brown crunchy stuff for dinner again, sigh!

Photo Challenge Blog # 22 ~ S.O.O.C.

This weeks Photo Challenge Blog was...

S.O.O.C. (Straight out of the Camera)...

No editing what so ever...

Below are a few of the photos I took this week that are straight out of the camera....I had a really hard time with this challenge. I don't like to edit a whole bunch but I do like to Crop!!

Julie

Shrimp boats in Port Lavaca.
Due to Shrimp farms in Asia and the high price of fuel the Shrimp fleets in our area are declining rapidly...Port Lavaca no longer has a shrimp fleet but there are still a few shrimp boats left in the Marina.

Boganvilla bloom

Where do I begin...

last night at 11pm I went outside and heard something in the Hog trap. We had one set up by the house...I was excited as I was certain it was a Hog...I told Fred but told him if it isn't in the trap yet we need to leave it alone so NO flash lights...We'll wait until morning!

Michael was up by 6:30am and I got up to see if we had a Hog in the trap...I went outside and rubbed my eyes as I didn't see anything in the trap...rubbed my eyes again as I finally saw an animal and thought it was the skiniest Hog I'd ever seen...Then I looked a bit closer and realized it was a Deer...UGH! So I quickly grabbed my robe and gloves and went out there and turned her lose. She looked a little frantic and exhausted but other than that seemed fine and when I opened the trap she ran off...

Today we had several neighbors call asking for help to deal with Feral Hogs...I explained to them we only had two traps and were doing our best to catch the Hogs...We moved one of the Hog traps today and then Fred had to watch the Dallas Cowboys so everything came to a screeching halt! It always does around here when the Cowboys play....and they won!

Later this evening I decided to go out and play with the camera for a bit...The sun was just starting to set and I wanted to see what I could do with the evening light....

Here some blooms from around the yard...I like the photos but even with the sun setting the light was still a bit harsh...

Then I glanced out towards where the Hog trap is at and there is a herd of deer out by it. I couldn't believe my eyes, didn't they learn their lesson last night when one of their buddies was stuck in the trap all night, sigh!! But then my mind quickly switched to Camera mode and I begin taking photos of them. They didn't seem the least bit afraid...They were watching me but not stomping or flashing tails so I just set the camera on the fence post and snapped away, lol....115 photos later these are a few of the better ones...I had to go in the house and grab my 28-105 lens as the 50mm lens was NOT doing a great job! I didn't even want to attempt the telephoto lens as I knew I could take better/sharper photos with the 28-105 lens and then crop, lol...I was having a blast taking photos and watching the deer....They gave up on the Hog trap after awhile thank goodness and headed towards the open pasture...shh don't tell Fred but I threw some corn out for them too...Winter is coming and they are hungry...lol...

Michael came running out and thankfully I had plenty of deer photos as they were not to thrilled when he yelled MAMMA and slammed the door!!

When he came to the gate and realized I had the camera in hand and aimed at him he stopped and hid, lol...well he tried too!!

I then told him I was done and he opened the gate and I started snapping away, lol...I'm MEAN but it's the only way I can get photos of him...Trickery!! It worked though as I captured my son's true smile!! Oh how I love that boy!!

That was basically my day/evening in photos....Now I want to put out a warning as I have another tale to tell.....

If you do NOT like slithering photo subjects DO NOT READ PAST HERE...DO NOT SCROLL DOWN...and YES MOTHER I am talking to you!!!

Just close the blog down...You won't like the rest of the story...consider yourself warned and I don't want to hear anymore on the subject matter!!!

I went outside at about 9pm tonight to see if the deer were eating the corn I had thrown out for them. I didn't turn the front lights on outside but just grabbed the Large flashlight...I walked out, turned the flashlight on and went to the Yard gate...Laid my hand on it, saw something large fall off it and glanced down, SCREAMED, JUMPED and the next thing I knew I was on the porch trying to calm myself down!! DARN SNAKE was on the Yard gate and when I put my hand on the gate he dropped to the ground....UGH!! I Do NOT Mind snakes but when you are not expecting them it can be an adrenline rush...a BIG adrenline rush...Ekkk.....Now call me a wuss but that darn thing scared me!! I then said Oh NO...Photo OP and it's slithering away...Ekk...So I quickly ran into the house, yelled at Michael snake and grabbed the camera....Michael jumps up and runs to the window looking out...I then yelled it's friendly you can go outside...He was so excited....Ran and got his boots and we both went running out the door....LOL...It took me a few minutes to locate the slithering reptile...He had coiled up next to the yard gate...Michael and I inched forward...Me taking photos and Michael checking it out...When you know where they are they are beautiful...



Here is a Texas Rat Snake...he was about 3 to 4 foot long and harmless. You can click on the photo if you'd like a closer look, lol....He was actually quiet small and I am sure looking for dinner...

Here is the back of his head...with the strange coloring on the back of his head I am wondering if perhaps if he might be getting ready to molt? He decided he didn't like us very much and climbed the fence...It is amazing to watch these snakes climb they are really good at it...We left him to finding a meal and went back in the house...a very exciting night and I have since calmed down, lol...Michael and I got the Texas snake book out and looked him up...Now hopefully Ralph the barn cat won't snack on him and he'll move off to greener pastures....I really don't mind him but prefer he didn't startle me, lol....

I am learning from a 5 yr old...

My son is studying geometry in school, sigh, and he's only in Kindergarten!

Michael has NOT been wanting to do some schoolwork with his teacher and she has sent home notes! UGH! I hate NOTES!! Love communication but just hate NOTES from the teacher!

We were discussing what he is supposed to do and he informed me that I was incorrect when I called a parallelogram a parallelogram...He told me it is a Rhombus! So we googled it and you know what he was right! Guess I didn't learn a thing from High school & College geometry class and got showed up by a 5 yr old in Kindergarten, lol.

Below is one of 3 papers he was supposed to do in school but wouldn't. He is supposed to take shaped blocks and fill in the image with these blocks. Today I purchased said shaped blocks and told him we have some work to do....He was not happy! The first paper was "Arnold the Alligator" and it took him 30 minutes to do it...he whined and carried on the whole time, ugh! I cringed and stood my ground...Then I had him start the second paper and something clicked and he seemed to understand what he was supposed to do...he filled the image in with blocks in a matter of a few minutes and the same with the third paper...

Below he is working on the second paper and laughing...he loved it! Not sure what happened at school and why he refused to do it and gave up so easily? He loves puzzles! Then he told me he liked doing it and would just bring the papers home to do...Ekk! I told him I wanted him to do the papers at school first with his teacher then he could bring them home to do them and show me. He was okay with that idea...thank goodness I can reason with a 5 yr old or this might have back-fired on me! Hopefully this problem is sorted out and we can have a moments peace from "The NOTES"!

I haven't blogged in a few days and thought I would show you one of the reasons, lol. Actually Michael had all smiley faces this week, a first! So for a reward I gave him a Lego Creator set. These sets have on avg. 60 to 70 pieces and you can make 3 different things out of each set...but mind you when you want to build something new you have to tear what you have already made apart and start over again...it's frustrating as I am the builder and Michael is the helper. Michael loves the vehicles you can make from these sets...you might all remember the airplane set...So I enjoy doing it for him...not sure I enjoy his help, lol...So as you can see I have been very busy building!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!