February 28, 2010

Z is for ZEBRA, ZIPPER and ZERO

What has happened to me? Where have all my beautiful portraits gone? I am now taking pictures of plastic toy zebras just to finish a self imposed challenge. I'm ready to get back to people or real animals.

The zipper of my sleeping bag that I used at Wood Badge this weekend. I was so happy to get home to my warm, cozy bed! And to think that as a kid I used to love to sleep in my sleeping bag.

Zero. That is how many more ABC photos I want to take. And zero is the amount of ideas that I have left.

Now what?

February 27, 2010

Y is Y

My daughter and I played at the park while her older brother was at baseball practice. I was telling her that I did not have my "Y" picture yet. I suggested that she help me look for a "Y" shaped branch to take a picture of. Then she brightened up and said, "Mom, I know how to make a Y. Watch!". So here you have it, a 4 year old "Y".

February 26, 2010

X marks the spot


X is for the aX and log symbol

I'll be upfront, these last three letters (X, Y, and Z) are going to be a stretch. I'm running out of steam.

I spent this weekend at Wood Badge Training for The Boy Scouts of America. The Axe and Log Symbol of Wood Badge is the camp emblem of Gilwell Park in England. I realize most of you have no idea what I'm talking about, and 4 days ago neither did I. If you do, leave me a comment and a shout out. I have one more weekend next month (then 18 months of work).

February 25, 2010

W is for WATER DROPS on a WEB

Monday morning I awoke to fog and mist. After I dropped the kids off at the bus stop, I wandered around my yard with my eyes open looking for something new. These pictures were surprisingly difficult to get. The blue background is not the bright sky (the morning was dark, overcast and drizzling). The blue comes from the arm of my coat that I put behind so that I could block out the busy background and actually get my camera to focus on the tiny drops of suspended water. The webs were all above my head, so I was reaching around with on arm and trying to hold my camera still with the other all the while not bumping the branch causing the delicate water droplets to fall. Plus it was a bit breezy and everything was slightly swaying. I tried to stand on a deck chair, but that didn't work. I needed another person to hold up my coat as a back ground, but it was kind of tight quarters in the tree.

I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled the photos on to my computer to look at them.

February 24, 2010

V is for VULTURE

February 23, 2010

This is my entry for i heart faces, category: "Hands-On-Fun"

This week, the focus is off the face and onto the hands. And, for this week only, faces aren't even required to be in the photo.

Check out the other photos at i heart faces.

February 22, 2010

U is for UP and UNDER

Looking up and under a flower.

Looking up and under a tree.

February 21, 2010

T is for TREE

I love these big, tall trees out in the pasture. I think they are called Slash Pine. They are really tall and drop huge pine cones. I need to take a picture of the ground below the trees; it is covered with gigantic pine cones. I joke and tell people that my new job is going to be gathering these huge pine cones, cleaning them up, removing any bugs, and selling them on ebay. I bet someone would want a bag of extra large pine cones. But wait, this is "T" for tree not "P" for pine cone.

I love these big, tall trees because they are home to so many birds, but especially hawks. The hawks sit way up on the top and I can barely see them. I will hear the hawks, then perhaps see one fly up to the tops of the trees. One of my goals to is get some good hawk pics. I did get a few here and here if you want to see.

I love these big, tall trees.

February 20, 2010

S is for SNAIL SHELL

These snail shells are tiny. I did not get a very good shot today, and I am going to try again tomorrow but in the mean time I wanted to get my "S" photo up. I will get some better shots and post them in this post.

Like I said, these shells are tiny and my kids love to collect them. We have a bag full of them. We find them along the fence posts, on the stone borders around the trees in my brother's back yard. You really have to look for them because they are so small.

February 19, 2010

R is for ROBIN

At least I think this is a Robin. They are everywhere in the pastures, digging for something in all the leaves that are under the trees. They are very nervous, flighty things. I can't get at all close to them. I knew I wanted a picture of a robin for my "R" day, so this afternoon after school while the kids played outside, I sat very quietly in the pasture waiting for a bird to get close enough to me. This is what I came up with. The quality is not very good because I was so far away.

February 18, 2010

Q is for QUACK!

A duck on the pond in evening light.

February 17, 2010

P is for ...

My daughter has the "letter bucket" today for Preschool. She needs to collect items that start with the letter they are learning that week. Lucky for us, her letter is "P". Here is what she collected to take to school tomorrow:

a pillow, Pal the Pony book, pink polka dot fabric, Pooh Bear, Princesses, penguin, a pirate, popcorn in a bag, potato magnet, can of pineapple, can of peaches, piano note cards, a pig, paper, pen and pencil, pudding, puzzle, pine cone

PUDDING ANYONE?

February 16, 2010

This is my entry for I Heart Faces, category: "I Wanna Dance"

I caught her tonight as the sun was setting, in my bedroom in front of the sliding glass door dancing with her doll.

Check out the other photos at I Heart Faces.

February 15, 2010

O is for OLYMPICS (of course)

I was born in the United States and grew up in Canada. I have been greatly blessed by having two strong countries as my home. When I was in high school, my home town of Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics. Since then I have loved following and watching both the summer and winter Olympics. This month my Canadian Maple Leafs are waving proudly as I watch (from my TV and computer) Vancouver host the world.

My sister sent me some official Canadian Olympic mittens. I love them and wear them everywhere!

Photos complements of Jaremie. Does it count if I am the model and not the photographer?

February 14, 2010

N is for NEST

Now that many of the trees have lost their leaves, it is easy to see the large nests in the tops of the trees. I didn't realize that we had so many nests.

We found this little nest on the dirt road one morning as we were heading out to the bus. I guess the wind must have blown it out of a branch.