Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

The GBH is my favorite big bird. He is so graceful when he flies over the water ... he is also very beautiful. My mother thinks they are awful looking with their long neck and long legs. She calls him "old ugly" .. ha!

I shot this one several times and they all came out decent. You can view the other images in my PICASA WEB ALBUMS

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)

This image was taken last year. I'm waiting for them to show up .. they should be here any day now ... YaY

American Goldfinch (Carduelis tristis)

I'm posting these "Goldie" images just because I like them :-)

5.4 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Illinois

DAMN ........ what a way to wake up!! Everything was shaking and swaying for almost a whole minute.

I actually thought my roof was gonna cave in ... scary stuff! Lot of things in the bathroom and kitchen fell over but other than that everything is fine. A good example of how the earth was rumbling and swaying is Albie's water bowl. The water was not in the bowl, it was all over the floor, however, the bowl was not turned over.

Hopefully, the rest of the day will be better with no more QUAKES!

OMG It's TAX DAY

His expression is telling me he forgot to pay his taxes!



I had to laugh when I saw this image. Can't believe I got him with his eye closed. These are my least favorite birds .. it's time for them to leave

MeerKat Manor

I've watched all three seasons of this wonderful show. I'm hoping there will be a season four. I cried my eyes out when Flower died. I'm not sure that the show could ever be the same without her.

Seagull Reflection

Shot this Ring-billed Seagull at the river last week and thought it turned out nicely.

RIP .... Sweet Little Munchie

You will always be in our hearts



You were such a sweet little dog Munchie. Albie and I are very sad but we know you are at the "Rainbow Bridge". We love you very much.

DHL SUCKS!!!

This company has the dumbest drivers EVER! Do yourself a favor and never order anything that is to be delivered by DHL. I get a call from their sorting facility at Evansville IN ...... they say the driver needs directions. HUH They have the correct address but he doesn't know where it is and he is coming from Carmi. So I tell her exactly how to get to my house. An hour passes, no delivery. I call her back and she says that he is in Princeton IN now. WTF??? These people are totally NUTS. Tells me he won't have time to deliver it today. I will never never never order anything again unless it can be delivered by UPS or FedEx. They never have a problem finding my house.

DHL SUCKS!!!

Happy Birthday Jan!

WoW .... you are almost as old as me :o) We both made it another year!

I woke up this morning and remembered it was your Birthday before I even got out of bed. I started thinking about when we were little girls and the annual "weenie roast" at Lucy and Jan's and how great it would be if we could go back in time for just a day to relive those wonderful memories .... you, Mart, Tom and me playing in the "ditch". Yes, it is a special "ditch" and when Jan and I go for drives through the country, we always go to the ditch ... sit there and think about all the good times we had. Most people would think we were totally crazy .... parking in the middle of a small country lane and staring down into a "ditch". But, we hold precious and treasured memories in our hearts regarding that old "ditch" and those wonderful weenie roasts. I can close my eyes and see it all .... where did the years go? It seems like only yesterday ......

Well, my dearest and oldest friend, I hope you have a marvelous day!

Red-breasted Nuthatch & Chickadee

Two of the cutest little birds and two of the fastest little birds EVER! I've not seen the Red-breasted Nuthatch for almost four years! This year I have several of them ... YaY! Of course, the Chickadee is here year round and there are always tons of them at the feeders. Cuties Cuties Cuties!!

Finch Ballet

He's right on his "tippy toes". The House Finch just love apples!

The Little Jumping Spider

I cut three red rose buds yesterday and I though to myself .... wonder if I could get lucky and there would be a little jumper in one of them. I looked after I put them in the vase but didn't see anything. Today they are all bloomed out and I was sitting in the chair next to them and noticed a tiny little white thing that seemed to be moving .. put on my glasses and still couldn't tell what it was. Put the Macro lens on the camera and sure enough it was a wee little white jumper. He was so cute .. I always like to photograph little jumping spiders. When I got through taking the photos, I got him on the end of a toothpick and put him outside on one of the shrubs. Went out about 5 mins later to see if he was still there and he was "spinning the silk" :o)

Happy Squirrel

He was over in the old corn field trying to find himself something to eat. He got the corn and came racing across the field, climbed the pole and sat there and ate it :o)

I'm gonna have to buy this little guy a pair of pants ... he is always running around the neighborhood showing off his "manhood". Yeah, he's a proud little dude!

Windows Live

I'm ashamed to admit it but I really like the Windows Live Mail Beta.  And, I LOVE the new version of Windows Live Writer.  It actually will upload images to my blogger account .... the old version would not.

I downloaded the whole package of Windows Live stuff ... Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery and the over bloated Messenger.  I haven't tried it out yet but I'm sure it's a big resource hog :(

If you haven't tried out any of these programs yet, you should.  I know, I know, you are saying to yourself "that woman is a total microsoft hater" ..... hahaha  and I am!  But, I tell ya the Mail and Writer are really cool.

Take it for a test drive  WINDOWS LIVE

SweetAlbie

It is time for a haircut & bath :-)

Maxine Rules! You Gotta Love Her!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOUG

Today is your day Douglas and I hope it is a good one! Forty-two years ago you came into this world .... OMG where has the time gone? You were such a pretty baby and a handsome little boy. What happened along the way :) Just teasing you "Dougie" ... you are still a handsome guy.

We wish you could be here with us today but I know it is not possible for you to come home at this time. Hopefully, we will see you later on the webcam.

Have a great day and don't over do the partying! I love you very much Doug ... don't ever forget it!



This photo is from your second birthday ....



On your third birthday, your Grandmother made you a clown cake :o)

Friends till the end ..........

Jan and I had a great time yesterday, Labor Day. We drove through the country roads to all of the small rural communities in this area. We found some great old barns and buildings along with a lot of DUST! The farmers were hard at work combining corn ..... with no rain lately, the dust was unbelievable! Despite all of the dust and the unbearable heat (yes, it is still HOT HOT HOT around here), we had a lot of fun.

You just can't beat a good friend and a country drive! It's one of the best things in life :o)

FLICKR ..... BE GONE!

I have given up the time consuming chore of "FLICKR". Free at last .... FLICKR FREE FLICKR FREE!! It was fun for the last 2 1/2 years but ENOUGH ALREADY! Plus, I found lots of my Hummingbird images plastered all over the interent. I have no use for anyone that steals images and passes them off as their own. You rotten THIEVES!

I will be using my Picasa Web Albums to post images from now on. Sure, they can steal them from PWA too but there is not millions and millions of people searching photos like they are on FLICKR. Maybe I'll start blogging again too :o)

You know you’re living in 2007 when...

Every time I see these, I have to laugh .... they are all so true!




1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven’t played Solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don’t have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12 You’re reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn’t#9 on this list

AND NOW YOU ARE LAUGHING at yourself.