Tag Archives: Red and Mrs.

Sea glass project update

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I’m working on my Semester project “Sea Glass: Memories and Meaning.” This photo was taken in the morning light with sun rising in the east. My professor gave me lots of ideas of how to take photos and recommended backlighting. So this is an example.

He also suggested sorting by color, size or shape and creating patterns. I did try that, but it was in noon light and not as dramatic. I’ll try the color arrangement in the morning light another day. Other ideas were to place the sea glass on white paper or even aluminum foil. He must have given me 10 separate ideas to try. I spent a few hours sorting colors from greens, browns, whites and aquas. Then there are some special colors of only a piece or two: royal blue, yellow and lavender.

Although I like the first photo of sea glass better, I do like the pattern our pool made in the background.

In my proposal for the project, I mentioned that I had photos of my kids collecting the sea glass, but no longer had the negatives. He suggested scanning the photos and using them in the project, which could be a slide show, photo book or who knows?

In our last class we learned all about scanning images and the best equipment to do that — a flat bed scanner. I used to have one, but it died. No worries really because it was so old it couldn’t talk to our computers. A tip I learned, if you are scanning a two-sided document or a photo with words written on the back, place black construction paper behind the document. That way the back side doesn’t bleed through.

My other project is a new month of reading (see Wednesday’s post HERE.) I realized I don’t own any of the books. I ordered a few from Amazon, paperbacks that weren’t expensive because the books are relatively old. I’ll check out my library before I order more.

Now for a couple bird shots:

I believe this is a Song Sparrow. I have trouble differentiating between sparrows and finches so I googled it and the article said that sparrows tend to hold their tails horizontally while finches tails are more up and down. Also, it said to check out the color of the legs. These have color!

Red looking sharp as always.

Mrs. on the rock.

Have a great weekend!

What projects do you have going on?

What plans do you have for the weekend?

Flash Flood Warnings

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Mrs. found a perch on one of the flamingos.

Red prefers the Beavertail cactus art.

The past few days have been stormy and wet! The rain doesn’t seem to stop. We were supposed to go to a friends’ house for dinner when my phone started blowing up with warnings.

Along with the scary words, a horrendous sound goes off.

I called our friends and questioned if we should cancel and stay home due to the phone warnings. However, we ended up going because it’s uphill a mile and there wouldn’t be any washes to drive through. The rain had stopped when we drove and the roads were drying up.

Unfortunately, the entire area was not that lucky. To date, four people lost their lives who were in their cars about an hour south of us. I don’t think these warnings should be taken lightly.

The roadrunner paid us a visit. He moves quickly and this was the only picture I managed to get.

House finch on the beavertail art.

A spotted a gilded flicker in the tree.

This house finch looks all fluffed up.

Have you had any weather warnings this early Fall? If so, what have they been about?

A big storm and then the light

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We had a huge thunder and lightening storm with tons of rain. My phone called it “severe” and said to stay inside. It started Thursday in the middle of the night. The thunder was as loud as we’ve heard. I was sure our house had been hit. The house lit up with lightening every few seconds. We lost a lot of sleep as the storm stayed right overhead and didn’t go away. We continued with downpours the next day until the afternoon.

But with the sun peeking through the clouds, I saw the trees sparkling with raindrops that looked like diamonds (photo above.)

There was so much rain that our sunken pool bar flooded. There’s a grate over a drain under the table but the ground was so soaked it took more than a day to drain.

Below is a video of the rainstorm with thunder in the background. You can see how I flinched at the beginning when a loud crack of thunder hit.

Once the storm left us, the backyard got back to normal.

Mrs. in the tree a few branches away from Red.

I wonder where Red and Mrs. were hiding during the storm?

Is your weather changing for Fall? Or do you still have Summer weather?

Favorite Photos of the Week

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I liked the finch on a flamingo because of the light and background. The flamingos were a birthday present a few years ago from friends. At first I didn’t know what I’d do with them, but they’ve become a highlight of my photos and backyard.

Here’s Red underneath a bench in our backyard.

Mourning Dove loves to rest on top of the same bench. One day he/she was there for hours.

This is a bouquet of glass flowers on our outdoor fireplace. The prior owners of our house left them with us. I like the morning light on the edge of the fireplace and glass flowers. A hummingbird visits the flowers every morning to try and get some nectar.

Red stuffing himself while standing under the flamingo. Those two poles behind him are the flaming’s legs.

Mrs. found a perfect perch on a flaming’s head. She often stops there while grabbing a bite of seeds.

Our skies normally are bright blue. I’ve enjoyed a few cloudy days.

Seriously, Red asks. You’re still taking pictures of me?

Which photos do you like of the ones I posted this week?

Home Again

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A photo of Red and Mrs. that I selected for my first homework assignment for my workshop.

Vacation time has come to an end. Now I’m back home and I have to say, “There’s no place like home.” At the end of our vacation, we were both so looking forward to being in our home with our own creature comforts.

I have a ton of doctor’s appointments including seeing my orthopedic surgeon for one last look at my ankle. Three appointments at an imaging place for ankle, bone density and mammogram. Then there’s a colonoscopy plus a trip to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned. I’m trying to fit everything in before I fly to California to take care of my daughter post shoulder surgery. I postponed some of these appointments due to my emergency ankle surgery. That was enough for me to deal with.

When I return from taking care of my daughter, I’ll be bringing home Waffles the pug. My daughter won’t be able to take care of him for awhile. So, I’ll be taking care of Waffy for a month or so.

My first photography class is Thursday night via zoom. The class I took from January through May was all online. We had reading, assignments, etc. But I never interacted with anyone but the professor. This workshop has five students who have taken it for two to eight years. I’m the newbie. It will be nice to see what other people are working on and to get feedback from students and the professor.

The first assignment was to take a new photo, or select one you’ve previously taken and write about it. The prompt is: “I want you to consider and relate to us in class, why you took this particular photo. In other words, what was your motivation?”

That’s easy. It’s Red and the Mrs. Of course I was motivated to take their photo!

I’ve had some Red and Mrs. sightings since I’ve returned home. I’ve taken a few photos, but they stop by one at a time. I like the photo above for the photography class because they’re both in it and I can introduce my cardinal couple to the class. The photo also tells a story of Red taking off and Mrs. wanting to know where he was going and what time he’ll be back!

What do you like best about Fall and the end of Summer?

Fun Photos of Red and Mrs.

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I was happy to see that Red and Mrs. did not abandon me while we were out of town. Maybe it’s because I put a seed block out called a “Cardinal Block” to keep everyone well fed including quail, finches and sparrows.

A few photos of Red and Mrs, plus a few buddies, that I took this week:

Red looks back to make sure I knew he was here. I heard him chirping in the distance and he came when I called him!

I think he associates my “Hey Red” chirpy voice with meal time!

Red was hanging out in a tree. The little tuft of feathers below him is the crest of Mrs.

Mrs. wants to know where Red is going.

Red wants to know why I allowed the White-Winged Dove on his rock.

Mrs. is staking out her spot on the rock.

Red and Mrs. together. Probably chatting about what to do about their photographer.

I think they want a little privacy from me constantly taking their photos.

Which photos do you like best and why?

Oops!….I did it again!

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Mrs. and Red have shown up together a few times. I wonder if that means they don’t have fledglings in the nest? Or, have they flown the nest?

Monday I had a big, long day and I woke up in the middle of the night with a dull ache in my ankle.

I started Monday with a 30-minute walk. Then I got ready to have breakfast with a neighbor. She offered to drive me to my hair appointment and we decided to get breakfast along the way first. My hair appointment is 50 minutes away — which is too long for me to have my pedal on the metal!

We left my house at 9:30 a.m. and I didn’t get back until 3 p.m. After elevating and icing, I cooked dinner. Normally this wouldn’t be too big of a day. But right now, post surgery, it was! I had my ankle brace on most of the day and I think that’s what made me sore.

I woke up yesterday beyond tired. I skipped my walk because I had morning PT. I explained to the physical therapist that I was tired and overdid it Monday. He thought I meant Saturday, not Monday. He told me to know my limits and continue to do more, but don’t push it.

Then he proceeded to rip into my ankle with his fingers. He added one legged leg presses and few other exciting things.

Needless to say I’m toast! In case you missed it, I wrote about overdoing it last week when my surgeon cleared me to walk, drive and get in the pool HERE.

Red before he took off from our tree. The Red flying photo isn’t perfect, but I like the movement.

When have you had a day where you felt you overdid it?