#150 of 365 for May 30, 2013

I was delighted to spot these little mushrooms!

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Have I mentioned lately how much I love macro?

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My sweet hubby saw 3 turkeys on his way home and rushed home to get me and my camera so I could shoot them :) They had moved away from the road so I couldn't zoom them in as much as I would have liked to. The male turkeys sure are beauties when they strut their feathers.

#146 of 365

This is Abbi, our 4 year old yorkie.

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This blue jay was kind enough to pose for me for a few minutes. He was sitting up on a utility wire. 

#144 of 365 for May 24, 2013

This little momma is gathering food for her babies.  I love watching these birds.  They are so interesting.  I could shoot them for hours.

143 of 365 for Thursday May 24, 2013

My columbines are  blooming!  I don't think they really appreciated the temperature dropping to 37 overnight though.

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This guy or gal..... not sure which.... thought I surely had something for him/her to eat.

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Well I must be farewell to my lilacs till next spring.  They are almost done.

#140 of 365 for Monday, May, 20, 2013

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I have a huge boquet of lilacs on my table and they are so fragrant!

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Fresh, hot, homemade pizza........... yummy!

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#136 of 365 for May 16, 2013

Well I hope you all are not bored with my redwing blackbird pictures.  I went back today and this guy was so aggressive!  He dive bombed me repeatedly, coming inches from my head.  Finally I started swinging my arm when he came close to make him back off.  Of course I was delighted that he wanted to sit so near so he could keep an eye on me, but it did make it a little hard to shoot the other birds because I never knew when he was going to come buzzing at my head.....  hmmm wonder how bad it would hurt if he actually hit me???

Not sure what had him so stirred up.  I don't think they have babies yet. I thought one nest had babies the other day but it turned out to be a different bigger bird and not redwing black birds.  This little female was gathering bugs but in a few minutes she returned to her nest to sit.

#135 of 365

Summer Vegetable Tian

Someone posted this recipe on facebook, I  made it and thought it was yummy!

Summer Vegetable Tian (thinly sliced veggies topped with cheese and roasted)...

Ingredients:
...
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium yellow onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium potato
1 medium tomato
1 tsp dried thyme
to taste salt & pepper
1 cup shredded Italian cheese

Directions:

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic. Saute both in a skillet with olive oil until softened (about five minutes).

STEP 2: While the onion and garlic are sauteing, thinly slice the rest of the vegetables.

STEP 3: Spray the inside of an 8x8 square or round baking dish with non-stick spray. Spread the softened onion and garlic in the bottom of the dish. Place the thinly sliced vegetables in the baking dish vertically, in an alternating pattern. Sprinkle generously with salt, pepper, and thyme.

STEP 4: Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown.

#134 of 365 for May 14, 2013

I had nice overcast skies this evening so it worked well for shooting the birds. This guy was a little braver today, he didn't really dive bomb me but he hovered so close to me a couple times I thought he was going to. I guess he didn't want me taking pictures or maybe he wanted a closer look at my Canon :)

#133 of 365

I had a meeting at 6:00 pm so I had to go early to look for the red wing blackbirds. The light was still too bright and direct but I did get one image I liked. One of the female birds has babies already. I can hear them chirping but most of them seem to be nesting still. Strangely today the males were not as active as usual. When I crossed a little foodtbridge, I could see a nest from the bridge... rather close, probably about 4 feet away. That is the closest nest I could find. They are usually 8 or 10 feet out in the water. I could only see one egg in it though. I knew there were no babies in that nest yet or the males would have been dive bombing me for getting too close.

#132 of 365

Well despite our 30 degree weather outside my pretty little lilac I brought inside has opened up completely.

#131 of 365 for Saturday, May 11, 2013

Well would you believe it is 43 here again today?  And the low tonight is going to be 37.   Sunday night is going to be down to 30!   I waited all day for the rain to stop, hoping to go back and shoot the red wing blackbirds again and it finally stopped but the wind is blowing hard and it is so cold.  I doubt the birds are moving much, so I had to find something I could bring inside to shoot :)

#130 of 365 for May 10, 2013

Well my nice warm spring weather didn't last too long :)  Today it is 43, raining and the wind is blowing.  No hope for outside shots today.  But the warm lasted long enough to make the lilacs start opening.

#129 of 365 for May 9, 2013

I spent some time watching the redwing blackbirds this evening.  Yesterday I was sitting on a bench near the river and they would land just a few feet from me and sit there and chirp up a storm.  But today when I went back to shoot them they weren't as brave :)

#128 of 365

Wow!  What a difference 10 days made!  If you remember I took this picture on April 27th.  I went out specifically looking for buds or leaves that were out and found only a few.

 












I had to travel to TN for a funeral. Today, 11 days after I took the picture above, everything is green! There are bushes and trees bloomed out, tulips bloomed and it is 77 degrees! Wow I am thrilled spring has arrived in Michigan.... finally :)

#127 of 365

This is my youngest son Justin and his girlfriend Liz.

#126 of 365

I loved spending time with Samantha last weekend! She loved going for a walk down my favorite road and she found it thrilling to throw stones in this mudpuddle!

#125 of 365

Wow I can finally get Samantha to smile for the camera! Yay! She would still prefer to run around with me following her with the camera. She will stop for just a second, then run away and say no here, no here, as though she is going to pose for me but just can't decide where :) Oh yes..... I guess I best confess........ I bribed her with quarters :)

#124 of 365

This is my favorite shot of her from the many I attempted to take. This one was taken early in the morning when the light was beautiful.

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#120 of 365 for May 2, 2013

I watched this dove take a piece of dried grass to these bushes, two flew away when I got too close. I was glad to get this shot before I scared them.   I  think they are building a nest.

#119 of 365 for May 1, 2013

I am enjoying my time in Tennessee. Everything is lush and green here. The dogwoods are in full bloom and the redbuds too. I have even seen a few daisies and other wildflowers. So different from the weather in Michigan. There was sleet yesterday in MI.