Morning with a Ladybug - 3

Run away! Run away!

Morning with a Ladybug - 2

Eyes that mesmerize

My New Camera!

I entered a photo of snowflakes in a macro photo contest sponsored by Canon - and won! My prize? This new Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera! Bonanza!

It came in this lovely box straight from Canon. Solid neck strap, too.

The back is nicely laid out for ease of use.

Side view, with ports to hook up to computer, et al.

 

A better look at the lens and shutter button.

 

 Nice view of the top. Clear screen, yes?

 

And the crazy thing? It fits in the palm of my hand! Now that's compact!

 

 Oh, did I mention? The lens is actually a thumb drive!

Cute and clever, Canon! It's the most fanciful 8GB thumb drive I ever owned!

Nothin' like taking macro photos of the prize I won for a macro contest.

The Gardener Boasts

I'm not much of a gardener. I can grow flowers and a keep a few indoor plants alive from year to year, but I don't do so well with veggies. We live at the bottom of a hollow. Our back yard is comprised of two hills and no flat spots. The only sunny south-facing bit of ground we have is on the side yard (where I rarely go). We have lots of shade, so our moss is flourishing. :: whimper ::

This summer I've been trying to do some container gardening on our deck. With minimal success.

:: sigh ::

Today, I got to harvest! Four cherry tomatoes (I ate one - yum!) 10 green beans. And just enough chard for dinner.

First Harvest

Morning with a Ladybug - 1

Hello, M'Lady

More Birthday Cards

More friends. More birthdays.

This is another idea I got from Pinterest.

Card 1 - outside

Card 1 - inside

Card 2 - outside

Card 2 - inside

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Put Another Candle On My Birthday Cake

One of my best friends had a birthday last week, so I made her a special card - a combination of needlework and crafty goodness.

I dyed the white ground cloth with food coloring! Then I heat set the color with my iron. I found the birthday cake pattern from All Sorts (via Pinterest) and transferred the pattern to the fabric with a tailor's pencil and a light table. The embroidery is done in stem stitch with two strands of blue embroidery floss.

After the embroidery was complete, I adhered some fusible web to the back of the embroidery with a dry iron. Next I cut out the shape with pinking shears. Finally I removed the paper backing from the fusible web and adhered the embroidery to card stock.

Happy Birthday, Vicki

May all your wishes come true!

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At the School Bus Stop

Oh, that all of our children could wait under such beauty!

Beneath the Cherry Trees

Kiddie Train

While attending the local carnival, I took photos of the cute kids on the kiddie rides. Look what I found while processing the photos! Looks like Daddy became the engineer!

All Aboard!

Lilacs

In the Spotlight

There Comes a Moment

Lighting the Way

Tiny Purps

These tiny purple flowers grow as weeds along the curb. 

 They're only as big as my fingernail.

More Than a Handfull

Finger Puppets!

A bucket full of fingerlings at our city festival.

My Favorite Little Red

Kinda makes a person want to find her tiny knitting needles.

Double Hot ... Double Sunny

Double Parasol

Louis Louis

This is from a Louis Vuitton window display in Las Vegas. Wild.

After the Winds

Blossoms Fall

Who Loves You, Baby?

Scattered throughout the forest floor at Kiwanis Park, these daisy-like flowers bring light to shadowy places.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

On the Boardwalk

It's Sore a-Fray

Potato Pie

Dale and I went to breakfast at Denny's on the 4th of July. I had the very patriotic Red, White and Blueberry Slam. Dale had a Homestyle Skillet.

Just as he was about to take his first bite, I looked at his plate, pointed, and blurted (far too loudly), "Dale! Look!" He thought something was moving. No.

Potato Pi

I just saw that the cheese had made a perfect Potato Pi.

Happy Birthday, Joany!

My mother-in-law had her diamond birthday today.

I made her a cake.

Two tiers, in fact.

With a bow on top.

And lemon filling between the layers.

She really appreciated it.

And she loves her son.

Me too. 

Three Cheers

I took a walk in the park early on the 4th of July. Found this.

Recognize it?

Guiding Angel

 The guiding angel sculpture at Nye Beach

Newport, Oregon 

River Landing

During our final landing on the Snake River, the water entered the basket and flowed up to our ankles before we got to shore and crawled out. Exciting!

Splashdown!

It was great to fly over the town where I graduated from college. Riding in a hot air balloon was on my Bucket List. I'd love to do it again!

Coming in for the Landing

We touched down on the Snake River twice before landing.

Closer ...

You can see me holding my point-n-shoot camera in the water's reflection.

and Closer ...

Carousel of Color

Our hot air balloon, reflected in the Snake River.

Over the River