Bird's Eye View

It's a wonderful day at Bird's Eye View!

2010-06-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

For the first time in probably 8 years of having a wood duck box on our property, I actually got to witness 9 new babies popping out of the box this morning! AND got it all on video. Don't you wish I knew how to get video from that old camera onto this blog???? I'll work on it!

This isn't this year's family but it gives you an idea!

More photos from our fab weekend!

2010-05-18T17:32:00.002-05:00

Ralph took all of these as we were gathering around Gail's wonderful food and preparing to partake! Since we had 4 pastors and 35 hungry people, I had them draw straws to see who gave the blessing. Pastor Krissy drew the short straw and graciously gave a short blessing!

We then chowed down on 2 smoked brisquets, 3 racks of smoked babyback ribs, 3 packages of smoked sausages, pea salad, potato salad, and pinto beans (carnivore and vegetarian!).

With three wonderful cakes for dessert, including this one brought by our friends Joan and Emma.

Then it was time for Posing for Pictures! Can't get away from AuntB's house without that! We started out with the Senior (or MOST senior) group....Generation One!

Then Generation TWO

Generation Three (missing Kathy's kids)

Generation FOUR (missing Kathy's grandkids)

Mom's bunch, missing Kathy's kids and grand-kids.

Nancy's bunch --- missing Lara and Val and Carol's families

And finally, the whole gang!

What a FABULOUS weekend!!!

2010-05-13T11:22:00.002-05:00

Our sweet Alexis graduated TCU on Saturday and we partied here on Sunday, which was also Mother's Day. There was lots of hugging, eating (Gail really outdid herself!), singing, guitar-playing and just generally LOVING BEING TOGETHER!

Conspicuously absent and dearly missed: Lara--who's in Italy this summer with Carol and Rick and Maeve.

This was when Roger presented Jonna the wonderful portrait of Gemma that he painted for her.

Good Food and Good Friends--does it get any better?

2010-03-08T18:38:00.000-06:00

Only if the good friends BRING the good food!

And these did! Dungeness crabs!!

Gail worked her magic and we dug in! EXCELLENT!!!!!!
Thanks, Joan and Emma! Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Winter Wonderland on Water

2010-02-12T14:00:00.003-06:00

While I'm not sure I'd like this for 3 or 4 months out of the year, it sure is fun for a day or two!

Cindy's bugging me to post, so ......

2009-12-26T13:54:00.001-06:00

Guess there has been a few things going on since my last post. Here's a small sampling.

Somehow my baby brother is now 50 years old!

Here he is with a Sept 1959 copy of Playboy we

gave him.

In October we had the official dedication of our

new church building (which we moved into on

May 31) and the DeCuire Community Center.

In November the clan from Mom's side gathered at Leanna's for fabulous fellowship and amazing food!

Cindy and I took the ferry to Pt A and spent some quality time on the beach on our way over.

Cindy was quite the trooper, having started her 6 month endurance marathon with chemo. She let me shave her head and then posed with one of her new head coverings.....which says it all!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And dear old Dad hit 80 on Dec 16. We

assembled a collection of photos, books, mags

from Dec of 1929.

Feeding Frenzy

2009-09-12T16:26:00.002-05:00

God Help Me…I’ve got Vista!

2009-03-27T13:28:00.000-05:00

My old HP finally gave up the ghost this week and my new Dell is in it’s place. Fortunately, I had all of my photos and videos and lots of other important stuff backed up on an external hard drive and will be able to put it all on the Dell. My email files are another story! I’m slowly but surely pulling some of the newer and more important emails off the Embarqmail server but everything that I had in Outlook Express folders is lost, as is my address book. But I have enough emails (down to 4500+ right now) to be able to rebuild the address book!

Camera Critters Sunday!

2009-02-08T07:24:00.002-06:00

I've been running down this lane between our house and the church lately and this guy plus two friends (see my Gun Barrel City Daily Photo blog) have been watching me -- or at least I've been watching them! Friday I stopped to take their pictures and they immediately came to the fence to pose for close-ups!

See more friendly creatures HERE.

Ice gauge?

2009-01-29T09:17:00.002-06:00

Who would have thought that turtles could enjoy winter weather? If I were them, I'd be tucking my head, feet and tail under a blanket by the fire! Oh wait...I AM!

Yesterday I would have caught them with icicles dripping off their noses but I spent the morning Dodging Daring Drivers in Dallas....today it's just fog and frost...and a balmy 26 degrees.

Bird's Eye View: Sunrise Dec 8, 2008

2008-12-08T17:41:00.000-06:00

Bird's Eye View: Sunrise Dec 8, 2008

Sunrise Dec 8, 2008

2008-12-08T07:21:00.001-06:00

Wandering around the house and yard.....

2008-11-28T17:08:00.002-06:00

Whatever catches my eye......

Sky Watch Friday -- glorious sunset on the lake!

2008-08-29T07:32:00.001-05:00

Another of my quick shots from the shoulder as I return home in the evening.....
Click the Sky Watch logo above to see our sky as seen around the world.

Camera Critter Sunday -- OK, I'm a sucker.....

2008-08-24T08:51:00.003-05:00

Miss "never another cat" Lake Lady brought home a new friend this week. I was out shooting a water tower for my ABC Wednesday series and discovered this little lady at a long abandoned building on the outskirts of a very small town. At first I was working really hard at resisting her charms .... but when I found that she and her mother had apparently been dumped out there and her mother had not survived, I realized I could not leave her to the same fate. Shortly after we got home, we were watching a Lifetime re-run of the TV show "Reba" and her theme song "I'm a Survivor" was playing when we decided to name our new family member Reba!

OK, I'm a sucker....but I held to my "never" for over two years this time!
Click the CC logo above to see other critters from all around the world today!

Sky Watch Friday -- here and there.....

2008-08-22T07:24:00.002-05:00

The first shot was taken on my trip to Lufkin last week and the second was taken some months ago at our church building site. The first location probably won't change much for a long time, but the second is changing now! The plumbing and electrical rough-in is done and the slab is being poured today! Click the SWF logo above to see more views of our sky from around the world.

Camera Critters -- another peeping tom

2008-08-17T08:51:00.002-05:00

I was working at home and on the phone with an associate when I walked over to the french door leading out to the lake. This little hummingbird was trying to tell me something! I grabbed the camera with one hand, poked the lens through the blinds on the door and shot this without letting my associate know that I wasn't really paying attention to him!
Click on the link above to see Critters Caught by Cameras around the world!

Photo Hunt: Colorful Colorado

2008-08-16T09:28:00.003-05:00

I took this shot last fall in Silverton, Colorado....one of my favorite places. We usually go in the summer to camp, but we finally got an opportunity to go up for a few days and see the fall colors of the Aspen. As you can see, this little Victorian mining town is also very colorful!

TnChick hosts the Saturday Photo Hunt....go check out the other COLORFUL entries today!

Sky Watch Friday -- Sun, Sunflowers, Scorched earth

2008-08-08T06:15:00.002-05:00

This young grasshopper seems to be trying to hide from the sun.
It's so hot and dry lately that sunflowers are about the only wild-flowers left and they're getting awfully scraggly.
The farmers have been "making hay while the sun shines" as they say. But look how dry and brown the earth is now. This field won't produce much more this year. I took these just south of Athens yesterday. Click the Sky Watch Friday logo below to see the sky from hundreds of blogger perspectives!

Late Summer Limits Flora and Fauna....

2008-08-07T00:01:00.001-05:00

It's been so hot and so dry lately that it doesn't take long to walk around our yard and shoot the flowers! And even though I took these before church on Sunday and stayed in the shade, I was dripping with sweat by the time I finished. I took a few more shots and you'll see them Sunday for Camera Critters.

Praying for rain? Camera Critters Sunday

2008-08-03T07:47:00.002-05:00

I don't know about this little guy but I could sure use some rain and/or cooler temperatures! We're in the 100's every day and the lake level is dropping before our very eyes! We'll take all the help we can get!!
Head on over to Misty Dawn's Camera Critters site for more variations of Critterdom!

Photo Hunt: Clouds and field

2008-08-02T11:39:00.003-05:00

I spotted this serene view as I was travelling down a dirt road somewhere. Gives one a feeling of infinite peace.
Check out TnChick's site --- she hosts the Photo Hunt meme every Saturday. This week's theme is CLOUD(S). Run through the comments to link to other entries.

Sky Watch Friday -- Another great sunset!

2008-07-31T21:50:00.002-05:00

I can't decide which of these I like the best. Can you help me?

Click the Sky Watch Friday Logo to see more wonderful Sky Watch photos from around the world!

Odd Shots Monday --- These wires are HOT!

2008-07-28T07:45:00.002-05:00

On my last trip to West Texas, I just happened to catch a glimpse of this sign at Underwood's Cafeteria from a comical angle. It looks like the cowboy is dancing on top of the power pole! Oddly enough, the way the sign is designed to look 3-d, it now looks like I cut and pasted from one photo to another, but I swear I didn't! Click on the link to Underwood's above to read some of the history and drool over the menu!

Dance on over to Katney's Kaboodle for more Odd Shots.

Camera Critters Sunday

2008-07-13T05:00:00.003-05:00

Pulled this video from the archives....back during the drought, the ducks had to walk in to feed!
Head on over to Misty Dawn's to see more Camera Critters.

Sky Watch Friday -- Trip to West Texas

2008-07-11T07:44:00.004-05:00

There's a LOT of sky out that way! And I found that it's very hard to capture enough of it at one time to give you the real feel of it. But here are a few attempts....

Scoot on over to Wiggers World where Tom and Jane are busy hosting fantastic photos from around the world every Sky Watch Friday!

Camera Critters Sunday

2008-07-06T09:03:00.001-05:00

This one is from the archives.....spent too much time taking pictures of fireworks and flags the last few days! Fly on over to Misty Dawn's for more Camera Critters!

Thank you, Misty, for featuring my spot on Roger's Wildlife Rehab Center!

4th of July on the Lake

2008-07-05T07:52:00.004-05:00

Our wonderful friends AW and SG hosted a party last night and entertained us royally with a fabulous fireworks display! Here's a sampling of my first attempt at Fireworks Photography!
There are a couple more shots at my City Daily Photo Blogs: Gun Barrel City Daily Photo and Corsicana Daily Photo.

There were fireworks all around the lake last night. And there will be more tonight! Hope everyone had a safe and Happy 4th of July! Let us continue to pray for Peace and the safe return of our military women and men.

Sky Watch Friday--Happy Fourth of July!

2008-07-04T09:33:00.005-05:00

The sky is full of flags all around the lake today.....here's ours, Buster's, and there are many more....the two matching houses across the way have their decks and docks decorated. The fireworks have been going off all week. Tonight will be amazing. Check back tomorrow for more photos of our church's Boat Parade and Fireworks tonight! See more Sky Watch Friday posts at WiggersWorld and be sure to thank Tom and Jane for hosting!
While we celebrate our Liberty, let us remember our military who are in harm's way and continue to pray for Peace.
Red, white and blue .....

Camera Critters Sunday -- Rogers Wildlife Rehab

2008-06-29T07:20:00.004-05:00

Believe it or not, this IS the continuation of the pigeon rescue post from yesterday. Scroll down for more photos and details!

Researching proper care and nutrition for a wounded pigeon convinced me that I was not up to the task. So I researched more and found this jewel.

Above is the hospital building where I took the injured pigeon. It was quickly determined that she/he had a broken elbow and a broken shoulder. But the prognosis is wonderful! They can wrap the wing to the bird in such a way that it will properly heal and they expect a full recovery and release back to the wild. AWESOME! For those birds who cannot be returned to the wild, they have a wonderful permanent home here!
This must be their Intensive Care Unit.
As you'll see when you check their website (see link below), they work with schools and other groups, spreading the knowledge and respect of wildlife.

Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is just south of Dallas in Hutchins. They take in all injured or orphaned feathered friends. If they can survive in the wild after their rehabilitation, they are released. If not, they have a wonderful home here! Be sure to check out their website. They are a non-profit and receive no funds from the government. They depend on volunteers and donations to keep doing their marvelous work. I spent an hour walking around the grounds and was completely impressed by everything I saw. They have everything from pigeons to raptors, water fowl to peacocks. The volunteers I met were very friendly, very dedicated and very skilled. I have more pictures to post tomorrow, so please come back! See more pictures at my other two blogs: Gun Barrel City Daily Photo and Corsicana Daily Photo.
See more Camera Critters over at Misty Dawn's!

Floating Pigeon....

2008-06-28T18:10:00.002-05:00

This poor pigeon floated into our cove last night. We scooped him/her out with a fishing net. I will spend the next few days letting you know the "the rest of the story......."

Photo Hunt: Bright

2008-06-28T12:39:00.002-05:00

Today's entry in TnChick's Photo Hunt meme is provided by my very BRIGHT nephew, Zach. The image is of my very BRIGHT Corgi, Nate floating on his brand new very BRIGHT float and wearing his very BRIGHT life jacket. Click on TnChick link above to see more entries.

Saturday Photo Hunt: Emotion--ENVY!

2008-06-14T09:44:00.002-05:00

Envious that my little brother has a nicer car than I! Shot from

the driver's seat of my Toyota.......

Click on over to TnChick's site for more Photo Hunt images.

Camera Critters Sunday: My little friend is starting a family....

2008-06-08T13:33:00.004-05:00

I posted several days ago about the bluebird that's been tapping at my windows. For several weeks, we've watched him checking out every birdhouse in the neighborhood, including these in our yard. Apparently, he finally made up his mind and convinced his mate. Yesterday we caught them carrying building supplies inside the house! Stay tuned for family updates!
In the meantime, check out other posts for Camera Critters Sunday at Misty Dawn's site .

Color Project--- Blue, Take III

2008-06-07T12:09:00.003-05:00

If you started out here, you may be wondering where Take I and Take II are. Well, let's take a little field trip! Take I is at my Gun Barrel City Daily Photo Blog and Take II is at my Corsicana Daily Photo Blog. My goal in joining Anna's Color Project today was to shoot all the blue I could in the first five minutes of entering my house. The first shot is my front door, so I'm off to a good start, yes? The others include my inside bluebirds, gifts from special friends DD and BP; one of our favorite games--introduced to us by special friends DH & MC: the wireless router I can't do without; and my one of my 100+ turtles given to me by my special sister-in-law CM! Be sure to click on Anna's link above and see better collections of the color blue!

Sky Watch Friday

2008-06-06T09:41:00.003-05:00

I was taking a series of photos the other day to stitch together for a banner for this page....scroll down to the bottom of this page to see it.....and had no idea that I had accidentally--perhaps even miraculously!--captured this Purple Martin in flight. These birds dart around like crazy snatching mosquitoes from the sky, so we all have Martin Houses in our yards to coax them to stay close. They're very helpful in controlling the mosquito population but very hard to photograph. Sometimes we just get really lucky!!

Be sure to click over to WiggersWorld to see more Sky Watch Friday posts!

Two Fer Tuesday Theme Day at Jonna's Life in Shelby County

2008-06-03T14:37:00.003-05:00

I took the first photo in April 0f 2007 somewhere between San Angelo and Waco, Texas. When I saw the store in the 2nd shot last week in Austin, I knew I had a series for Jonna's Two fer Tuesday Theme! Check out her theme series by clicking HERE.

In the case of the first store, not only is it closed down but there's really very little to indicate there was ever a town there. In the case of the second store....can you believe it's on 7th street just a couple of blocks from Austin's very active downtown area??

May 29, 1949

2008-05-30T10:41:00.006-05:00

Today's post is in honor of a very special couple....my parents! Married on May 29, 1949 at the ripe old ages of 17 and 19.I came along in 1950 and look how trim Mom was again in 1951! Then my first sister came along in 1953, my second sister in 1958 and my brother in 1959. Mom's not THIS slim anymore, but she still looks great. It is a tremendous blessing to still have both parents and know that they are happy and healthy and active! Here's to you Mom and Dad! The stick is for poking, not needed for walking! Kudos to Uncle RJ for this photo.

Here's a couple of random shots taken around their house.....some of their favorite play-toys!

ABC Wednesday -- S is for Itsy Bitty Spider

2008-05-28T00:15:00.003-05:00

And for SUMMER flowers by the SIDE of STATE Highway 198......

See more ABC Wednesday posts by SLIPPING over to Mrs Nesbitt's Place.

Camera Critters Sunday -- Nate's new friend

2008-05-25T08:38:00.002-05:00

Nate LOVES fishing....whether on shore, on the boatdock or on the boat. He gets very excited when the little orange bobber goes under water! And he always wants a chance to sniff the catch before it goes back in the lake---and they always go back in!

See more Camera Critters over at Misty Dawn's......

Camera Critters Sunday

2008-05-18T07:47:00.002-05:00

I forgot it was Camera Critters Day when I posted my two City Daily Photo blogs today! Checking my "favorites" reminded me when I saw some of the astounding photos there.

This is one from my files, taken before we built our house. This lot has always been
"for the birds" and our house was planned specifically to not interfere with this tree!
Check out more Camera Critters at the blog moderated by Misty Dawn.

Mother's Day and Camera Critters Sunday

2008-05-11T09:19:00.003-05:00

Our boy Nate "herding" cattle from the truck window!
Busy little mama feeding her brood.
Mallard Mama above and Woodie Mama below....

Please click over to Misty Dawn's to see other participants in the Camera Critters Sunday meme.

My new little friend....

2008-05-07T12:54:00.004-05:00

For over a week now, this little fellow has been visiting off and on all day ... he perches all over the place between his flights INTO the window glass. He has knocked on every piece of glass over the deck. I keep thinking he wants me to come out and take pictures, but he seems to prefer that I shoot through the windows. Thank goodness I'm not buying film because I've made countless attempts to catch him actually at the window. The last one here is the closest I've come to success so far! G says he's telling me I need to add worms to his feeder, but that's not MY job!

Camera Critters Sunday theme.....

2008-04-27T12:38:00.002-05:00

This was taken from a whale-watching boat leaving Port Townsend, Washington almost a year ago. The captain was kind enough to circle once for all of us avid photographers! It was a cold, gray day, but the red of the channel marker (Raf, correct my terminology if needed, please!) helps make it pop. Join the fun and see more great critters of all kinds at Misty's Camera Critters Sunday Site.

Still more flowers.....

2008-04-26T12:56:00.005-05:00

Project Green for Saturday

2008-04-26T10:01:00.003-05:00

St Francis helps us look after our bird sanctuary. I didn't realize until after I took the shot (after the rain yesterday) that the statue itself had 2 shades of green! See more Project Green shots at Anna Carson's page.

Double blogging today

2008-04-26T09:20:00.004-05:00

I've posted this one before but saw in my blog travels this morning that the Photo Hunt theme for this week is funny signs so I had to join in. Please check out the other signs AND see if you can help the meme moderator TnChick find her missing beagle Zoey. Who knows, we're all over the world, maybe one of you knows something!

OK, I'm back! I wandered over to Buster's yard today and found a new sign there!

Project Green

2008-04-25T08:35:00.002-05:00

Have a little fun and visit Anna's blog for more Project Green entries!

Odd Shots Monday

2008-04-21T09:49:00.004-05:00

Guess I was in an odd mood last evening. Sat my beer bottle down over a wasp and then shot down into the bottle. See more Odd Shots Monday entries at Katney's Kaboodle.

Stuck on Nate--Camera Critters Sunday Theme

2008-04-20T08:53:00.003-05:00

There are other critters around here, but he's obviously my favorite! His passion is chasing anything we'll throw and bringing it back to us. Can you smile with a tennis ball in your mouth??? Click here to see others' entries for Camera Critters Sunday.

For C & T

2008-04-19T16:10:00.005-05:00

Took a little side trip between San Angelo and Abilene this week just to grab some shots for some favorite cousins!

Click here to see more where this came from: History in a Pecan Shell -- Originally called James or Jamestown, Texas in 1906, it was renamed late that year to curry favor with the railroad. Blackwell was a railroad stockholder. A post office was granted the following year and the town became a tri-county shipping point and supply center.In 1903 the Blackwell Methodist Church was organized, followed by a Baptist church in 1909 and a Church of Christ in 1928. The town still had a population of 500 at the end of WWII. It reached 286 for the 1980 Census and 339 ten years later. Blackwell's first school began classes in 1907 and a rural "Consolidated High School" was established in 1929.In 1945 the town reported a population of 500 and thirteen businesses. In 1980 its population was 286 and in 1990, 339. In 2000 the population was 360.
The first time I drove by this house, I thought this fella was concrete yard art! He was sitting on top of the post he's standing on here. When I pulled up out front to get his picture, he stood up as if to say, "OH YEAH, I'm REAL, all right...come on in!"

Camera Critters Sunday

2008-04-13T16:37:00.005-05:00

For my first post to Camera Critters Sunday, I have to post a favorite shot of my favorite critter, our boy Nate. Sure wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that he's spoiled....but we have bought a truck with a BIGGER backseat for him since this was taken several years ago!

Nate is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, given to us by some very good friends when he was 8 weeks old. He'll be 9 this July.

See others' posts for Camera Critters Sunday.

Double Blogging Today -- Sky Watch Friday & Project Yellow

2008-04-11T11:43:00.004-05:00

I've discovered a new theme...Project Yellow at Anna Carson's blog and decided to join in today.
I've pulled an oldie from the files ... this was taken from our deck in 06 while the water was so low. This is God's colors, not Adobe's! :-) See more Sky Watch Friday photos by clicking this link.

You know you're in West Texas when.....

2008-04-10T18:51:00.004-05:00

You see this sign of Spring.....

And drive two blocks and see this one!

And the next day, you're huddled under an overpass on I-20 hiding from a tornado.....
And dodging golf ball sized hail......
After you've just been taking photos of a beautiful mural in downtown Sweetwater....
And noticing the rattlesnake theme again (see bottom right corner).....

A perfect evening at the lake.....

2008-04-04T20:37:00.001-05:00

And More Flowers!

2008-04-03T14:53:00.003-05:00

Flowers, flowers, flowers....

2008-03-30T11:59:00.006-05:00

All in our yard (except the Amaryllis--we picked it in our neighbor's yard!). The first 7 were shot last year. The last 6 pictures were taken yesterday. Looks like it's going to be a wonderful spring!

Fun Stuff....

2008-03-28T13:01:00.005-05:00

This ... ummm .... sculpture is in Abilene.
This just struck me as really funny......it was on Highway 31 between here and Tyler.
Cindy and I got in a discussion once about what was up with all the concrete gorillas showing up everywhere. So I've started shooting pictures whenever I see one! The pair is in a kids park in Trinidad. The big angry-looking blue one was in Corsicana, and the "boy scout" is in the yard of a really nice house in LaGrange.

Moon Eclipse in West Texas

2008-03-27T12:50:00.004-05:00

I was lucky enough to be out in Big Sky territory during the full eclipse of the moon on February 20, 2008. These were taken on a dark dirt road outside of Sweetwater. It was quite chilly and I was a little afraid of farm dogs catching my scent so I stayed in the car! Balanced my Canon G5 on the door frame and used the timer in an effort to avoid too much movement. A few shots came out pretty well. This was the same evening as the moonrise photos in my last post with the wind turbines.

My most recent trip to West Texas

2008-03-27T12:06:00.004-05:00

Two common sights in West Texas: irrigation and wind generation. These shots were taken between Midland and Abilene at sunset (and moon rise).

Cedar Creek Lake Spillway

2008-03-22T12:02:00.006-05:00

Took a trip to the spillway the other day after the big rain....spotted a crowd of seagulls, cormorants and black-wing-tipped Pelicans stuffing themselves on ill-fated fish.

Spotlight on Trinidad

2008-03-22T10:26:00.004-05:00

Think I'll try my hand at spot-lighting some of the little towns around the lake. You might see some of these on my City Daily Photo blog at www.gunbarrelcitydailyphoto.blogspot.com as well. Today's spotlight is on Trinidad, a small town on Hwy 31 on the east bank of the Trinity River. As you can see, it has an old feel to it but some touches of modern architecture, too. The dome building is part of the Trinity ISD. I spotted my first bluebonnets this year on this drive....just north of the railroad tracks in Trinidad.

Love to catch rainbows!

2008-03-21T14:46:00.002-05:00

Some of my favorite evening/night time shots

2008-03-21T14:22:00.003-05:00

And so it begins......

2008-03-19T18:13:00.001-05:00

The lot when we first bought it

2008-03-19T18:10:00.001-05:00

Our sweet little weekend camp

2008-03-19T17:44:00.001-05:00