Weekend

Some of you have been responding to my emailed posts and I haven't taken the opportunity to reply to most yet, but I really do appreciate it! Thanks so much, and I will respond eventually. I tend to get behind on my email on a regular basis, but don't stop emailing, because I love it. :)

The weekend was good and had a nice mix of activities and down time. Here's a photo-summary.


Some goslings were hanging out near my place all Saturday morning. Who doesn't love baby animals?


I watched my friend's son for a few hours Saturday morning. He liked playing with the magnets on my fridge.


And he was fascinated with the watering can. Hm...I've never thought to look down the spout.


I baked a German chocolate cake (from a mix) for my friend's birthday. I did two frostings since I wasn't sure who liked coconut.


After a delicious chicken enchilada dinner at a friend's place, some of us had beverages at Applebee's to help celebrate Jennifer's birthday (which is today!).


My [virgin] pina colada and D's Shirley Temple. She looks very proud of her amazing balance-the-cherry-on-the-straw stunt. Do I have talented friends or what?! Jennifer helpfully points out the cherry.


In case you haven't seen enough photos of Jennifer, I thought I'd post one more. :)

Then we came back to my place to watch (or criticize, in my case) Ever After and have cake.

Sunday found me being lazy and headachey after church. I put on sweats and watched some Alias, talked to a friend (and literally laughed for several minutes over the word "wool"--long story), blogged about my mom, looked through pictures and played some games. I also took a couple of nature photos from my back deck:


A Black-throated Gray Warbler. I hadn't seen one before, so I'm happy to add it to my photo archive of bird sightings. I mean, if I had one. I should probably organize that in my spare time.


Then there was this rainbow later on. I don't think I've seen this type of rainbow scene before.

Happy birthday, Jennifer! Thanks for being such a devoted blog reader, photo poser, text messager and DVD loaner, among other things. :) I really appreciate you and your friendship.

My Mom

[My mom when she was pregnant with me. She probably knows close to the exact date of the photo!]

You should meet my mom--she's the nicest mom in the world! And she's lovely and sings very well and can sew. She's also really funny. And cute! She's artistic and creative, but she is also modest and doesn't seem to think she's all that artistic.


But look how she wraps presents and decorates cakes! Also, she's buff from carrying around grandchildren. And cooperative, because she's not the type to flex her muscles, but she is the type to humor me when I have photo requests. :) (Sorry, Mom, I just think that picture is cute!)

Also she's short (4'11), so she's little, approachable and nice, and everyone loves her. Why wouldn't they? I'm so fortunate to have the mom I do. :) Happy Mother's Day!

Nothing special

The weather was so nice on Sunday that I had to take advantage and enjoy nature somehow. I decided on the nearby refuge since it's a quick and easy trip, and I hadn't been yet this year. Previous photos from the same place are here and here.







There were lots of these.



Down in the swampy area under the rail trail.



This is some sort of Flycatcher, I think--possibly Hammonds? The pictures of various Flycatchers look really similar.




My favorite sighting of the day was this snake in the swamp. I had prayed I might get to take a picture of something interesting that I hadn't encountered there before, and I got it!


Later I saw another snake, but he crawled under the bushes too quickly for me to get pictures.

Portraits - Jennifer

Happy May! I've been looking forward to taking portraits in one of the local gardens for a long time, and I was finally able to arrange a time for my friend Jennifer to meet me at Deepwood Estate for a portrait session. While every picture I take--paid or unpaid--is practice, this was especially a time for me to practice a lot of things I've been mentally adding to my "To Try" list, though I still forgot a ton of stuff (probably to Jennifer's relief). Anyway, keep the experimental spirit in mind when you look these over (i.e. don't hate). Also, I'm going to mix these all up. Order is boring.








This is one of my favorites--I loved the porch setting.





In case you're curious about her shoes.



Beauty! Don't you love her dress? I asked her to bring it since I had only seen it in pictures.






Yes, I have her coming through lots of gates and doorways. :) Hey, I had to take advantage of everything the garden had to offer!


That photo on the left is sort of an outtake, but it shows some of her personality, so I like it. :D



Love this one!

Thanks, Jennifer!