Wordless Black and White Wednesday

I was driving in a nearby town yesterday and saw this. It's a bit different from my usual, but I had a rather different day yesterday.

I'm quite sorry that anyone would have to deal with a cheating spouse (assuming that it is true), but what struck me was the creativity involved. By any estimate, infidelity happens quite often. When have you ever heard of a spouse meeting the problem in such a way?
I'm sorry the pictures are of such poor quality, but I still thought they were worth looking at.

Stop by The Long Road to China for more Black and White Wednesday.
For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom.


Hope you're having a great week!
-Susan

miscellany monday and No Mom Talk Monday

Well, as is my typical Monday routine, I stopped by One Mom's Perfect Imperfection this morning. I'm drinking coffee and trying to wake up enough to write my Miscellany Monday post. And what do I find, but a new Monday meme! Click No Mom Talk Monday to check it out. I think I'm up for the challenge. Like Courtney @OMPI, I think I'll combine it with Carissa's Miscellany Monday . So, without any mention of my precious children, here we go:

1. Blogger is irritating. I was attempting to begin this post and “service unavailable” was their response. I've been seeing that more lately. Argh!

2. I need a new hard drive. I'm afraid my little picture-taking hobby is starting to take it's toll. I have less than two gigs free and I haven't downloaded the weekend's pictures yet. Yikes!

3. I hate deleting pictures. Even bad and blurry ones. Anyone else? I think number two may be related to number three.
   

4. For the few months, I have been reading a “new” author. New to me at any rate. I had never read mysteries before this year. I feel this blog is the perfect venue for expressing myself. I am in love with Agatha Christie. There. I said it. I feel better. If any of you are slightly fond of that genre, please try her. I doubt you will be disappointed. Try Murder on the Orient Express or And Then There Were None. There is something wonderful about "discovering" an author who has written 80+ books.
   

5. I'm trying to encourage Batman to start blogging. I think he'd enjoy it. I also know that he would learn the computer aspects really quickly and then he could help me. I hope he doesn't mind my dual motive.

6. I'm glad autumn weather is finally here. One of my favorite things to do this time of year, is sit on the deck and drink coffee. I got to do this on Saturday. Maybe tomorrow. This kind of weather also makes me what to bake and make chili.

That's enough for one day. I'm looking forward to a great week.
I hope you are, too!
-Susan

Macro Friday

I forgot to prepare a post for today. Doh! I'm going for a rare trip to an actual city today, so I've been a bit distracted. So, here are a few shots from this past week with no further preamble. As always, the first is my entry in Macro Friday. And also, as always, you can click on any picture for a closer look.

I finally had a Monarch Butterfly stop by my deck!

Above is the Viceroy for comparison.

Another shot of the Monarch.

Visit blogging from bolivia to link up your own Macro Friday post.


Have a great weekend!

-Susan

Wordless Wednesday

I was on the deck this morning when I spotted this Bird-voiced Tree Frog.
The fly seems to be rubbing his hands together in the way evil men do in movies. I wonder what he has planned for his nemesis.

To link up your own Wordless Wednesday,
visit 5 Minutes For Mom.

Sweet Shot Tuesday

Well, the hummingbirds are leaving. Now I am only seeing three to five at a time. With highs in the 90's, you wouldn't think summer is over, but it must be. There are fewer butterflies and dragonflies now. We do have a newly hatched batch of Black-swallowtail caterpillars. They are growing and fattening up quickly.

I captured this hummingbird a few weeks ago. It's a rare shot that doesn't include a plastic feeder. That's pretty sweet from my perspective!

I had to include this sweet shot as well. I wasn't trying for reflection,
but I got it anyway!

As always, you can click on any of my pictures for a closer look.

Visit My3Boybarians to link your own sweet shot and look at others.

-Susan

Macro Monday

Well, I just found Lisa's Chaos and her Macro Monday. You all know, I love shooting macro stuff, so I figured, why not?



Click here to see more macro shots or to link up your own.

Have a great week!
-Susan

Macro Friday

I discovered something this week. I have been blogging long enough that I can do it to relieve stress. You know, the kids are really unhappy and hubby just whisks them away to the play room, and I can now sit at the computer and compose a post. Initially, blogging was complicated enough to me that it was too stressful in itself to be relaxing. Not that I am in any way an "expert blogger." Far from it. But, I know how to do what I do well enough that I'm not stressing over it.
Lately, I've been trying to get all the summer out of the remaining summer days. Summer is not defined by dates on the calendar, but more by temperature. As long as it's in the 80's or 90's, it's summer to me. I love summer, but I think I'm looking forward to autumn.
But all of this has nothing to do with Macro Friday. So, without further rambling, here is this week's entry in Macro Friday.



The rest are just for fun. And, as always, click on each picture for a close up look.

Visit blogging from bolivia to link up your own Macro Friday post.

Oh, one other note. The last photo is of a garter snake. If you have an unreasonable fear of snakes, please stop at the warning below.





Last week, Mom bought me a lovely pot of asters. The butterflies and moths have really been enjoying them. I got quite a few pictures of a sweet little
Bumblebee Moth.








The hummingbirds have been keeping me busy refilling feeders. Over the last week, I noticed that we only have males left. Every "female" when closely examined, is, in fact, an immature male. Their little throats are either dotted or beginning to show spots of ruby.






Warning:
Snake photo to follow.

Have a great weekend!

-Susan

Black and White Wednesday

Well, I have been having one of those mornings. You know. You've had them, too. I've been up for three hours and haven't managed to get ANYTHING done except clean up the mess that precedes me. Rather than whining some more, I thought I'd post a photo or two for Black and White Wednesday, hosted by
The Long Road to China.

-Susan

Sweet Shot Tuesday

Well, I'm trying something new again today. This is my first Sweet Shot Tuesday. It's been a really fruitful last few days as far as picture taking goes. Here is a shot I took last Friday before we left for our weekend trip. I got quite wet shooting this hummingbird, but it was worth it.
I really like that I captured his wings at least in part.



As with all my photos, click on it for a closer look.



Click on the logo below to link your own sweet shot!



-Susan

miscellany monday

Well, it's been a critter filled weekend! I think for this week's Miscellany Monday, I'll detail the various things I saw.

1. I got to visit with my baby sister a little this weekend. Okay, she no longer qualifies as a critter, but she sure did when we were kids! She is anxiously awaiting her first baby, and we are anxiously awaiting her baby, too! Stinkerbaby asks me every morning, “is today the baby's birthday?” We still have a few weeks to go.

2. We had a Baltimore Oriole in our yard this weekend. He was a strikingly beautiful male. I haven't seen one in years. I think I'll buy some oranges at the grocery and try to attract him or his wife closer.

3. Praying mantis sightings have been happening all weekend long. Batman directed me to a medium sized green one on the porch. My mom spotted a brown one on the play room window. I saw one on the seed feeder. That one is still there this morning.

4. We have had a little more rain and a few more Bird-voiced Tree frogs, including one on the shutters this morning.

5. Yesterday, my usual Eastern Fence Lizard and my typical Five-lined Skink were posing (okay, basking) in the sun. As I moved in for a closer look, I noticed a lovely, striped snake right where I was intending to step. Luckily, I didn't step on him and I did have my camera. After examining the photos, I think it was a Common Garter Snake. There are a few snakes I can easily identify- the local poisonous ones! The rest I have to look up.

6. Since I'm being random, let me also mention, that if you are outside and suddenly smell fresh cut cucumbers, be careful and look around for a Copperhead. Seriously, they smell like cukes!

7. The real critter stars of the weekend were the hummingbirds. I have had up to 15 at one time that I could count! They buzz me on the deck. You'd think that would lead to some amazing photos. Well, not quite. But it's fun anyway!

8. An immature male Ruby-throated Hummingbird got onto my porch. I made the mistake of cleaning the windows and leaving the door open for fresh air. He sounded like a really big bug up against the glass. Then he chirped! I found him and carefully picked him up under his wings and launched him out the door. He was fine! No photos of that little guy, I was afraid of giving him a heart attack. It was thrilling!

Hop on over to lowercase letters
and see what miscellaneous things this Monday brings.

Happy Monday!
-Susan

Macro Friday

We've had a bit of a drought here in Shakerag lately. Yesterday morning, I found this Bird-voiced Treefrog on my deck. I suppose he was drawn by all the bugs and by the fact that I have been watering my plants. Our little creek has been dry for some time. Treefrogs have always been elusive. But not this guy. He almost posed for me.

The first photo is my entry in macro friday. As always, to get a closer look, click on the photo.

Maybe the local wildlife is learning that I may be annoying, but I cause no harm.

The rain finally started late yesterday afternoon. Thankfully, it has continued overnight and the rain still falls. Last night, my treefrog even showed up on the living room window. Of course, I tried to photograph him through the glass at night. I wasn't terribly successful.

What I liked about this shot is that you can really see what eNature describes as the "hidden surfaces of thigh green to greenish-yellow."

I liked this one, too. By this time he was pretty annoyed.

Then, another individual of the same species showed up! You can see his "hidden yellow," too. This one was quite a bit smaller and less tolerant than his buddy.

Visit blogging from bolivia to link up your own Macro Friday post.

Have a great weekend!

-Susan

Black and White Wednesday

As soon as I took this picture, I knew I wanted to try it in black and white. This is the same little Fence Lizard that I have been harassing all summer. He's surprisingly patient- for a lizard.

Hop on over to The Long Road to China by clicking on the logo below.

Have a great Wednesday! Around here, Wednesday is one of the farmer's market days. I'm looking forward to some sweet potatoes or the last of the corn or maybe some apples. But, truth be told, I am most looking forward to Mrs. Brown's fried dried apple pies! They are so yummy! I love our farmer's market!

What's you local farmer's market like? Big? Small?
Do you know some of the farmers?
If you don't currently shop at a farmer's market, try it.
I doubt you'll be disappointed.

-Susan

Macro Friday

It's Friday again! How did this happen?
It's a long weekend, too. I love a good, long weekend!

At Nana's suggestion, I put some bananas on the deck to attract butterflies. It worked like a charm! I also attracted wasps, yellow jackets, flies, hornets, and even mosquitoes. One interesting thing, that I was unable to photograph, was that the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were actually feeding on the rotten banana! I was completely unaware that they did that. The first photograph is my entry for macro friday; the rest are for entertainment purposes only.

As with all of my photographs, you can click on the image to get a closer look.

Here are a few of my uninvited, but still welcome guests. All the stinging bugs were very polite this week and didn't bother a soul.

There were at one point thirteen Red-Spotted Purples crowded on the banana. I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of that. Even then, there were assorted other smaller butterflies like Hairstreaks and Commas or Question Marks.

Here is a lovely Red-Spotted Purple.

We have had a few Viceroy Butterflies. They seem a bit jumpier than the Red-spotted Purples. I love the spots on their bodies.

Initially, I thought the above butterfly was a Monarch. Well, I must sit corrected. Apparently, I have fallen for a very old trick. I have confused Monarchs and Viceroys. They are, of course, meant to be confusing since Monarch Butterflies, I am told, taste terrible, but Viceroys are tasty. The black line in the lower wing is one way to tell a Viceroy.

Here's another Viceroy. This one is on the roof of my antique bird feeder.

Unrelated to the banana, Nana found and I photographed (with her nicer camera) this Black Swallow-tail butterfly. He appeared to be fresh from his chrysalis. He was so bright and slow moving. I love the striking spots on their bodies, too.


Here's another view of the same Black Swallow-tail.

So, if any of you are hoping to attract butterflies to your yard, here are two tips. Place a partially peeled banana- ripe or overripe someplace where you can keep an eye on it. The other tip has worked in the past, but didn't work for me this particular week. Water a spot in your yard until a nice little mud puddle forms. They really seem to enjoy this as well.

Thanks to Laura from
blogging from bolivia
for for hosting such a cool blog hop!
Hop on over to link up to your own Macro Friday post.

Have a great weekend!
-Susan