Thank goodness it’s Friday! How your week going? Mine’s feeling a little crazy. Saturday night, we’re celebrating Thomas’ 30th birthday with a Pirate vs. Ninja party. I’m sure there will photos to follow.
Thomas thinks that 30 is the end of life - you can tell by the motorcycle posts he’s been making in his blog. The last time he did that was right after he proposed. Guess he thought life was about to end then too. :) You’ve got to get your fun in before we get all settled down. Hehe…
And just around the corner, we’re headed to Raleigh for a very dear friend’s wedding - he has been a great friend since high school and was my bridesman. While we’re there, we’re going to get to visit with both of our families - I haven’t seen mine since Christmas.
Thomas’ sister will be throwing a mini-party that weekend too since three of their birthdays fall in the same week. It’s going to be a rushed weekend, but we should have fun. I’ve been doing a little crafting for one of the birthday girls - here’s a little teaser…
This week on Exposaroonie, the challenge is Rule of Thirds - basically the idea that a photo can be more interesting if the subject, or focus, is not smack-dab in the middle. I tend to center my bird photography, because I want to fill the frame to get as much detail as possible. Thomas and I headed over to the park this evening to practice Rule of Thirds. I haven’t decided which shot I’m going to submit as my entry this week, but these are my favorites. Which one do you like?
The whole set is posted on Flickr - Rule of Thirds (15 photos)
I’m leaning toward the first one (b&w baseball), and Thomas is rooting for the second one (out of focus goose).
We finally got our photos posted from the last birding class field trip to Newman Wetlands
This park has a beautiful boardwalk trail that is maintained by the Atlanta Audubon Society. We didn’t see as many birds as we’ve seen in the past, but we saw a lot of reptiles and amphibians - turtles, snakes, lizards, and frogs.
We also saw a few Ruby Throated Hummingbirds, a Common Yellowthroat, and Purple Martins. That’s a Barn Swallow in this photo - I found out how pretty they were at the last field trip, but I couldn’t get a decent photo with them flying. This little guy sat still for quite a while though.
Afterward, we headed over to the water maintenance facility and looked for waterbirds. We saw a few sandpiper-sort, but they were too far for our cameras. The land around that area was gorgeous though, with purple and yellow flowers.
Saturday, we picked fresh strawberries at a farm.
Sunday night, we had fresh strawberry shortcake. Yum!
The rest of the photos are on Flickr.
I embroidered a swatch of linen, using an embroidery hoop to hold it tight, and then used a Cover Button Kit to make it into a button. Easy-peasey! Check out some of the fancy buttons that other participants have posted on Flickr.
Happy Mother’s Day, Mom! I love you.
Of course I don’t remember any of these photos being taken, but my Mom was just a couple of years older than I am now. She’s a strong, intelligent woman, a great mom, and I am proud to have as a role model.
And Happy Mother’s Day, Mama C! I love you too.
Mama C is my Mom’s mom, and we share a birthday. She’s in her 80s (I hope you don’t mind me saying that online, Mama C) and she volunteers regularly, has the same passion for travel and learning that I do, and she’s internet savvy - she emails, instant messages, and reads my blog. Again, another amazing woman in my life.
Today was our last field trip from our Birding class. If you’re interested in birds, and in the Atlanta area, I totally recommend it. I learned a ton, saw a bunch of new birds, and discovered some really great locations. I’ll post the photos from today’s trip later this weekend.
I haven’t posted any crafts recently, but I quickly made this last night to give to our birding teacher as a small thank you. It’s a bookmark with some favorite photos that Thomas and I took on the class trips. It was pretty easy to make - here’s how:
- Arrange your photos in a photo editing program to be a 6×3 inch graphic. (I used Photoshop Elements.)
- Print the photo at 6×4 inches. (I used the instant printer at Target.)
- Trim the photo down to 6×3 inches.
- Spray-glue some paper to the back to make sturdier. (This is a great place to write a brief note.)
- Hole-punch the top and thread some ribbon through it.
It took me two hours and most of that was at Target - of course, I had to browse a bit. :) Anyway, it was quick, easy, and cheap, and would be a great craft if you need to make something small for a large group.
On another note, I just went upstairs and this is what I found - Thomas is napping on Clover’s birdwatching bench, so she just climbed right over him to keep watching.
