Double D's Picks

Hello gang! I hope everyone had a beautiful holiday filled with food, family, friends and fond memories. We had two wonderful gatherings with my kids, two weeks apart. Those visits pretty much wiped me out. I'm still in recovery mode.

After waiting several days for the sun to shine, our window of opportunity finally arrived: New Year's Eve day. So Double D drove me to my favorite spot in Madisonville, LA. I had hoped the morning light was going to be behind me, bathing the pelicans in light, but no such luck. Whether I had gone in the afternoon or morning didn't matter, since the sun was positioned on the sides of the water. I photographed from every angle imaginable, fiddled with my camera settings, and still, I could not expose the pelicans properly. Just when I thought I might have it figured out, we got run off by the cops, because apparently they are still working on the sea wall. Drats.

I worked with these shots in Lightroom and PS for a long while, finally losing perspective and patience. After two days, pulling every trick I knew, I summoned Double D and asked him to be totally honest and tell me which ones he liked. These are Double D's picks. :)

We were both on the fence about this shot since the bokeh is so overwhelming.
Although distracting, we thought it was a cool pic.

I will finish making blog rounds this week. Y'all have a good'n, and thanks for stopping by!

Check out other birds
around the world at
Anni's Bird D'pot!

The Rose Lady

Well, here it is, Christmas week, and I have yet to post any Christmas-themed photos. Scheduling posts weeks in advance is a wonderful feature, but it does take some planning. And I forgot to plan for Christmas!

My daughter bought me a very special Christmas ornament when she came to visit last year. It's an actual sugar maple leaf dipped in 24k gold. The Rose Lady has developed a rigorous process to preserve items of nature; a process which takes up to seven days. She sells orchids, roses, fruit, key rings, vases, and even dog biscuits! All preserved perfectly using various methods. Leave it to my creative and beautiful daughter to find something like this. My tree is gold and red with musical instruments, angels, poinsettias, and fleur de lis (recent collection). Out of all those, this is my favorite. I have since purchased a Japanese Maple leaf from the same company. It is beautiful!

The attached tag reads:

Sugar Maple

In early spring, a crisp chill

lingers in the air and the

steadfast sugar maple offers

its sap to be made into tasty syrup

This product contains a real leaf

that has been carefully selected,

preserved and transformed from

nature into treasure.

Birds and a Bloom

This is a scheduled post since I will be in New Orleans while Double D is at a business luncheon. Rain is predicted for the day, so I am leaving my big girl camera (Bertha) at home. I might go to the Aquarium of the Americas or force myself to shop. Most likely I'll manage to work in both. :)

Since I only post 2-3 times a week, I decided to combine two memes.

For Wild Bird Wednesday:

More looks at the indigo bunting, 4/21/13

White-throated sparrow, 4/21/13

Bronzed cowbird mating ritual. Basically, the male strutted around puffing himself up (sound familiar?) while the female
ignored him, continuing on with her foraging. She was all, "I ain't got no time for your foolishness, mister."
Bronzed cowbird photos taken on Bayou Manchac, 4/20/13

When strutting failed to work its magic, the male fluttered straight up in the air and hovered over the female.
The female remained unimpressed. It was really interesting to watch. I apologize for the subpar quality of
these shots. It was a cloudy day and I was too lazy to bring my tripod. 

And now for Creative License Friday!

This week I offered one of my own photos for the meme. This was a photo I took in Magnolia, MS several months ago.
I adored the bokeh and the color of the camelias, but I didn't know what to do with it. You wouldn't know it,
but I spent about 2 hours working on this. I don't excel in editing and feel I'm not as creative as others in this arena.
Besides, I have very little patience for editing which is another reason I don't participate every week.
Sorry, Jill! I'll try to do better.

Please visit the hosts of these wonderful memes and visit the participants if you have time!

LINK

LINK

Growing Pains

Will someone please sit down and have a cup of tea with me? I need to vent a little.

I'm in fleur de lis heaven here, y'all!

My mother can be summed up as a gracious, southern lady. Although we look similar, grace is not a trait that I inherited from her. Apparently, it skips a generation because my daughter has an abundance. Oh, I can be gracious on occasion, but most of the time I speak without thinking, usually saying what's on my mind. For a sensitive person like my mother, my bold pronouncements can hurt, even when I don't mean them to.

Yesterday was my seventh day living with her, and I suddenly became acutely aware of the cacophony of the TV. I'm the type of person that can put up with an aggravation for some time, then one day I'll decide that I've had enough and explode.

Having this contraption blaring most of the day and night has frayed my tangled mass of nerves. I'll settle in to sit in front of my computer at the dining room table to do a little work for my boss or catch up on emails, or photography editing, or your lovely blogs—just trying to reconnect with my normal. My "office" is about eight feet from my mother and her beloved television, and in addition to the aggravating sounds of The Price Is Right (sorry Drew Carey, you're awful at this gig), every other minute she'll ask what I'm doing or she'll remember something to tell me, and my concentration gets broken. Each time I stop what I'm doing and look directly at her so she knows I'm listening, answering politely.

Lather, rinse and repeat. Sigh.

Unable to uncork on my mother and at the same time begging God for just a morsel of that elusive grace, my solution yesterday was to mute the television when she went to the bathroom. On her return she asked why the sound was off. In a matter-of-fact way (possibly through gritted teeth), I explained that sometimes it feels nice to have quiet in the house. She replied that having the TV on all the time helped her feel less alone. (I hope she meant pre-me.) After my small act of rebellion, she kept the TV off the rest of the afternoon even though I told her she could turn it back on. When she finally resumed her favorite activity, the volume was kept insanely low, and throughout the evening she asked repeatedly if it was bothering me. 

At least I see where my sensitive nature comes from. Big sigh. 

So today I awoke with a new plan. When I got up she asked me how I slept and even though I listened to her snore and babble and even laugh in her sleep for most of the night, I replied that I slept GREAT! The rest of the day went much better, but when The Price Is Right came on she immediately pressed the power button. And I did not argue.

This was how the rest of the day was spent:

Louisiana State Capitol shot through the car window

Cathedral of St. Joseph as seen through last year's Mardi Gras beads :)

Clock tower of St. Joseph's

Anyone remember Huarache sandals from the 70s? I bought my first pair from this dilapidated shop. It was a cool, hip place in its heyday with the grooviest clothes. :)

After we returned from our little drive I heard all kinds of birds chirping as we emerged from the car. Armed with my camera, I went to investigate. The crunchy leaves were scaring them off, so I decided to check out this fallen tree instead.

As I got closer I noticed these clam-shaped mushrooms growing all over it

Too bad they absorb water so easily, otherwise they could serve as water bowls for the birds

Thank you for letting me vent today! I feel much better. :)

Let's Geaux!

My mother was having a lot of trouble getting around today so I helped her dress and bathe this morning. After that I looked online for some recipes to try, then made a quick dash to the grocery store. While dinner was simmering I went out and got these photos. Every few feet I breathed in the strongest scent of roses, yet when I looked around there wasn't a rose bush in sight! I came home and told my mom and she said the Blessed Mother must've been with me. I don't know about that, but it really was weird!

Azaleas are still in bloom!

ID help needed - anyone know what kind of bird this is? 
UPDATE: Eastern Phoebe
Thanks, TexWisGirl!!

Growing from a tree stump
Entered in The Creative Exchange

When I returned from my photography session, mama was eager to get ready for the LSU vs Bama game. She already had on her LSU shirt, so I found her LSU socks and the LSU slippers my daughter sent her for Christmas. She is convinced LSU is going to win the game because of these magic slippers. I'm going to have one depressed little lady on my hands if they don't win. :/

What's going on...

After reading the post title were you suddenly humming that Marvin Gaye song?

My youngest boy made 3 CDs for me last Sunday: Dr. Dog, Wolf People, and Citizen Cope. I know! Strange names, huh? Turns out I really, really like Citizen Cope. My boy knows me well. Very bluesy, soulful, and relaxing. Just what I needed. Michael is so very thoughtful and I love his sweet spirit.

It's been almost 3 weeks since boy-wonder took off for California. The frequency of phone calls, texts, and emails have increased exponentially, with the communication being mostly positive; however, he does have a cold. Despite his illness and no place to really call home he sounds happier than ever.

Last Thursday Double D and I celebrated 21 years of marriage. It was nice to receive texts and emails from most of our kids as well as my daughter's two friends. I can honestly say I love Double D more than ever and I'm so glad that God put us together.

My daughter texted this photo of severed fingers that she baked for a Halloween party on Saturday. My girl is so talented with such a fun spirit! Her visit in December can't get here fast enough. I will not even think about how fleeting those 3 days will be...

Yesterday Jay, texted me these photos. I had been begging the kids to go to the Japanese Gardens in Portland to get me a photo of this Japanese Maple ever since I saw a photo of it on 500px. My mouth dropped open in amazement. It takes my breath away. Don't you agree?

Although I can't compete with Jay's photos, here are the pics I took on Saturday. The rose garden was beckoning me again. It's so relaxing out there with the delicate scent of roses wafting over me and birds happily chirping. It's my non-medicated approach to dealing with stress. I highly recommend communing with nature on some level.

I am leaving for Baton Rouge tomorrow morning. My mother wants us to have quality "girl time" together, getting our nails done and shopping. No doctor visits or unpleasant appointments. Yay! Oh, and my parents--who have had a frosty relationship since their divorce over 40 years ago--are now on friendly terms. It's a long story, but suffice it to say that although my worlds collided a la George Costanza, it also has its advantages. One of them will be eating lunch together on Thursday like a real family. And BOTH of my parents are looking forward to it. I'm standing in the middle of it all going, "What the heck just happened?!"  LOL  I'm joking. But it is a little weird. Good-weird, I guess. :)

All Aglow

The weather has been absolutely glorious lately! There were some days--as recently as last month--when I didn't think I'd survive the heat. The equation breaks down like this: intense temperatures + lack of rain = pretty miserable summer. Yep, this one hit the record books. But it's all over and we lived to tell about it. I've almost forgiven Texas for what it put us through this year. Almost...

On Oct. 1 I visited the rose garden at Gussie Field Watterworth Park with a friend for photography. Upon entering the garden we were quite disappointed to find row upon row of scorched blooms. But it was understandable considering our drought situation. So I made the best of the afternoon by focusing on the assortment of butterflies and other winged creatures.

Last week we received a little rain. I really didn't think that much of it, knowing how low we are for the year. I figured we were so far behind that the couple days of rain wouldn't make a difference. Well, it's actually quite miraculous what happens to a parched rose garden when even just a little water falls from the heavens, caressing the plants, and soaking into the ground. Imagine my surprise last Sunday when I decided to pay the same rose garden another visit.

Won't you come into the garden? I would like my roses to see you. ~Richard Brinsley Sheridan

This lantana reminded me of Rocky fist-pumping, "Yeah! Take THAT you brutal summer heat! You didn't kill us! You only made us stronger!"
I only wish the "fist pumps" were in focus. You see it, don't you?

A zinnia with pink freckles. :) 

The scent was intoxicating. 

A Northern Mockingbird surveying his kingdom. He was quite vocal. I like to think that he was expressing how happy he is with the revival of the garden.

I caught the sun just as it was setting. I love the light at this time of day. 

 

This is pretty much straight out of camera except for a little sharpening in PS. 

I've always liked stripes. Such personality. And that orange glow? It's a street sign way off in the distance. Weird, huh?

The sun is giving off the last of its glow for the day.

Wishing everyone a beautiful weekend! We are going to the State Fair of Texas on Saturday, and on Sunday I hope to see my youngest son; the only one of my three children still living nearby. Hope everyone has a good one!!