Tuesday's Top Pick

Underwater dogs by Seth Casteel

This week's pick are some awesome yet adorably funny images from photography Seth Casteel, one of which you can see above (the rest are here). The set includes underwater shots of dogs swimming, fetching and playing.

Take that Domino's!

My version of Domino's cinnamon sticks.
And they taste even better. :)

Celebrate!

My Dad's birthday was a couple of weeks ago. Here are a couple of shots from his 'surprise' party.

He looks so thrilled.

My brother Patrick, and his daughter.

Mackenzie.

Birds!

Spring is here. And so are the birds. My mockingbirds are in full dance display these days. Hopping from one bush to another flashing their wings and tails in their territorial dance claim. I've attempted to get pictures of them doing this dance, but they know I'm watching and do it far enough away from the house that my camera zoom just can't keep up. But I have gotten a couple of shots close by, and some lovely shots of my returning to nest bluebirds. If you were around last year, you'll remember these bluebirds had two nests, one in the spring and one in the summer so it will be exciting to see how they fare this year!

Pair of mockingbirds in the front yard.

Little tail dance.

Shy female bluebird.

Tuesday's Top Pick

Mixing it up! This week I would like to mention something that some of you may not be aware of, RedditGifts, which is the worlds biggest gift exchange. I signed up for the Christmas gift exchange last year and I had a blast being paired up with a fellow redditor, reading about them and picking out a fun, unique gift to send to them for Christmas. And the person assigned to me got me some thoughtful gifts as well, such as a book series I had never read before and some frozen hot chocolate mix. I know, isn't that nifty? So right now you can sign up for Reddit's book exchange over here and I would encourage you to do so if you like doing good for others and connecting to those outside of your daily world.

February 18th Sunset

Sunset - February 18, 2012.

February Freeze

Taken February 11, 2012.

This winter so far has been a bust in central NC for snow lovers. The picture above was taken just five days ago and documents the first hard freeze we had this winter. I do love snow, it makes such pretty pictures so I do wish we had some this year, but as we are getting closer to March the changes look less and less.

However, I will leave you with this tease: there are whisperings among the weather forums (that I openly stalk, I have said for years my major should have been in meteorology) that there could be a chance of snow this upcoming Sunday. ;)

Yummy Goodness

So if you follow me on Twitter (over here) you'll have seen a post in the last week about some very amazing honey nut bread that I baked. And here is the proof of the yummy goodness I created.

Bread ingredients.

Finished product.

Tuesday's Top Pick

This week's top pick is an absolutely adorable video of Sophia Grace and Rosie singing/rapping on Ellen. Sophia Grace really gets into it and her reaction at toward the end of the video when Ellen surprises her is just priceless. Hope you enjoy and Happy Valentine's Day!

Adventures of Werewolf Tot

Werewolf Tot

Werewolf Tot is a toy that my husband acquired from Sonic many, many years ago. Werewolf Tot premiered around Halloween as part of a toy collection that Sonic was promoting. The collection included a cat, ghost, mummy, zombie, pumpkin as well as many other Halloween-themed tots. This past October/November as the tots were being packed up after their yearly October display on the mantle, Werewolf Tot happened to make his way outside of the box that the rest of his friends had been placed in. Since that time, Werewolf Tot has been seen in random places around the house, frequently moving from upstairs to downstairs in a matter of hours. Werewolf Tot has also been since in the vicinity of out of our cats, Bandit, to whom we think we can place the blame on of how Werewolf Tot got out of his box.

And so begins a new photography series, The Adventures of Werewolf Tot.

Catawba Says Thanks

A few weeks ago I spent a day at Second Chance taking pictures of Catawba for a 'Thank You' promotion we had planned for all the Second Chance volunteers and supporters. Here are a few of my favorite shots from that day.

Sitting Pretty.

Being a Cat.

Yawning.

Spring in February

Daffodils.

It's been rather warm lately. In fact, today's high is 70 (the historical average for today is 53, I looked it up). And because of that my bulbs have started blooming about a month and a half earlier than they usually would. Now the local big news station, WRAL, put out a story yesterday regarding the worry that a warm spring will mean a harsh summer (you can see the whole story here). The story boiled down to no, there won't be more insects and no, there won't be more weeds because of the warmth.

However, they missed what I think is a crucial point and that is a warm, dry winter can lead to a very active spring in terms of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. It will be interesting to note if others who are weather wise also catch this and most importantly, what actually happens this spring.