January Monthly Summary

We started January with a family breakfast. John and Lindsey went to a church function on New Year’s Eve and I had to work, so Papa Jimmy had Mason to himself. I am sure it was the first of many times to come. They spent the night at our house so we had us a big breakfast, and spent most of the day together. A great way to begin the new year.

We received our passports the 2nd, and started making plans for a trip to the Panama Canal. We leave tomorrow morning to Florida to board the ship on Tuesday. The cruise will last 10 days, then we will go to our time share in St Pete Beach for a week.

I started my new blog this month and am still working on cleaning up my original blog. I want to make it easier to find photographs worthy of framing and using in my greeting cards. So I first used bloggers new export/import tool and sent the whole blog to my new blog (the one you are on) and then started removing some of the post from the original blog. All of the post are staying on the Photos For Fun blog. I have also prepared post for the 3 weeks we will be gone, so I hope all of you will visit and leave comments while I am gone. I will catch up with your blogs when I return.

This month Shelley has given us all a big scare about our photos stored on our computers. I have gotten all my photographs transferred to the external hard drive. That was quite a job, even with the majority of them already there. Just hope it doesn't crash. Now I am thinking maybe I need two external hard drives, surely they wouldn't both crash at the same time.

The house in Rockwood is finally livable, Jimmy spent his first night there on the 12th. The following weekend we spent most of the weekend there. On Saturday Jimmy and I went to Ozone Falls, which is located between Betsy and George and our house in Rockwood. Come spring we will have to meet them there one day. I was surprised as cold as it was the little parking area was full of vehicles when we left. Guess everybody was like us, they wanted to see Ozone with some water tumbling over. Came home late Saturday evening so we could go to church on Sunday. After an afternoon with the family we went back to Rockwood.

I have seen lots of birds at Rockwood, it may turn out to be my bird haven.
So far I have seen and photographed…
American Goldfinch
Brown Headed Nuthatch
Northern Cardinal
Eastern Bluebird
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Chickadee
Red Bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
Mourning Dove
Cedar Waxwing
Pine Siskin
Carolina Wren
Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
The last 4 are new birds to my lifer list.

So this month has been a very exciting birding month.

I did some photography assignment work 3 different days for

Safe n’ Sound Creative Technologies.

This afternoon we will be celebrating Mason's first birthday with a family party.

He was sick on his birthday, but has improved enough that we all plan on having a great time. He has been taking a few steps by himself, maybe he will take off today!

Mallard Ducks at Lake Seminole Park

These Mallards were at the Lake Seminole Park in October, 2008.

Blue Jay in the old tree

Think he is checking me out?

This is one of the birds at Rockwood, you can see why I want Jimmy to keep the feeders filled. Jimmy broke down and filled the feeders during his lunch hour yesterday. He said by the time he got off work they had eaten quite a bit. He will fill to the very top before he leaves on Friday. I have seen as many as 12 different types of birds in a 2 hour span. There are 3 pairs of Blue Jays and 3 pairs of Northern Cardinals. Jimmy also saw 3 Sapsuckers yesterday, but they are not at the feeders, just the Oak tree.

I am all twisted up here

I have so much to do and not much time to do it in. In the middle of getting ready for 3 weeks of vacation I have had 3 days of photography assignment work this week and last week. This business is hurry up and wait, and at your busiest that is when the work finally comes in. I am enjoying it, but the computer work that goes with it is what makes it hard. We leave Sunday morning and I have another day of photography work today, and then to the computer with it. And packing to do! Hang with me, while I am gone the post will go on, because I have also gotten 3 weeks of post ready. The new header was inspired by the anticipation of the vacation.

House Sparrow at the feeder

This feeder is at our home, not in Rockwood. It is for the cheap seeds. It is there for when I don't get the good stuff out to them. I rarely see birds at this feeder, because when I am home I give them the good stuff. Maybe I need to take this feeder to Rockwood so I can save a little on the seed that is going so fast.

Flycatcher at Spring City Park

He just looks so pensive.

This photo was taken October 2 at Spring City Park in Spring City, Tennessee.

Since we ended out buying a house in Rockwood instead of Spring City I am not sure how often I will actually visit the parks in Spring City. Spring City is 10 miles in the wrong direction for me. I was going while we were staying in the motel in Spring City. What else to do while Jimmy was at work? The backyard in Rockwood appears to be so packed with birds I think it will keep my camera busy for a while. Later I might venture back there on occasion.

I am beginning to get my husband hooked on the photography too. Along the highway between Spring City and Rockwood on occassion there are Red Tailed Hawks on the phone lines. I have yet to capture one with the camera. Jimmy has my point and shoot with him this week to use at work. He was headed home yesterday afternoon and there was one of the hawks. He stopped and started to get out of the car and the Hawk flew to the other side of the road. Jimmy went down the road and turned around and stopped again, once again he started to get out of the car and the Hawk flew again. I asked him if he tried to get the shot without getting out of the car. He had not. If he sees it again this afternoon I bet he will be trying without opening the door. Hopefully he will get it. If he does I will post it.

I also have him filling my bird feeders at the Rockwood house because I want to keep the birds there so I can photograph them. Friday before he came home for the weekend he filled them to the top. Monday the feeders were empty. The same amount had been lasting 2 weeks, not just 3 days. He told me he could not afford to give them that much, which the 2 feeders do hold quite a bit. He said he would fill tomorrow. I gave him enough to fill twice this week, but they will never last for the 3 weeks we will be gone on vacation. I have to keep reminding myself these birds were there long before I started feeding them a month ago. I am going to have to stop trying to feed the whole county. But it is so much fun to see them all in the yard.

Splash of color on this rainy day

I know it will be a while before we get back around to this season, but I just had to post some color on this rainy, dreary, cold winter day. The top 2 photos were taken at Newfound Gap. All 3 photos are in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Love the 'smokies' appearance, it makes me feel like I am at home.

The last photo is along the road somewhere in the park. I can go right to it, but don't know what that are is called.

I am suppose to be working on disk for the photo assignment job I went on yesterday.

Guess I better get to it.

Tufted Titmouse

Mason is 1 year old today

Our grandson, Mason, is one year old today. This first photo was taken within the first minute after he was born. He was born with the cord around his neck, and his first breaths were hard. Because of this they did whisk him away to be observed very closely. He was never put on oxygen as they warned us he would be an hour later when we saw him. An hour later we were all able to go in and see him, then we went home to get some sleep, and let Lindsey get some sleep. About twelve hours later we went back to see him, and I was with Lindsey when they handed him to her to hold for the first time. Jimmy and I then left on vacation for 2 weeks. Mason was not due until February, so we thought we had time to go on vacation and return before he was born. That is not the way Mason had it planned. The photo below is 2 weeks later when I got to hold him for the first time. Jimmy was waiting on his turn.

The next photo is Lindsey, John and Mason in June when we all went to St Pete Beach.

First time Mason had his feet in the sand. August, right after I fed him sweet potatoes, he is sitting in John's highchair.

We all seem to like this picture for some reason.

Mason showing off the hint of his first tooth. Love that fuzzy head.

Mason loves being pulled around in his John Deere wagon, especially when Papa gets him close to Granny's flowers so he can pick them.

This last photograph was taken in Georgia when we went there for my family Christmas celebration. Since this one was taken he has had his first haircut.

We will be celebrating his birthday with a big family get together this Saturday.

Happy Birthday Mason!!!!

Carolina Chickadee with a mouth full

Looks like a Chickadee with a Blue Jay's beak.

Icicles at Ozone Falls

These are just some icicle photos from when we visited Ozone Falls earlier in the month.

Could see the water dripping even though the temp was in the upper teens.

So it made it a little scary to walk under those sharp points.

Could see where the icicles had hit the ground, so stayed away from those spots.

Jimmy didn't like me standing under the rock overhangs either.

He kept pointing out the cracks in the rocks, and we all know freezing and thawing is what makes these big rocks break off.

If I had stepped out from under it and it had fallen I think it would have still gotten me.

They don't just fall straight down. Besides I was beginning to get real cold. Time to start the climb back out of there.

Ozone Falls when the temp is below 20

I am not a person that likes to go outside when it is cold. So it is real amazing that I talked Jimmy into going to Ozone Falls when the temp in the valley was hanging at 20.
Up on the mountain, who knows?

East Tennessee had a lot of rain the week before and I had seen Betsy and George had been there to check it out. I just had to see it. The one time I had been there the falls did not have very much water to see. I was disappointed. Not this time. The top photo is me hanging real close to the edge trying to get a look/see. With Jimmy having his normal hissy fit that he has when I get close to any edge. On this day it was understandable, ICE everywhere. See the ice around the waterfall, it was like that everywhere. The water was still moving, and that was what I had come to see.

Well, the look/see from the top was not good enough for me.
So down we went, knowing we had to climb back out of there, and George had already warned us it was steep. And I had even commented on his blog that I would not be going down. When you get there it is different story. Got to see that water. But George even went down below the plunge pool and found a 2nd little waterfall.

Notice the white behind the falls. Not sure if that is just ice or if ice then snow on top of it. Not really a way to get over there to see, unless of course a person swam over there. Not me even in warm weather.

Talk about a hissy fit.

It was worth it and I am glad I talked Jimmy into it. Think he was too.

Sometimes I take on more than I can swallow

I read somewhere that birds have to acquire the taste for Safflower. I think this one liked it ok, he just needs to learn how to eat it, without choking. Enlarge the 3rd photo for a better view.