Ahhh

There was a time when I made my bed every single day.  I piled it high with heavy comforters, pillows, and decorative throws.

But then I realized that sometimes you don't "have" to do the things in life you don't really want to do.  And I think it's nice to just let your mattress and sheets breath a little after supporting your body for hours each night.  Even sheets like to see the sunshine and feel a cool breeze sometimes, right?!

I still haven't given up my top sheet even though I use a duvet and down insert, but it's only a matter of time before I fully embrace my new casual existence.

These things take time after all, a messy bed used to make me feel like I wasn't keeping up with things...now it just makes me go ahhhh and want to linger a little longer.

I hope you find time to linger this weekend! 

*Duvet - Pottery Barn Outlet....Sheets - Target/Simply Shabby Chic (my fav!)*

How Cool is That?!

Yesterday I "made" my son take a tour of our yard to look at all of the roses and other new plantings we've put in this year.  He doesn't really mind, but he does like to make comments like..."what are you, 80 years old now?" as I point out the various plants and make him lean over and smell all of the buds.  I consider this time spent together to be mother son bonding time, and he considers it a way to learn which flowers to send his girlfriend, so it all works out.

As we passed by one of our huge old walnut trees, I told him to take a peek inside the bluebird box to see if there were any eggs.

When we moved into this house, there was already a bluebird box affixed to this beautiful tree, and with each passing spring I have waited patiently for a nest to be built and eggs to be hatched.  We've seen mama bluebirds come and go from the box over the past 6 years, but there were never any eggs and so I waited, and hoped.

Then, just a few weeks ago, we noticed that there seemed to be increased activity at the box, and one day while passing by the box, Mr. Tide announced that a female bluebird had flown out of the box and "scared the #$% out of him," as he walked past.  He also concluded that he had probably startled her more than she had him.

I just knew that this must be a good sign, and that we would be rewarded with eggs this year.

So when my son gently tapped the side of the box so as not to get a face full of bird when he opened the top, and he took a gander inside, this is what he found...5 beautiful blue eggs!  At first, when he said that there were in fact eggs in there I almost didn't believe him....we had waited so long for this moment, well I had anyway!

I was so excited that I squealed a little and vowed to come back later with my camera to take a few pics.  Later that evening I did just that.  While standing on my tiptoes I pointed the camera down inside the box and hoped for the best since I couldn't see what I was shooting.

I didn't want to linger too long because mama was not happy, though she was very accommodating and simply flew off to a nearby tree to wait out the interloping humans.  After I grabbed a few shots...some of which were perfect pics of the side or top of the box and not the eggs, I backed off and switched to my long lens in hopes she would return to her tiny egg shaped treasures.

She was hesitant at first, even with me a fair distance away, and she called in reinforcements in the form of daddy bluebird.  They worked as a team, with him chirping out warning signs if he thought the coast wasn't clear, and then finally giving her the go ahead to venture back inside the box...even perching above her to watch her back as she nestled down inside.  See her little eye peeking out from the box in the photo above while her other half checks to make sure she is safe and sound...love that!  And yes, he really is that blue, I haven't changed the saturation, I just lightened the picture so that you could see her more clearly.

Here she is on a nearby perch waiting for her mate to signal that it was time to return to her babies...isn't she beautiful?  Even though the females aren't as stunningly blue as the males, they are still a treat to see. 

A few weeks ago I saw a male bluebird on our fence fly off and bring a bug or grub back to his female companion who was also sitting on the fence.  I thought it was so sweet that I texted Mr. Tide who was in the other room....yeah we're weird like that and sometimes text instead of yelling things from one end of the house to another.  Now I wonder if it wasn't this pair of bluebirds who seem so perfectly content and happy as they are about to welcome 5 baby bluebirds into the world.  Thank you Walt Disney for making me anthropomorphize birds into a newlywed couple setting up house and having their first children. ;-)

Whatever human characteristics I may have conveyed upon these two doesn't really matter, the fact is I have 5 awesome bluebirds eggs in our box and that means more bluebirds flitting about my yard in the future, and that my friends makes me one very happy camper!

Some of you have been so kind as to email me and ask that I re-open my comments section.  Thank you for your wonderful words, but please know that my goal with any post is to leave you with a smile, much in the way that seeing a cute video, or reading a magazine article does.

I don't need the feedback, and am content in just knowing that maybe someone enjoyed what they viewed.  Like reading a magazine, maybe you will rip out the page for later, or even mention it to a friend, but you don't feel the pressure or the need to write the editor unless it's really something you feel strongly about.  So for now, please just enjoy my blog for what it is, and I will continue to try and provide you with silly words and hopefully joyful pictures.   xoxo Kat

May I

May I run through freshly mown fields?

May I add to my oyster shell tree?

May I capture Iris AND sun flares?

May I dart among the shadows?

May I sit in my favorite spot?

May I be shaded by freshly leaf cloaked trees?

 

May I take something so beautiful and turn it into something even more beautiful by removing its color?

Yes, I think I may.

Happy May 1st! :)

Beautiful Things

Everywhere we look there are beautiful things...

that's why I love this time of year!

Here is a sweet song I stumbled upon today.

Smile

What made you smile today?  Was it a call from a friend, something you read, a job well done, a beautiful sunrise?

For me it was a rainy day, roses starting to bloom (ahh that sweet rose fragrance), the sound of my children's voices, a chilly morning cuddled up with my man before he had to get up for work, puppies at my feet when I write, and something as simple as a dandelion image I captured a few days ago.

It's funny how something so many hate as a weed can have such a beautiful structure and delicate nature.  I guess I've always rooted for the underdog...or common weed, throughout my life.

Tonight, before you go to bed, think about those things that brought a smile to your face today...it's just what the doctor ordered...I promise! :)

Beauty Through the Lens

Earlier this month, before the weather became warm enough to open our windows, but not so cold that you turned into an ice cube, I had Mr. Tide remove some of the screens from a few of our windows.  I chose which windows to remove the screens from based on whether or not birds were likely to come to those parts of our house.  I knew that without the screens I could open these windows and hopefully capture a few of our many flying friends a little closer.

Normally I try and venture outside looking as much like a non threatening bush or fence post as possible, but that rarely works, so shooting through open windows seemed like the best choice.

Just outside our bedroom window we have a shepherd's hook that we hung a bird feeder on this winter.  Much to our dismay, the heavy winds quickly knocked the feeder off and we realized it wasn't the best spot for feeding the birds.  Not long after we took the feeder down we realized the iron pole/hook provided an ideal spot for the many bluebirds that visit us, so we left it right where it was and looked forward to seeing our bluebirds each day.  They happily perch on the curves of the hooks and fly down to grab the bugs and grubs from the lawn and surrounding fields.

I took full advantage of this up close opportunity by using my telephoto lens and propping myself precariously on our bed, or on tip toes as I positioned near the window so as not to scare them off.  They are still a good 20 feet or more outside the window, and because of the way our windows are hung, I needed to shoot with the top part of the window down in order to not be looking up at them.

The collage at the top of this post is a straight out of the camera compilation of the same happy male bluebird that happened to visit us one afternoon.  He was so busy munching on bugs that he seemed a little oblivious to the woman teetering through the open window several yards away.

I was so excited when I came to my computer and began processing the photos.  I had finally captured how blue these gorgeous birds really are, and I had finally captured an elusive wingspread shot!

These little guys are amazingly quick, and I was sure I hadn't gotten any decent take off or in flight shots, so I was pleasantly surprised that I had in fact snagged a few winners.   Of course I'm never content to just have the simple bird shots, so I began playing around with them and created the 2 images above.

Since then, we have put the screens up so that we could enjoy the cool breezes of our hit or miss springtime weather.  And although I haven't taken any more shots of the bluebirds visiting our shepherd's hook...I'm pretty sure they keep coming back in hopes that I will capture their beauty once again through my lens. 

I wonder, do you think my house will be full of gnats, spiders, and buzzing bees if we go without screens all summer?!  For the sake of nature photography...it might just be worth it! :)

Travel

"To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted." -- Bill Bryson

Pushing Myself...unlike some...

While I was on hiatus, I began the process of pushing myself...unlike some people (dogs) in these photos who will remain nameless! ;-)

I decided that instead of taking pictures that I thought might be marketable, I would focus on images that made me happy inside.

I realized that while I was in France last December, I rarely took pictures of people, yet it was often the people that I found to be the most interesting.  What held me back from taking images of people, besides the obvious concerns about privacy, etc., was the fact that I didn't think pictures with people in them would sell!

I had become so fixated on what would sell, that I lost site of what "I" really wanted to capture.  It's a tough thing to push past what will make you successful, and instead embrace personal success.  How many times have we heard people say, "I want to be successful at 'x, y, z,' but they never embrace that success isn't measured from the outside, but from the inside, and it's a life long process.

Now, in case you are thinking that I'm one tie-dyed shirt away from selling magic crystals on the internet, hear me out. 

I think that so many of us measure ourselves against the end result of something or someone.  We want to jump out of the gate painting like Michelangelo, singing like Sarah Brightman, and designing like Coco Chanel.  The truth is that all of those people developed their skills over time, and sure they had the talent from the get go, but it was their talent AND perseverance that ultimately led them to success.  I'm guessing the first step they had to take was to believe in themselves, and then to embrace the patience it takes to actually succeed.

So instead of focusing on the end result, the finish line, the "you've made it" award that so many of us yearn to have right after we begin something, whether it be a blog or a photography career, I am learning to enjoy the process.

Some days it's a b*$@&...trust me, patience is not my strong suit.  And some days when things work out I'm on top of the world, while other days I ask why I continue to even take pictures...but I know why, because I'm learning, growing, but most of all I'm edging ever closer to who I want to be.

And to help me grasp the concept of patience and mind over matter on days when I'm feeling a little sorry for myself, I watch a few good videos...like the one below.  Perspective is a wonderful thing my friends.  Now go grab that brass ring you're after...just don't be discouraged when the first 1000 are made of iron. :)