Walking in The Neighborhood with my Camera / Whats For Dinner

 

And a new week is about to begin. I am telling you life moves too fast at a certain point. No matter how I try slowing it down just doesn't seem to be an option.

 This week will be no different, I have to be in my sewing room as much as possible, so that at the end of the week I can hopefully sell my wears to local farm markets.I am planning on going to the flea market on Thursday morning as a seller, not a buyer. I have a dentist appointment, the 2nd fitting. Not something I am looking forward too. I also have a house screaming at me to finish the deep cleaning I started. 

I believe this coming week is an all work week with no playtime in the middle. I played all last week, with chair volley ball, Mexican train dominos, bingo and the dance. I am amazed I got anything done at all last week. There are no scheduled games or dances this week and even if there were I would just have to pass them up.

  I have friends wanting tea towels and one that wants a quilt. The baby Shower is the first week of June and I still have to finish the quilt. I held off til now on purpose. One of my attempts to not speed up time, by not being completely ready too soon. The quilt I want to sell needs the finishing steps as well and I have to find a place to sell it. It is an extra long twin and besides not knowing where to go to sell it, I have no idea what to ask for it.

       I said it, I need to be in the sewing room a lot. 

   As my Title implies I took a camera walk in Leisure Town. Well first I took a dog walk with BowD. We did a long one covering as much land as possible. I saw all these things I wanted to try and photograph, and I didn't have the camera. When BowD and I got back I grabbed the camera both lenses and went back out with the car. I am not crazy enough to want to do that walk twice. It is amazing just how much skill gets lazy or lost when you don't use it. You will see what I mean as you browse my photos. I know some of what I am about to share isn't good photography but I just feel the need to share any how.

   Flowers always catch my eye. I love to stop and look, and smell if I can, but mostly I want to put my camera on them. The trail we started on was lined with a few different wild flowers and the trail it self just smelled so sweet.

   On the same flower trail after I took BowD home these 2 cardinals were just having a ball teasing me. Even in continuous shooting mode I couldn't capture them. There were more than 2 birds but these 2 would fly just in front of me and then from side to side and when ever they would sit for a minute it would be hidden in the branches.Finally 

     I was like" Okay you win no more pictures I have other spots to hit" I meant it too I turned off the camera capped the lens and headed back down the trail to the car. Yep you guessed it the 2 birds flew right with me to the end of the trial. Picture perfect, I didn't lift my camera once, I enjoyed the sight and kept walking. I know the minute the camera came up they would have gone stealth mode again and all I would get would be frustrated .

    We have Koa pond. The pond or small lake is murky and not beautiful so seeing the fish isn't all that easy. When you do see them, you may wish you hadn't. Don't think small white orange and black spots, think fisherman prize size and the spots stretched out til they are all but gone. Some look very much like beings from another planet. 

     Again I was just happy the fish show up on film at all. Truthfully I was about to give up when this guy showed up and I was able to focus on him enough to get the camera to fire. I tried everything every setting and so on. Those fish are not photogenic from top side.

   Old Forge Lake, the biggest lake of all the lakes in our community and the busiest when it comes to bird life. From day to day who will be visiting the lake and little island in its middle is anybodies guess. I have seen, sand pipers, ducks, vultures, swallows and other song birds flitting along the edges, and always the geese. This is the geese's home they are here year round, and I bet are the least photographed because of it. Lucky for me while I was on my little camera trip this guy decided to show me it's bathing ritual,I am so happy I have learned about  continuous shooting mode, it certainly  didn't let me down. I have opted to show these photos with no editing what so ever, not even the slightest crop. They tell a story no matter the quality or skill of the photo and photographer.

     Geese and birds aren't the only inhabitants of the lake, there are turtles too. I unknowingly disturbed a sunning turtle as I walked towards the shore, I heard him rather than saw him. I walked right to the edge and stood as still as I could and waited. Sure enough his head popped up a little ways out in the water. It was a stand off, he wouldn't come any closer and I didn't move, well for about 14 shots I didn't move.

I decided to give up and move on, at the same exact moment I put the camera down he went under, I waited hoping he was going to come closer, but I never saw him come back up, so he headed in another direction to get his sun undisturbed.

    My best shots of the day would not win prizes, but they make me very happy. I would like you to meet Momma.

     I knew that was her sitting in the tree as I walked into the yard, without even looking to see if the nest was empty or not. Some how she looks a little different from other Robins and I have noticed other Robins aren't coming too close to the yard. I normally have a few playing in our trees but not since Momma set up house keeping on the porch. I was coming back from my camera walk and had the camera in my hand so I snapped a few as quickly as I could. I didn't worry about settings at all, I just aimed and fired. What we see is what we get. As I moved off to the side Momma went back in the nest, and settled right in.

     I stay away from the front as much as possible but when I do go that way Momma is calm, she might move but not in a flustered or frightened kind of way, it is more nonchalant and she really doesn't go far,I find myself talking to her all the time. She hasn't answered me yet, but her head does the are you a bit crazy tilt as she looks at me.

  Whats For Dinner: 

    I honestly don't know. I feel like I just open the refrigerator door stood there looking for an hour and still walked away hungry. I didn't do any thing news worthy that I haven't already told you about. (Nope not going to let out my new chili recipe? just yet.) I went looking at old photos, even older blogs, and recipes that I might re share, and while fun and at times eye opening, there was nothing that fit the bill. Or at least I couldn't find a photo, and recipe that went together, well that is what I thought until I was writing the last sentence. I have photo from 2012 of scallops that I was just going to leave you with because it is a nice photo and I thought it might inspire someones dinner.

  As I was writing I remembered the main ingredients and typed them in my search bar. Bingo the recipe with my photo as one of the 5 that are posted, and my review is 1 of 17. I gave it 5 stars for the well written clear and easy recipe and how much Bill enjoyed it. I didn't and still don't eat seafood. I do find it helpful however even necessary to know how to cook seafood, and it isn't as easy as slapping a burger on the grill. Don't get me wrong it takes skill to make a good burger, there is just a lot of room for mistakes, not so much with seafood. So straight from Feb 2012 I give you

Scallops/pineapple & Ginger

 Wanna bet scallops and pineapple are on the next shopping list.

    I hope you enjoyed this, and that you come back again