A few ruffled feathers

Can we at least try to get along?

I guess we're at an impasse.

Look Charles, I caught a feather!

Do I look sexy?

You look ridiculous and you need to lose a few feathers. The one in your mouth isn't helping. :/

How about this?

Sorry you lost the feather, Gertrude. Let me sing you a song.

Eh, you're a little pitchy.

I'm too sexy for my feathers...too sex-y!

Charles, shut UP! You're embarrassing both of us! The entire flock is laughing!
Oh, how will I hold my head up during migration?!

I don't care what you say. I don't play the same games you play! La la la la la.

You WILL care when you are laughed out of this lake!

La la la la la....I can't hear you, Gertrude!

Excuse me while I kiss the sky!

My ears are bleeding! Please, for the love of all that is pure and holy, STOP!

Where're you goin'?

That's it! I've had enough of your nonsense! Goodbye, Charles.
Forever!

Good riddance!

I'M THE KING OF THE WORLD!

Gertrude! I'm sorry! I'm lost without you...ooohh...ooohh!

Thankful

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.
It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being.
We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.
~Albert Schweitzer

From time to time I go through periods of melancholy, which I experienced this past week. Then last night Double D went to the mailbox and handed me a small box. "What's this all about?" he asked.

"Oh, my sweet bloggy friend! I wonder what it is?!"

I knew the package was coming, but wasn't expecting it for a few more days. Delighted, I tore open the package and inside found the most beautiful, sterling silver hummingbird earrings. My sweet friend (who asked to remain anonymous), knows me well. What's strange is I received notice that it was coming before I published The Impossible post. How did she know ahead of time that I could use a lift?

I tried my best to photograph the earrings; unfortunately, indoor photography is not my strong suit. It has been raining most of the day, so I could not take them outside for my favorite natural light shots. Here they are anyway--aren't they beautiful?

Playing with the Solarize feature in Lightroom

My purple LSU shirt kept reflecting onto the silver, so I just left it. 

I adore these earrings, but I also appreciate the thought and care and time that went into this gesture. "Appreciate" isn't really the right term—maybe "deep gratitude" is the closest phrase to what I'm feeling. So, thank you, thank you for your generosity and friendship. I am humbly blessed knowing that God is still working through His people on earth.

Now, I've got to lighten this up with a silly joke. You've probably seen it, but here it is anyway:

Big Ed seemed to always fall asleep during the Sunday sermon. His wife was fed up and decided to deal with the embarrassing situation.

The next Sunday when he fell asleep, she quietly removed some pungent Limburger cheese from a ziplock bag in her purse and passed it under his nose.

Groggily startled, Big Ed blurted out, "No, Helen, no—don't kiss me now!"

Snort! Have a great weekend everybody!

Sharing with Nancy at 

Exercise is for the birds

Hey guys! Watch this!!

99.....100!

*pant* *pant* Whew, that was hard!

Oh, big deal. You think you're so tough?

Pole dancing is ten times more difficult!

Are y'all still watching?! 199...200!

I'm too wittle. I'll just watch.

Hey! Look what I can lift. My beak is stronger than all your feet put together!

Forget exercise! Come over to the hummingbird bar and wet your whistle. 

Sharing with A Rural Journal: Rural Thursday

Partying is for the birds

Today I moved a bird feeder that was in a remote corner of the yard and placed it next to the established popular hangout to see what would happen. It was as though a new nightclub opened and there was no bouncer to control the influx of partiers that wanted in. 

Stop shaking the dance floor guys! I'm gonna fall off!!!

There, that's better. Boys on one side and girls on the other.

What the??????? INCOMING!!

Stick with me Stella, I'll protect you.

Look at this rogue sparrow, would ya? Who let him in? The nerve. Nobody talk to him.

AND STAY OUT!

Stop flappin' your wings and get a grip, woman!

That new hangout is sinful. As the resident cardinal I'll pray for their gluttonous ways.

While those idiots are jockeying for position at the new club, I'm gonna grab all the juicy morsels from the old place. 

I'M OLD ENOUGH TO GET IN!! I SWEAR!!!

Sharing with World Bird Wednesday and Rural Thursday.


Edit: Thanks, Hilary for selecting this for Post of the Week! What an honor!!!

Friday funny and sneak preview

One day Boudreaux (Boo-droe), his wife Clotile (Clo-teal), and Boudreaux's friend, Pierre went to the city.

While Clotile went shopping, Boudreaux and Pierre decided to go check out one of the tall buildings. Inside the building, Boudreaux and Pierre came to a set of big golden doors.

Boudreaux said, "Wonda wot dees doors lead to?"

Boudreaux and Pierre stared at the doors for a few minutes until an old woman approached. She pushed a button, the doors opened, she went inside, and the doors closed.

Boudreaux and Pierre watched as numbers above the door changed from "1" to "2" to "3", then the numbers stopped and changed again from "3" to "2" to "1".

When the doors opened again a beautiful, young, voluptuous woman walked out!

Boudreaux excitedly told Pierre, "Mais you saw dat!? Hurry up--lets go find Clotile so we can put her in dere!"

Yesterday I drove to Breaux Bridge, LA to a wetland/wildlife preserve at Lake Martin. More to come! Hope your weekend comes with a dash of Sauce Piquante!

My Photography Top 10 and Book Winner!

Yesterday I got a kick out of Paul Harwell's blog post entitled, "Top 10 Signs You Just Might be a Wildlife Photographer". Boy, could I relate! So I thought I'd try to come up with my own Top 10 for photography addiction.

My daughter took this of me in Portland.
One of my first outings with the 400mm lens.

You know you're a photography addict when:

10. Just the idea of going outside with your camera makes you giddy.
9. Your camera bag is with you more than your purse.
8. You are keenly aware of how light is bathing an object even when not shooting.
7. You spend more time editing photos on your computer than with the family.
6. A gentle breeze is now considered a nuisance.
5. If an outing doesn't involve photography or isn't favorable for photos, you're not interested.
4. You feel naked without your camera.
3. If you go more than a few days without shooting, you dream about it.
2. When watching a sporting event you are more interested in the camera lenses on the sidelines than in the game.

And the #1 reason you know you're a photography addict:

1. You would rather have camera gear than nice clothes or jewelry.

What about you? Can you add to the list?

And now for the winner of the Jesus Calling book: NADINE, Chewy & Lilibell!! I have been so excited for this give-away. Nadine, please contact me with your mailing address and I'll have it shipped to you asap. Congrats! I hope you'll be as blessed by it as I have been. :)

Maxine, Boudreaux, and a Compromise to the Rescue!

Some days, Maxine really nails how I feel.

My eldest son and I have been locked in a battle for some time, and things all came to a head this week. Finally, in a last-ditch effort to stop the madness he called last night asking if we could just start over from scratch. Forget the past and move forward. Me, immediately latching on to that offer said, "That's the best thing you've said all day. I'll take it. Deal!" Then we exchanged some lighthearted text messages and I finally slept the sleep of babes.

Earlier in the day someone had sent me some new Maxines (which I love), and the one above couldn't have been more perfect. Then my aunt sent me a Cajun joke.


Boudreaux was in New Orleans. He was patiently waiting and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing. The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted, "Okay, pedestrians!" Then he'd allow the traffic to pass.


He'd done this several times and Boudreaux still stood on the sidewalk.


After the cop had shouted, "pedestrians!" for the tenth time, Boudreaux went over to him and said, "Ain't it 'bout time ya let the Catholics across?


If you're not Cajun you may not get it, but it put a smile on my face. Here's one more and I'll let you go:


Pierre looks out the window and sees Boudreaux standing out in his field. Pierre tells his wife, Marie, that he is worried about Boudreaux.


The next day he looks out his window and he sees Boudreaux still standing out in his field and tells Marie that he's REALLY worried about Boudreaux.


The third day he looks out and Boudreaux is still standing out in his field. Pierre says, "Marie, Boudreaux has lost his mind and I need to go help him!"


He walks over to Boudreaux and says, "What the hell are you doing, Boudreaux?"


Boudreaux says, "I'm trying to win de Nobel Prize."


Pierre says, "Mais, how you plan to do dat?"


Boudreaux says, "I saw a show on TV and dey said if you want to win de Nobel Prize dat you have to be out standing in your field."


Thanks for humoring me. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend! 

Funny Friday

I received this email a few weeks ago and found myself ROTFL. I'm sure it's been around the world several times, but in case you haven't seen it, here it is:

Dear Granddaughter,

    
The other day I went up to our local Christian book store and saw a 'Honk if you love Jesus' bumper sticker.
    
I was feeling particularly sassy that day because I had just come from a thrilling choir performance, followed by a thunderous prayer meeting.

So, I bought the sticker and put it on my bumper.

Boy, am I glad I did; what an uplifting experience that followed.

I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection, just lost in thought about the Lord and how good he is, and I didn't notice that the light had changed.

It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus because if he hadn't honked, I'd never have noticed.
    
I found that lots of people love Jesus!

While I was sitting there, the guy behind started honking like crazy, and then he leaned out of his window and screamed, 'For the love of God! Go! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, GO!'

What an exuberant cheerleader he was for Jesus!

Everyone started honking!

I just leaned out my window and started waving and smiling at all those loving people.

I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!

There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a sunny beach.

I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger stuck up in the air.

I asked my young teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant.

He said it was probably a Hawaiian good luck sign or something.

Well, I have never met anyone from Hawaii , so I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back.

My grandson burst out laughing. Why even he was enjoying this religious experience!!

A couple of the people were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards me.

I bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended, but this is when I noticed the light had changed. So, grinning, I waved at all my brothers and sisters, and drove on through the intersection.

I noticed that I was the only car that got through the intersection before the light changed again and felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared.

So I slowed the car down, leaned out the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time as I drove away.  Praise the Lord for such wonderful folks!!

Will write again soon,

Love,  Grandma