I went out yesterday in the early afternoon to practice with the zoom lens on my nikon d200. After a couple of days indoors, it felt great to be out in the bright sun. The sky was a dazzling blue and for the first time in a couple of weeks, the temperature was over 40º.

The first shot was taken near my friend Hazel’s bird feeders. When I got there, the tree was full of chickadees and juncos. The juncos moved to another tree about 40 feet away, but the chickadees stayed, all 15 of them. I tried my best to get them all bunched up for a group shot, but when one would land on a branch, another would take off. This is the best I could do getting them together.

The second and third shots were taken out near my garden. The focal length on both these shots is 18.00mm. The view is nice and wide, but I think a little too bright. More studying of the book needed, and maybe more advise from my husband, who knows how to do it right. The third shot is just a little better. All the camera settings can be found on my flickr site. Just click on the photos. I did get some chickadee close ups, but will save them for another day.

This ladybug showed up on my African Violet plant in the kitchen. It is now living in the plants in the cellar. We haven’t had so many show up this year, as in other winters. This kind of bug, I don’t mind seeing once in a while!

prompt-a “spicy” fib

red
clay
land of
adobe
the chili pepper
enchiladas and hot salsa

one
green
leafy
pot nearby
scented the air with
the fragrance of cinnamon

I added this one today after ordering some spicy scented geraniums!

for more “spicy ” fibs, go here

The crows around here think they own the place. This morning, not only were the gulls around, but a flock of Canadian geese settled down in the hayfield behind the house. You would not have believed all the noise the crows made. I’ll bet they pay attention to what is going on tomorrow, and make sure to get here first.

As a child, my sisters, brother and I used to roam the woods around our home in rural Oklahoma. The house was built on top of a mountain, with a view of Crescent Valley on three sides. The area around the house was cleared, Dad used this for pastures and raising hay. Down below, on all sides was a hickory and oak forest. That is where we loved to explore and play.

One place really interested us. Way down at the bottom of a long hollow, there was a place along a stream where a perfect square of daffodils came up every spring. Not even a path lead to this place, and only a few piles of stone hinted that a house had once stood there. All that remained of the old homestead was the daffodils.

We lived in the country, between Fort Gibson, and Tahlequah. While gardening, we often found arrowheads, a lot of them not finished, like they may have been made there. My dad thought that the field may have been a camp at one time. And what a great place it would have been for it, with a view of the entire area. The local school we attended had been started as an Indian mission school. The area we lived in had been Indian Territory until 1907, when Oklahoma became a state. Our local school had been started as an Indian mission school. We were in fact, at the very place the Trail of Tears ended. So, it is very likely the flowers could have come from Cherokee settlers.

Recently, either my mom or brother sent me a clipping from a Tulsa newspaper. Since, I have just found the article online I am posting it, as Mr. Studebaker tells a story that may account for the daffodils. It is very interesting and if you are interested in how plants travel, this article is worth reading. Go here to see the story of the Cherokee Daffodils.