Tag: photography

May 17, 2011

Jelly bellies.

I’ve been told that me and my siblings bear a strong family resemblance.  But one thing I don’t share with them is a love for jelly beans.

I’m not a fan of jelly beans.  Never have been.  Every Easter (year after year), when all of us kids would make our way to the easter baskets, they were loaded with jelly beans.  But, I always left them in the basket along with that plastic grass.

This week, a friend of my mom’s brought this box of gourmet Jelly Belly jelly beans up to her hospital room.  And with the steady stream of visitors, they have been slowly disappearing.  Some flavors quicker than the others.  Good thing there’s a legend on the box top.

I have to admit that I did break down and try a buttered popcorn flavored jelly bean (2nd row from the bottom, 4th from the right), and it tasted EXACTLY like movie popcorn.  Amazing.  That ought to do me for a while.

May 16, 2011

Rhodies.

The rhododendrons are blooming everywhere.  These are in the front yard.

I like the splash of animal print these are wearing 🙂

May 15, 2011

Phalaenopsis.

I got a chance to visit with my cousin, Steve, who lives back east but was in the area for a business trip.  He and his nephew, Patrick, stopped by the hospital to see mom and then a bunch of us went out to lunch to catch up.

Things are looking good to mom being discharged, maybe Monday or Tuesday, to home instead of to a rehab center.  Since I’m staying here at her house, I can help her get around and be here if she needs anything.

This is a shot of the lovely orchid that Steve brought mom.

May 14, 2011

Ok, that does it.

I’m officially ready to get a DSLR, or big-girl camera, as I like to think of it.  I went for a drive around Seabeck this morning and saw lots of birds on the tide flats foraging.

This is my very first picture ever of a bald eagle.  I don’t think I’ve even seen many this close.

Along the roadway there were lots of photographers gathered with tripods and lenses as long as my arm.   I sidled right up beside them with my little point and shoot.

This shot is maxed out on my D10’s 12x digital zoom, so it’s grainy.  I can only imagine how nice some of these shots could have been with a different camera.

May 13, 2011

Friday the 13th.

Mom is doing really well.   They are still not letting her eat/drink anything other than clear liquids – going on 72 hours now (!)

I had a full calendar of meetings today but went up after work, eastern time, and visited with her.   Just as I got up there the nurses came in to change the location of her IV.  After 2 attempts by the student nurse (grr) and 1 attempt by the real nurse (Grr), they gave up and said they’d need to call someone else in.  After 3 hours of waiting (GRRR) someone came in and inserted the IV and plugged her back into her saline, antibiotic meds and pain medicine pump-thingie.   She didn’t seem bothered by it, but I sure was.

I’ve extended my stay through next week.  Tonight I’m going to stay at Noreen’s house.  I caught some nice glimpses of the Olympics in the usual places on my drive to Seabeck.

May 12, 2011

Another day in the books.

A long day of meetings.  I spent time at the hospital later in the afternoon.  Then Noreen and I drove around and checked out several of the local rehab / acute care facilities… probably the next step after mom gets discharged from the hospital.

Good night!

May 10, 2011

Bells of blue.

Flowers bloom everywhere up here.  These are blue bells growing in my mom’s front yard.

May 9, 2011

Mother's Day remnant.

The Mother’s Day fairy brought mom this lovely orchid yesterday.

May 7, 2011

Can't get enough of these.

My sister, Francine, surprised me by meeting me at the airport and picking me up last night.  So I spent the night at her house.  I got to visit with my niece and nephew, Rebecca and Aaron, in the morning before heading off to visit my mom, who is in the hospital for some tests and observation.

It’s so pretty here, though 40-50 degrees colder than Austin; much wetter and greener.   This is a shot of blossoms on a tree in Fran’s driveway.  I think this is a cherry.

May 5, 2011

It's alive!

It’s 2 weeks to the day since I planted the Chinquipin Oak sapling for Earth Day.  I’ve been careful to water it and have been watching it for signs of life every day or two.

It has 8-10 buds on it now, and growing !

May 4, 2011

Bouquet.

This is a tiny floret on one of the lantana plants in the backyard.  I planted these lantana about 3 years ago, and they have been bright yellow/orange.  I have to say that my favorites are the multicolored lantana.

This year, i’m happy to see there there seem to be a few multicolored blooms on this sprawling, hearty plant.  I’m wondering if this is from cross pollenation (?) as last year I planted a multi-color lantana in the neighboring bed.

Either way, they’re beautiful.  And they attract butterflies in droves.

May 3, 2011

Hummingbird-feeder-stealth-shot #2.

I’m getting better at this. 🙂

May 2, 2011

Once in a lifetime.

The neighbors two houses down have a huge agave plant in their front yard. It has been there for about 40 years.  It is also known as a century plant, because it blooms once in its lifetime.  It takes so much energy to put up a stalk this size that it saps all the life out of the plant, and after it blooms, the plant dies.

We have always admired this agave because it is so huge.  This is a shot of the remarkable stalk that is growing out of the middle of the plant.   To get a sense of scale, note the power line at the right of the frame – it is at least as tall as the power line now, and still has more to grow.

It’s an amazing thing to witness.   I’m sure the bloom will be a sight to see.

All of a sudden I have a craving for asparagus  🙂

May 1, 2011

In formation.

After closing Shades last night, Lori, Dave, Joe and Monte and I tried our best to stay awake for iPod wars.  But we have some work to do to get back in top shape 🙂

We slept on the boat last night.  This morning we took a little ride up the cove.  The water is dropping – at 657′ now.

This momma duck and her babies were out for a morning cruise, too.