50:365

Again, Cookoff readiness is taking me away from my PAD project HOWEVER Ms. Brooke dropped off her first mini-novel the other day and I have not been able to photograph and share it with you yet. So this morning I am catching up on pictures and wanted to share Ms. Brooke' "The Birds in My Yard" Mini-Novel. These are the current pages in the mini-novel thus far ... enjoy!

The current end ....

49:365

It is almost BBQ Cookoff time in HOUSTON!! Packing the trailer for the weekend and an absolute MUST for cookoff is shoes of all types. These are my new rubber boots ... just in case another 40 day flood hits us (which very well could happen)!

48:365 (well really 47c)

This is a photo from day 47 but I was so busy on day 48 that I didn't have time to take a picture. So this is technically 47 c ... the retreat house we were at on day 47 is called the Southern Rose and there are some really great rose displays. This is part of the dinner table.

47:365

This morning was not the best looking start to the day but as soon as I turned the corner and stopped a the stop sign this little guy was waiting for his portrait. He has a pretty good hole started there and is so pretty.

I tried to get a closer shot ... he said no and hid behind the stump. The funny thing is I think this entire tree is deed!

46:365

Barbers Hill Primary School 1st and 2nd grade program Dinosaurs and Dinostars ... Mont Belvieu was full of colorful dinos!!

45:365

So a challenge we have taken on as a group is to get some shots of the moon and see how we can get better with it. Tonight is totally cloudy and I didn't think I would be able to get any shots at all. But there were some breaks in the clouds. Not the best shots ever but at least the full moon was caught for the day.

44:365

Finally!!! The mystery plant in my back yard opened up!! How pretty .. small but pretty!

43:365

Here they are ... opened a little more and certainly sparkling today. Happy Valentines ... the day after.

42:365

Happy Valentines ... can you tell what this is? Puzzle for the day!

41:365

Da moon! I'm sending you to da moon!!

40:365

 

Couldn't sleep ... tried really hard to stay in bed and force on some more sleep but no such luck. So I got up grabbed the camera and out the Baytown Nature Center I went. The boyscouts were out there cleaning up the trails and working on the grounds to make them look good and were doing a fine job ... and making some noise. So there were not many birds out for very long in one spot. As I was getting ready to leave this really big bird on a pole in the water caught my attention, well in all truthfulness the fish flopping caught my attention and then quickly moved to the bird. This great looking guy caught his breakfast and was enjoying it as I tried to get as close as I could to see what he is. Still not sure but he was a very large bird. I think he caught a flounder but I'm not totally sure. What a great outing!!

I had to post this one! He was so cute and posed so lovely like.

And this one is for Dad. This is one his most favorite places to fish and I've been out there with him many times. First time I have seen a sign on the shore with the label ... great secret spot ... SSSSHHHHH!!!! Love you Dad!

39:365

How long has it been since you have seen a working bell on the top of a church house? There is one right down the street from my house. How sweet!!!

38:365

Had a rodeo meeting at the Reliant Center and wasn't sure what to use as the PAD for today. There are so many really cool exhibits at the Center and there were so many choices. But there were so many people around it was hard to get a clear shot of the longhorns. So I settled for the leather star on the wall. But it didn't look so good in the light. Who thinks of leather studded light fixtures? HLSR!

37:365

Yesterday on the way home I drove to the water front and even though I found some birds that were still in the water there was no way to get to them safely for a picture. WHY are they still in the water it's cold outside! Anyway, there is a wonderful older church right by the water and it was such a beautifully freezing day. Hard to see how cold it was in the picture but it was somewhere around 33 degrees.

36:365

On February 8, 2011 at 12:25pm the Enterprise Products plant in Mont Belvieu exploded. This plant is roughly 10 miles from my home and about the same distance from the Barbers Hill ISD schools ... all of them! The explosion has claimed the life of one man at this point who is still not been located. Once I got home from work we drove over to the old baseball fields that just happens to be right behind the plant. As you can see from this PAD it is as calm as can be. Hard to imagine that just 5 hours before this shot was taken there were 100+ foot flames coming out of this area. I certainly hope that the missing man is found and that his family knew how much he loved them.

35:365

There is a really big tree at the entrance to our subdivision and there is a birds nest in the TOP of that tree. I went to see what kind of picture I could get of the birds nest and then I saw the moon. So this is a combination of the moon sliver and the nest. Can you find the nest?

34:365

Super Bowl Sunday .. only two beers, not worth it! And the half time show left a little to be desired.

33:365

Today's PAD is actually Jason's picture. The Metro Go Texan Committee that I am a member of had a Bowling Tournament fundraising event today. I was busy most of the day working at the registration and calculation table so Jason was so sweet to take pictures of the event for us. This little girl won the Lowest Score trophy and was SSSSOOOOO cute! Jason got this great shot of her preping for a throw. She is so determined to get a strike. Her score was 10! I felt so bad for her but she had a great time and won a trophy! I think it was a great day!! Thanks Babe!!

32:365

The challenge today was to find some snow sunrise shot. Well if someone would have reminded the weather guys that the weather is never predictable in Houston the snow did not show up today! Ice, yes. Snow, NO! So the first look outside was icicles on the garage, then icicles on the truck AND the jeep! Can you believe that!? So the official PAD is the result of the challenge and is the top shot of the icicles on the roof of our house.

Later this evening the sun finally came out just as it was time to go down. So we chased the orange ball of fire around town and got to the water as soon as we could. Just around the corner from where I was the other day with the pelicans was this little guy sitting in the water. So I thought it might be a great shot to try the Photomatix software again. The colors of the sky are so vivid with this software!

31:365

Waiting for the snow to begin ... and waiting ... and waiting. While waiting we heard a loud constant noise outside. Looking out the window there was a huge flock of birds in the trees across the street. So I grabbed the camera and ran outside just to find they had moved down the street. As I walked towards them determined to get the shot of the tree full of birds I hear "Hi Ms. Twaillah". Looking next to me I see the neighbors sweet little daughter (3rd grade WAY intelligent young lady) walking beside me with what looks like a book in her hand. She was tracking the birds too. You see she saw and heard the birds outside and took some card board from her mom's stash and a few sheets of paper and stapled them together. Then she found a black marker (the same color as the birds) and headed outside. The birds left! How rude!! She wanted to draw their pictures and write a story about them ... "The Birds in my Yard" by Brooke.

WAIT!!! Can you hold up that book and let me take a picture? "Yes ma'am". PAD ... no snow but this was so much better!! Way to go Brooke, can't wait to see the story!

30:365

As I turned on to Highway 146 today I saw the sun setting behind me. Once I got over the annoying bridge I went back to the same park that I took the pelican picture at and this is what I saw. I think it is the calm before the snow storm. Tonight it is suppose to get down to 26 and tomorrow there may be snow! Snow in Houston .. three years in a row!

29:365

At 11pm when I got home and was ready to go to bed. When I went to the room to get changed for bed there the three little indians sat at the end of the bed on their blanket. If you notice the wires and controller on the bed what you may not notice is the red indicator light on the controller. That is the HIGH button on the heated blanket and each kitty is on one of the three heater coils in the blanket. They are so funny and totally enjoy this blanket. What a great PAD for the day! Warm kittens ready for bed.

28:365

This evening I picked up the trophies for a bowling tournament this weekend. A very sweet scrapbooking friend and fellow committee member spouse and I worked on these trophies a couple of days. I think we did a  GREAT job! So I wasn't able to get them all in one picture so I'm posting two. I can't wait to get to the tournament and see who gets them!!