Shadow Shot Sunday

Friday was a beautiful day - lots of sun and higher than normal temperatures. I had my camera at school as I was taking photos of my class and the student teacher I had this year. Friday was her last day.

Leaving for home, I saw great shadows in the kindergarten area, so of course had to grab the camera and take a few pictures!

Have a great weekend!

Be sure to visit the other great shadow chasers at Hey Harriet, a fun, addictive meme hosted by Tracy.

Macro Flowers Saturday

What a perfect time to be focusing on macro flowers! Flowers are blooming everywhere! I love this time of the year, when there is so much colour and lushness.

These are 2 of my favourites for the garden, especially the pansy.

Be sure to visit other participants here.

Wishcast Wednesday

It is Wishcast Wednesday once again and Jamie of Jamie Ridler Studios asks us to reflect on this question:

Large or small, financial or otherwise, what do you wish to invest in?

As I thought about the question, I realized there are a number of areas I need and want to invest in. Most require just time and effort.

I would like to invest my time and greater effort in:

*My health. There are many simple things I can do to ensure I stay mobile and healthy as I age. (For example - walk every day, meditate, stretch, drink more water, laugh.)

*My relationships - with family, friends, colleagues. I need to make time to be with them, to talk with them, to share with them.

*My art. It is this area that I need to invest the most effort and time (and money) if it is to carry me through retirement. I need to practice, to take some more courses, to study and learn new techniques. I want to enjoy and continue creating on a daily basis.

As Jamie says:
"You can be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes. It’s easy. Answer the wish prompt above on your blog . Support wishes by visiting other participants. It’s that simple. There is great power in wishing together. "

Be sure to visit other wishcasters here.

ABC Wednesday - O is for Egg - I mean Oval

Once again it is time for our weekly alphabet challenge and the letter of the week is O.

Last week I shared the nest that had been built on our porch and my fear the robins had left.

Within a few hours, the robins were back and there were 3 blue eggs (or ovals) in the nest!

The mom has adjusted to my hubby on the porch but still gets nervous if I come out and get too close. Off she flies, scolding all the time!

I am looking forward to the hatching of the eggs and the little ones growing.

Here is some useful information on the eggs and their development from this site.

Nesting
- The robin egg is about the size of a quarter

- The color of the eggs are robin egg blue (light blue)
- Females lay 2 to 4 eggs
- A female robin builds a nest out of grass and small twigs held together with mud
- Robins build nests in trees, bushes, hedges, or on houses
- The bowl-shaped nest is about 6 inches across
- The inside of the nest is about 4 inches in diameter which is big enough to hold a softball
- The nest is built 5 ft to 25 ft above the ground
- The nest is usually protected from rain and predators

Development
- Once the eggs are laid, it takes 11 to 14 days to hatch
- The adult female sits on the nest to incubate the eggs
- The eggs hatch within a day or two of each other
- Nestlings are pink with little tufts of feathers after they hatch (see photo)
- Nestlings eyes are closed when they hatch and they have blue bulges where their eye will develop
- The eyes of nestlings open when they are about five days old
- Nestlings have really long necks and short featherless wings
- Nestlings take about two weeks to develop feathers before
leaving the nest
- Once they leave the nest, young robins are called fledglings

Be sure to visit the other great participants here.

Best Shot Monday

Since photography has been increasingly much more a part of my life, I've been finding new memes that focus on photography. Several I have taken part in a few times but "Best Shot Monday" is new for me.

I love the idea of taking photos and then reflecting on them.

Tracey Clark hosts Best Shot Monday and asks us :

What have you been reminded of lately?

How is life looking in your world?

I have been so loving all the greenery, the blooms, the birds, and new life. The warm weather, even the rain have made me feel so much more invigorated.

After the week I had last week (my ODD student off his medication for the week - that was a real joy! and my very troubled student hitting my EA on Thursday, causing me to hold the door so he would not escape, which resulted in severe pain on my hip all weekend), seeing all this beauty around has really helped.

Check other Best Shot Monday participants here.

Sunday Citar

Earlier in the week I had written about the robin's nest on our ladder, which seemed to have been deserted by the birds (For ABC Wednesday) . Well, they are back and there are now 3 blue eggs in the nest. I have gotten a few pictures.

Every time we open the sliding door we disturb the mom - who flies off and scolds us from the neighbouring roof. It won't be long before she will tolerate us on the porch, as long as we don't come too close to the nest (going by last year).

So, for Sunday Citar this week, I'd like to share photos, quotes and a poem about robins/nests and eggs.


(The strange nest)


(Mom back on the nest)


(The 3 eggs)

In the broken nest there are no whole eggs. ~ Chinese Proverb

Faith is putting all your eggs in God's basket, then counting your blessings before they hatch. ~ Ramona C. Carroll

God gives all birds their food but does not drop it into their nests. ~Danish proverb

Conscience is the nest where all good is hatched.~ Welsh Proverb

Nest Eggs
Birds all the summer day

Flutter and quarrel

Here in the arbour-like

Tent of the laurel.

Here in the fork

The brown nest is seated;

For little blue eggs

The mother keeps heated.

While we stand watching her

Staring like babies,

Safe in each egg

are the Bird's little babies.

Soon the frail eggs

they shall Chip,

and upspringing

Make all the April woods

Merry with singing.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Be sure to visit the other participants here.

Shadow Shot Sunday

It is hard to believe it is only April! The weather has been beautiful, the flowers are growing and everywhere is green.

Yesterday I took my camera to school as I wanted to capture flowers from the gardens there (see previous post for Macro Flowers). But with the bright sunshine I was also able to capture shadows! It has become an obsession that many others share it as well!

Be sure to visit the other great shadow-chasers at Hey Harriet! , a fun meme hosted so well by Tracy.

Macro Flowers Saturday

What a perfect time to be looking for beautiful flowers! I took my camera to work today as I knew the gardens at school were in full bloom. The daffodils were beautiful!

At home our lilies were finally in bloom!

Be sure to check out the other macro flowers here.

Wishcast Wednesday

It is Wednesday and that means a probing question from Jamie of Jamie Ridler Studios. This week she asks:

What do you wish to dare?

That question needed time to percolate. Usually the answer comes right away. I find that as I age I become less daring, choosing safer and less active pursuits.

So, I would like to dare to be more active, more physical, and challenge myself more - to not always take the safe route. There are still a lot of firsts out there to accomplish!

As Jamie says:
"You can be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes. It’s easy. Answer the wish prompt above on your blog and and upport wishes by visiting other participants. It’s that simple. There is great power in wishing together. "

Visit other great wishcasters here.

ABC Wednesday - N is for Nest

This week the letter of focus at ABC Wednesday is N. I have chosen N for Nest.

Once again we have been chosen by the robins as a site for their nest! Last year was exciting as we saw 3 babies hatch and grow and then leave the nest!

Last year's nest though, was destroyed by wind a couple of months ago, so the poor robins had to start from scratch!

They have made a very interesting home atop our ladder on the back porch - taking items from our garden to add some decorating highlights!

But the robins have not taken up residence yet - is the home too small, too outlandish??

Not knowing the mating and reproductive issues of robins, I don't know when eggs will be laid or if the birds will even return. I will have to put out a for sale/rent sign soon if we want occupants!

Be sure to check out the other great participants here.

Return of ABCs of Art

Having had a break of a few weeks from my weekly look at ABCs of Art, I am back again on track and am finishing with:

D for Drawing.

While in Mexico I tried to draw while at the pool. Not too successfully mind you! I wonder why?!!

One of the pieces of artwork in the room was a beautiful sketch of a woman. (Not sure of the artist) I tried drawing it.

One site I visited a while ago suggested dividing your drawing page into small squares and doing one a day. That seems doable.

Visiting Rebecca's blog earlier today I found her suggestion of gluing a face from a magazine into her sketch book and practice drawing portraits from this face an excellent one.

Not having a strong background in drawing or sketching, I know I need the practice. So, I plan to draw daily and use these 2 suggestions. I also want to work through some of the art books I have collected over the years.

ATCs

I continue to work on ATCs for ATCsforAll - there have been so many interesting themes. I just finished one on Moms,


as well as Foreign Text,

and Gesso faces. This was such fun - and good practice for faces!

These keep me creating, in a fun way and I receive some awesome art in return.

This week I will work on ATCs for "The Artistic Mother" art group, as well as drawing. I will post next week on my drawing project, and will then move on in the alphabet (finally!).

Sunday Citar

Sunday Citar is a forum for sharing special quotes and photos that have meaning for you.

The following are 2 quotes I came across this week (and the photos are from my Mexican trip):

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.”

~ by Rabindranath Tagore



"The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

~by Marcel Proust

Be sure to visit the other participants here.

Shadow Shot Sunday

Shadows are an interesting subject for photography. Each week many of us search them out - they lurk in unlikely spots. Many times you discover them after you check photos for the week.

I was looking back on our Mexico photos this week and found more shadows, so I decided to share these this week. On a dreary day, sun and warmth are appreciated!

(Yes, we did attend a bull fight and I did not last long! I was ready to boo the matadors but luckily my hubby restrained me!)

Be sure to visit other great shadow chasers here.

Tracey of Hey Harriet! does such a wonderful job creating mosaics of many of the shadows for the week! Thanks Tracey!