Photo Monday

I haven't taken many pictures this week. I found a Ladybird Beetle that looks like it is 2 different colors orange. Then a moth with orange wings. I've searched for the name of it but can't find it yet.

Not feeling up to par the last few days. Hope to get with it again real soon.




Spotted Oleander Moth

Nature's Jewelry

TWO BABIES!!

No, not me ROTFLMAO I've been watching the Osprey nest for a couple of months now and finally see the babies! Oh, how I wish I had a better camera for these long shots. The 2 are by her chest.




AND THEN!!!
I went to my daughter's site and got these photos of her and her husband and my soon to be granddaughter, Anna Grace.


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Transformation to cocoon complete

I tell you, I am just so fascinated with the metamorphosis that these creatures go through. Could you imagine if we had to do this? Get born, eat almost 24/7, and live a couple of weeks only to turn our bodies inside out, shrink and cocoon to turn into an adult. This little guy will now undergo a journey that we only wonder about. Or I do anyway. How does this caterpillar turn into such a large, beautiful butterfly inside this small casing which is now an inch and a half?



Here are 3 more of my Dotee dolls. I now have 3 for a swap on Doll Journal and the one with the name is for someone who said they would really like to have one.

The change has started

Last night he started acting funny. He crawled all over the jar, up and down, around every stick and leaf. There was a lot of liquid in the bottom of the jar called meconium. Then he settled on a spot. I told Mike, I bet it starts tonight. Well, sure enough it did. See the little saddle of silk? That's how he holds himself on while he pupates. I wonder how long it will take for him to go to full chrysalis? The monarch was almost immediate. I've searched all over the net but cannot find info on this guy except they say Giant Swallowtails do everything slowly.

Great giveaway

Check out this site. They are giving away a great sewing machine.



You Can Make This

Fat Quarter Swap

Recently I was in a FQ swap from Sew Mama Sew. I received fabric from Germany, UK (2), Ohio, Indiana, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Here is my pretty stash. The 2 at the bottom were from Wishin it was spring swap at Stitches and Scissors.


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Big Edit here. This following paragraph was borrowed from Apronista. I have also run across this several times. I love to answer your comments but can't because some of you have it set to no reply. This is the second time I ask this.

"I have a favor to ask all of you - if you blog thru blogger, go over to your blogger dashboard right now (YES, right now!) and then go to "edit profile". Third box down, check "show my email address" - create one just for blogging if you must, but when you are the person I can't contact because you won an Apron giveaway and you give me no way to contact you, or you leave a comment with a question I would LOVE to answer, but can't because when I hit reply, all I get is no-reply@blogger. com , it makes me sad...and you surely don't want THAT on your conscience, do you??? ;-)* "

Little guy is 3 weeks old today

and growing so fast. I would think it wouldn't be much longer before he/she pupates. Just a little over 2 inches now.

Photo Monday (edited)

edit: A few people have wished they had photo editing software. Well, here are a couple of free online places that I have used and really like.
http://www.picnik.com/ AND http://www.flauntr.com/

It's almost Monday. Only another hour so I think I get a head start.
First, this Great Blue Heron. This photo was taken June 26, 2007. What I think he is doing is sunbathing. Birds do that to kill mites and lice. What's really funny is to watch them take a sand bath.
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One of my most favorite snacks. Mmmmmm Only one problem though. Those messy fingers.
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This is called a Dotee Doll. I'm hooked. This is my first one. Hand sewn and beaded. My first time for beading. It also has embroidered face. It's 6 inches. I have 2 more waiting for beads now. I can see give-aways in my future.
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All winners found!

First and second place winners have contacted me. Lisa and E., congrats! Lisa chose the tote bag and E. chose the doll. That leaves the pincushion. I went back to random.org and chose another number. Linda Fleming, it was your number! If you email me at DollArtistCarla at aol dot com with your address, I will send it to you. :)


Here is a photo of the pier in Venice at sunrise. I used a treatment on it called HDR which is high dynamic range. You take 3 photos, without moving the camera, at -2,0,+2 exposure. I used a program called Photomatix Pro to combine the photos and fix the tone. There is more to it than that but maybe you can get an idea. I love doing this but don't think of it very often.

They grow too fast

The little guy was born on Feb. 24 and is now 16 days old. He (or she) is now over an inch long. Remember when it was born? Only about an eighth of an inch long. The white end on the right is the end. You should see it raise up and shoot a ball of poop. LOL It's hilarious. All the other ones that I left in the tree are gone. :( I'm glad I was able to rescue this one.

Perplexed

It's been 11 days since I drew the names for the giveaway. No one has contacted me yet. I don't really know what to do? What do you all say?

Is it Friday yet?

I've been so busy! Trying to finish up several swaps that should have been mailed a couple of days ago. Some have been sitting on the table ready to mail for several days but I haven't been able to get to the post office.

A couple weeks ago we played a private party at a country club. I went to the bar to get a drink and chatted with the bartender a bit. She said, see that woman over there? I looked and said yeah. Well, she used to be one of Disney's Mouseketeers. I didn't get a pic. Darn

BUT, a couple nights ago we played a wedding reception and a guy got up to sing a special song for the bride. My daughter said he was from a band called "Bandana". I said who? Well, turns out he was the drummer for a group in the 60's called "Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs". I did get a photo of him. Here is Tony "Butch" Gerace. He sang the song "Little Red Riding Hood". I was tickled that he gave me a great compliment by telling me I had a great voice and great range.




And here is their website:
http://www.bandanaband.com/

We did an afternoon country show yesterday. I look so bad in the photos!! I'm going to show you one anyway. My son-in-law Gil, my daughter Rhonda and me. I'm such a dork.

"You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss....

....a sigh is just a sigh." I love that song, "As Time Goes By" from the movie Casablanca.

It was V-J day, August 14, 1945. World War II was finally over and a sailor grabbed a nurse and kissed her. That photo was famous with many men claiming to be the man in the photo. This is a good article showing the real man.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnlyinAmerica/Story?id=3422191&page=1

And here is a photo of the statue in Sarasota. I had my daughter Rhonda stand by the shoe so you could see just how big this statue is. I didn't have a tripod with me so I braced against a tree. It is still out of focus though.

Stuff

What do you think of this big guy? Mike hollered at me yesterday and said Man! Look at this!
It's almost 2 inches long. It's the larvae of a giant ground beetle. When I put it back out on the ground it crawled upside down (like it is laying in the photo) and is a digger. It lives underground.

I love shadows. My photos don't show what I see though. This was really pretty. You can see the chimes that are hanging outside.

Finally, the little one was a week old yesterday. He has doubled in size and is now more than a quarter inch long. He is a ravenous eater. I have been worried for the ones that are out in the tree because it has been very cold, windy and rainy the last few days. They seem to be doing ok though! This little one is very spoiled. :) He will never have to worry about a fly or wasp laying eggs in him.

Dedicated to my Mom

Photo Monday is on hold today. This is the 3rd anniversary of Mom's passing. Her birthday is St. Patrick's day. She died just a couple weeks before she turned 80. She wanted to be 80 so bad but it just wasn't meant to be. So here are a few pics of Mom.

This was taken in 1946. She was 20.


This one was taken in August before she died. My daughter Rhonda and I had went up to Illinois for 6 weeks to take care of her when she came out of hospital. She was being her silly self.


And this last photo used to be my header. On the left is her and Dad's wedding day and on the right Mom about 23.


Mary Lain 3/17/1926 ~ 3/2/2006



Mama by Il Divo

Mama thank you for who I am
Thank you for all the things I'm not
Forgive me for the words unsaid
For the times I forgot
Mama remember all my life
You showed me love,you sacrificed
Think of those young and early days
How I've changed
Along the way (along the way)
Bridge:
And I know you believed
And I know you had dreams
And I'm sorry it took all this time to see
That I am where I am because of your truth
And I miss you , I miss you
Mama forgive the times you cried
Forgive me for not making right
All of the storms I may have caused
And I've been wrong
Dry your eyes (dry your eyes)
Bridge
Mama I hope this makes you smile
I hope you're happy with my life
At peace with every choice I made
How I've changed Along the way
And I know you believed in all of my dreams
And I owe it all to you ,mama

We have winners!!

I went to Random.org and let it choose the numbers:
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
28
16
52
Timestamp: 2009-03-01 15:36:43 UTC

So here ya go!!
28th comment is:
Lisalou said...
Congrads on the big 100!!! Love the pictures and the bag, of course!! Beautiful!!lisaallbright@hotmail dot com
February 21, 2009 6:33 PM

16th comment is:
creative breathing said...
Hi Carla, Wanted to tell you, the chandalier did fall! That is what brought the "ears" to the room! They acted as though they knew nothing about it. Because the visit was so politically important, nothing was said! I am fascinated that you have an orange tree in your yard! You never cease to amaze me! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing all of these interesting things with us. You have to check out the wildlife on MandaPanda. It will bring tears to your eyes. Then go to Lallee's Cottage for an animal smile. Have a great week! Eliz
February 18, 2009 5:12 PM

52nd comment is:
Emmy said...
Thorougly enjoyed your blog. Your photography is wonderful. I'm on the east coast of Florida. I bookmarked your blog in my daily folder.
February 24, 2009 11:10 AM

Girls, send me in private email your addresses to DollArtistCarla at aol dot com and as soon as Lisalou chooses which one she wants, then Creative Breathing will choose from the remaining 2 and Emmy will get the third.

Thanks for playing. I wish I could send something to you all.