Random 5 Friday

Welcome! - It's time to join in the fun of Random 5 Friday hosted by Nancy from, A Rural Journal.

Last Friday I participated in the Grow Your Blog event and missed doing R5F.  If you visited my Grow Your Blog post you may have read about my spotting a hawk on our back fence and not having my camera with me at the time.  I was so excited about seeing it and yet bummed that I didn't have my camera with me.  See Random Thought #1

Be Sure to Click to Enlarge

1.  Life is Good and sometimes we do get 2nd chances.  Wait for it.....

Same photo - Cropped for a closer view.  -  I was just getting ready to head out for my Allergy shot and thought that I'd just take my camera along for the heck of it. - As I stepped out our back door and looked up I spotted the hawk sitting pretty as you please on our back fence.  I immediately told Coleen to stand still and started snapping away.  I managed to get a couple of really good photos before it flew off.  -  Huge Smile on my face!!!
(Bonus shot of the hawk diving off the fence at the end of this post.)

Can you identify this hawk.  I've narrowed it down to either a Cooper's Hawk or Sharp Shinned Hawk (it looks the most like that one from pictures on the Internet).


2.  Life brings the unexpected....

Snow flurries...and I was going to take the dog for a walk this morning.
Edited to add - After posting we did indeed go for a shorter but very snowy walk.  -  Call me crazy but it was kinda fun!

3.  Life is Ironic...I was sitting here typing up my post and the TV was on to one of Coleen's kid shows.  What were they talking about....How To Build A Snow Man!

4.  Life is Fun because when your plans get changed you can do something else like take pictures of the neighbors cat trying to catch snowflakes.

           Fred was fascinated by the snowflakes falling all around him.

5.  Life is Frustrating...While taking said pictures of Fred trying to catch snowflakes I forgot to close the front door tightly and 2 of our cats, Harley and Captain Cuddles escaped.  I got Harley back inside quickly but Cuddles ran underneath our house and it took a good 20 minutes of trying everything I could think of, (singing badly, whistling, coaxing with food, trying string, a laser toy etc...) all while trying to keep Ghost (Fred's brother) from trying to crawl under the house to pick a fight with Cuddles.  I finally locked Ghost in our shed and then started mewing like a hurt kitten, that did the trick and I got our cat inside.

Yep, Life is interesting for sure!

The 2 escapees before Cuddle ran under the house.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Bonus thought & photo.  Since it's Super Bowl weekend and the Seattle Seahawks from my home state our playing in the big game I want to give them a shout out:   GO SEA HAWKS!!!

Oh and here is the real Hawk diving off the fence. (Sorry it wasn't the best shot but that thing was fast.)

Whatever Wednesday- The Ice Edition

GROW YOUR BLOG   Links to both of these posts.

SONGOGRAPHY


Welcome - Before I get started on today's post I want to say,  Thank You so much from the bottom of my heart to those who left such understanding and kind comments on yesterday's post about the loss of our sweet cat, Miss Blackie.  It meant a lot to me to know that people cared and understood how hard it was to let her go.

We apparently had "freezing rain" during the night.  When I woke up this morning it was raining but it wasn't bad outside.  As I started walking Coleen to school I realized that it had frozen at some point because the trees were all incased in ice.  After I got back home I got out my camera and took a quick walk around the block to photograph some of the trees.

                                                 My mom's Lilac Tree

                                      Red Berries from a Hawthorne Tree

                                                         Juniper Berries

                                     
I don't know what kind of a tree this was but I liked the colors of the little dangling seed pods.

Again I'm not sure what tree this next shot is.  I got some funny looks from a couple of people who were walking by.  I mentioned to them I was taking pictures of the ice on trees and they seemed okay with that.  I bet though they thought I was a bit nutty.

Finally I spotted this laying on the sidewalk and though it looked rather cool.

                                What a strange, magical world this is.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing a little part of my corner of the world.

Good-Bye Miss Blackie

Rest in Peace - Miss Blackie

2000-2014

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we had to say good-bye to our sweet Miss Blackie.  This little kitty was one of the sweetest cats.  She came to live with us when she was about 4 years old.  She'd belonged to some people who didn't care for her properly and at times she was abused by them as well.  When they were evicted from their home they couldn't take her so we took her in.

She was a very "shy" cat and at first an outdoor cat but we quickly realized that she was afraid of any loud noises outside so we brought her inside.  Of course she was scared to death of all our other cats so she ended up staying in a room all her own and only come out when the other cats were put in the bedroom for the night.

A rare photo of her outside.

She had a "bathroom issue" due to poor nutrition her first few years that made it difficult for her to be out much in the house. She was a tiny little cat barely weighing 5 lbs. for most of her life.  She loved attention and enjoyed play boxing with us whenever we spent time with her.  She loved to purr and had the softest little meow.

One year at Christmas we put Reindeer Antlers on all the cats and thought that she would hate it but she was actually the one who was the least upset about wearing them.

After Greta and Coleen moved in with us we had to move her from the upstairs bedroom to our basement where she spent the last 2-3 years of her life.  If you went down to exercise she liked to hop up on you while you were on the machine.

Here she is with Greta.

She loved laying on blankets or hiding underneath the bed or in a corner if she was frightened that's where she went. You never raised your voice around her or made sudden movements because she was still "gun shy" from being hit by her previous owners.  Yet she was a loving and gentle soul.

She slowly stopped trying to eat over the last week or so and I begin to notice that she seemed a bit disoriented at times.  Finally she wasn't eating at all or even drinking water.  We took her in yesterday to the Vet and they felt that her kidney's or liver were failing her.  She was very dehydrated and I knew it was time to let her go even though my heart was telling me that we should try to save her.  The Vet felt it was the best thing we could do for her and while I know it was it still hurt so much to put her down.

I couldn't stay with her so I said my good-bye's and thankfully Greta was there to hold her and talk to her until she was gone.  We buried her last night with her favorite robe that she loved laying on and some kitty treats she loved along with some string that Coleen would play with her with. 

She will be missed.

The last photo of her taken just before we took her to the Vet yesterday.

Rest in Peace sweet Blackie.  I know you are pain free now.

Song-ography - The "Let It Go" Edition

For those of you stopping by for my "Grow Your Blog" post please click on the link HERE:  I have enjoyed everyone who has stopped by and left comments and also followed my blog. I have had fun visiting many of your blogs as well.

One of my favorite blogger friends and memes is Kathy (You'll Shoot Your Eye Out) and her meme,  SONGOGRAPHY  This weeks song is,  Let It Go, sung by  Idina Menzel from the movie, Frozen.  I have not seen this movie although I hear from Coleen that it's an "awesome" movie.  I did listen to the song and really liked it.  I think it's all about breaking free from what others may think of us and just being ourselves.  Here is my take on the song,

This morning as in the past two or three mornings we've had some frozen frost on the sidewalks and grass.  I was out this morning feeding the squirrels and birds when I happened to notice some bird tracks on the sidewalk.  I though it would make an interesting photo.  Of course I've sort of embellished it a little with the (bokeh) but I like how it turned out.  We can never re-trace the "tracks" of our lives at least in the sense that we can't undo the past and what we've done in our pasts.  We can only move forward and that's what I intend to do.

Thanks for stopping by.

GROW YOUR BLOG

Hi,  My name is, Ida and I'd like to welcome you to my blog.  I am participating in the 2014 Grow Your Blog event hosted by Vicki from, 2 Bags Full.




I started blogging back in 2007.  My first blog (Faith Artistry) was designed to be a craft blog where I showcased my cards.  Then I got an idea to create this blog and use it to chat about my family and my hobbies etc...then one day I discovered some photography related blogs and I thought how fun and exciting they were to visit.  I could visit places through their blogs that I might not ever get to see in real life and I loved it. 

Then I got a brilliant idea that I could start sharing my photographs and such with other like minded bloggers.  Now mind you I'm not the world's greatest photographer and still have a long way to go but I am so enjoying the journey and hope you will enjoy visiting often.

Cats are my all time favorite animal in the entire world.  We have 6 cats of our own and have been know to feed strays and neighborhood cats on a regular basis.  I love photographing them.  The one below is "new" to the neighborhood.  I'm not sure if it's (male) or (female) because it won't let me get close enough to find out.  Tonight it "almost" let me pet it.  I love the expression here.  It's almost as if the cat is saying,  "Hey, lady get that camera outta my face!"

My granddaughter, Coleen is a very important part of my life.  She and her mother live with us and you will frequently find her featured in my blog posts.

Here she is along with my mom's little dog, Pixie taking a ride down the slide at the school just down the street from where we live.

I love nature shots of all kinds and am always on the lookout for something new and different to photograph.  Lately "birds" have been on my list of subjects.  This morning I managed to capture some of these sweet little birds that roost in the next door neighbors shrubs everyday.  They sure make a lot of noise when they're all chirping at once.

There was some excitement this morning at the back bird feeder and oh how I wish I would have had my camera with me.  My mom & I returned from a trip to the bank and as we pulled into the driveway sitting up on the fence by our bird feeder was a small hawk.  We just sat there in the car watching it for a few minutes. Once we got out of the car it flew off but I was thrilled to have even had the chance to see it up so close even though I have no photo to document the event.

Flowers are another favorite subject of mine to photograph and to grow.  I'm so looking forward to spring when my new Tulips and Daffodils bloom.  In the mean time here's a shot of one of my lilies from last summer.

There are many things that I enjoy doing such as Reading, Cooking/Baking, Bowling, Flower Gardening, Music and of course blogging.  You just never know what you'll find here.  It could be a recipe for some new dish, a book review of a great book I've read, or whatever comes to mind when I sit down to post.

I love participating in various photography memes. Many of which are listed on my side-bar. 

Thank you so much for stopping by.  I enjoy hearing your comments and also visiting your blogs. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions or would just like to chat a spell.

Whatever Wednesday - The Birthday Celebration Edition

Happy Wednesday everyone.  It's time to join me for "Whatever Wednesday" - Today I am sharing photo's from this past weekend's back-to-back birthday celebrations.  If you've visited my blog recently you know that both my mom and my granddaughter celebrated birthdays this past weekend. 

On Saturday my mom,  (Marian) turned 85.  -  The family was over that evening for a little get together.  My mom doesn't like her picture taken very much so I don't have to many shots of her celebration but I will share a couple of the ones I did get.

I really like this one of her and Coleen together.  Coleen painted the picture for her Great-Grandma.

Next up a picture of my brother (Rich) lighting the candles on her cake.  Please take note of the cake because the next photo you see of the cake it will look quite a bit different.

Notice that a lot of the frosting is now missing off the cake.  -  Here is why,  After the candles were lit I asked Coleen to take the cake over to her Granny while we sang Happy Birthday and told her to be careful not to drop the cake....she carries the cake over and starts to hold the cake out when it slid right off the plate and onto the blanket on Granny's feet.  Poor Coleen just stood there and as everyone started to laugh she started to cry.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of the look on her face when the cake slid off the plate onto the floor but I was laughing so hard I couldn't take any more pictures!  Needless to say we salvaged the cake and went ahead with the singing of the birthday song.

Next up,  Coleen's birthday on Sunday. 

Excitement over learning that one of the gifts she wanted was going to be coming the next day.  I had tape a note to the back of the small gift.

Her birthday cupcakes.

Blowing out the candles.  That's her mom, Greta holding the plate of cupcakes.  Coleen is wearing a travel pillow that her mom gave her around her neck.

The birthday celebration continued on Monday with her "kids" birthday party.  She invited 9 kids to her party.  Can you image the noise level of ten 9 year olds....I tried to stay in my craft room as much as possible except when taking pictures.

They did play outside a little: Here they are playing ,Red-Rover

 

 They also played inside.  Coleen's surprise gift mentioned earlier was a set of cups used for "Cup Stacking" - She's apparently quite fast at it when they have competitions at school.

They played with balloons, ate pizza, had a "burping" contest (really?), played Truth or Dare, and just in general had a very fun time.

Did anyone notice that there was 1 boy present.  She wanted to invite a couple of the boys in her class but one of them told her he didn't want to come because he thought it would be to, "girly" of a party.  At first the one who did come was a bit shy but by the end of the party he had warmed up to the fact that he was the only boy and was goofing around with all the girls and having a good time. 

The last of the birthday cake's.  This one had gummy worms!

Party lasted 4 hours....Grandma is still recovering!!!

Song-ography - The Lazy Song Edition

Howdy! - Well it's time to join in on the fun of SONGOGRAPHY hosted by Kathy, (You'll Shoot Your Eye Out).  -  It's been a busy week here and with back-to-back birthday celebrations for my mom & Coleen I've not had much time for picture taking so no Scavenger Hunt for me this week.

However I do have 2 photo's for Songography where the song this week was, The Lazy Song-Bruno Mars.

Click to Enlarge photos.

The other night Greta & I were watching the US Figure Skating Championship and we tried getting Coleen to watch it with us.  She didn't seem to interested and the next thing we knew she was sound asleep on the living room floor...doesn't she look relaxed!

Also caught this one of Captain Cuddles asleep in my chair with my new blanket (or maybe it's his new blanket)...

Have a great week and thank you for stopping by and have a great start to your week.

Random 5 Friday

 



It's Friday and time to share some Random thoughts.  Please join me and of course the wonderful host of Random 5 Friday, Nancy from, A Rural Journal in sharing some randomness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  It's birthday weekend here so I am busy, busy, busy.  My mom turns 85 tomorrow and Coleen turns 9 on Sunday.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by an view Coleen's recital photos (see post below this one) and video.  She loved knowing that people enjoyed hearing her play.  Great encouragement to keep her practicing for sure.  Edited to add if you want to see the cards I made them for their birthdays go to this post:  http://faithartistry.blogspot.com/2014/01/birthday-cards.html

 

2. Birds make me smile.  I leave seeds/peanuts out for the birds (and squirrels) and every morning I have a bunch of crows that show up for the peanuts and some sweet doves that enjoy the bird seed.  This one appears to be doing the "Happy Dance" while enjoying the bird seed.

 

 



 

3.  I'm thinking it's going to be an early spring here, some of the trees are already starting to bud.  Even though it's been a mild winter here I still look forward to flowering trees and sunny skies (It's super foggy here today).

 

 

4.  This week I discovered a new "guilty pleasure"  Shhh don't tell anyone but I discovered Cappuccino Nanaimo Bars at the local store bakery and oh my gosh they are so yummy!  - Sorry no picture,  I didn't have time to take one since I couldn't control myself long enough to photograph one!

 

5.   I need to walk the dog around the block more (see #4 ) since I'm indulging in sweet treats again now that the stress of the holidays is over.

 

Hope to get by a few of your blogs this weekend but with back-to-back birthday celebrations I'm not sure how much time I'll have for commenting.



Whatever Wednesday - Coleen's Piano Recital Edition

Welcome!  Today I am sharing photo's from Coleen's Piano Recital.  Before I get started I want to make it clear that Coleen is my Granddaughter, not my daughter.  Many of you visit and comment but often refer to her as my daughter instead of my grandchild.  -  She and her mother both live with us.  Her mom's name is Greta.

Coleen just started taking Piano lessons in September of 2013.  She only has 1 lesson per week for 1/2 an hour.

The kids were told to dress up "fancy" for their recital.  The teacher even supplied Coleen with the fancy ribbon she has in her hair.  Here is a photo taken of her before we left the house to go to the recital.

This next shot is Coleen and one of her classmates from school.  His name is Conrad.  When we learned that he was taking Piano lessons we got the information about his teacher from his mom and that is how Coleen got started taking the lessons as well. He would only stand still for 1 photo so this is the best I could do.

Some of the kinds waiting out in the foyer for their turn to come in and play.

The instructor also teaches Violin so some of the kids played both.

Coleen playing her 2 pieces (Swans on the Lake and Away in the Manger)

Below is a You Tube Video of her playing her songs.

After their performances the kids would bow to the audience.  I only caught her in mid-bow but I think you see her bowing in the video.

Here is the entire group of kids who participated in the recital along with their teacher.

Finally a picture of Coleen and her piano teacher, Mrs. Bendixen

We were all very proud of her and look forward to her Spring Recital.

Thanks for stopping by.