Birds in Flight, Poison Ivy and Posies

When I checked the birdcam, this morning, I'd gotten a lot of pictures that were whited out with too much exposure.  I'm not sure what is going on with that.  I thought, at first, I had a low battery but that doesn't appear to be it.  Perhaps the morning sun was doing some screwy things to the cam but that doesn't make a lot of sense, either, because I'd get good pictures, dark pictures, then white pictures all within a 2 - 3 minute period.  At nearly noon.   So I hope it is just a temporary glitch.  I reset some of the settings.  Perhaps all the foggy weather we've had made the camera damp and that impacted it.  I'll probably check the cam, tomorrow, to see if the problem continues.

I decided it was better to trim some of the shots to show what I thought was interesting rather than have visitors have to peer at the screen and wonder what I was talking about.  One thing I am enjoying with the birdcam - besides the fun of not knowing what might show up - is seeing shots of birds in flight.  Evil Mockingbird is quite the acrobat and gives great shows. 

Here are a few photos.

Evil Mockingbird:

Fighting Finches:

Just showing the heavy fog:

Flying Finches:

Flying Finch in the Fog:

Chickadee at rest.  I see him a lot but didn't mention him, before, because he is so tiny you couldn't see him.  So I blew up the picture.  Duh.

Not sure who this is.  The exposure caught and ran.   I thought it was cool.  When I first looked at the picture, it about freaked me out:

Landing Sparrow:  And see the Purple Finch over on the right?  He is giving Evil Mockingbird a run for his money on being aggressive:

Evil Mockingbird is quite the vaptor:

Another fluttering sparrow:

Purple Finch with an attitude:

A BlueJay showed up, then left. 

Closeup of fighting finches (from previous photo):

Although now that I look at them, they might be sparrows.

Evil Mockingbird:

These guys look like thugs:

I was surprised (but not sorry) that Dastardly Squirrel hasn't come back for the last couple of days.   Bird seed be expensive.

We had lunch with a friend, today, and left the girls alone for the first time.  They stayed inside with a kong full of frozen peanut butter.  They did fine. 

I am working on a Sylvia's Bridal Sampler block - an applique.  It is kicking my butt.  Honestly, I am starting to think I won't be able to finish it.  That is not typical.  Generally, I can soldier through these blocks and even if they end up looking like crap, it never crosses my mind that I can't DO it.  This  time, I am honestly not sure how to do the *&$%@ thing.  For anyone with any suggestions, it is A-4 from the book - the name of the block is Posies.  I hate the thing.  And it is making me hate applique.  It has not been fun. 

I guess the Oklahoma honeymoon is over?  I am black to complaining!

I am also struggling with my annual bout of poison ivy.  I got lost in the woods on Saturday and must have stumbled into a patch.  That may be contributing to my crankiness.

It is late and I am closing up shop.  I plan to have lunch with my friend, Kim, tomorrow.  Someone asked how she is doing.  I think "as well as can be expected" covers it so long as you understand that her grief is so heavy she can barely breathe.  My words and thoughts - she didn't say that.  I can only imagine that the letdown after the busy holidays must be nearly more than she can bear.  Pray for her healing.  No mother should lose a young son, and it makes me wonder what God is thinking to allow her to be afflicted by cancer in the midst of it.  But she has a great attitude and I think her head could fall off before she'd complain.  And then she'd probably make a joke about it. 

Happy Quilting,

Penny, Evelyn and Pearl