Day 37: Cat in the Hat

He was good with this for, oh... about two minutes.

Day 33, 34, 35: Cold, Daughter, Bird

Day 33: 

Signed up for Transformation Nation Triad.  Stood in the cold for an hour and ten minutes.  Couldn't feel my toes.  The result, after sixteen weeks, should be well worth the near frostbite.

Day 34:

Younger Daughter

Day 35:

I think I've said this already... 

for me, this year is the

Year of the Bird.

Project 365: Day 32, Rocky Branch

Rocky Branch:

Six different shots, all taken from the same spot.

Each manipulated in a different way. 

SOOC

Posterize

Boost

Brighten

SOOC

Little bit of color adjustment

Project 365: Day 31, Impending Storm

These photos were taken yesterday, 

as the impending storm made it's way towards us in North Carolina.  

The storm wreaked havoc across the Southeast.  Tornados in Georgia, flooding in our NC mountains.  Here in the Piedmont Triad we had lots of rain and very heavy winds.   We had a tornado watch (which means that conditions are right for a tornado, but one hasn't been spotted).  There were reports of trees down, and that's really what I was most afraid of.  We've got lots of trees in our yard.  But we were, thank God, just fine.  

For us, it was nothing more than water and wind.

These photos were taken about an hour before the rain began.  It was certainly windy... the clouds were racing across the sky and I finally went inside when a small branch was blown out of the tree and landed on the ground beside me.

All of these photos are SOOC.

This is the first day I've skipped my photo a day... I took nearly 70 photos yesterday, so I guess that's okay. I'm still going to count this as Day 31.  :)

Project 365: Day 30, Report Card Day

Ha ha, we don't need that book for this report card!

Project 365: Day 28, Daughter

Hung out with my older daughter yesterday.

She's eight.  

She's good at school.  She loves to read.  She loves to climb.

And she sleeps with a gaggle of teddy bears every night.

She also wants to be a model.

Love this girl to pieces.

Project 365: Day 26, Ice

Drops.  The temperature is rising.

Looking through the ice.

Wish I knew my birds better.  I think this is a wren?
Do you have a go-to site for bird identification?

I'm going to have to give this guy a name.

The tippy-top of a crepe myrtle, against the winter sun

Project 365: Day 25, Glum

I don't see this very often.  A glum face on my older daughter.  School let out early due to snow and sleet on the way -- only by the time we got home it seemed to have stopped.  She was sitting at the window, wanting to go back to school.  The sleet had stopped, for the moment, but started back a couple of hours later.  The roads are now covered in ice and everyone is being advised to stay at home.

Project 365: Day 24, avocado tree

This is an avocado tree that my Mom gave me a month or so ago.  Mom's thumb is green, mine is not.  When she gave me the tree, she told me that she had previously thought that it had died but suddenly there was growth.  It was in a rather small pot, and you could see the roots spreading through the top of the soil.  When I got home, I put into the largest pot I had (it's really huge; I wanted the tree to believe it had plenty of room to grow) --- and now!  More growth!  Three tiny leaves sprouting.  This makes me so happy! 

 

Project 365: Day 23, stained glass

The thing I love about taking a photo a day is that it is really inspiring and challenging me to not just take a photograph, but to capture and create beauty in an unexpected way.  This photo was taken through stained glass, looking out towards a tree in my backyard.  Changed the color up a bit, but I didn't like the color placement.... so I turned the photo upside down.  

Perfect. 

Project 365: Day 22, Map

Photographed a section of a large wall map that was labeled "The Background of the New Testament" while waiting for my daughter's Brownie meeting to finish.  Just seemed interesting so I zoomed in and edited a bit.   I always worry that it's too much.  I like it (although now, I think it's a bit to orange-y)... What do you think?  (SOOC is below.)  

I found a really great resource for photographer's inspiration.  It helped me to think out of the box a bit.  That's part of the reason I was inspired to take the camera out when I saw this map.  Check it out here.

Project 365: Day 21, First Baptist on Fifth

Project 365: Day 20, birdwatching

We've still got snow on the ground, but the temperatures has risen to mid-50s and it's giving me SPRING FEVER!  All these lovely visiting birds do not make it any easier.  Seems like each year I find a "favorite" that I photograph over and over again.  Few years ago it was flowers, the next year it was butterflies... I can already assuredly say that this year is the year of the bird.  Only problem is, they move much faster than the flowers and butterflies; I'm going to want a better zoom -- stat!

 

Project 365: Day 19, sleeping with the cat

She fell asleep on the couch... and a few minutes later he tucked himself in her arm and fell asleep beside her.

Skywatch: Snow Day!

Snow is pretty rare in our part of North Carolina, and everyone gets excited when it comes!  We actually had a thundersnow, which is even rarer.  Thunder, lightning and snow all at once.  Strange, amazing, and oh so cool.  We ended up with close to 3" at our house, but this is North Carolina and it is fast melting.  The sun is out, the sky is blue.  After a week of gray skies and rain, this is such a nice change.

The best part?  In our neck o' the woods, everything shuts down when it snows.  The grocery store shelves are emptied of bread, milk and eggs (french toast, anyone?) and we prepare to hunker down.  Sounds silly, I know.  But that's just the way it is here "in the South".  Soooo, school was cancelled (SNOW DAY) and I spent the morning with the girls playing in the snow -- quick!  before it melts!

Last night, as the snow started falling

The snow was melting so quickly off of the top branches that it seemed to be raining.

And this little guy was hanging out in our front yard.