Last week

Next week on this day I will be at the skin doctors right now. How very exciting. Find out the status of the skin cancers on my face. Remove or watch. Then at noon, to the hospital for my surgery. Another really exciting thing......NOT. And it seems to be coming fast. The days are just flying by.

I am still off work until Thursday. And then I only work Thursday and Friday and am off until who knows when. Wednesday I get my pre-op work done and I hope to get my hair trimmed sometime this week.

Sylvan Lake


My sinus infection is gone but I am having an unpleasant side effect to the medication. I still have 5 days to go on it. I think the side effect will only get worse and worse. And of course my doctors office is closed today. Now usually they won't have you stop a med just because of a side effect, but sometimes the side effect is really nasty and they will let you stop. I am hoping he will let me stop.

I had planned on going on a photo shoot yesterday and getting some shots for a sept photo hunt I joined but we ended up spending most of the day getting the pool down. What a mess that was. The inside was slimy because we hadn't used it for 2 weeks and I wasn't scrubbing it down and the pump was off. The outside was dirty. It took hours to drain the water and getting all the air out of it. Then the tarp over the grass, or I should say dead grass had to be unstaked and rinsed down. I am going to get seed and replant grass this week. It was worth it for all the use we got out of the pool and fortunately I am not obsessive about my lawn. Then I cleaned out Chesters cage. I let him outside to eat some grass.

He was so cute. Usually he is already starting to chew before you even set him down and then he just sits there eating the entire time hes out. I decided to take him to the side yard where some tender new grass was growing. Since he never moves I decided to do it without the cage. So he's eating away and all of a sudden, fat little piggy legs pumping away he scurried across the lawn to the woods. Sheesh. I have never seen him run. He's pretty fast. Hey little pig I said as I scooped him up, you would be a very tasty treat for the barn owl in the woods or the hawks. Since I assume he as always lived in a cage I am pretty sure he wouldn't last long. But he did seem to enjoy his little burst of freedom and was purring when I carried him back to his cage. Chester's big adventure. After that excitement he took a long nap. Happy little piggy.

Today my son is having us all over for a cook out. Lovely. I don't have to cook. After the fantastic meal we had last night, grilled shrimp with garlic cloves, steak, potato skins, and corn on the cob with a nice bottle of Zin I don't think I can eat for a week. Plus my little side effect from the med has taken away my appetite. But it will be nice to just visit and relax. Hard to believe it has been a week since we were at the cabin. Just went by too soon and wasn't long enough.

The cabin



Oh and one other thing. I went to the art splash. There was some great photography. I was not happy with my shots this vacation. Lots of over exposure. So I decided I need to learn how to really use my camera. After a year....procrastination. I bought some tapes from a company that are specific for my camera. It is like taking a class but on DVD's. They go over all the features and teach you how to use your camera for every type of shot. So I can watch that and have my camera right there to learn as I watch and rewatch and practice. They have these tapes for every camera practically they make and since I hate reading manuals this might work better for me and is cheaper then a class. That one class I took was a dud anyway. So hopefully my photo's will be getting better soon. It will give me something to do while I recover from surgery. Time to stop being a point and shoot photographer. I have been using more of my creative settings but not to their full scope.


Well, enough of all this. The photo below was from on top of the mountain looking down. I hate heights but love the views.

Reflections.

My Mom used to say she didn't want to raise any stupid children. Or children with bad manners or that were rude or self centered. She wanted us to be bright, love to read and kind to others. Because we were poor was not a reason not to be rich in language and skills we could learn if we applied ourselves. As a child I struggled.

My youngest sister was reading the newspaper by the time she was 3. My brother was a micro electronics expert. My middle sister could make anyone her friend. And my brother had the skill I really wanted. He could draw.....well.

I always loved drawing. Pastel chalks, paint. My passion was pottery. Although I was good my brother was special. I got A's, but he got praise.

And as a teenager I went totally wild. I could not live up to what my mother wanted me to be. I had failed her. I couldn't do anything right. So I partied my way through school, bored out of mind because no one read the kind of things I read. No one wanted to be challenged. They all were making their mothers proud.

I married at 19 and had children at 22. And stopped being mad at my mother and started to listen to her again. And she told me by stupid children she didn't mean children who got the best grades, did all the right things, said all the right things. She wanted children who questioned everything. Looked at all the angles. Made up their own minds. And she was proud of me because although I didn't always make all the right choices she noticed I never repeated my mistakes. My mother was more then I could ever hope to be. She was such a incrediblely smart insightful woman.

So hummmm. What is making me so reflective today. I have surgery number....... god I have lost count coming up. I am sitting here drinking a great pale ale and watching the mother deer and her babies out the window. Zoey is bugging me for a treat and Chester is chewing on his new toy. Rick is going to the store to get some jumbo shrimp to grill, I have a nice bottle of Zin chilling. And I am feeling content.

I am not the person I thought I would be when I grew up. Not the famous artist, the the writer. Not the smartest bulb in the carton. But I am happy. And not all people can say that. And I know my mother would be...... was, proud of me.

The deer family saga continues.

So when we got back we put out the bird food and the deer family showed up almost immediately. And what a improvement in just a week. Her swelling is completely gone now and she is filling out. No limping. She is still thinner then she should be this time of year of better.


And the spots are starting to disappear from the fawns coat. They look better also.


It is now starting to become the season where we have to be a little cautious when we are outside as rutting season will be starting soon. The bucks and the does get edgy. The does because the minute they relax and put their heads down to eat some buck appears with the intent to interrupt her meal. And that makes her testy.


She spends half the time chasing the bucks away.


Which makes them testy as they have one thing, well maybe 2 things on their minds this time of year. So he moves off and pretends his innocence until she relaxes......


And slowly moves back into place again. I didn't get the pictures of the chase and fight because they moved behind the tree and into the woods but she won, for now..


I have been out doing yard work this time of year and heard a snort. I look behind me and there is a huge buck pawing the ground and snorting. Not good. They will chase you instead of running away this time of year.. Which ticks me off because after all, its my yard. Why should I have to walk around doing my yard work with pepper spray in my pocket? Well because, if they did attack, it would hurt.

Helpful tip for the day. Another use for bounce fabric sheets.

Eliminate static electricity from venetian blinds:

Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.

Already Better

Don't you just love it when medications work quickly. I do. I am not sure if it was the nose spray or the penicillin but I feel better today then I have in 2 weeks. Thank goodness.

I am still going through my photos and getting them downloaded onto photobucket is proving to be a long long drag of a thing. I have them on CD's but they download on blogger much easier and quicker if you have them on photobucket. But. I like my photos large and it takes forever. Maybe for putting in the blogs I should make them smalled as long as I have the original on discs. Then if I find a couple I want to make prints out of I still can make what ever size I want. I could even make them large enough to do a wall mural of from this one place. That would be cool.


We are going to have a lovely weekend, the weather should be perfect. Tomorrow is the art splash down at the River and we are going. I have been playing with the idea of maybe someday trying to sell some of my photos there. I am no professional but I do have several which I think would look great framed. So anyway going to check out the real professionals would be a good thing.


What was so cool about South Dakota is they have some fields which are all sunflowers instead of corn. All with their yellow faces turned toward the sun. If you look at the photo you can see the fields on all the hills as far as you can see. Very pretty and impressive. Just imagine if they smelled. Wouldn't that be wonderful.


One great thing about digital camera's. If the photo is a bust you can delete it or play with in a editing program and see if you can salvage it that way. The photo below turned out terrible. Hazy and washed out, the other buffalo partly cut off. I was just about to hit delete and I paused. Maybe I could make something interesting out of this. So with the help of Picnik I worked on it and check out below.


The other buffalo is gone and I brought out the detail in the buffalo. With a frame it looks much better then it did, don't you think.


And on the one below I figured there are a million photos of Mount Rushmore so lets see if I could make this one more interesting. Yup. Looks better.


Well, we are going out to eat tonight. Hope everyone is doing well. Have a great weekend.

Name this bug

This totally cool bug was on our railing at the cabin. About as long as my little finger. Anyone know what it is?

Some Radom Shots

I am slowly going through my photos and getting them in order so thought I would post some. These are all unedited and not framed but they turned out pretty good. I highly recommend clicking on them to see them larger. They just look better. I have been putting them on a disc and looking at them on our tv. They really look good then.

The first is a shot almost everyone gets, Georges profile.


But some you have to go on the less beaten track to get. This is a maintenance road leading to one of the horse camps. This lovely little stream runs through it.


This lovely lake had the bluest water and the sky was perfect for shooting this day. I believe Rick took this shot as we used both camera's. Pretty good huh.


Cute duck sitting on the spellway, I liked the way the water looked behind him.


One of the hiking paths we took, just beautiful.


The light wasn't as good this day, very hazy so I zeroed in on other things and let the wonderful background show through.


Rick's unusual photo taking stance, or squat. I think he was taking the shot shown earlier in this shot..


On of the views from the hike. I am happy I am still in good enough shape to make these hikes.




Spiders always look better when they are not in my house.



Mount Rushmore is a must to get a shot or two of


I love the way you can see mountains in the background everywhere you look. No mountains in Iowa. They just wow me.


I thought this shot of two longhorn steers and 2 matching palominos was pretty cool.


And this cute little begging donkey was a cutie.


The buffalo were all over the road and delayed traffic a bit. They get a little closer to the van then I like as they have been known to rub against your vehicle and take off mirrors or dent it. This young one though was pretty mellow..


Lots of antelope this year.


The views.... and the smell of the pines. So beautiful.


This rancher is so lucky to have this beautiful view every day.


And last but not least one more pronghorn antelope..


I have so many more shots so will be showing them as I get them loaded.

Went to the doc this morning and got some sinus meds and antibiotics since it had turned into an infection. Hopefully will be good to go by surgery time. Its getting close. I am not looking forward to it at all. Sigh..

What a wonderful trip

We got back safe and sound last night. The time went by so quickly and we had a great time.

We saw 3 motorcycle accidents on our trip so for some it wasn't as good a trip to the black hills as it was for us. First time we saw that many and our host told us she heard there were more people who died going to Sturgis this year then were actually there. That would be the count from all over the country not just the ones who died up there. Sad.


But anyway. Enough of that. We had a great time. We drove on some new off roads that were scarcely traveled and that brought us through miles and miles of the most beautiful country. Since it is gravel many people don't drive on them and the beauty they missed. We loved it. Of course I have hundreds of photos and am going through them all. I will put them in my vacation journal, photo journal and here as I get them sorted.



On our last day the folks we rent our cabin from gave us each these cool walking sticks that are called solo monopods. It is a telescoping walking stick that is also a mono camera holder. You screw your camera to the top. Much easier then hauling the tripod and it comes with a carrying case. We could have been perfect for our hike at Sylvan lake. Going up and down the rocks and climbing down the mountain would have been perfect with this. We will bring them next time.


I had a sinus infection before we left that was bothering. I tried all the medications I could think of but it is worse and my ear and throat is affected. Since my surgery is in 12 days I decided I had better see my doc and see if I need an antibiotic before surgery. It has been 2 weeks now I have been trying to get it cleared up. So tomorrow I see the doc. Back to life.

Looking out the window I can count 18 turkey's huddled around the pear tree scratching at the food Rick put out. They have really multiplied. So I guess I will get back to my photos and checking out your blogs. I am so glad I have my ebook to store my photos.