04_12_2010 Birds in flight!

One of the most challenging things to do with photography - as we've quickly learned - is to get photos of birds in flight. Now, getting a photo of say a Red-Tailed Hawk soaring may not be so difficult, but what about a song bird? Or a hummingbird? Wow, are they difficult to catch!

That has been a challenge that has taken hold of Dave. And he taken some really nice photos.

I thought that this blog would be dedicated so some of those shots.

You'll see several beauties here. First up is the Red-Shafted Northern Flicker. We see tons of these around here. They are a type of woodpecker. Those of you out east may see his cousin the Yellow-Shafted Northern Flicker. The photo here is of a female. The male has a red malar strip (moustache) while the female's is mocha colored.

The next bird shown is a male Mountain Bluebird. This bird was photographed at the Great Sand Dunes of southern Colorado. I love this photo - see the shadow of the bird's foot on his wing? Very cool!

The third bird shown (another favorite - I admit, they are all favorites) is a Black-Billed Magpie. These comical birds are such fun! When they fly, they remind me of Macaws with their streaming tail feathers. This bird was also at the Great Sand Dunes. I love how he/she is carrying nesting material in his/her mouth.

The fourth bird is a Red-Winged Blackbird. This photo was taken at the Wildlife Refuge just east of Alamosa, Colorado. The photo really captured the bird's beautiful epaulet (shoulder patch).

And finally, the hardest of the hard - a hummingbird! This is a Costa's Hummingbird that Dave photographed in Southern Arizona on a recent trip. Have you ever seen a photo of one in which the wings weren't blurry? There's a reason for that! They flap their wings 40-80 times PER SECOND depending on the particular species.

Enjoy!

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04_05_2010 Miscellaneous Stuff

Not much to report. Just sitting around waiting to be in control of my life again as opposed to my foot being in control.

It's doing really way - far better than the last one. That is actually surprising since we thought the last one did so well. You can see at two weeks, other than the obvious wounds, it looks almost identical to the left foot. Today is actually three weeks since surgery and the right foot now exceeds the left foot in terms of mobility.

Very unexpected. About 1.5 more weeks in this frankenstein shoe, then it's freedom again. I will then be able to drive my own car again. Yay! I've been able to drive the truck for about a week. That thing is huge though. It does limit where I can (or am willing) to go.

While this healing has gone far better, it's been much more difficult psychologically. I'm partially bummed and my motivation seems to have been removed during surgery. Happily, it's growing back... today was very productive. And despite it, I got word that one article was accepted for publication, an R&R was resubmitted, and a new article was sent to a journal in the last few weeks.

Now that I look at that, I guess I've been doing more than making cat dresses and hitting the refresh button on Supertopo.

In other news, Dave continues working hard on his photography. He's been getting some really nice photos too (future post coming up with some). When mom was in town, we made him a bird blind that he's put to good use. I wonder what the neighbors thought...on second thought, they probably couldn't even see him on the porch!

All else is well. Pente continues enjoying her new outfits. Plus, I made a couple for a friend. They are a riot!

Not much else - just life as usual. Looking forward to getting out on some trips!

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3_25_2010 Final Chapter of Cat Couture

I thought I'd post the rest of Pente's new wardrobe. These are three very cool little dresses. I can't promise that more won't be made (as I'm sewing other things), but I'll stop with the blogging about them. :) Hey, it could be worse, I could post more bunion surgery gross photos!

She's a mellow little cat and she does like these clothes. Dave saw last night for the first time her prancing in the shimmery dress. He couldn't believe his eyes! The ways she walks in them when she's feeling pretty is hysterical.


Enjoy these!

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3_25_2010 More foot gore - stitches are removed...

Foot surgery number two was on March 15th, almost exactly three months after the first. It's been a different experience, but still it's not been too big a deal. I feel like the foot is healing faster this time. There is way less swelling. Still excellent bruising. And oddly, a wee bit more pain, though overall I wouldn't call it painful. The worst part was I didn't handle the anesthesia so well this time. I paid for several days for that. Blargh.

I stopped using crutches at about a week. Last time, people had to pry my crutches away from me at about 2.5 weeks. And even then, I carried them with me 'just in case.' It is clear where the saying 'it's like a crutch' comes from!

As noted in the previous few blogs, I spent my first week of recovery at home with Dave and my Mom helping. Dave had a fair amount of work to do so during the day, Mom and I made lots of clothes (not only for the cat).

She's since gone home and I've continued sewing. Got two skirts and one cat dress done yesterday. Today the sewing machine is out getting a tune-up. Can't wait to get it back!

Today we went to get the stitches out. Hurrah! Plus, we got to see the post-surgery x-rays. I was anxious to see these since the morning after the surgery, I tripped on the crutches, fell and caught my full body weight on my surgery foot. Not pleasant and even more scary.

Happily the foot looked good so I didn't mess up the work.

Enjoy the before and after x-rays. And the stitch removal photos. Some of the bruising is actually showing in these photos! Two more weeks and I get to wear real shoes. Six more weights and I can start climbing again.

The first photo is a before surgery x-ray. The second has both the 'after' and the 'before' x-ray. The third is a close up of 'after'. I think the rest are self-explanatory.

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3_23_2010 More Cat Couture!

Due to popular demand, I'm posting some more of Pente's new fashions. As you'll see, she now has an outfit for most any occasion. They range from a casual spring-day stroll, to an outfit purrrfect for Carnival! They show her down-home hillbilly side as well as her bad-cat-where's-my-Harley side.

Can you believe that with all the outfits you're seeing, there are several I've not even posted? There is the pretty purple batik dress. And the tiger-strip dress (she looks HAUT in that one). She's one lucky cat!

Already when she is walking around the house without clothes on, she seems naked. Bizarre.

She continues to really enjoy prancing around in her little costumes. Who knew any cat would be such an attention hog?

In all seriousness, we didn't spend this time just making cat dresses. We ended up making several dresses for my two nieces who live in Houston. We made a very cool bird blind that Dave will be using for his bird/wildlife photography. We made four pair of slacks, four skirts, three jackets and a new dress. I have fabric to make more now too.

It's been great fun having the machine out again. We don't have a good place to keep it out in the house so it means an instant mess to use it. Maybe I'll get it put up by Monday after I finish the rest of these clothes.

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03_20_2010 Nice Bird Photography

This winter, Dave has been more active with his photography. He's upgraded some equipment and just been making time to get out and take some photos.

To my joy, he is focusing a lot on birds. And he's finding the challenges of photographing birds quite fun, and well, challenging! He's taken some really great shots already.

I thought I'd post this blog to show some of the beauties he's taken.

Enjoy!

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03_20_2010 More of Pente's Summer Fashion

Pente pranced around all day yesterday in her new pink dress. It was clear she needed more. So today, we present Spring Pente in her Ladybug Dress. This one is more formal than yesterday sundress. Notice the petticoat, and extra lace on the necklace.

Very pretty Pente!

Dave was concerned that Pente's active side was being ignored, so mom designed the Camo-Cat outfit. Pente skulked around the house in battle mode with this outfit on. She was ready for any hunting activity!

It has been suggested that we make her a Monkey Grinder outfit. Don't put it past us!


Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: Dave is not involved with the cat dress up in any way shape form or fashion.

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