This morning our little camera club went to Heckscher Park in Huntington Village. It was a very grey day and quite cold. I think we are going to have to find some indoor places to take pictures. My hands were so cold that it became almost impossible to hold the camera steady enough to take a picture.
And before you ask,(and I know you will)the picture of the geese in flight was done by panning. I like how everything is blurry except the birds, it really gives you a sense of movement.

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These are some of the pictures taken Monday at Sunken Meadow State Park.

Yesterday and today have been gorgeous. Today it is well over 80, very unusual for this time of year.  Makes me wish the pool was open already. Instead I am busy clearing off the water and debris from the winter off the cover.
Saturday I spent the whole day out on the patio. I was sitting and reading and listening to the birds, a very enjoyable day. I also took my camera with the zoom lens on out with me too. Every once in a while I would hear a different bird song and look for the source. I was out there for 4 hours and it didn't seem like any time at all. At the end of the day I had snapped 40 pictures. Then I came in and identified the birds that had visited the feeder. I'm starting to get into identifying the wildlife I am seeing.
Visitors to the yard:
Common Grackle, American Robin, Cardinals, White Throated Sparrow, House Sparrow, House Wren, Red Bellied Woodpecker, European Starling, and Blue Jays. It was a very busy day at the feeder.
 
Common Grackle - Even though he is a bully to the little birds he is still beautiful. I love the way his colors shine when he is in the sunlight.
I keep a planter saucer with water on the deck for the birds. Lately I have noticed Charlie using it as a water dish, despite the fact that he has one on the patio. I guess it is time to get a regular bird bath.
Can anyone identify this plant? I know it is considered a weed but I love the purple color of the leaves and tiny little flowers on top.


Time to go move the cover pump again.

Malverne Mel didn't see his shadow -- so an early spring is on its way.
Holtsville "Hal" saw its shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter.
Staten Island Chuck saw no shadow.
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.

So who do you believe? I want to go with the guys who didn't see their shadow. Honestly though if I were asleep in my nice warm bed and someone reached in my window and grabbed me out of bed I would do more than just look for my shadow. I think I heard on the radio that Chuck did bite the mayor this morning.

I am Accidental Green
Like Jeremy Piven (whose mercury poisoning highlighted the problem of contaminated fish) or Jenny McCarthy (who has become a healthy advocate after her son was diagnosed with autism, you never meant to choose a green path.
Or, perhaps you are going green in small ways, without realizing it. For example, when you repair things instead of tossing them or choose efficient technologies.
Which celebs share your personality? Jeremy Piven, Jenny McCarthy, Ed McMahon (whose toxic mold-infested home helped bring attention to that issue)



Personality Quiz Going Green - What Is Your Green Personality Quiz - thedailygreen.com

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It is not accidental as the title implies. Still working on being more green, guess I have a bit more work to do.

We had a nice family kind of weekend. Leanne got here around 1ish on Saturday and immediately took control of the washing machine. Sometimes I think the girl only visits so she can wash clothes. No, not really. But she always has a huge bag with her. Michele had it in her head that she wanted Thai food and the rest of us were like no you don't, you won't like it. She looked on line at reviews and comments and tried to convince the rest of us. We finally reasoned that she was better off going someplace where she knew that she would like the food and leave the experimenting for another time. She finally decided on Mexican so we headed to Pancho Villa's  in Huntington Village. I could kick myself for leaving my camera home. Dinner was delicious. When the waitress came over to take our drink order Michele got a margarita and had to show her id. The waitress noted that her birthday is Monday and must have written it down. None of us mentioned that we were out celebrating. So they bring over dessert and all the wait staff starts singing happy birthday to her. They put on this big straw sombrero and took her picture. I never even saw the picture, Michele grabbed it and stuck it in her back pocket. So I have no pictures. Oh well. 
Sunday was spent around the house doing the usual Sunday things - paper, puzzles, catching up on tv shows. Leanne spent the day with James, they are talking things out and seeing if they can salvage the relationship. I was impressed by James and how he treated Charlie. Usually he won't let the dog near him, he's not a fan. I told Leanne that he was no longer allowed in the house unless he treated Charlie better. Mostly because of Charlie's condition and how he does not handle stresses well. It seemed to work because Charlie came over said his hellos got the pat on the head that he so desperately craves and then went away and did his own thing. Yay no stress. No extra pills needed. Happy mom. Leanne left around 9ish last night and got home to a freezing apartment. Seems when the landlord came in to fix the heating system he forgot to turn it back on. Leanne said all the mammals were fine, the turtle has a heater in his tank so he was ok but she lost a few fish.
Today was Michele's official birthday. She had school so we really didn't do much. I gave her the choice of what to have for dinner and she picked pasta and sausage. Easy meal for me, and she was happy.  
Mark is done upstairs so we are going to go watch house, I love having a DVR.

From Oprah's email today:
Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. - Orison Swett Marden

1/19 View looking up the hill the morning after the big storm.


1/21 peppers at the grocery store.

  
1/23 one of the many visitors to the bird feeder
 
1/24 Leanne visited making Charlie very happy


1/25 Some of the regulars at the feeder. The blur on the right is one coming in for a landing(you have to look close)

It's been a while, I know. There is really not much going on around here. My internet was down for most of the last two days. They came today and sort of fixed it. There is a signal loss somewhere between the box across the street and the box that I connect to. They are supposed to come tomorrow to fix it again. Went to Quest Labs today to have blood drawn and pee in a cup for next weeks physical. I hope my numbers are better than last year. She warned me last year that I need to be careful because some of my numbers were high. I have been eating healthier and trying to exercise more. Still have to work on the exercise part.
I have been consistent with my picture taking. Mark  is getting a kick out of me using the camera so much. I took it  to the store when I went grocery shopping, I wanted to take pictures of the produce so I could play with the color saturation. My camera can do so much and I hate that I use it as a point and shoot. Got some nice pictures today. I stood under the pine tree forever trying to catch the birds at the feeder. It was nice out so it wasn't so bad. We had a bit of a thaw today and most of the snow melted. Unfortunately now I can see all the little gifts Charlie has left all over the backyard. Guess I will be heading out there with the pooper scooper this weekend. Ahhh, the joys of pet ownership.
Michele's 24th birthday is Monday, so Leanne is coming in tomorrow for the weekend. Michele will be so surprised.

 
Snapped this while I was waiting for the birds to show up.

Quick update while the turkey is in the microwave. Making spaghetti with chunky turkey sauce.  This weekend was spent mostly around the house. We got some snow then some more snow and then some more. Each time we would think it was done it would start again. Mark finally got to use the snow blower. He went out Saturday afternoon and did the whole driveway and front walk. Went up in the shower and by the time he came out another inch had fallen. Same thing happened on Sunday. Today he did the driveway again, this time it started snowing before he came back in. Saturday night we watched 2 movies Juno and Vantage Point. Both were good Vantage Point kind of gave me a headache the way it kept rewinding.
Had an appointment with Penny this morning, I think maybe there was a breakthrough. I hope. I think she finally understands what I am going through with Michele and will be able to help her.
When I took Charlie for his walk this morning I took the camera with me. I am really enjoying taking pictures. I got some really good shots this morning. Having the dog on the leash does present some problems, like trying to keep the camera steady. The hawk was nowhere to be seen and neither were the geese which fly by every morning (because I had the camera). I did hear the geese while I was sitting and having my morning coffee. There's the ding. Supper time.