Coconut

A gift from Laurel from her recent trip to Florida. Just a little coconut, which really makes me want to sing...you put the lime in the coconut and you stir it all around!! Is that the right lyrics? I don't know so I will sing it my way anyway!

Forest Park Nature Center

Forest Park Nature Center Peoria Heights, Il

There is this little prairie area that was just  full of flowers and tall grass. So wonderful, drawing so many butterflies. A small bench was near by so you could just sit and watch the butterflies dance.

A family of turkeys joined us on our hike. A mama, papa, and 4 babies.






More Gracie Art:

Possibilities

You Choose

Only you can decide which it will be.
Don't let others make that decision for you.
Today I made that mistake.

Pergola

per·go·la/ˈpərgələ/

Noun: An archway in a garden or park consisting of a framework covered with trained climbing or trailing plants.

 The Pekin Park District has built a Pergola next to the lagoon. Can't wait to see what this will look like next summer.

 Looks like a crab with claws!

Wonderful patterns abound!

A Present for Me

A sweet little girl shared her birthday cake with me today. And she gave me a little present too, this green butterfly ring. Awww, thanks so much Abbie!! Happy Birthday!

A confession:What do you do with a picture that you took that just didn't come out as bright or sharp as you want? You mess with the color saturation until you get a whole new picture. Below is the before picture.

Different Perspetives

Different perspectives of the same web.

 

Number 1

Number 2

 Number 3

Number 4

Shark Bite

Despite today's rain, we went to the Illinois State Museum in Springfield Illinois.

 

  Poor Liz, that shark just about ate her nose off!

A Giant Sloth, A Mastodon, something else that I can't remember, and oh, my hubby.

Today's crew and me of course!

3 of my favorite people!

Happy Anniversary

Today we celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary. It amazes me that it has been that long, sure doesn't seem like it. We celebrated with dinner and a movie, Transformers 3 in 3D. I decided to keep my glasses rather then give'em back. I paid for them, I'm gonna keep'em!
My anniversary gift was a wonderful gift, a wireless remote for my camera. How awesome is that! Just what I always wanted! He knows what I like :0) Thanks sweetie!! 
This is one of the first pictures that I took with my new gift. :o)

It's Hot

Hot, hot, hot!  Poor little guy, hope that was a cool spot for him! 

P.S. And yes, he is alive, we saw him move. Just to hot for him to care that I was there!

4-H Fair

This week was the Tazewell County 4-H Fair. Just a few pictures of some the collections that I liked. 

 My favorite wrestler! "DO YOU SMELLLLLL WHAT THE ROCK IS COOKING!!'"

 Cute Little Turtle

I'm Not Dead!

As I was leaving for work this morning, I suddenly saw this bug with half it's body hanging out of a baggie on the kitchen counter. I had no idea what or where this thing came from! The bug did not appear to be dead, but he certainly was not moving much. He appareantly was alive enough to chew or claw through a baggie, though. But I was in a hurry, no time to get the camera out, so I took a few quick ones with my phone.
So the story I got this evening was...the bug was on the floor next to the dog bowl. Jim also noticed he was not moving much. Thinking he would not last much longer, Jim put him in a baggie and then would give him to Larry, the bug collector, after it died.  Tossed it up on the counter and forgot about him. (yeah, that's nice dear, throw a dead bug up on the counter!!!)
Well, guess what, he's not dead! And he is not on the counter in the baggie any longer either. He is somewhere in this house, happy that he fooled several people, and living free!

Clary

Elizabeth' best bud, Clary the Clarinet. In a couple of weeks, Clary will be heading off to band camp, then playing in Marching Band competitions and at football games. Not to mention the usual lessons and playing at Church every Sunday. It's that time of year again Clary, you're gonna be a very busy Clarinet!

Whoo Whoo

I started out on a grand adventure tonight to find something special for my 200th picture. I stopped by my sisters first, you never know what inspiration one my find there. I wandered around the backyard, where I somehow managed to rip the back of my pants! I have no idea what I did to rip out the back of my pants, but I did?! I now have ripped britches and no picture and no grand adventure ahead of me tonight. Well! humph!
But I did not run and hide right away, I continued my scoping out the backyard where I happened to notice these tire wheel thingy's (that's the technical term) in the alley. Of course, I am the person who loves to find a face and I saw a face. This time I found an Owl face. For me, tonight, for my 200th picture, this makes me happy. As for that grand adventure, no worries, my days are always a grand adventure!

Moses

The neighbors cat loves our yard. It is much easier for him to hunt things that are hiding in the weeds then to hunt in his own weedless yard. I'm not so sure his people like it as much though!

A Tye-Dye B-Day

Happy Birthday Grandmother!

Everyone got a tye-dyed shirt to celebrate the occasion. We went to Steak-n-Shake for the grand birthday dinner, in our tye-dye shirts of course!

After dinner, cake, and presents, we were off to play Goofy Golf!

Yes, still wearing the shirts, but now we have beads too! Ummm, Liz and Tori...where are your beads?!

And the winner was....Grandmother!

I'm Bored

I am feeling very uncreative lately. Nothing too exciting going on here. Same kind of picture from the same kind of place. I need to get out of my yard!

Black-Eyed Susan

Time to start making pictures instead of just taking pictures!

A Pitcher

I asked Liz to draw me a picture and I would take a picture of it. Well she didn't feel creative so I asked Jim to draw me a picture. I went off to do the dishes while he was drawing. When I returned I noticed that he had the paper turned over and he was looking quite innocent. So I knew something was up...here's my pitcher. "You said draw you a picture, so I drew you a pitcher!" Oh so proud of himself! I live with this everyday folks.

I played around in Photoshop to see what I could do with the drawing. Below is the original.

The Moon Again

Coming home from shopping tonight I just couldn't help but notice how amazing the moon was. What was also amazing was how the sun was going down on one side of me and the moon was shining on the other side! I wonder if you could do a panoramic picture of that, that would be pretty cool!

Rain is a Good Thing

Rain is a good thing! Finally a little relief from this heat.

A happy little leaf! :0)

Shameful

 

I was able to find a few shaped hole punchers today so I could experiment with the how-to shaped bokeh pictures I saw on the Digital Photography School forum.. I figured out how to attach the shape to the lens then I began to take a few shots. I took about 15 but still not quite perfect yet, maybe when it gets a little darker. Let's take a look at what I've got so far. Here is where I began to notice a line or something on the hearts. 

Hey, that is kinda cool! You know how much I love to find faces in things! Hmmm, wonder what is causing those lines? Let's look just a little bit closer....

HOLY COW!! What is that??!!! Dirt!! OH MY GOSH!  where is this dirt located??? Oh what have I done to my camera?? I am going to die.....

Well, after my heart attack and a bit closer inspection, I discover that I have the dirtiest, yuckiest, most shameful UV filter on my lens. Oh, thank goodness it was just the  UV filter, but still, that's shameful!

Giant Lily's

Oh so pretty, what more could I say? Thanks Elsie for sharing them with me!