Flowers in my neighborhood

I love watching the flowers change from small buds to full blooms in May.
Here are a few I found while walking around the block:

To Shoot A Hummingbird...

I was trying to write a whole story about my experience of trying to shoot mockingbird pics,
 but ran out of time. They are elusive and usually visit the feeder early morning or at dusk.
here are the few I have taken, the last being the only successful one,so far.

Azaleas ; a short lived beauty

Our azalea bush has endured many years of hot summers, cold snowy winters, and construction materials being dropped on it. Even with all this, it always comes back every year, blooming beautiful pink flowers. The blooms only last about a week before waning, which is just long enough for honey bees and ants to make their annual visit. I try taking pics several times during that week to capture the stages of growth, from bud to bloom to plain, green leafy bush.This year, it bloomed a week ahead of last year.
Here are a few pics I've taken so far, including a happy little visitor :)

 

I hope you are enjoying this lovely month of May,
 Love and blessings,
Lori LC
*I took these pics using my Canon Rebel T3 with Canon zoom EF 75-300mm

Braiding hair can be fun

I have always enjoyed braids. When I was younger, I was fascinated by people who could braid their own hair. I had long hair as a teenager, and usually asked my Mom to do it for me. She seemed to like doing it foer me.
A friend's sister had long hair and braided it herself, and told me it was easy to do. She explained how to do it and I have been braiding ever since. When I eventually cut my hair too short to braid, my daughters obliged me to do theirs. As they grew older, it wasn't so cool to have Mom do their hair. My youngest daughter is now an adult and occasionally lets me braid her hair.I asked her if I could do it today and so we sat outside at the picnic table as my fingers happily weaved the strands into four separate smaller braids and then those into two medium size braids. Below are two pics of her hair, keep in mind that it is slightly windy and that caused it to be a bit wind blown.

without clips

with black rose clip

with small pink clip, you can see the wind blowing her hair

First visit of the year to LeMoo's Dairy Barn =D

Spring has officially begun when we have our first ice cream cone at LeMoo's Dairy Barn.

Le happy kid =D
He had mint chocolate chip with rainbow sprinkles, I had rainbow sherbet because the flavors I wanted were too soft due to a failed freezer, and my husband had his favorite, Maine maple walnut.

(It seems there's another ice cream lover trying to get a bite, from the graphic on his shirt ;) )
 LeMoo's has a variety of flavors, hard and soft, as well as specialty dishes.Eric's famous chocolate chip cookie sundae is delish, as well as The Sap Bucket!
 The Chocolate Rainforest Crunch! has caramel rippled throughout a rich chocolate ice cream and blended with candy coated cashews and melt in your mouth chocolate flakes.
They also have baby chicks to visit and feed,and added ducks this year to swim in their pond (pictured below)

Le Pond

There are picnic tables to sit at, children's play things,and a sitting barn to get out of the weather, whether it is warm,cold or rainy. One more perk is their 'Cone card',you'll have to ask about it.
Hours are:

Mon: 3:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Tue: 3:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Wed: 3:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Thu: 3:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Fri - Sun: 1:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Facebook Link

Email	lemoosdairybarn@gmail.com
	http://www.lemoosdairybarn.com More pics since first visit :

Who reads my blog?

I am interested in  knowing who reads my blogs.
 My stats tell me there are people from different countries who have been by here; but who?
 Have you been here before, or was this your first visit?
What was it that interested you in looking at this page?
Was it by chance or was it a key word from Google/Bing,etc?
I am asking so I can improve my writing style according to who my readers are.
 I would like to know what people from around the world are seeking.
 I seek Christ and blogs which promote His teachings and positive family values.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, and I hope you take a minute to post a comment so i can be encouraged to continue writing.
Love and blessings,
Lori LC

I have so much more to learn...

As the sun set this lovely Spring evening, I noticed the moon looked quite round and bright.
I just had to get a few pics before the clouds rolled in.
I told my family I had to go to the store and would be taking pics of the moon on my way.
I gathered my gear and headed out the door. I knew the best spot would be away from other light sources, and away from interfering wires and buildings. But, I chose a nearby parking lot down the street close to houses and a store. You can know right now that the images will be less than ideal, but I was in a rush and just wanted to get to taking pictures.
 I set up my tripod along the side of the lot, away from the wires and beside the tree. Attached the remote shutter and sat on the side of my van door.
 After shooting a few, I looked at them and noticed they looked more like pics of the sun than the moon. I changed the white balance from daylight to shade, and then to cloudy. They still came out wrong. I changed the iso to 100, but they still were not right. UGH! What do I have to do to get a decent shot of the moon?! Shutter speed?Aperture setting? Night shots? No matter what I tried, they just came out lousy. I finally got frustrated enough I came close to tossing the camera in the van, tripod still connected. I heard someone across the lot tell someone there was a photographer taking pictures of the moon. I laughed to myself and thought, 'Where?'
 After going to the store, walking off my steamed up brain, I went home and tried a few more shots. The problem was, I lost my shutter remote! it's not at the lot, store, the van, parking space. Gone! What a let down. The next one will have a tether so it will be easier to remember to put back in the bag.
Here are a few pics, just know, they are not very good. I'll improve with time, so these will be good for me to look back on and compare how much better I'll get.

Thanks for reading this amateur post , I am encouraged in knowing someone has been here to see them, and would appreciate a comment of what you think of it.

Love and blessings,
Lori C

UPDATE: I took pics the next night and got much better results. I waited until an hour later and wasn't as rushed. Wish I could say I found my shutter remote :/