Ravine Gardens State Park

Palatka, FL. The azaleas were blooming like crazy. A photog group I'm in is going on another field trip tomorrow, this time to the Scottish Highland Games. Should be interesting, and we're planning to go back to Ravine Gardens tomorrow afternoon. Have a great weekend!

A boy can grow a lot in a year

Picked up a couple of extra items at Publix this evening...

Well, technically not from Publix, but while I was out grocery shopping :) Yes, the Howl-iday Inn is back in business. I have the weiners while my brother and sis-in-law go to Daytona for a few days of Bike Week :)

Big Dreams

Happy Birthday

My beautiful girl was 17 on Jan. 8th, but due to her work schedule and other conflicts, we weren't able to have her party until this past weekend. She was able to spend some quality time with her close girlfriends and then PAR-TAY with the rest of her friends and family :) Her friend Jordan insisted that she was going to DANCE at her party...and dance she did. He taught her the "Cupid Shuffle" and the "Cha cha slide". (We all tried it, it was fun, even for the old people)Before the big party, we continued a tradition we started a couple of birthdays ago. She has a few close friends sleepover, and then we spend the afternoon at our favorite park and have a photo shoot.



You can see all the fun Here if you are so inclined :)


Edited to add ~ I've been corrected...Jordan AND Sarah taught her the dances! :)

10 Years Ago...

I married my best friend :)He took me to Savannah for a couple of days to celebrate. We had a beautiful room overlooking the Savannah river and were able to spend some time just enjoying each other's company.





Here's to the next 10 years <3

Just a Pinch of Pixie Dust...

Playing with Bokeh

Needs work, but it's a start. You take a piece of paper, cut a small shape out of it and position it so it completely covers your lens, with the shape in the center. The idea is that you can get a candle flame or other type of light-bokeh to take the shape. Mine was a heart :)

Mice on Main

I walked around downtown Greenville today, to look for the "Mice on Main"...
A boy named Jimmy Ryan came up with this idea for his Senior project. The idea was inspired by the book "Goodnight Moon". He raised the money and commissioned a local sculptor to cast the little bronze rodents. It started as a temporary "installation", but it was so popular with tourists that they made it permanent. It was pretty cute...this is "Millie"...she's the hardest one to spot. She is hanging out on the edge of a sign overhead.


There are 9 of them, anywhere from on the curb, on some steps leading down to "Coffee Underground"...by the oldest bank, etc.

Very cute, you can read more about it Here

Well hello!

This horse was downright comical...I stopped on the side of the road to take a picture of some cows in a pasture. I heard something from the other side of the road, and I looked to see this fella looking at me very inquisitively! He had his head stuck through the slats in the fence and was watching my every move. I walked across to him (naturally!) and he walked over to me. He was very nosy about my camera, and wanted to nibble on my shirt-tail. Then he very kindly posed for me :)

Kilgore-Lewis House & Gardens

This is a beautiful house that was built in the early 1800's. Mr. Josiah Kilgore built it as a wedding gift for his daughter. I pulled up a little before 10am and walked around taking pics of the exterior, waiting for them to open at 10. As I walked back up the drive, a lovely lady came out the front door to welcome me :) It was Miss Judy Isler, the house manager. She was kind enough to give me the full tour, and I really enjoyed it. I love to visit historical sites like this, but it's SO much better when someone can give you all the information and back-stories on everything. Miss Judy was obviously very into the history and she had a lot of very interesting stories and facts to share. If you're ever in Greenville, it's worth stopping to see.



Of course, this time of year the gardens were pretty bare, but it was still a beautiful place to walk around. I would love to see it in the spring :)

you can see more Here

Falls Park on the Reedy

First day in Greenville :) I dropped Rory off at BMW Daycare this morning at 8:30, and I've been going every since. Greenville is BEAUTIFUL...lots to see and do. Today, I went to the Falls Park on the Reedy first. It's a gorgeous park on the Reedy River in Downtown Greenville, beautiful gardens, stone steps, and then the falls...







It's also near Riverplace, which is a riverfront shopping/dining/hotel area. There is a suspension footbridge across the river, I didn't get good shots of it this morning, but I'm going back for the afternoon light :) You can see more shots Here

On the road again

Finally got to go on a bike ride, it's been a month since I've been on it.

It was beautiful weather, nice and cool but the sun was warm. We ran into my brother and his wife out riding in the same area, so we rode together for a while.



What started out to be a "short" ride (according to my husband, who said 'we're not going far, don't worry about your gloves and all that...') ended up about 4 hours and ranged from Green Cove, Penney Farms, Middleburg & OP, and all the way back around through downtown Jax and then home. Luckily, my sister in law had an extra pair of gloves on her. When the sun started sinking, the cold came back! It was a fun afternoon though, glad we took the opportunity to get out for a while :)

It's a bird, it's a plane...

No! It's Zeke, the Flying Dog!!!



yes, there is a HUGE difference between the xti and the 50D! LOL