Last Day Cardinal

Well, here it is. The 365th day of 2011. The last day for my Project 365. Photographer Angie Mann was my inspiration for this undertaking. Her encouragement throughout it all, along with other photographers and friends, really helped me to stay with it. Over this past year, I nearly made each photo on the day it was posted. Some I had to take and note down the day to post on a later date, such as when we were gone on vacation for 2 weeks. A few other times I "cheated" a bit and used photos from one day for 2 days of posting. Just being honest here. It's only right.

As I mentioned earlier my very first photo for this 2011 Project 365 series, on January 1st, was a Cardinal and so I wanted to end the project the same way, with a Cardinal. I have also included that first photo as well. I hope that you've enjoyed viewing my photos and commenting on them. I know I enjoyed hearing from all of you, very much so!

At this time, I do not intend to start another Project 365 right away but I do plan on using my ItsJustBudsStuff blog from time to time to share some of my photos. I hope you will check that blog out as well and opt to "follow" it.  Thanks again for your faithfulness in following this photo blog and I hope that 2012 brings many new and beautiful things, places and people into your life.

Bud

12-31-11

01-01-11

AARG! Where's Me Canon?!

For Christmas one of the many things my kids bought me was a hip bag for my camera. When I pulled up the top flap to unzip it, I was struck as to how much this bag looked like a pirate. Soooooo..... here he is. I opted for a white eye patch because he's a black pirate... and of course, everyone knows that a pirate NEVER uses a Nikon!  :-)

12-30-11

My Panthers

This is a photo of my Gonder Ceramic Arts Panther Pottery collection. Three styles, 5 sizes and a multitude of glazes. The two reclining panthers are 18.5 inches and 14.75 inches long. The four prowling panthers below them are 12 inches long. The three prowling panthers below the four are 15 inches long and the two prowling panthers at the bottom are 18.5 inches long.  They, the two longest ones, differ from the other two sizes of prowling panthers in that they have their left front leg forward where as all the other prowling panthers have their right leg forward.

Simple, huh?

12-29-11

Bud Bear

In my 36 years of long hair and beards of varying lengths on a number of occasions I have been called "Grizzly Bear", "Teddy Bear" and "Hillbilly Bear".  No, I will not tell you the circumstances to which those terms were applied to me. I will say that when Brooke, a young coworker of mine, strutted up to me today with this bear in hand and said "This is your bear.", I wasn't quite sure what she meant. I mean, how did she know about those "other" names of mine? It was only when I tuned the 5 inch stone figurine over did I understand. On the bottom was written; Second Nature Design, Quarry Critters, "Bud".

I bought the bear.

12-28-11

Reflecting Pools

We headed out to the D&K Diner for breakfast this morning. It was our third visit there and all three times it has rained. When we came home, I grabbed my camera and went out into the yard to see what I could find. These colorful little leaves were on a bush next to my neighbor's garage. I liked the way they cupped little pools of water. Soooo... "Click". This is my photo of the day.

12-27-11

Seed Pickin'

It never fails. As soon as I fill up the bird feeder, they fly in and start throwing the seed over board. There's always birds around the base to pick up the tossed seeds, just like this little female Cardinal is doing.

12-26-11

Back-lit Leaf

I've been playing around with found objects and experimented with this wet leaf. I placed it on a piece of blue tissue paper and back-lit it. Results are so-so thus far.

12-25-11

Chili Sweat

Condensation on a glass cover of a pot of chili at this evening's Christmas Eve at my momma's.  Makes for an interesting abstract, I think. Maybe. Kind of.

12-24-11

Lady in Red

Another rainy day with another afternoon shift at work. Which means I didn't have a lot of time to experiment with inside shots or to go out into the world. So, this is another one of my back yard visitors. I think this female Cardinal is beautiful!

12-23-11

Leaf Lines

It rained today. Pretty much all day. So I went outside and brought a leaf back in with me to photograph. This was what I considered the best of the few that I took. I couldn't spend a lot of time experimenting, as I had to get ready for work.

12-22-11

Fly-Thru Diner

It's a busy place when you set out a new bunch of seed. I like trying to take photos of the birds as they are flying or soaring. Pretty cool!

12-21-11

Ol' Bushytail

We get a ton of squirrels in the back yard. I love it when they sit like this, using their tail as a blanket from the cold.

12-20-11

We

Back Yard Blue Jay

For some reason, Blue Jays have been the hardest bird for me to photograph. I am not sure if it's because they are so skittish or if I am just hurrying too much. So far, this has been my best one. I like the way the limb hi is sitting on has the same contours of his body. Yeah. I planned this photo to be like that. ;-)

12-19-11

Puffed Up Dove

Just a puffy old Morning Dove trying it's best to keep warm. We have a lot of Doves hanging around on backyard feeder.

12-18-11

My Baby's New Ride!

We went and got Barbara's new car this morning. Well, she got it. After sitting at the dealership for an hour and a half I had to leave her there while I drove back home so I could get to work on time.

Anyway, this is her new ride. It's a 2007 Hyundai Sonata Limited, 3.3 V6 with all the bells and whistles. It's a pretty peppy car!!

12-17-11

Tense Bird

I just love the intense look that this little guy has. You can tell he's fully aware of his surroundings!

Backyard Pecker

Captured this fine looking woodpecker today. I hadn't realized how much I missed not feeding the birds out back. It's been fun watching to see who flies in to dine!

12-15-11

Pet Rock

I got a friend. Yes, I actually do, thank you very much! Anyway, she has this pet hamster and she has this rock, see. And she asked me if I would do a painting of her pet hamster onto her pet rock, so with her being my friend, I said "Sure!". So here it is. Her pet rock. I'm not sure which came first, the hamster or the rock.

12-14-11

Pecan Pie Leftovers

I took two pecan pies to work today, for our Christmas Potluck. This is what I brought back home. 

I enjoy making these pies, but it is getting more and more expensive. You'd think pecans were imported from the Arab Desert and controlled by OPEC!! I make my pies, crust and all, from my momma's recipe. 

12-13-11

Corn Munching Squirrel

I took a bunch of photos of this Grey Squirrel munching on an ear of Indian Corn that I tacked to the tree out back. He was hanging side ways, upside down and every way in between. This was my favorite one because I like the way his tail wraps around the tree trunk.

12-12-11

Perched

I found this pair of perched wrens or sparrows sitting above the feeder. 

12-11-11

Bird Feeder Frenzy

Well, summer is over so it was time to fill up the ol' bird feeder. It didn't take long for our neighborhood avian friends to find the mess hall.

As the sun-lit days are now much shorter my guess is you'll be seeing a lot of daily photos of my backyard birds, squirrels and such. I guess that might be a good way to finish this Project 365 on. In fact, I may just try and plan to make day 365 a photo of a cardinal, seeing as that was my Day 1 of this Project 365 post. How cool would that be?!  :-)

12-10-11

What's For Lunch?

What's for lunch? A couple Hebrew National hot dogs with Thousand Island dressing topped with Pickled Corn Relish. Mmmm Mmmm Good!

12-09-11

Church Re-Visited

I re-visited the church on Sunbury Road that I had taken a photo of last November. I had used my little Canon 4.0 point and shoot. Today I had my Canon T1i. I can't say that I am all that impressed with either photo. <shrug>

12-08-11

Alum Creek Whitetails

It wasn't raining today. A mix of sun and clouds. I managed to find some deer along Alum Creek. I was up on a ridge and took about 10 photos. These two were my favorites.

12-07-11

The Lone Berry

It's raining today. Again.

But instead of going to the flower bed, I walked across the street (don't act so shocked!) and took a close-up of this berry that was hanging on a tree. What kind of berry and what type of tree I have no idea. But I do like the photo!

12-06-11

One of a Kind

Hey, guess what?  Yep. It's raining again today. So, another short trip to the flower bed before work. I liked the way the one leaf became a chartreuse color and didn't just accept the fact that it had to be a normal green, like all the rest of them.

12-05-11

Rainy Day Plant

Twas a rainy day today. Thank goodness for the flower bed. For some reason, it always looks better when it's wet. Hope you like this close-cropped photo of some kind of plant.

12-04-11

Great Pancakes

Pancakes.

There's good ones and then there's great ones. In my personal opinion, the only way to make a GREAT pancake is in a cast iron skillet, frying in a layer of butter.  Mmmmmm Mmmm! :-)

12-03-11

Next Best Thing

Barbara's in Seattle visiting her family. It's kind of lonely without her, not to mention frustrating if ya know what I mean. Sooo... seeing as I could't have her, I settled on the next best thing; Kroger's Select Premium Danali Bear Claw Ice Cream.  :-)  I savored this tub for three nights. I know.. some of you would have polished it off in no more than two!

12-02-11

Cloud Figures

It was a beautiful sky today as I waited to go into work. I liked these puffy clouds. I managed to find 2 images in them, both rather large. Can you? Hint; A teddy bear and a male doll. LOL

12-01-11

Harvest Pizzaria

We tried out a little place in German Village today called Harvest Pizzeria. A pretty eclectic menu, kind of pricey but very good pizza!

11-30-11

Still Leftovers

Ah yesss... Nov. 29th and still eating turkey leftovers. This was actually a quite tasty lunch; turkey, salt, pepper, Miracle Whip and pickled corn relish. Mmmmmmmm!

11-29-11

Plant Puddles

Rained a bit over night. I find it hard to shoot interesting photos when it's raining or just a cloudy, dreary day. All I can say is, thank goodness for our flower bed! This is either a plant or a weed with pools of rain water. I like the red mulch. Reminds me of rust.  :-)

11-28-11

Jack Black Bison

This is my latest pottery acquisition. It is 13 inches long and was made by a Navajo potter by the name of Jack Black. Each piece was hand sanded and glazed. Jack passed away in 2002 and all of his molds were destroyed by his family so that his legacy could live on.  Although this piece has two broken horns that were glued back together, it still makes an impressive piece. His animal pieces are rather hard to find.

11-27-11

Lost on Sunbury Road

If you've been following my posts then you've seen this type of photo before; A Lost Ball. I love finding lost balls and then stopping to take a few photos of them. Their story always intrigues me. Are they really lost or just gone astray? Perhaps they are escaping some abusive child. Lost balls are on a journey of their own. That's why, when I find one, I take some photos and do not disturb them. I allow them to continue their quest. I encourage you to do the same.

11-26-11

Waterford Crystal

This is just a couple of Waterford Crystal wine stoppers that I've been trying to sell on Ebay. The photo on Ebay isn't as nice as this one, 'cause some Klutz (i.e.; ME) dropped one and chipped off a point. Sucked.

11-25-11

Nephew Jake

This here is Jake, my sister Delma's first grandchild. He didn't know what to think of this hairy old man and never really did warm up to me. This was Thanksgiving Day at our momma's.

11-24-11

Brother's Brew

That's two jars of my little brother's homemade Apple Jack, Apple Pie or Apple whatever ya want to call it.  Each jar has 4 ounces of pure moonshine and the numbers at the top mean that if you drank one jar of this stuff, you'd need to drink 7.6 beers to get the same effect.  :-D

11-23-11

DK Diner

We've been to this little diner twice now, and both times it's been raining. Weird. But what isn't weird is the food.. AND the donuts. I think that's what "DK" stands for; Donut & Kitchen, 'cause if I remember the story right, it once was only a donut shop. Small... but neat atmosphere.

11-22-11

Red Leaf

This tiny red leaf jumped right out against the green grass. I like the busyness of the grass in contrast to the simple, large heart-shaped red leaf as well.

11-21-11

One Eye Toast

One of Barbara's quick and easy breakfast meals. You use a jar lid to cut out the centers of the toast, drop in an egg and cook it up and walla.... One Eye Toast.

11-20-11

A Church on Sunbury Road

This is the backside of a church on Sunbury Road that I thought overlooked Alum Creek. Alum Creek actually takes a sharp turn away from the church so couldn't get into the scene. I took this one with my point and shoot, but plan on stopping back for a re-do with DSLR.. and to cut away those annoying branches that I couldn't seem to shoot around!  :-)

11-19-11

Red on Red

I do not know what type of ivy this is, but I sure do like the rich red colors of the leaves. The contrast in same color textures is pretty evident here. Makes for a pleasant warm photo.

11-18-11

A Golden Brown Leaf

Usually I am looking for images with sharply contrasting elements such as a yellow fluffy thing in deep green grass or a red leaf in dark black mulch. I was surprised by the beauty of this golden brown leaf lying in a bed of dried black mulch. Perhaps, instead of contrasting color, it was the contrasting textures that drew my eye in.

11-17-11

Goodwill Lot Gulls

Just a bunch of Lot Gulls hanging around the parking lot at work. I could never figure out why these birds hang out so far from the lakes. Weird.

11-16-11

Hanging On!

Ohhhh Noooo! I divided my composition in half! What was I thinking?  Well, I guess I was thinking it'd make a pretty cool photo. LOL 

I was sitting in my living room, looked out the window and was struck with how cool it was that the only leaves on this tree were just hanging on the bottom few limbs. The hanging direction works well with the vertical slats of the fence in the background.

11-15-11

Red Mulch Composition

On my way to the front door I found this beautiful composition in our flower bed. Everything was, to me, so perfectly placed.

11-14-11