playing inside....

i could be outside taking photos of everything blooming, but i've been kind of lazy.

actually i've been more in a funk, than lazy.

it's a "i've been bit by a tick, i want more antibiotics" funk mixed with an ER trip for our son.

he's been having some heart issues and they're woking on figuring out exactly what it is 

and what could be causing it. we'd like to blame it on his a.d.d medication, but he's had a few "episodes" while not on his medication. so that's not it.

today he had an echocardiogram. that was fun.

from what i could see on the ultrasound technician's screen, i think he's pregnant.

seriously, it looked vaguely similar to what i saw years ago when they said,

"it's a boy"

so here are a few of my still shots while i've been playing inside. i'd like to refer to them as

boring shots, instead. i love shooting just about anything, but trying to "make" a shot with things i have in my studio just doesn't do it for me.

i mean i love my studio and all my "toys" but i'd so much rather shoot anything outside:

people, animals, street scenes, rocks, babies....you name it. anything.

still shots. inside. bore me.

but don't think i hate yours, if you take still shots. in fact, that's what inspires me to try it. 

over and over again.

~ 

almost always what i see on other blogs fascinates me and i want to see more. 

and then i get jealous and want to shoot still shots inside my house.

but then i find myself shaking my head. saying oh sheesh.

i'm hoping next week to be better. to do better. to be less funkish.

by the way, after many comments and private emails from so many of you, i am now on a 14 day dose

of doxycycline for the tick bite. i guess the bullseye is a "grey area" as far as what to do with a deer tick bite. personally, the antibiotic regimen makes me "mentally" feel better. i love grey but not when it comes to a "grey area" and my health.

i truly hope you and your loved ones have a terrific weekend

*

because i love words....and people

i hope your today is a bit brighter after watching this

{originally found here}

sad but true....

of all the photos of violets i took in the woods, where the nasty deer tick lived that bit me and left me with a bullseye on my leg along with a degree of panic in my head, due to the fact that i rarely stop thinking about good things like fairies and bad things like "i'm going to die from a tick bite," 

this is really the only one i even like.

*

why i sleep with my underwear on.....

i woke up yesterday to a horrific pain in the back of my leg. 

when i reached down to touch the area that was screaming, my hand grazed over something small and hard. my first thought was that i must have been bitten by a spider and what i was feeling was perhaps a dried scab. the pain became worse while my fingers were investigating, so i jumped out of bed and grabbed a mirror. what i saw horrified me. i had a large mottled red area above the back of knee and in the center of it was a deer tick. 

~

deer ticks are tiny. 

tiny, about the size of a dot, with black legs. i quickly grabbed my tweezers and removed him while reeling in pain. instantly, after cleaning the area with rubbing alcohol,  i was on my computer searching everything under "deer tick/tick bites/lyme disease." 

the number of pages with information overwhelmed me.

~

amazingly some people get deer tick bites and never feel a thing. i'm not one of those people. 

i also read that finding a deer tick on you that's only been visiting and found in the 24 hour range makes a huge difference compared to those that aren't found for 48 to 72 hours.

~

as soon as my doctor's office was open, i ran there. with my tick in an envelope.

unfortunately, as if my day wasn't bad enough already,

a police officer caught me "running there" and slapped me with a speeding ticket.

~

{let's take a moment here so i can tell you that i have been driving for thirty one years and that that speeding ticket is the ONLY ticket i have ever gotten. no parking tickets, no failure to yield tickets, no inattentive driving tickets...etc. nada, nothing. no tickets for me. except for now}

~

once my doctor took a look, she gave me a heavy one day dose of doxycycline. 

that's the antibiotic they give you when battling lyme disease. 

she thinks i'm in the clear because of the 24 hour ruling, 

but i have to watch myself and keep notes. in six weeks, even if i have absolutely no symptoms of lyme disease, they recommend a blood test.

~

my leg continued to hurt all day yesterday. 

by last night the bite area had the true bullseye look to it and was finally feeling a bit better. this morning, the bullseye is gone, but the area {the size of a nickel} is strawberry red and is still tender.

~

so now this is where i back up just a bit. 

sunday i was in the woods. 

taking photos of the wild violets that grow on the hills behind our cottage.

i had on jean capris with a rolled cuff {wrong} and my all around slip on mesh trek shoes {wrong} because i was out there to clean, not hike. 

but with the warm weather, everything is "early" this year including the violets and i wanted to get up there and welcome them like i usually do.

~

i wasn't thinking. usually if i'm in the woods, i'm in tick mode. 

long pants. socks. my hiking boots. bug spray. 

and then a full body check and a shower when i'm done. 

unfortunately i did none of those things. my mind just wasn't in the right mind set. it's only march.

~

they say ticks like warm and soft areas, including the groin.

all i know, from what i read, is that my tiny deer tick used my body as it's own personal landscape, 

taking all day to decide where to settle down, 

and since he didn't decide on a spot until i was sound asleep,

well thank god i had my underwear on.

*

friday ramblings.....

last week we were finally forced to turn our air conditioning on. 

that.doesn't.happen.in.wisconsin.in.march

~

personally i hate air conditioning and would much rather have my windows open. 

of course, that's until bedtime when the windows must be closed. 

it goes hand in hand with needing a sheet over my legs while i sleep and 

monsters in the middle of the night. 

{remember when we talked about this not so long ago}

do you use walgreens. do you have their new app. where you can scan your prescription

to get a refill. i think i'm in love.

i bought a new bathroom scale. 

it weighs me 2.4 pounds heavier then the old scale. that sucks.

~

are you thinking about easter. i am a little bit, but only because i think eggs are really cool.

and colored eggs. don't even get me started on how much joy those bring me.

~

i'm still reading. i'm on book two and the story line has me intrigued. 

and you know what i want now. 

i want a driver. i want my very own version of "taylor." i want someone who just shows up every time i need something, before i even realize i need something. 

and if the occasion ever arises where he has to buy me a pair of underwear 

or pack an overnight bag for me...well wouldn't that be sweet.

*

enjoying the little things....

with this amazing weather, we took our first walk around "my pond" on sunday. 

i was honestly surprised to see so many ducks, so early in the season.

the women were busy claiming their "nesting" spots

while the men were busy doing whatever it is they do.

it's funny how i can walk the same pond over and over and never get bored.

i mean really. 

don't cattails fascinate you. 

they don't. oh. well then you'd hate "my pond."

~

wait. they do. 

well then you can come along with me on my pond walks any day.

*

{i'm on book two of "fifty shades of grey," which is "fifty shades darker." did you look the book up. did you download it. are you reading it. curious minds want to know}

the smell of rain....

it's raining today and i'm actually loving the sound of it outside my open windows. yes. it's march and my windows have been open for over a week now and i'm loving every minute of it. 

~

i'm kind of wondering where march is going. does it seem to be flying by at your house, too.

i still have so many florida photos to share, but i promise as soon as i get a few more of my "local" photos edited, i'll be back on the right path. i think. 

but hey, doesn't this look like donald sutherland.

how can you not love this little boy. i don't think he's ever seen a hula-hoop before.

this was taken on a rainy day in florida. i had come across a similar photo on pinterest and decided to 

"re-inact" it using things i had around the cottage, mixed with a few things i had brought from home.

i have to admit, taking still life photos does not come easily for me. i really have to work at it.

this photo was taken at one of the outdoor concerts we went to in seaside. 

i love it mostly because for some reason it feels old to me. i think i should have given it a wash of graininess when i processed it, to really give it that old feeling, but preventing and eliminating noise in my photos is one of those things i learned early on to do. maybe i've been tainted.

{but i do love the sun flare i captured}

~

in general news:

a. i love her work

b. we watched "win win" again and i love that movie. 

i highly suggest you watch it. 

i promise you won't be be disappointed. seriously, i promise. it's that good.

c. i'm reading "fifty shades of grey." 

{thanks jen}

i'm only on the first book. it's a trilogy. 

if you're reading this book, too....email me. we might have to start a secret book club.

~

in the meantime, for those who want to learn a little bit more about it,

or why i'm being rather hushed about it, you can go here or here or google the title. 

{i'm reading this on our ipad. i'm not sure you can get the paperback version of it yet}

the tiger says wroooaaaar.....

and

the giraffe says....well what does a giraffe say?

and 

the flamingos say....well what does a flamingo say?

when the weather here is beautiful, everyone goes to the zoo. 

well everyone who has children under the age of 10. my daughter is a professional nanny and going to the zoo with three children can be a challenge, so i go with her to give her an extra hand. 

now granted that extra hand of mine always has a camera in it, but still, 

two adults + three kids = a much easier afternoon. 

*

ps...did you see the tiger

compromised....

i talked to the sheriff in florida today

~

we'd only been home 5 days 

when i took my girlfriend out for lunch and my credit/debit card was declined.

i called my bank immediately and they had put a hold on it, due to a possible transaction in north carolina, at a walmart.

obviously not my transaction. thank you my wonderful bank, for watching my back. 

~

we just found out yesterday that there was a credit card scam right in the area we stayed. someone was skimming, they believe, then selling the numbers and making cards.

almost all the bad "you scum butts for trying to steal from me" transactions were made at walmarts all over florida. i also found out today that along with north carolina, they had tried to use my number again in a florida walmart. thank god it was denied.

~

we were told to contact the sheriff and file a report, which didn't pertain to us, as we hadn't lost any money, but they did want to know where we had shopped while we were down there. 

they have it narrowed down now to three locations where they believe the skimming took place. 

one of them is one of our favorite places to eat. so sad.

~

and

now this is where i thank target. 

after my second transaction at the target in panama city while we were in florida, they called wanting to confirm that i had my target card in my possession and that the current charges were mine.

again, my back was being watched.

wow, that makes me feel good.

today there are no long sleeves to be found. instead we're setting records like many of you.

forecasted today is a high of 78. sweet.

the convertibles are everywhere. flip flops are on. gardens are being tended to. 

grills are being fired up. kids are running wild.

and 

best of all, people are amazingly happy.

in case you need one

this bud's for you 

*

happy wednesday everyone

we interrupt this regularly scheduled program....

obviously you can tell i watch too much television with a post title like that. oh well.

~

anyhow, i thought it only fair to take a day where i wasn't forcing you to look at more florida photos and decided to share instead, what i bought in florida. the "saying" pillows came first. i still need one more for the left side and two euro sized shams to go behind everything, but i like to take my time and search for exactly what i'm looking for.

then came this sign. you can see it when you enter our front door. 

i think it's only fair to let your house guests know the rules up front. snort.

i had to rearrange {and god forbid dust} the shelves in my office a bit to find a home for my 

"be yourself" reminder. it was totally worth it. 

here's one more corner in my office. 

the tiny clothespins came home with me from florida and i pulled out my old ledgers and a misty mawn painting to finish the "look." wait. that sounds like my gifted misty mawn painting was "put away" and it wasn't. it was holding court in my studio and i decided it needed a new home. i say all this like you know who misty is and some of you probably don't. unfortunately she rarely blogs anymore, but if you google her, you'll find her and fall in love with her like the rest of who know her have.

saturday was terribly windy. 

i mean like gale force winds that could have easily blown us into another county if we had ventured outside our car, but being the daring "amazing race like" people we are, 

we stopped at the petting zoo after lunch anyhow.

i said to the hubby, "what is this?" and he said, "it's an elk, right?"

i said, "i guess it is, but we don't have elk here." 

he said, "we don't' have lions and tigers either, but our zoo does."

i guess he won that one.

this elk, or whatever it is, was whining when we went near it and looked so sad to be caged, 

but then it licked it lips like we looked tasty.

after a wide eyed look at each other

it rammed it's horns into the fence and we actually felt a bit threatened. 

well, i really didn't. but the hubby did.

okay, i did a little.

*

who do you think you are.....

as long as you don't care, i'm going to keep sharing my photos from florida with you. 

i mean i could post without photos, but then you'd all have to suffer through my writing and believe me you'd get bored and end up eating some chocolate, which would end up being the whole candy bar and then your jeans would feel tight. and. well see. 

i'm saving you from something you'll regret later. you're welcome

~

yes. the inside of this seagull's mouth was truly this red. i'm assuming they all are, unless he was suffering from strep or some other throat virus. can you tell he's mad. 

i think he was angry at us for not feeding him real food. whatever.

yesterday i saw my first robin here in wisconsin. he was doing a little happy dance and smiling.

this is a florida robin. a floridian. i think.

does florida have robins or are the ones we see while we're down there just wintering until it's safe to head north again. does anyone know.

sandpipers might be my favorite gulf bird. wait. no. pelicans are.

oh heck. it's not nice to pick favorites. i love them both equally.

squirrels. i love them. 

as long as they're not doing anything to make me mad, i think they're great. and even though we had a maniac squirrel who loved our backyard and tore apart our bird feeder. well. hey. most of the birdseed ended up on the ground and the mourning doves were really happy. so it was a win win.

oh mr. woodpecker. what can i say. i adore you. 

and when i watch you try to feed at the bird feeder that isn't really meant for someone your size and you cock your head all over the place trying to figure out how to get what you want. 

well. you had me at hello.

cats make me laugh. 

especially the outdoor ones that you totally surprise, who think they're hiding, but really aren't 

and 

then look at you like "what the, who the" 

and 

then run off all disgruntled with a "sheesh" attitude.

*

happy weekend everyone