Instagrammin'!

photo credit

How many of you guys have been sucked in by Instagram? I am utterly obsessed. I was always annoying with a camera, but now I can keep up with other people that are as photo-enthused as I am! I am an amateur photographer for sure, and all my photos are taken with my iPhone 4S.

So if you're not following me, you should! I'm @theheatherrose, and I even have an Instacanv.as account. Leave your instagram name in the comments, and I'll follow you, too. We can stalk each other shutterbug style, and it'll be grand!

Here's a little sneak preview of some of my photos:

Close to Home

High Falls

Lake Michigan

Solar Powered

Mr. T and I have been taking full advantage of this gorgeous weather, and I've been thoroughly annoying with my camera apps. ^_^

Mr. T

My trusty Daisy Cruiser

Stinky trees

I am solar powered, and so thankful for the sun.

Pics or It Didn't Happen

Oh, it happened. All of it. You want photo documentation of why I've neglected my blog so? Well, you got it.

There were:

Picnics in parks...

 

canoe trips...

bicycle rides, swimming, and sunbathing on blankets in the yard.

 

My adorable husband...

played his guitar...

 

while I sang praise songs, and squinted into the sky on steamy Sabbath afternoons.

We took our favorite teenager camping/rafting in North Carolina, and she survived to tell about it. She's not the most outdoorsy gal, but she's always up for anything.

I  purchased the coolest tee shirt on the face of the planet. It's a man's, and it's too big, but I don't care. It's Kermit, and he's rocking out. I had no choice.

Some friends of ours went out of town for a week, and the husband person and I had the pleasure of puppy-sitting for them. We went to check on these adorable mutts every night, and spent the weekend at their house.

Barkley is the fastest tongue in the South, and quite the cuddler.

His mom, Lucky (aka Lucy Fur), has a bad reputation for escaping the backyard, but I think she's just misunderstood. She runs to the neighbor's house to see another of her puppies. She's such a muppet. ♥

 

All in all they were wonderful hosts. We were licked, wiggled upon and generally adored.

And, of course, my creative compulsive disorder has been running rampant. Not only have I been preparing for an upcoming Sidewalk Art Stroll (Next Thursday!), the lovely Ari went and had her 28th birthday. I made her a water doodle portrait...

 

...and some Muppet magnets. I already made her Kermit & Pepe last year, so now she has a whole slew of them. Gonzo and Beaker are my favorites. What about you?

 

Then there were the puppy portraits for a friend of a friend. Psst! I love me some friends of friends. I get more commissions that way.

I'll be sure to post about the impending Art Stroll after the fact. I'm working on getting prints of all my waterdoodles into my etsy shop before the event. We'll see how that goes! 

Oh! And my dear friend, Debra, took my husband and I to the Star Wars Exhibit at The Space & Rocket Center, where I met the love of my life. *blushes*

R2

 

I'm certain I'm leaving things out. It's been all kinds if hectic, but I can't complain. Life is good, and I thank God.

A Sight To See

Oh, yesterday was a day, folks. A good day, but a day. When I left work, heading to get my tires rotated, and eat dinner with my loverly husband, it looked like this.

About 5 minutes later...it looked like this.

While we waited for my Jeep to be taken care of, we decided to take our chances riding bikes at a local green way. We checked the weather, and 40% chance of rain wasn't going to stop us, so off we went. 

About 4 miles before we got caught in a downpour. (We just rode 4 miles. Please excuse the hot mess.)

 

Luckily, we were close to an overpass! We ducked inside like good little wayfarers, and hung out with some pigeons. We also spotted a teensy snake swimming in the water you see there. When I approached to take his picture, he politely refused and swam to the other side of the stream. Hmph.

 

We waited it out, checked the radar on my handy dandy Droid and were back on our way in no time. We finished the trail, which was a little over 4.5 miles, and headed back the way we came. Right as we returned to the very same overpass, the bottom dropped out and it poured again. 

We waited as long as we could, but we ended up finishing the last couple of miles in a light sprinkle. We were drenched, but it was hilarious.

 

By the way, my husband's a genius. He left his dress shirt in the truck (rode in his white undershirt), and brought me a clear poncho (I felt like a Hefty bag.).

9 miles later, our clothes were pretty dry, but we sure were a sight to see.

Photo Foolery

I just have a ball messing with the filters on my Droid's little camera app. It's called FX Camera. I'm not sure if I've said the name of it before. A lovely lady I know was talking about the Hipstamatic (I think that's what it's called) app for her iPhone, and I went in search of the equivalent.

Yeah, so how insane do I look in that picture?! I love it. Helena Bonham Carter, eat your heart out. I could totally be the next Bellatrix LeStrange. I just need some grungy teeth, more extreme bed head and a corset. And maybe to look a little more maniacal.

Oh, and the application brings out different hues, which is awesome. This one makes my eyes look reeeeaaaaally creepy green. They're fairly creepy green anyhow, but not that bright.

Anyhow, free camera application. Check it.

Bwahahahaha!!!

Oh, The Excitement!

May I ask you a personal question? Nothing scary. It's harmless personal, just something that interests me.

What did you get excited about when you were little? I mean, really excited. I'm talking jump up and down, annoy the heck out of your parents, keep you awake at night with anticipation excited. Remember that level of enthusiasm?

little, curly headed me

 Little, curly headed me got really excited about quite a few things. I jumped up and down about puppies, drove my mother crazy about going swimming and couldn't sleep when my mom told her boyfriend to take a hike. I would get so excited about these things I'd get the hiccups.

I guess that last boyfriend one might need a little explaining, if you're new around here. My mom's boyfriend was not always a nice man, and he needed to leave. Each and every time she threw him out, I believed he was gone for good and it would just be my mom and I. I'd get so excited that I couldn't even sleep. I just knew we were going to spend every day playing games, coloring, letting the dogs in the house, singing songs, cleaning and listening to music together and life would be grand. He finally left for good when I was fourteen. Good things come to those who wait, right?

Anyhow, I'm blathering about all this because I tapped back into that next level excitement yesterday. I came across a link that I simply must share. It's called Art House Co-op, and it's uh-mazing. There are so many rich and gorgeous things to find there, I-I-I just can't contain myself. I've even signed up for a project and am all kinds of stoked. Squee!

What did you get insanely excited about as a little person, and what do you get excited about now? I want examples, people. ^_^

Good Day Sunshine

 I'm still battling whatever this crud is that's giving me achy muscles and a sore throat, and I felt pretty rotten at the office today. I thought some sunshine might do me good, so I decided to take some photos at the lake on my way home.

I didn't even make it to my Jeep before looking up, and seeing this gorgeous blue sky.

 

A bit closer to my house I pulled over to get some shots of a gorgeous tree. Those didn't turn out so well, but I did make a new friend.

This little duck waddled all the way across the street, up an embankment and into a corn field to see me.

Say, "Hello" To My Little Friend

As promised, here are some photographs of the newest member of our humble household. She had a little bit of a rough start, but with some help she's doing just fine.

She (I am willing her to be female simply because I do *not* want, or need, another rooster.) wasn't exactly ready to come out of her cozy little shell, but if we hadn't motivated her to do so, she wouldn't have made it.

But she did, and we're oh so thankful. 

She's even fluffing up, and we hope to sneak her into her momma tomorrow.

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

I've been playing with the camera on my Droid again.

It appears that I have lots of toys...

...and an unintentional feline slash poultry theme to my life, as of late.

I'm hoping to pick my Kimchi Kitty up from the vet today, and our chickens had babies! Two of the three little silkie eggs hatched, and two out of three ain't bad (Yeah. I just referenced a Meat Loaf song.). Well, one of the chickadees needed a little help. The momma wasn't taking care of it, so Mr. T and I had to help it out of it's shell and it's spent the night snoozing under a heat lamp in our kitchen. She's very wee, and getting fluffy! I'll post pics soon.

MegaWhatsel?!

Hiya, folks! Did I tell y'all when I got a new phone? It's a Motorola Droid, and a huge step up from  my ghetto Razr. There are a lot of things to adore, but the camera is pretty exceptional. It's a 5 mega pixel with a dual L.E.D. flash, and I'm in love.

Needless to say, I've been taking a lot more photos lately. I'm no photographer, but I love playing with composition, and perspective. What do you say I post some of my favorites here now and again, hm?

I'll start with just one...

How appropriate that he's looking up. ^_^

Things Are Looking Up!

This is how pitiful my sweet Kimchi Kitty was before our last trip to the vet...

And this is him today. 

It may be a lousy shot of him being held captive at the vet's office, but at least he's a live captive. Do you see him willing me to open that door? Such spirit. Just yesterday I wasn't so sure he was going to come home again. When I opened that little metal box, he all but climbed in my mouth. And he's found his purr again!

Is he cured? Not quite. His blood work looks perfect. He doesn't have a temperature. Antibiotics didn't do squat. X-rays don't capture anything out of the ordinary. Conundrum, anyone? So...today the vet administered a barium x-ray, and low and behold, it shows what appears to be a hairball.

Of all things, a hairball. Who knew hair could try to kill my kitty?! He's got a good 12-14 years left in him, and I've got an awesome vet, so that's not going to happen.

Currently, they're still trying to coax my clogged-up kitty into eating, in hopes of avoiding surgery. If he would just eat, it should get things moving naturally. Otherwise, they're going to have to open him up. While the vet can't be completely positive that it's a hairball, we should be finding out soon. I'm just thankful that he's feeling better. Fluids have certainly put the meow back in him.

Follow Me, Please.

I've posted at Shannon's today, folks! It's Foto Friday over there, and you should definitely go pick a favorite photo! For me?

Now, for those of you that aren't familiar with the amazing lady that is Shannon, or her gorgeous photography, you should be thanking me for that link up there. She and her HB (Honey Bunches) are two of the best people you'll ever have the pleasure of knowing. They're bright, caring and just all around awesome.

What are you doing reading here still? I'm not blogging here. I'm not. This is not a post. Were it an actual post, I would keep typing...

El Condor Pasa

I'm in a constant state of disarray, as of late. It's really got to end. I just have so much to do. I haven't even had a chance to read all your blogs, and that, my friends, is a necessary. Oy vey.

In an attempt to catch up in the ol' Greader, I came across something refreshing. Barry posted an "If I Were" list, and we all know how I feel about lists...

Yeah. I ganked it.

If I could be a month, I’d be October.

If I could be a day of the week, I’d totally be Saturday.

If I could be a time of day, I’d be 7pm.

If I could be a planet, I’d be one we don't know about.

If I could be a sea animal, I’d be an otter.

Need I say more? Oh yeah, image found here. I don't know how anyone gets a shot of an otter. I've tried. They lounge around being generally adorable, until they see you with a camera. Apparently cameras/photographers are the universal sign of spaz to all otters.

If I could be a direction, I’d be left. ( I asked Mr. T, and that's what he said.)

If I could be a piece of furniture, I’d be a book shelf.

If I could be a liquid, I’d be raspberry lemonade.

If I could be a gemstone, I’d be an emerald.

If I could be a tree, I’d be a ginkgo.

Found this image here. Thanks Google!

If I could be a tool, I’d be a pen.

If I could be a flower, I’d be an tiger lily.

If I could be a kind of weather, I’d be snow flurries.

If I could be a musical instrument, I’d be a Whamola.

Yes. A Whamola , and I googled and found this image here.

If I could be a color, I’d be green.

If I could be an emotion, I’d be worry.

If I could be a fruit, I’d be a grape.

If I could be a sound, I’d be puppy grunts.

If I could be an element, I’d be water.
This is a Clark Little shot. Love. It.

If I could be a car, I’d be an all terrain vehicle.

If I could be a food, I’m willing to bet I'd be a noodle of some sort.

If I could be a place, I’d be home.

If I could be a material, I’d be fleece.

If I could be a taste, I’d be sweet & sour. ( It's my blog. I can be both.)

If I could be a scent, I’d be Clinique Happy

If I could be an object, I’d be a paint brush.
Googled and found this image here.

If I could be a body part, I’d have to be the silliest one, a belly button.

If I could be a facial expression, I’d be a Cheshire grin.

If I could be a song, I’d be "El Condor Pasa" (Simon & Garfunkel)

If I could be a pair of shoes, I’d be some trusty old Chuck's.
Found this image at Dirty Chuck's! Gloriousness, I say.

What about you, beautiful bloggers? What would YOU be, if you only could?