Day 60 ~ "Black Panther"

This is our little black domestic panther stalking in the grass.  He followed me out to the garden this afternoon while I was watering my plants and I noticed him in the grass as I was leaving - stalking his prey.
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Camera: NIKON D7000
Time of Day: 5:21 pm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 200 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I cropped the image slightly and adjusted the levels.

Day 59 ~ Bacon & Eggs





One of our hens laid quite the abnormal egg today - it was very small and dark, compared to the usual light brown one next to it.  Maybe a small bird wandered into the chicken coop?  And no, we didn't eat it since it was abnormal :)  But we did have bacon and eggs for dinner tonight.  I can't tell a difference in the taste of fresh eggs, but their yolks are a lot darker - almost orange.
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Camera: NIKON D7000
Time of Day: 5:32 pm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/8 on all
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec on all
ISO: 400 on all
Focal Length: 200 mm, 80 mm, 70 mm
Flash Mode: Flash on
Image Alterations: I cropped the image slightly and adjusted the levels.

Day 58 ~ My New Camera!

After years of owning and loving our Nikon D70S, we had a problem this past week.  First it lost some photos - even after buying a new memory card, and then yesterday it just turned off as if it had a dead battery - only it was freshly charged.  We got it to turn back on after some manipulating, but who knows if there is really anything seriously wrong with it. 

So, this afternoon I had to take my son downtown for a routine doctor appointment and my husband called just as I was leaving and asked me to stop by his office on my way home.  He told me his car was idling funny and he needed a tool out of my car.  When I got to his office, he brought out a box wrapped in Christmas paper :)  And when I opened it, I found a new Nikon D7000 camera!!  I am still in shock!  We will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in April, so he said it's an early present :)  I'm so excited!!  This gives me about 6 weeks to get used to it before our oldest son gets married.  Perfect timing!  And what an awesome husband!

This camera has some great features - it records to 2 memory cards so you have a backup of every  photo you take (to avoid problems like we had last week - especially nice for once in lifetime events like weddings!), it's extremely fast, it has 2 user programmable settings that you can set for whatever you like, and THOUSANDS of other fantastic features I've yet to learn about!

I guess now I don't have to decide if I want a new camera or a new lens :)
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Camera: Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Time of Day: 8:53 pm
Aperture: f/4.2
Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec
ISO: 80
Focal Length: 14 mm
Flash Mode: Flash, Auto
Image Alterations: I adjusted the levels.

Day 57 ~ The Friendly Steer

This is Danny, one of our Holstein steers.  He loves having his neck rubbed - and my husband gave in and gave him some attention :)
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Camera: NIKON D70s
Time of Day: 3:55 pm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/80 sec
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 34 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I cropped the image slightly and adjusted the levels.

Day 56 ~ Tractor Work

My husband LOVES his John Deere tractor!!  And he uses it often :)  He has really worked hard to get us settled here and I love him!
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Camera: NIKON D70s
Time of Day: 3:45 pm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/160 sec
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 105 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I cropped the image slightly and adjusted the levels.

Day 55 ~ Waiting Behind the Bus

We got stuck behind a school bus this morning, waiting for it's every stop.  Luckily he turned before too long and we went straight!
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Camera: Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Time of Day: 7:11 am
Mode: Scenery
Aperture: f/3.9
Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec
ISO: 320
Focal Length: 10 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I cropped the image and adjusted the levels.

Day 54 ~ Bluebonnet

I finished my last Master Gardening class today - 84 hours of training!  Now I only have 60 hours of volunteer work before becoming a Master Gardener :)  During lunch I wandered the gardens and found a bluebonnet in bloom - it's so early this year!  It's still only February!  I haven't seen any blooming on the side of the roads yet, but I'm sure it won't be long.
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Camera: Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Time of Day: 12:41 pm
Mode: Macro Zoom
Aperture: f/4
Shutter Speed: 1/400 sec
ISO: 80
Focal Length: 4 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I adjusted the levels.

Day 53 ~ Red Brangus Calf



Annabelle checking out our dog, Cali
f/8, 1/100 sec, ISO 200



Look at her long eyelashes!
f/8, 1/160 sec, ISO 200



f/8, 1/50 sec, ISO 200

We had a 'Tim the Toolman Taylor' moment here this week.  My husband decided the electric fence wasn't powerful enough so he bought a new unit rated for 15 miles.  When he plugged it in, it sent out long sparks from the wires!  He adjusted it, but you can still hear it sparking.  Cali, our dog, won't go near it even when we call her :) 

I spent some time in the pasture this afternoon with the calves.  I'm trying to get my heifer, Annabelle, to be friendlier.  The other calves will bawl and come to see us when we go near the calf pen - they want us to pet them and give them attention.  But we have to be wandering around longer for Annabelle to warm up to us.  I'm hoping to change this.  I can't believe she's already 5 months old today!
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Camera: NIKON D70s
Time of Day: 3:57 pm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I adjusted the levels and cropped the photos.

Day 52 ~ Leaf Footed Bugs

These leaf footed bugs were on one of the plants at my Master Gardening class.  And no, they aren't the good guys.  They don't realize their lives are about to end!
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Camera: Panasonic DMC-ZS3
Time of Day: 12:19 pm
Mode: Macro Zoom
Aperture: f/3.3
Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec
ISO: 80
Focal Length: 4 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I cropped the photo and adjusted the levels.  I also sharpened the image.

Day 51 ~ Bubbles

In one of the many water puddles on our property there is some type of air bubbling up from the ground.  My husband captured some of the air and tried to light it to see if it was flammable, which it wasn't.  In fact it doesn't have any oxygen in it either as it immediately put out the flame each time he tried to light it.  Quite interesting.

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Camera: NIKON D70s
Time of Day: 2:55 pm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 200 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I changed the image to black and white and darkened the shadows.



Day 50 ~ Dewberry Blossoms

We have wild dewberries on our property and they are just starting to blossom.  They are similar to blackberries, except they are quite small.  I tried to pick some last year, but since we weren't living here yet, they were mostly eaten by the deer.  Hopefully this year I'll be more successful :)
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Camera: NIKON D70s
Time of Day: 3:18 pm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 200 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I darkened the shadows.

Day 49 ~ Spiderweb

It rained HARD all night and then sprinkled today off and on.  There are water puddles everywhere!  I found this wet spiderweb up in a tree.  Maybe it thought it was too wet to do near the ground :)
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Camera: NIKON D70s
Time of Day: 7:42 am
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/125 sec
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 95 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I adjusted the levels and darkened the shadows.

Day 48 ~ Turtles All in a Row

It's another rainy day here.  Too rainy to go out and take photos - especially since I have a sore throat :(  So here's one of the photos I took at the arboretum last week.  All of the turtles were basking in the sun on a log.
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Camera: NIKON D70s
Time of Day: 1:09 pm
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/640 sec
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 200 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I adjusted the levels.

Day 47 ~ Toothache Tree

This is the trunk of a tree on our property commonly called the Toothache Tree.  I've never seen one until we moved here, but it's a native tree and we have a few of them.  It has wicked thorns!  If you chew on the bark or leaves of the tree it produces a numbing effect.  Apparently early settlers used it for toothaches and for teething babies.  Rather interesting :)
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Camera: NIKON D70s
Time of Day: 7:50 am
Mode: Aperture Priority
Aperture: f/8
Shutter Speed: 1/40 sec
Focal Length: 170 mm
Flash Mode: None
Image Alterations: I adjusted the levels.