Sunflower Heads

I'm still enjoying the sunflowers that I planted this summer. No, unfortunately they don't look like this anymore.


Instead, they look like this. I attached several dried sunflower seed heads to a tree with a bungee cord. It's been fun watching the birds land on the seed heads and eat the seeds. This picture was taken very quickly several days ago through the kitchen window.



This picture was taken shortly after I had attached them to the tree. It was a thrill to see the bluebird sitting on it.



Next summer I will definitely be planting more sunflowers for the birds to enjoy. I'll have to plant a lot more than I did this year especially since the goldfinches ate the seeds as soon as they were developed, so there weren't many sunflower heads left for the winter birds.

On this icy, wintry day the picture of the sunflower sure brightens my day. I hope it brightens yours too!

Cooper's Hawk

A Cooper's hawk landed on a neighbor's fence post again. They seem to like this spot to watch for prey at my bird feeders and another neighbor's yard that has a lot of shrubs and trees that the birds use for shelter.

It was a freezing cold day, the wind was blowing and there were snow flurries.

It stayed for a few minutes and kept alternating feet, I assume trying to keep them warm.

Such beautiful creatures!

Something New!

I enjoy photography and love to photograph family, friends and nature. I've had the opportunity to do senior portraits for several people and have a few more sessions coming up. My current cameras do fine for most of my hobby photography, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the picture quality for senior pictures especially the enlargements.

I have recently been asked to shoot the pictures for my church's new pictorial directory in January. I'm honored and excited but also quite nervous about that endeavor. I had been dreaming of upgrading to a more professional camera for quite some time, but couldn't justify the expense. I was able to find a really good deal this weekend on the Canon EOS 50D and the 75-300 lens. My generous hubby agreed that it was time to upgrade considering the opportunities that were approaching.

These are some of the first shots with the new camera, (no editing has been done) . I haven't had time to read the manual yet and don't even know how to turn on the flash. It is quite different from my Sony A-100 and I'm eager to figure it out.

I'm looking forward to having birds other than house sparrows and finches to photograph! At least I had my precious little friend here today. Isn't he adorable? He is as sweet as he is cute!

Unlike my 21 and 16 year old children, he rewards me with a smile for the camera! Sweet!

Last Year's Winter Favorite

A few people are posting their Christmas card pictures. Here's mine! I took this picture last year after a hoar frost and snowfall. It was on my friend/neighbors light post. I thought it was so pretty. I'll be using it this year on a few homemade Christmas cards that I'll be sending.

Yummy Ginger Cookies

I baked these yesterday for the first time. They were so easy to do and made beautiful, uniform and delicious cookies. Perfect for those cookie swaps or gifts. The house smelled so yummy too!

Yummy Soft Ginger Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• pinch of all-spice
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup margarine, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon water or orange juice
  
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup white sugar reserved for rolling dough.
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, then stir in the water, (or juice) and molasses. Gradually stir the sifted ingredients into the molasses mixture. Shape dough into walnut sized balls, and roll them in the reserved sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet, and flatten slightly. (The dough is easier to handle if it is refrigerated for a while before rolling.)
   
3. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.